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Here's the presentation I gave at Pittsburgh Web Design Day (http://www.webdesignday.com) based on my article on Mashable (http://mashable.com/2009/01/09/user-experience-design/)
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Whitney Hess whitney@whitneyhess.com
@whitneyhess http://whitneyhess.com
10 Most Common Misconceptions About
User Experience Design
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
User experience design is NOT
User interface design.
1
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
“User experience isn't a layer or component of a product or service. It's really about the design of whole systems and
their interconnections.”
Andrew HintonSenior information architect at Vanguard
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
User experience design is NOT
A step in the process.
2
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
“User experience design isn't a checkbox. You don't do it and then move on. It
needs to be integrated into everything you do.”
Liz DanzicoChair, MFA in Interaction DesignSchool of Visual Arts in NYC
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
THE USER-CENTERED DESIGN OF DIGITAL PRODUCTSWrite user-centered requirements specificationsResearch user interface topicsCreate user interface style guidesConceptual and detailed design of user interfacesReview and test usabilityInformation architecture for large bodies of contentWrite and edit documentation
INFORMATIONARCHITECTURE
SCENARIOSOF USE
FUTURE STATE
MOCK-UP
TAXONOMYAND METADATA
TESTREPORT
STYLEGUIDE
CONCEPTUALDESIGN
USECASES
USER REQUIREMENTS
I’m going to kill myself. I should go to Paris and jumpoff the Eiffel Tower. I’ll bedead. You know, in fact, if I get the Concorde, I could be dead three hours earlier,which would be perfect. Orwait a minute. It – with thetime change, I could be alivefor six hours in New York butdead three hours in Paris. I could get things done, and I could also be dead.
Woody Allen (one of the greatestpersonas of the 20th century… goodthing he didn’t take the plane toParis)
“Those things that hurt,instruct.”
Ben Franklin
“Break it, stretch it, bend it,crush it, crack it, fold it.”
Bruce Mau, Lifestyle
CONTENTINVENTORY
FIELD STUDIES
RESEARCHREPORT
GRAPHICDESIGN
DETAILEDSPECIFICATION DOCUMENTATION
EXPERTREVIEW
USABILITY TEST PROTOCOL
COMMUNICATION PLANA document describing the scope and the planning of the communication project: what is to be communicated, for whom and how;where the challenges and opportunities lie.
CONCEPTUAL DESIGNA set of sketches illustrating the main interactionconcept of a digital product. The conceptualdesign starts with paper and pencil.
CONCEPTUAL MODELThe concepts that the design must communicatein order for the user to understand and operatethe product. The conceptual model differs from the technical model, which is theway the developer understands the product. It also differs from the mental model, which isthe concept that an individual user develops in order to understand the product.
CONTENT INVENTORYA structured list of all content (documents, digitalassets, information chunks, etc.) that must beconsidered for publication in a digital product.
DETAILED SPECIFICATIONA detailed specification describes the compo-nents and behaviour of the user experience in sufficient detail for the developer, and mayinclude the design rationale.
DOCUMENTATIONThe final deliverables of a documentation project. Usually the writing process of docu-mentation takes three iterations: draft version,pre-final version, and final version.
EXPERT REVIEWDuring expert reviews, a number of expertsreview a product, first individually, then in a group, noting issues and recommendingremedial action. Experts readily use rules ofthumb (heuristics) but challenge each other’saccepted wisdom.
FIELD STUDIESObserving users in the environment in whichthey will work with the digital product that isbeing designed.
GRAPHIC DESIGNThe design of the look and feel of the digitalproduct. The graphical design usually consistsof a specification of standard colours, icons, thelocation of graphical elements and typography.
INFORMATION ARCHITECTUREDocument describing the information architec-ture of a digital product. In some cases, theinformation architecture specification offers two perspectives:• User’s side: what the user sees —the taxonomyand structuring of the information on the pages.• Authoring/Storage side: describing the author-ing and storage of the information, workflows,metadata, topics and information types.
MOCK-UPA more or less realistic simulation of the userinterface that combines the scenarios of usewith the conceptual design into real-life storiesof use. A mock-up can be created in such a way that it can be used in usability tests.
PERSONASPersonas are lively descriptions of typical users.They are based on patterns and findings gathered during field studies. Using personasprevents designers from drifting towards an idealized view of users that lacks nuance.
RESEARCH REPORTA document that expresses the findings of aresearch project. Creative and rational at thesame time, it provides insight into murky territory.
SCENARIOS OF USE[current state/future state]An engaging, richly textured story of one ormore users who use tools to achieve goals.Current-state scenarios cover how usersaccomplish those goals now, before introducingthe new product. Future-state scenarios explorehow the envisaged product would affect thestoryline.
