What is UX?
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The document discusses user experience (UX) and how it differs from common sense and information architecture. UX focuses on understanding user needs and designing products and services to meet those needs. The value of UX is that it leads to faster and better solutions, greater productivity, and helps companies avoid failures caused by not understanding users. UX combines skills like strategy, research, design and development to simplify complexity and create desirable, feasible and viable solutions from the user's perspective. It is important to involve UX early in projects to avoid costly redesigns later. The amount of time a UX project takes depends on its scope, from a few days for simple projects to over a month for complex ones.
What is UX?
- 1. So what is UX? 1 Annotation 1 User eXperience
- 2. COMMON SENSE, IA OR UX? Imaging we are given... Source: Gail Leija “What is an IA?”; images adapted from The Order of Things: How Everything in the World is Organized into Hierarchies, Structures and Pecking Orders Barbara Ann Kipfer, Random House NY 2000
- 3. COMMON SENSE DOES... Forks Knives Spoons Source: Gail Leija “What is an IA?”; images adapted from The Order of Things: How Everything in the World is Organized into Hierarchies, Structures and Pecking Orders Barbara Ann Kipfer, Random House NY 2000
- 4. INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE DOES... Forks Knives Spoons Source: Gail Leija “What is an IA?”; images adapted from The Order of Things: How Everything in the World is Organized into Hierarchies, Structures and Pecking Orders Barbara Ann Kipfer, Random House NY 2000
- 5. USER EXPERIENCE DOES... Source: Gail Leija “What is an IA?”; images adapted from The Order of Things: How Everything in the World is Organized into Hierarchies, Structures and Pecking Orders Barbara Ann Kipfer, Random House NY 2000
- 6. But great User Experience asks: “WHO SAID THEY NEEDED US TO LAY A TABLE?”
- 7. GREAT USER EXPERIENCE IS EVERYONE’S RESPONSIBILITY . * Designers Developers Planners Creatives Account Management Project Business Management Consultants Managers Analysts UX’S ROLE IS TO ALIGN & ENSURE WE GET THERE, BALANCING THE NEEDS OF THE BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY WITH THE NEEDS OF PEOPLE. *In fact these days more and more of these people are producing the traditional outputs of UX – interaction designs, user flows, business logic etc
- 8. This is done Or what we by using User Centric Design Thinking like to call USER CENTRIC MAKING THINGS DESIGN THINKING. BETTER, SOONER. DESIRABILITY (Human) FEASIBILITY VIABILITY (Technology) (Organisation) User Centred Design Solutions are an overlap of these three lenses; they need to be Desirable, Feasible, and Viable. Source: IDEO
- 9. WHAT IS THE VALUE & BENEFIT OF UX? FASTER WAY TO MORE SUCCESSFUL A BETTER SOLUTION. & EFFECTIVE WORK. GREATER PRODUCTIVITY & A WAY TO PUSH INNOVATION.
- 10. IT IS ABOUT AVOIDING THIS... Source: xkcd http://xkcd.com/773
- 11. OR MORE SERIOUSLY THIS. What Tech Buyers want What Tech Marketers want to do 53% Support forums, discussion groups 32% 32% Virtual trade shows/conferences 16% 25% Interactive or 3D demonstrations, RIAs 60% 20% Open, public social networks 64% 15% Blogs 56% Video recordings 8% 5% Microblogs (Twitter, etc.) 60% “During the next 12 months, which of the following emerging information sources do you believe you will use more to inform and validate your purchase decisions?” (multiple responses accepted) 793 US and European business technology decision-makers at companies with 100 or more employees* “How do you expect your use of these digital tactics to change in your 2010 marketing mix?” (percentage of respondents who plan to use more of each tactic) 50 B2B high-tech marketers at companies with 100 or more employees† *Source: North American And European B2B Social Technographics® Online Survey, Q1 2010 † Source: Forrester Q1 2010 B2B Marketing Budgets And Tactics Online Survey With MarketingProfs
- 12. UX IS A COMBINATION OF SKILLSETS USED TO TURN COMPLEXITY INTO SIMPLICITY. EXPERIENCE STRATEGY INTERACTION DESIGN Ensuring the right content, Designing dynamic service and functionality experiences and journeys Design strategy Visual design Business strategy Storyboarding Brand strategy Wireframing Marketing strategy Prototyping Service design Designing for flow USER RESEARCH INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE Understanding audiences Structuring information for before, during and after understanding and access Traditional market research Information design Contextual research Taxonomy User testing Classification Analytics Analysis Ethno/Anthropology Ordering
- 13. ... ...J e W th T to Ex in pe ted STRATEGY rie & UX killset integra nce Team. Social Marketing Innovation & & Community Prototyping * CREATIVE Digital CREATIVE & CONTENT Design TECHNOLOGY & s DEVELOPMENT A *Engagement Platforms.
