finding the center

Finding the CenterA Ruthless Approach to Conceptual Design

Andrew Heaton

Hi, I’m AndrewI’m the Chief Chemist of Experience at Brilliant Chemistry

A quick note about my rocking moustache.

During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces, in the US and around the world. With their Mo’s, these men raise vital funds and awareness

for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men.

If you’d care to donate, please visit http://mobro.co/tigerstripe

http://mobro.co/tigerstripe

http://mobro.co/tigerstripe

Some Quick Rules about UX

Rule Number One: There's no fucking rules, dude.

Photo by unknown, but it’s not by me.

Rule Number Two: Draw everything 3 times before you go near a computer. Describe it out loud at least twice.

Photo by Glen E. Friedman

How do you describe your work?

“ It's like Twitter, but it's curated, so it's invite only, with circles of people like Google+, but restricted to an event, so it's all local, and it's all about what's happening right now.

”How do you describe your work?

It's like Twitter, but it's curated, so it's invite only, with circles of people like Google+, but restricted to an event, so it's all local, and it's all about what's happening right now.

Your work is not an it.

How do you describe your work?

“ ”

Flip it and try again.

An idea sharing app centered around an event (time, place, topic) that allows authorized users to share text, images, files and links within a controlled space.

“ ”

Flip it and try again.

Now put some human in it.

An idea sharing app centered around an event (time, place, topic) that allows authorized users to share text, images, files and links within a controlled space.

“ ”

Put some human into it.

At an event like this one, people like to make comments, take notes and share these with their friends.

We recognize this behavior and want to give conference attendees a place to share these comments amongst the group, create an archive of the event, and share socially.

“ ”

Your idea becomes a pilgrim.

We typically ask what the app does, when we should ask"Why do they pull that phone from their pocket?”

When you describe your work, you are mentally narrowing down or expanding on features. Things your work will do. This set of features is something that gets refined the more you draw it. The more you tell the story. At some point, the things you want your work to do will find their place: a common theme of Behavioral Expectation.

The Conceptual Center

Here’s the Zenbut not really... Zen is a Buddhist concept. This is more accurately “Here’s the Way”

We join spokes together in a wheel,but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move.

We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness insidethat holds whatever we want.

We hammer woodfor a house, but it is the inner space that makes it livable.

We work with being,but non-being is what we use.

An ambitious piece, based on chapter 11 of the Tao Te Ching.

An ambitious piece, based on chapter 11 of the Tao Te Ching.

We join spokes together in a wheel,but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move.

If you don’t have a center, the rest falls apart.

We shape clay intoa pot, but it is the emptiness insidethat holds whatever we want.

The idea is a container for the use.

We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it livable.

We build, but only so others may find success within.

We work with being,but non-being is what we use.

We create reality from the intangible ideas we have.

Finding the Center, Part 2: The Functional Center

How do you visualize your work?

An inherent problem with taking sketches to a wireframe is that too much of the functionality is inferred, and has yet to be figured out.

In other words:Mostly accurate, but not quite right.

How do you visualize your work?

A few things to get started.Name Everything.

Separate your Nouns from your Verbs.

Nouns and Verbs

SessionSummaryPostPhotoGalleryLinkPlaceMineYoursOursFile

N V

CreateEditRespondSaveFaveRateViewTweetSort

Necessary Side Note:There are no Pronouns

N V

CoreA primary feature. This is what your app is

designed for, and what the user does.

AdaptiveA feature that changes the way someone uses the features or displays information.

UselessMore than you think. Get an axe.

Your verbs will tend to fall into three categories

Nouns and Verbs

SessionSummaryPostPhotoGalleryLinkPlaceMineYoursOursFile

N V

CreateEditRespondSaveFaveRateViewTweetSort

A view is a collection of nouns.

Sometimes it makes sense to call them out immediately, sometimes it will be easier to cluster them later.

Regardless, it’s usually good to think of your screens as a collection of nouns.

Little nouns become big nouns

Name your ViewsThey don’t really exist until you do.

Carrier 11:58 PM

iOS AndroidWindowsPhone

User Experience / Design

Business / Strategy NConference

Intro

VSELECT

Verbs build nouns which create verbs which change nouns which spawn verbs.


NSessions

NConference

Intro

VSELECT

VSELECT

Carrier 11:58 PM

Keynote: Mobile Innovation with UX Sara Summers, Microsoft

Thinking Beyond AppleBrad Colbow, Colbow Design

How To Kill Your AppMartin Bowling, Digital Relativity

Finding the CenterAndrew Heaton, Brilliant Chemistry

Adaptive Mobile UX DesignJen Matson, Ascentium

Stop Photoshop DickeryMike Wille, Brilliant Chemistry

Keynote: Mobile Innovation with UX Sara Summers, Microsoft

UX / DesignMain


NSessions

NSummary

VADD

VVIEW

NConference

Intro

VSELECT

VSELECT

Carrier 11:58 PM

UX / Design

Finding the Center

Sessions

UserName

Posted 20 Seconds Ago

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UserName



UserName



UserName



16 3

16 3

16 3

16 3

Much better than boxes and arrows.

NSessions

NSummary

VADD

VRESPOND

VVOTE

VTWEET

NDETAIL

VIEW

VVIEW

NConference

Intro

VSELECT

VSELECT

Carrier 11:58 PM

UX/ Design

Finding the Center

Tweet This Post

Posts

TheGuiGirl Says:Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer ligula ante, mattis tempus semper id full of crap. Pellentesque dui nibh, dignissim vel dignissim.

Bump It Up Drop It Down

We add the following:- Short URL linking to post- Contents (truncated if over 120)

ReplyReply

TweetTweet

- Location set as COSI- #M3confv

Everyone does the same things

What is different is more important than how similar you are.

If you are operating the same as everyone else, you are likely to find yourself in the middle.

You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake, and neither is your app.

You better have something someone else doesn't.

Back to the VerbsImplicit vs. Explicit

V

There are implicit verbs and explicit verbs. Verbs the app does, and verbs the user does.

There are inherent system verbs that could be

taking place to make this more interesting.

NSession

VEXPOSE

NRecent

Posts

NCurrent

Display

VSELECT

Snapshot ViewCarrier 11:58 PM

Finding The Center

Menu

UX


Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer ligula ante.

Posted 20 Seconds AgoLorem ipsum dolor sit amet!

16 3

16 3

View This SessionView This Session

N Current TimeV DETERMINE

N Running SessionsV MATCH

N Matching ListV DISPLAY

Always be Ruthless.

What the heck have you been talking about?

Conceptual Center

Describe the ideaDescribe the features

Describe the userDescribe their behavior

Describe the scenario of use

Tell the story until you find that Behavioral Expectation

Functional Center

ONENouns and Verbs, Dude.

TWOAlways be willing to flip what you’re doing.

THREERip your own stuff apart. Be ruthless.

Thanks.

@tigerstripe

finding the center

Design

little nouns

event time

inner space

center emptiness

controlled space

nouns wh mainux design

functional center

athe idea