lean ux for non-ux professionals

Lean UX for non-UX Professionals

Volker Gersabeck @thinkingUX

About me

• UX Experience: 7 years

• Background: Developer, Alumnus of HPI in Potsdam

• Founded Pidoco - a web-based prototyping tool

• Smava is a customer of Pidoco

What is User Experience?

–Leah BuleyAuthor of “The User Experience Team of One”

“User Experience is the overall effect created by the interactions and perceptions that

someone has when using a product or service”

Vijay Kumar: 101 Design Methods

Related Topics• Interaction Design • Information Architecture • User Research • Usability • Visual Design • Content Strategy • Service Design • Customer Experience

What is Lean UX?

Foundations of Lean UX

• Design Thinking

• Agile Software Development

• Lean Startup

Design Thinking

• “Innovation powered by … direct observation of what people want and need in their lives” - Tim Brown, IDEO

• Every aspect of a business can be approached with design methods

• Interdisciplinary work to design products

Agile Software Development

• Individuals and interactions over process and tools

• Working software over comprehensive documentation

• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

• Responding to change over following a plan

Lean Startup

• “build - measure - learn” feedback loops

• Minimum Viable Products

• Work with hypotheses that you test early

Lean UX Process

Basic Elements

• Assumptions

• Hypotheses

• Outcomes (not Output)

• (Proto-)Personas

• Features

Hypothesis Template

We believe [this statement is true]. We will know we’re [right / wrong] when we see the

following feedback from the market: [qualitative feedback] and / or [quantitative feedback]

and / or [key performance indicator change].

Subhypothesis Template

We believe that[doing this / building this feature / creating this experience] for [these people / personas] will achieve [this outcome]. We will know this is true when we see [this market feedback, quantitative measure, or qualitative insight].

Proto Persona

MVPs and Experiments

MVPs

• MVPs are used to test the hypotheses

• MVPs can but need not be prototypes:

• Email

• Google AdWords

• Landing Pages

• Button to nowhere

Prototypes

• Different Prototypes provide different feedback!

• Differ in Appearance, Interactivity, Data, Functionality

• Choose a matching type for what you want to test

Before the user test

• Meet your users regularly, e.g. every week / iteration

• Try to find real users from your target group

• Create a Test Scenario upfront and try yourself first

• Add a few easy questions to start with

• Be prepared for recording / note taking / photos

When you do user tests

• Ask open questions (Why? What would you expect?)

• Let users try themselves before you give a hint

• Allow your users time to think

• Have your team watch a user test - it’s eye opening!

After the user test

• Fix easy bugs in between tests

• Learn to interpret the Feedback: users don’t tell you exactly what they want!

• Sometimes users are asking for features that don’t match your vision / strategy

• Improve your Personas along the way

Book Recommendations

Thank you!Volker Gersabeck

@thinkingUX