- 15. “SO HOW DOES IT WORK?”
- 17. DESIGN. Making the solution. Creating concepts, deliverables, prototypes & documentation If your project needs CONSULTANCY. Offering a POV & Insight. Working out what needs to be done or how to improve things, from a user’s point of view
- 18. For design projects that consist of more than a simple banner or simple email to landing page involve UX as early as possible. UX CAN HELP: Research, facilitate discussions and workshops, present and debate with clients and develop the brief. IT COSTS MORE TO RECTIFY INCORRECT DESIGNS OR CEMENTED THINKING LATER.
- 19. Good REMEMBER THE PROJECT TRIANGLE? YOU CAN HAVE 2... Cheap Fast
- 20. Timelines/Deadlines Budget Creative, innovation or brand opportunity Client relationship: Strength or opportunity Technical requirements FAST STANDARD MAJOR TRACK. PROJECT. PROJECT. A known solution & Discover & Collision Complex requirements, understood users. needed for optimal solution. contingencies & third parties. 2/3 days* Around 7-14 days* +1 month* * Time needed will depend on the project and ways of working (e.g. Sprint). These are rough estimates to allow you to ballpark.
- 21. What makes briefing UX different from briefing creative? Information. WHAT WHY WHEN Client Business context Project Deadlines Users Project objectives Go live Concept User needs Lifespan We want to know more. Start with the context, timings and client so we can decide how best to deliver the solution. The more we know the faster we can begin iterating the answer.
- 23. Some elements are similar to the creative brief... BRAND IDEA This should describe the brand idea and any significant elements of the idea that could affect the creative brief. This should be taken from the JWT Brand Idea Postcard. It is not an endline that may already exist. Neither is it the campaign idea a brand may be employing. The UX brief is inviting work that will manifest the brand behaviour inherent in the brand idea. PROBLEM This should describe the problem that this work is intended to address. This should reference the business problem (such as losing market share or launching a new commerce channel) but also be clear about the specific problem we are asking the work to solve. The task section should link to this problem.
- 24. ...some elements are a little different. PARTICIPANTS & USER STORIES Use Personas to supplement our core audience with motivations and behaviours typical of a broad range users presented as identifiable individuals. They should be focused on user needs – what do they want or need to get out of the experience, App, platform or website and be written in the context of their need/visit and their attitude to the product/service. Their role is to allow the development team to filter out any personal bias and to provide a basis for user journeys. Personas can be combined with User Stories – As WHO I want WHAT, so that WHY – to define the basis of content & functionality that can be implemented without extensive Requirements Capture.
- 25. TASKS This should identify and prioritise the specific tasks that we are looking to achieve with the work. Tasks must link to the "Problem" section on the brief. There can be as many as are necessary, but each must be a realistic and important part of the what we are trying to achieve. The tasks should be specific about what we believe the work needs to do. STIMULUS (OVP & ENGAGEMENT TERRITORIES) If you are briefing a site or application you may need to frame the stimulus as an online value proposition – if it is a larger and more complex site this OVP can be supported by Engagement Territories. An OVP identifies the value or benefit to the user that will motivate them to interact and even share their experience. Digital is often about “getting people to DO things in a branded way, not what we say to them”, so Engagement Territories can be used to explore the OVP in the form of themes that user needs coalesce around that can be brought to life as content architecture and functionality in active & emotive ways.
- 26. FEATURES, JOURNEYS & THINGS WE CAN MAKE Existing content and functionality that we wish to keep and new elements we wish to add. User Journeys based on Personas and User Stories that define functional, navigational and content requirements and outcomes. Core Features can be expressed as a Content Architecture Strategy based on the OVP & Engagement Territories for more complex sites with different user & content requirements. ECOSYSTEM THINKING The context. What are the traffic drivers? Is this part of a campaign or supporting a more complex user journey? Where do people come from, where do they go? HOW SHOULD WE APPROACH THIS? Key considerations and organizing principles for the design and user experience of the site. A philosophy of interaction design or experience inspired by our persona insight/needs and business objectives (e.g. Useful, Usable & Delightful – in that order – meet the need for quick information, enable easy comparisons & navigation and only then lead to more creative brand experience.)