STYLE GUIDEA document describing the formal conventionsto be followed within a family of digital prod-ucts. Conventions can be lexical (what are thecodes, both visual and linguistic) and syntacti-cal (how the codes can be assembled to formpractical wholes).
TAXONOMY AND METADATADesign of the information structure, the labellingand the terminology that will be applied to thecontent of a digital product. The informationstructure is usually a tree or a matrix (facetedclassification).
TEST REPORTThe report summarizes the results of the usabili-ty tests, identifies the design issues that need tobe re-considered, and offers recommendationsfor improvement.
USABILITY TESTA method by which users of a product are askedto perform tasks in an effort to measure theproduct’s ease-of-use, task time, and the user’sperception of the product.
USABILITY TEST PROTOCOLThe protocol describes scope, goals, settings,instructions and tasks to be performed by a test participant.
USE CASESA use case defines a set of use-case instancesin which each instance is a sequence of actionsa system performs that yields an observableresult of value to a particular actor, often a user.
USER REQUIREMENTSUser requirements are a formal expression of the desired functions and qualities of thefuture digital product. Not only product features,but also non-functional requirements, such as reliability and usability, are included.
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“I write scripts to serve asskeletons awaiting the fleshand sinew of images.”
Ingmar Bergman, NY Times 22 Jan 78
“Regulations [are] written forthe obedience of fools andthe guidance of wise men.”
Anonymous. Featured in the filmReach for the Sky (UK, 1956).
“Sight, even though used byall of us so naturally, has notyet produced its civilization.Sight is swift, comprehensive,simultaneously analytic andsynthetic. It requires so littleenergy to function, as it does,at the speed of light, that itpermits our minds to receiveand hold an infinite numberof items of information in a fraction of a second. Withsight infinities are given atonce; wealth is its description.”
Caleb Gattegno, Toward a VisualCulture
An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.
Friedrich Engels (1820 - 1895)
CONCEPTUALMODEL
“Our burgeoning digital cul-ture is heading for oblivion,and fast…future anthropolo-gists will find our pottery butnot our e-mail.”
James Gleick, Faster: theAcceleration of Just aboutEverything
SOLUTIONS
COMMUNICATION PLAN
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Deliverables Activities
“Rules are sparse; we forgetthem. Stories, being rich indetails, are multiply index-able...Moreover, if a rule fails,it can be reassessed onlywith great difficulty becauserules hang in the air, unat-tached to experience. But ifthe lesson attached to a spe-cific story fails, the events ofthe story can be reassessedto figure out why the lessonfailed and what other lessonmight have been drawn.”
Tell Me a Story, Roger C. Schank
“An architect is defined assomeone who forgets to putin the staircase.”
Gustave Flaubert, French novelist(1821-80), Dictionnaire des idéesreçues (1881).
Dilbert: “Your user require-ments include four hundredfeatures. Do you realize thatno human would be able touse a product with that levelof complexity?”Feature Creep: “Good point.I’d better add ‘easy to use’ to the list.”
Dilbert as quoted in PaperPrototyping, Carolyn Snyder
“To determine whether or nota spark is being delivered tothe spark plug, hold a sparkplug wire approximately 1/4inch away from the cylinderhead as the engine is crankedwith the starting motor…If aspark is noted from each ofthe wires, the trouble is notlikely to be with the ignitionsystem.”
from Ford’s 1941 Deluxe and SuperDeluxe Reference Book (Ford did notcaution the reader against gettingshocked or performing this quick-fixwhile standing in a puddle.).
“He who every morning plansthe transaction of the dayand follows out that plan,carries a thread that willguide him through the mazeof the most busy life. Butwhere no plan is laid, wherethe disposal of time is surren-dered merely to the chanceof incidence, chaos will soonreign.”
Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885)
Observation“A little manure on the bootsmay disturb city folks, but inrequirements work, you learnnot to mistake appearance for value.”
Donald C. Gause & Gerald M.Weinberg, Exploring Requirements:Quality Before Design
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Grensstraat/rue de la Limite 21B-1210 Brussels T +32 2 209 08 85info@namahn.com www.namahn.com
“If you want to know whathappens when you throw a stone into a pond, it is infi-nitely better to make a trialand film it than to attempt to theorize about it.”
René Thom, Physicist“Igloo: an indigenous home constructed of local buildingmaterials. Bavarian castle: a home constructed to impress the neighbours. Space station: a mobile home with a view.”
Donald C. Gause & Gerald M. Weinberg,Exploring Requirements: Quality BeforeDesign
“Just wait, Gretel, until themoon rises, and then we shallsee the crumbs of breadwhich I have strewn about;they will show us our wayhome again.”
