Designing Better Experiences
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Transcript of Designing Better Experiences
DESIGNING BETTER
EXPERIENCESTHROUGH A USER CENTRED APPROACH
Danny Bluestone | @danny_bluestoneMatt Gibson | @duckymatt
WHAT ISUSER CENTRED
DESIGN?
The central premise of user centred design is that the best designed products and services result from understanding
the needs of the people who will use them.
SOME BENEFITS OF UCD
1. Qualitative - Find out what customers actually want.
2. Context – Discover the exact context to design for.
3. Creativity – Combine UCD with branding.4. Focus - Avoid ‘analysis paralysis’.
5. Remove egos– Verify decisions with real customers.
http://xkcd.com/773/
GIVING USERS WHAT THEY NEEDNOT WHAT YOU THINK THEY NEED
http://www.flickr.com/photos/matski_98/8259750205/
TAKE TIME TO OBSERVE HOW PEOPLE USE YOUR DESIGN
TIMOTHY PRESTRO, CEO of DMT
DESIGN FOR PEOPLE, NOT AWARDS
http://designthatmatters.org/portfolio/projects/
DESIGN FOR OUTCOMES
www.ted.com/talks/timothy_prestero_design_for_people_not_awards.html and http://www.designthatmatters.org/pictures/dtm_blog/Baby_in_Firefly.JPG
If the engineers could, they'd give you 40 buttons, but when you're driving it's not that
easy to use them all, so it's better to have the ones you really need.
The key thing is to make it simpler without getting rid of stuff that I might need to make the
car go quicker. http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonw92/8534697674/
LEWIS HAMILTON ON UCD
As we reform the delivery of public services, they are designed around the needs of the
user, rather than has been far too often the case in the past, being designed to suit the
convenience of the government.
Francis Maude, MP
Approaches Disciplines
User centred design
Self design
Activity centred design
Genius design
Interaction design
Information architecture
Usability testing
Research
IS UCD ALWAYS THE BEST APPROACH?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/centralasian/5577225117
USERS ARE NOT DESIGNERS
IT IS USER CENTRED DESIGN, NOT USER CONTROLLED DESIGN
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL
APPROACH
FOCUS ON OUTCOMES NOT DELIVERABLES
USABILITY IS NOT A FEATURE
IT DEPENDS ON THE USER, THE ENVIRONMENT, THE TASK, AND OTHER CONTEXTUAL FACTORS
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oewf/2924217723/
HOW WE APPROACH UCD
1. Research
2. Design / prototype
3. Test
4. Improve
RESEARCHING REQUIREMENTS
FRONT-LOADING STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS
• Why is it being made?• Who are the key stakeholders and what are their goals?• How does it fit in with the wider company objectives?• Gain insight into market and target audiences• Identify competitors early on
http://goodkickoffmeetings.com/2010/04/stakeholder-frontloading/
TECHNIQUES FOR EFFECTIVE INTERVIEWS
• Create an informal and relaxed atmosphere• Stay flexible • Keep it one-on-one• Allow them to speak ‘off-the-record’
The turning point in many interviews is when the interviewee gets up and closes the office
door and lowers their voice.
Paul Boag, Headscape
http://boagworld.com/business-strategy/how-to-improve-your-site-using-stakeholder-interviews/
DEFINING CONTEXT OF USE
1. User profiles
2. Activities
3. Environment
• Speak to existing users if possible• Competitors• Ethnographic studies / research• Expert insight
TIPS FOR GETTING INSIGHTINTO USER PROFILES
THE BEST USER PERSONASARE BASED ON REAL USERS
http://www.flickr.com/photos/patloika/7946438528
• Ethnio for existing users• Social media• Go to the physical locations where you’ll
find your users• Use professional recruiters
HOW DO I FIND MY USERS?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oatsy40/6783078815/
Accessibility is the degree to which anyone can access and use a website using any web browsing
technology.
RNIBhttp://www.rnib.org.uk/professionals/webaccessibility/background/Pages/background.aspx
http://www.flickr.com/photos/furbyx4/2968376257/
WHAT ACTIVITIES DO YOUR USERS NEED TO PERFORM?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fernando/36759033
FREQUENCY
WHAT WILL THE USER NEED TO DO MOST OFTEN?