- 27. DISCOVERIES Insights from existing site audits, Stakeholder interviews or analytics. The results of a Competitor, Peer & Lateral Analysis. Are there insights from similar or unrelated sites or applications? Observations or background info that can be used to inspire additional content and functionality. DELIVERABLES WHERE IN THE WORLD What documentation do we need to What languages? What countries is the produce? What are the client capabilities work targeted at? What local or technical and needs i.e. sketches versus constraints are there? high-fidelity wireframes?
- 28. TIMING BUDGET When is this work due? What are the What is the production budget? What is review points? When can we engage the the development and creative budget? client in the solution or initial ideas? SOLUTION APPROVALS – MANDATORIES INTERNAL & EXTERNAL What must be included in the solution Who is the real decision maker and what (e.g. Content, messaging or functionality) do they want? What is the client hierarchy and their sign-offs? TECH ASSESSMENT THIRD PARTIES What platforms, CMS or hosting What other people are involved in environment do we need to consider? delivering this project? (e.g. external What are the constraints? What tech do suppliers or client internal teams) What is we want to explore or exclude? Has Tech our relationship? been consulted/signed-off?
- 29. ATTACHED DOCUMENTS What supporting material or background documentation is there? Where is it stored on the server? e.g. Digital Strategy LIKE A FULLY COMPLETED UX Personas & User Stories BRIEF* THESE DOCUMENTS Brand Assessment & Moodboards Competitor, Peer and Lateral Analysis ARE SOME OF THE POTENTIAL UX & Content Audit COLLABORATIVELY CREATED Stakeholder Interviews PRODUCTS OF THE DISCOVER User Research and segmentations High Level Creative Direction & COLLISION PHASES OF THE Client Org chart UX PROCESS... Project Complexity & Dependencies Diagram *Just in case you were thinking “That’s a long brief, I hope I don’t have to fill it out”
- 30. worldmade by process discover: what can we discover from the world? collision: interaction creates make: ideas make things with a “go” mentality
- 31. Broad brush strokes at the start can cover a lot of ground as we go through divergent and convergent phases of thought. Learn early and iteratively to succeed sooner. DISCOVER COLLISION MAKE Start of Project Public Prototyping Scale Finish Job Discovery Report Creative From Prototypes Start & Collision Session Brief to Final Production Project Time Line Key Sign-off
- 32. A COLLABORATIVE & ITERATIVE PROCESS. ALL SKILLSETS ARE INVOLVED THROUGHOUT, BUT PEOPLE’S INVOLVEMENT & DELIVERABLES WEIGHTING CHANGES BY PHASE. DISCOVER COLLISION MAKE PLANNING UX UX CREATIVE/DESIGN DEVELOPMENT WE NEED TO PLAN RESOURCE ACCORDINGLY – IT IS NOT ABOUT PASSING WORK “OVER THE FENCE”.
- 33. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A UX ARCHITECT IS NEW TO A STANDARD PROJECT? DIGEST & EXPLORE & BRIEF FIRST RESEARCH SKE TCHES (ASK QUESTIONS) DAY 1 DAY 2 ITERATE (SKE TCHES & IDEAS) DAY 7 DOCUMENT/ PROTOT YPE DAY 6 DAY 3/4/5 (or more) (PRESENT WORK) ITERATE MAKE (REFINE & GE T (COLLABORATE ON AGREEMENT ) DESIGN SOLUTIONS) NB: NOT A SPRINT
- 34. DISCOVER COLLISION MAKE Start of Project Sketches Iterating Testing Review & Site audits Storyboards Monitor Proof of concept Competitor, Peer, Concept Models QA Lateral Analysis Mood Boards Listening audits Personas User Stories Prototypes Audience Research Design Comps Stakeholder Interviews Digital Strategy User Testing Beta Testing User Journeys Functional Specs Site Maps KPIs/Objectives Tech Specs Content Strategy Taxonomy Cardsorts Project Discovery Report UX/Design Brief Prototypes Assessment & Collision Session & Team alignment & Final Documentation UX Involvement Time Line Key Sign-off
- 35. THE VALUE OF THE DISCOVER PHASE. Listening Audit Brand Audits & Moodboards Personas, User Stories Personas User Stories & Tech Usage insightss A ‘phase of divergent thought’, where the project team members keep their perspectives wide to allow for a broad range of ideas and influences. We are asking a question, posing a hypothesis or exploring a problem based on an initial brief and then analysing market data, trends and other information sources to collaboratively develop our initial strategy and first thoughts. Competitor, Peer & Lateral Analysis
- 36. THE VALUE OF THE COLLISION PHASE. IDEAS AS MANY AS from everyone. POSSIBLE. Collaboratively iterating A SOLUTION.