Hansel and Gretel
“First, the taking in of scat-tered particulars under oneIdea, so that everyoneunderstands what is beingtalked about…Second, theseparation of the Idea intoparts, by dividing it at thejoints, as nature directs, not breaking any limb in half as a bad carver might.”
Plato, Phaedrus, 265D
Minding the user throughout.
It stands almost completeand finished in my mind sothat I can survey it like a finepicture or a beautiful statue.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, fromInformation Design, edited by RobertJacobson
The men of experiment arelike the ant, they only collectand use; the reasonersresemble spiders, who makecobwebs out of their ownsubstance. But the bee takesthe middle course: it gathersits material from the flowersof the garden and field, buttransforms and digests it by a power of its own. Not unlikethis is the true business ofphilosophy (science).
Francis Bacon
“Technical work needsreviewing for the same reason that pencils neederasers: to err is human.”
Freedman and Weinberg, Handbookof Walkthroughs, Inspections andTechnical Reviews
http://www.namahn.com/resources/poster.htm
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
“Most clients expect experience design to be a discrete activity, solving all their
problems with a single functional specification or a single research study. It
must be an ongoing effort, a process of continually learning about users,
responding to their behaviors, and evolving the product or service.”
Dan BrownCo-founder and principal at EightShapes
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
User experience design is NOT
Just about technology.
3
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
“User experience design is not limited to the confines of the
computer. It doesn't even need a screen... User experience is any interaction with any product, any
artifact, any system.”
Bill DeRoucheyDirector of interaction design at Ziba Design
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
Carelman’s teapot
from Don Norman’s մեe Design of Everyday մեings
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
User experience design is NOT
Just about usability.
4
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
“While usability is important, its focus on efficiency and effectiveness seems to blur the other important factors in
UX, which include learnability and visceral and behavioral emotional
responses to the products and services we use.”
David MaloufProfessor of interaction designSavannah College of Art & Design
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
http://semanticstudios.com/publications/semantics/000029.php
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
User experience design is NOT
Just about the user.
5
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
“We just can’t always do what is best for the users. մեere are a set
of business objectives that are needing to be met—and we’re
designing to that, as well.”
Russ UngerDirector of Experience Planning, DraFCB
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
http://www.semanticstudios.com/publications/semantics/images/threecirclesbig.jpg
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
http://idea-sandbox.com/blog_images/strategic_sweet_spot.png
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
User experience design is NOT
Expensive.
6
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
“Sometimes a fully-fledged, formal UCD process may not be the best thing to try first
time. It’s extremely important–and totally possible no matter where you’re working or when you arrive on a project–to make small improvements to both the project and the
product by introducing some user experience design techniques.”
Steve BatyPrincipal and UX strategist, Meld Consulting
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
“People cling to things like personas, user research, drawing comics, etc. In
reality the best designers have a toolbox of options, picking and choosing
methods for each project what makes sense for that particular project.”
Dan SafferFounder and principal, Kicker Studio
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
User experience design is NOT
Easy.
7
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
Cutting corners
All assumption, no validation
One-size-fits-all solutions
Feature creep
Design during development
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
User experience design is NOT
մեe role of one person or department.
8
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
“User experience isn’t just the responsibility of a department or a person. մեat
compartmentalist view of UX is evidence that it is not part of the organizational
culture and hints to teams not having a common goal or vision for the experience
they should deliver collectively.”
Livia LabatePrincipal, UX, Comcast Interactive Media
http://www.slideshare.net/jmspool/journey-to-the-center-of-design
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
User experience design is NOT
A single discipline.
9
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
“User experience may not even be a community just yet. At best, it’s a common
awareness, a thread that ties together people from different disciplines who care about good
design, and who realize that today’s increasingly complex design challenges
require the synthesis of different varieties of design expertise.”
Lou RosenfeldUX book publisher at Rosenfeld Media
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
User experience design is NOT
A choice.
10
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
“մեe biggest misconception is that companies have a choice to invest in their user’s experience.
To survive, they don’t.”
Joshua PorterPrincipal at Bokardo Design
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
Experiences happen,whether or not you plan them.
When not intentionally designed,there’s a much higher likelihood
of the experience being poor.
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
User experience design is NOT...
1. User interface design It is the system2. A step in the process It is the process3. Just about technology It is about behavior4. Just about usability It is about value5. Just about the user It is about context6. Expensive It is flexible7. Easy It is a balancing act8. մեe role of one person or dept It is a culture9. A single discipline It is a collaboration10. A choice It is a means of survival
Whitney Hess whitney@whitneyhess.com
@whitneyhess http://whitneyhess.com
մեank you.
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