What  African  Countries  Can  Teach  The  World    

(and  What  They  Can  Learn)  

Susan  M.  Dray  Dray  &  Associates,  Inc.  Oakland,  California  USA  

Duh….  

The  “Dark  ConDnent”?  

In  a  word…  

Overview  •  What  African  countries  can  teach  the  world    

–  Mobile,  mobile,  mobile!    –  Working  around  obstacles  à  creaDvity,  resilience,  innovaDon    –  Sustainability    –  When  and  how  to  adapt  methods  –  Ubuntu  

•  What  African  countries  can  learn  from  the  rest  of  the  world  –  UX  is  not  (just)  UI  –  BoQoms-­‐up  (“human-­‐centered”)  not  tops-­‐down  –  Design  thinking  –  someDmes    –  Move  upstream  in  development  processes  –  Iterate,  iterate,  iterate!  

Mobile,  mobile,  mobile!  

CreaDvity,  resilience,  innovaDon    

Sustainability  

InnovaDve  Sustainability  

Sustainability    

AdapDng  methods  

Co-­‐Design*  

*Thanks  to  Heike  Winschers-­‐Theophilus    

Ubuntu  

One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu – the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you

can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and

when you have this quality – Ubuntu – you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are

connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.!

!

-- Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 2008!

•  What  African  countries  can  teach  the  world    – Mobile,  mobile,  mobile!    – Working  around  obstacles  à  creaDvity,  resilience,  innovaDon    

– Sustainability    – When  and  how  to  adapt  methods  – Ubuntu  

•  What  African  countries  can  learn  from  the  rest  of  the  world  – UX  is  not  (just)  UI  – BoQoms-­‐up  (“human  centered”)  not  tops-­‐down  – Design  thinking  –  someDmes    – Move  upstream  in  development  processes  –  Iterate,  iterate,  iterate!  

UX  is  not  (just)  UI  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

 

Field  Research  

Usability  

InteracDon  Design  

InformaDon  Architecture  

Product  Strategy  

User  Requirements/Specs  

DocumentaDon  Training  

Brainstorming  

Stakeholder  Interviews  

CommunicaDon  

Conceptual  Design  

Visual  Design  Interface  Design  

Personas  

Prototyping  

Product  Design  

Data  Gathering  and  Analysis  

UX  is  not  (just)  UI  

BoQoms  up  (“human  centered”)    not  tops  down  

TradiDonal  Tops-­‐Down    “Waterfall”  Methodology  

Design  Thinking  (someDmes)  

Discover   Interpret   Brainstorm   Prototype   Iterate  Test  

Time  

Why  Design  Thinking?  

•  Early  focus  on  users  •  CollaboraDve  teams  (usually)  •  Allows  for  iteraDon  •  Widely  embraced  

Why  Not  Design  Thinking?  

•  Relegates  user  research  to  early  ideaDon  ONLY  

•  User  research  is  o`en  carried  out  by  designers  without  training  in  how  to  do  it  

•  Tendency  to  over-­‐interpret  observaDons  in  light  of  design  ideas  

   

Move  upstream  

Why  move  upstream?  

•  The  earlier,  the  beQer  •  Influence:    –  Product  concept  and  design  direcDon  –  Conceptual  design  –  Logical  design  – Overall  UX  direcDon  

•  Usability  evaluaDons  are  o`en  the  first  step  – Use  your  findings  to  show  how  earlier  UX  involvement  could  have  changed  the  outcome  for  the  beQer.  

Iterate,  Iterate,  Iterate!  

For  more  informaDon,  see  hQp://www.dray.com/our-­‐process/  

Concluding  thoughts  

Overview  •  What  African  countries  can  learn  from  the  rest  of  the  world  

–  UX  is  not  (just)  UI  –  BoQoms-­‐up  (“human-­‐centered”)  not  tops-­‐down  –  Design  thinking  –  someDmes    –  Move  upstream  in  development  processes  –  Iterate,  iterate,  iterate!  

•  What  African  countries  can  teach  the  world    –  Mobile,  mobile,  mobile!    –  Working  around  obstacles  à  creaDvity,  resilience,  innovaDon    –  Sustainability    –  When  and  how  to  adapt  methods  –  Ubuntu  

“If  the  USER  can’t  use  it,  It  doesn’t  work!”™