CRITICAL
CAN BE INFREQUENT,BUT IT IS CRITICAL TO SUPPORT
THEM
ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS
• Physical
• Social / cultural
• Technical
DESIGN / PROTOTYPING
CARD SORTING
• The ‘base’ for your information architecture.
• Gets insights and patterns into users ‘mental model’.
• It helps to increase findability in a system.
The current recommendation is to test 15 users for card sorting in most projects, and 30 users in
big projects...
Jakob Nielsen, Nielsen Norman Group
TECHNIQUES FOR CARD SORTING
• Use lots of post-it notes or cards• Get users to sort the cards in open or closed groups• Your main job is to observe and keep the momentum • Learn from the patterns of different groups via analysis• Helps to create a record of the structure/taxonomy
EXERCISE:
UNDERTAKINGCARD SORTING
In groups of 5 people:• Create the higher level categories for the
website• Write down the main sections and screens • Organise the sections into logical groups
HICKS’S LAW
“THE MORE CHOICES YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE FROM, THE LONGER IT TAKES FOR YOU TO MAKE A DECISION.”
http://www.cirencalui.com/
INTRODUCINGINTERACTION DESIGN (IxD)
• Helps to map out ‘flows of control’• Progresses to sketching and prototyping• Pivotal at delivering functional specifications
“THE TIME REQUIRED TO RAPIDLY MOVE TO A TARGET AREA IS A FUNCTION OF THE DISTANCE TO AND THE SIZE OF THE TARGET”
FITT’S LAW
http://modetro.com/mb-games-simon-says-vintage-retro-game-70s
TECHNIQUES FOR INTERACTION DESIGN (IxD)
• Use personas and interviews to inform the design.• Competitor research see what is already out there.• Ethnography can help you to understand real users.• Validate what you do with real users as early as possible.
IxD –FLOW OF CONTROL EXAMPLE
http://wc1.smartdraw.com/examples/content/examples/01_flowcharts/4_other_flowcharts/control_flow_epc_diagram_flowchart_l.jpg
IxD – PROTOTYPE
http://www.infoq.com/resource/articles/wireframes-start-development-projects/en/resources/3fig1.jpg
START PROTOTYPESWITH PEN AND PAPER
http://www.flickr.com/photos/furbyx4/2968376257/
I do not know the cognitive reasons behind this, but I have never seen this not be true. The more human your picture, the more human will be the
response.
Dan Roam, Back Of The Napkin
http://www.thebackofthenapkin.com/
PARTICIPATORY SKETCHING TIPS
• Encourage low fidelity
• Review as a group
• Frame critique with user stories
TEST / EVALUATE
DESIGNS ARE HYPOTHESES
ITERATE QUICKLY AND TEST ASSUMPTIONS
ETHNOGRAPHY
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alui0000/4814280779
GUERILLA USER TESTING
http://www.flickr.com/photos/5tein/3609261904
Lets us see how our study participants scan the search results page, and is the next best thing to actually being able to read their minds.
Anne Aula and Kerry Rodden, User Experience Researchers, Google
GOOGLE ON EYE TRACKINGhttp://www.japantoday.com/images/size/x/2013/03/urn%3Apublicid%3Aap.org%3A83a7bae63f044fbc938d2f4bea94d862.jpg
INTERVIEWS
http://uxmag.com/articles/eye-tracking-the-best-way-to-test-rich-app-usability
OTHER METHODS OF USER FEEDBACK
• Click tracking tools • A/B and MVT testing • Remote user testing• Expert reviews
BALANCING UCD WITH CLIENT’S NEEDS
EXPLAINING WATER TO FISH
http://www.flickr.com/photos/healthgauge/7387853018/
Courtesy of Karen McGrane
http://alistapart.com/column/explaining-water-to-fish
WHAT WE’VE COVERED
• What is user centred design – Benefits / pitfalls
• Usability is not a feature• Researching users and activities• Paper prototyping• Getting user feedback
THANK YOU!
Danny Bluestone | @danny_bluestoneMatt Gibson | @duckymatt