user experience from a business perspective

User Experience (UX) from a Business Perspective

User Experience (UX) from a Business Perspective

Daniel Mittlemandanny@cdm.depaul.edu

College of Computing and Digital Media

Hi !

The IssuesThe Issues

• Web CMS texts gloss over planning process for a site--and jump right into design

• But good UX is dependent on a strong user-centric planning process

• How do we do this if we are planning for a CMS solution?

A SolutionA Solution

• Apply user-centric UX planning and analysis concepts to CMS site projects.

CMS Development ProcessCMS Development Process

• Emphasis on PROBLEM SOLVING• Emphasis on CONTENT• Emphasis on USER EXPERIENCE

Steps in the UX Life Cycle

Understand the business problemUnderstand the business problem

• What is the business objective of the site.

• What is the business problem that your client is trying to solve?

–Or is it an opportunity?

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The more specific, and complete you

are, the better.

Know your UsersKnow your Users

• Who are you designing for?

–categorize your users• Think about

–demographics (age, exp., sex, etc.)

– technographics (platforms and skills)

–psychographics (behaviors &attitudes)

• Create personas.

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The more specific, and complete you

are, the better.

How to create a persona?How to create a persona?

1. Gather background info– demo- techno- psycho- graphics– referent site information

2. Interview your users3. Compile and organize research

to isolate key target markets4. Write fiction:

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Create characters who summarize the research for each key target

Interview your usersInterview your users

• Or survey them (if need be)– Understand their motivations– Understand their behaviors– Understand their frustrations– Learn their "stories" from

them.– Use group techniques with

them• Focus group sessions• Mood sessions• Card sort session.

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Name

Key Feature

Descriptive Information

Scenario

Trigger

Example PersonaExample Persona

Example PersonaExample PersonaName & Key Feature

Quote, from Research

Objectives &

Motivation

Descriptive

Information

Behaviors

Concerns

Capture your user storiesCapture your user stories

• What do your users want to do on your site?

• How will they go about doing those things

• Tell complete user stories

• Tell as many as you need to tell.

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How to create user stories?How to create user stories?

• Group exercise: have users put stories on cards

• Make personas the voice of the story

• Be sure to include "so thats"As a <role>, I want <function>, so that <value>

• I.N.V.E.S.T Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, Testable.

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How do you create User Stories?How do you create User Stories?

• Card• Conversation• Confirmation

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14 http://www.mind-mapping.org/blog/2010/09/edistorm-for-brainstorming/ http://www.edistorm.com/

15 From http://www.agile-ux.com/2012/03/01/user-story-checklist-be-ready-be-effective/

• http://www.agile-ux.com/tag/user-stories/• How to write meaningful user stories

http://www.subcide.com/articles/how-to-write-meaningful-user-stories/Nice first introduction to user stories.  

• How to Create User Storieshttp://techportal.ibuildings.com/2011/07/19/how-to-create-user-stories/Another similar introduction written more for agile coders.    

• The User Experience (UX) of User Stories (part 1)http://www.andersramsay.com/2011/07/16/the-ux-of-user-stories-part-1Expands on ideas above

• User Story Examplehttp://www.allaboutagile.com/user-story-example/Capturing more info on backs of cards

• Better User Storieshttp://mindtheproduct.com/2012/02/better-user-stories-come-hell-or-high-waterfall/

This post discusses process a bit, focusing on tips and tricks for getting better results from your interviews with users.

Some User Story ResourcesSome User Story Resources

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Research referent sitesResearch referent sites

• Look at referent sites• Look at competitor sites• Look at sites for ideas

– Look for best practices– Look for recurring patterns– Look to see how they addressed

similar user stories• Reverse engineer their user stories

and personas.

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Research wisdomResearch wisdom

• Test the users you want, not the users you have

• Users give you conflicting feedback

• Validate the problem you are solving actually exists

• Verify your mental models

• Prototype early• Plan through version two (or three).