- 37. ALL UX DELIVERABLES MUST BE REVIEWED & SIGNED OFF* BEFORE LEAVING THE BUILDING. ALL DESIGN WORK MUST HAVE A UX REVIEW BEFORE LEAVING THE BUILDING. *By Digital Strategy Director/Head of UX
- 38. DELIVERABLES. “UX, they’re the people that do wireframes.” - Anonymous
- 39. “Grrrr.” - Anonymous* *me
- 40. WHAT ARE WIREFRAMES? They are a visual representation of the content of a page or application state that is the culmination of user research, business objectives and ideation. A wireframe is a visualisation tool & process for presenting proposed functionality, structure and content of a web page, website or application. Best brought together in a sequence of pages to illustrate paths of navigation and interactions on the page, wireframes align the team on expected behaviour & functionality to explain how users will interact with a website or application as well as helping to define the main templates.
- 41. WIREFRAMES ARE NOT. • Mean’t for an external audience without an explanation of context • Mean’t to be the design of a page • To portray any graphical elements • To convey the branding WIREFRAMES ARE NOT GOOD FOR. • Exploring multiple solutions rapidly • Defining dynamic interactions • Explaining to a non-technical client • Working on an iterative solution in a collaborative way – as designs evolve wireframes can be left behind leading to the need to revise documentation repeatedly
- 42. THE PROBLEM WITH WIREFRAMES. We still spend too much time on them. Wireframes Project Solution User Assessment Research Ideation Testing Fig 1. RELATIVE TIME SPENT (not necessarily value added) Source: John Yesko
- 43. DELIVERABLES SHOULD DEPEND ON WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO ACHIEVE. SKE TCH PROTOTYPE Evocative Didactic Suggest Describe Explore Refine Question Answer Propose Test Provoke Resolve Tentative Specific Noncommittal Depiction WIREFRAMES? (Based on best solution) Source: Bill Buxton
- 44. DELIVERABLES ALSO DEPEND ON TIMINGS, PROJECT SCOPE & CLIENT. Production-ready prototype When clients ST O really engage C & Image-mapped Better at communicating E Design Comps M Design Comps than documenting, good TI for user research Graphically “skinned” prototype VISUAL FIDELITY Walkthrough Design Comp video Interactive wireframe Paper wireframe prototype prototype Good for solving the problem, but clients can struggle to engage (& a wrong decision here can cause issues later) Wireframes JUST BECAUSE WE CAN DO SOMETHING, DOESN’T MEAN Page sketches Image-mapped Page sketches Box page diagrams WE SHOULD. FUNCTIONAL FIDELITY Source: Fred Beecher, Evantage Consulting “The Dimensions of Fidelity”
- 45. IT DOESN’T END WITH DELIVERABLES. ALLOW TIME (& BUDGET) FOR TESTING. Guerrilla or Eyetracking or Corridor Testing Lab etc. on Sketches, Concepts on final designs & & WIREFRAMES. BETA RELEASES. ESPECIALLY ON LARGE OR LONG LASTING PROJECTS... ...& PREPARE TO REFINE WHEN WE GO LIVE* *Despite implementing best practice and extensive testing, when a project goes live with real people in the real world you will always discover something new, unexpected and in need of a fix.
- 46. “So where DO WE GO FROM HERE?”
- 47. Please bear with us. It is a journey. 6 EMBEDDED UX is in the fabric of the organisation, not discussed separately. 5 ENGAGED UX is one of the core tenets of the organisation strategy. 4 COMMITTED UX is critical and executives are actively involved. 3 INVESTED UX is very important and formalised programs emerge. 2 INTERESTED UX is important but receives little funding. 1 UNRECOGNISED UX is “not important”. Source: Planing your UX Strategy, Johnny Holland
- 48. ACC MANAGEMENT: LIASON SUPPORT TO BUILD UNDERSTANDING & THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLIENTS & UX FUNCTION. PLANNING: DIGITAL STRATEGY, REQUIREMENTS CAPTURE & UX BRIEFS. CREATIVE/DESIGN: COLLABORATION & PROTOTYPING. PROJECT MANAGEMENT: DIGITAL PROCESS MANGAGEMENT, SIGN-OFFS & ENFORCEMENT.
- 49. Thank You.