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http://uxmag.com/articles/five-ux-research-pitfalls18

Develop a Content StrategyDevelop a Content Strategy

• Explore content issues early in the process.– card sorting

• Do the users want to see the information grouped by subject, process, business group, or information type?

• How similar are the needs of the different user groups?

• How different are their needs?• How many potential main categories are

there? (typically relates to navigation)• What should those groups be called?

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Take content seriously.

Really.

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Card Sorting resourcesCard Sorting resources

Some card sorting resources:

Great Primer on the details of card sortinghttp://www.usability.gov/methods/design_site/cardsort.html

This one lists several online card sorting productshttp://www.measuringux.com/CardSorting/

More resources with rich detailhttp://sixrevisions.com/usabilityaccessibility/card-sorting/

http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/card_sorting_a_definitive_guide

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Conduct a content audit & determine content strategyConduct a content audit & determine content strategy

• Use audit to understand content properties and relationships.

• Understand cognitive mapping of users

• Understand howcontent relates to user stories oruser communities.

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How to conduct a content audit ?How to conduct a content audit ?

• If you already have a site or content:– Inventory content page

• Is all of this content still relevant? What business, customer, or employee need does it support?

• What new content must be created? What is driving those needs?

• What drove decisions about file types and/or variations in format that exist? Do these decisions still hold?

– Look at site traffic by content type/item

– Use this to provoke useful discussion with stakeholders.

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Results of a good content audit ?Results of a good content audit ?

• Acute awareness of site priorities• Increased understanding of

business or operational constraints• Surfacing of a common language• A accurate sense of scale

for the project.

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How to conduct a content audit ?How to conduct a content audit ?

• If your context is new:– Build process flow diagrams to ID

data and workflow of systems users• Document input and output content

– Refer to your user stories• Look at what data they need to

complete their user stories successfully

– Look at referent sites and deconstruct their content.

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Create a Site MapCreate a Site Map

• Consider vertical, horizontal, or sequential layouts

• Design site map offline

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Note we haven’t built anything yet!

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CMS's don't generate separate pages!CMS's don't generate separate pages!

• OK, so this is a trick question• We do need to think through our

menuing scheme• We do need to logically cluster

categories/sub-categories• We do need to deal with any

"special" pages outside main content

• We do need to think through our "tag" scheme

• And we want to think through module/widget/block assignments

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26 Nice sitemap primer: http://viget.com/inspire/ux-101-the-site-map

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Site Map with template informationSite Map with template information

http://www.advomatic.com/blogs/julie-blitzer/why-non-profits-need-user-experience-design-ux

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Build a Wire FrameBuild a Wire Frame

• On paper, line drawings, black and white; or try a tool like mockflow.com

• Conceptual, void of design artifacts• Note we haven’t

built anything yet!

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http://speckyboy.com/2011/05/29/20-effective-examples-of-web-and-mobile-wireframe-sketches/29

How to create a Wire FrameHow to create a Wire Frame

• Use your previous research to inform this model

• Understand relative importance of information

• Group items by user story, by content type, or by relative importance

• Use accepted design patterns.

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Heat MapHeat Map

Heat MapHeat Map

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Research design patternsResearch design patterns

• Read best practice design patterns for site design constructs you are building

• Select, modify if necessary, and apply these patterns.– http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009

/06/15/40-helpful-resources-on-user-interface-design-patterns/

– http://uxmovement.com/resources/4-best-design-pattern-libraries/

– http://www.briankenyon.com/content/ui-ux-design-pattern-repositories

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Design Pattern BooksDesign Pattern Books

• My favorite pattern references:• Van Duyne, Landay, Hong:

The Design of Sites (on Safari)

• Schummer, Lukosch: Patterns for Computer-Mediated Interaction

• Vora: Web Application Design Patterns (on Books24x7)

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Test early concepts on users Test early concepts on users

• In real world, this is key• Validate your analysis• Then validate your logical design• Test against legacy system (if

possible)• Test with real users (if possible)• Now you are ready

to start building

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Daniel MittlemanDePaul University CDM

danny@cdm.depaul.eduOffice: 312.362.6103Skype: dmittleman

That was fun