user experience - the secret sauce of extraordinary projects
DESCRIPTION
UX or User Experience is a popular topic in the industry today. My session will provide a brief overview of what UX is and why it has become such a critical part of today’s workflow. We’ll discuss how UX methodologies can be implemented with a minimal amount of effort to boost the overall value and ROI of any project. Whether you are a designer or developer, building your own product or building products for clients, this session will include rich information to aid you in bootstrapping your own UX efforts and thought-process.TRANSCRIPT
User Experience
The Secret Sauce of Extraordinary Projects
Twitter: @steveo_adams
Who is this guy?
Steve Adams
Senior Web Developer @ Bit-Wizards
What I do: Front-end design
Front-end development
UX
Manage teams and projects
My UX Story
Over the course of my career, I’ve always been frustrated with the subjectivity of the design process
My decisions were largely based on my own preference and intuition, and my projects suffered because of it
Then, I discovered the principles of UX
Agenda
Definition
History
Examples of Good and Bad UX
Putting it All Together
Usability Testing
What is UX (User Experience)?
Understanding UX is challenging: The term User Experience is interchangeable between both a process for achieving a good
user experience and the actual user’s experience itself
User Experience (UX) - Also - User Experience Design (UXD)
UX Methods (Research, Interviews, Wireframes, Prototypes, Usability Testing)
There isn’t a good shared vocabulary in the field
No single agreed upon definition of UX
Nielson Norman Group - “User experience encompasses all aspects of the end-user's interaction with the company, its services, and its products.” http://www.nngroup.com/articles/definition-user-experience/
UX Team of One – Leah Buley
1. No dipping2. Hard to open and use3. The packets were too small, you had to eat 20 of
them4. You had to have something to squeeze the ketchup
on if you wanted to use it…messy!
“When the point of contact between the product and the people becomes a point of friction, then the designer has failed.“
• Heinz’s new ketchup packet considers the user’s overall experience as well as the product.
• The new packets provide a good experience and address the pain-points of the previous design
• How did they get this so right? – Good UX
“On the other hand if people are made safer, more comfortable, more eager to purchase, more efficient --- or just plain happier --- by contact with the product, then the designer has succeeded.“
What’s wrong with this picture?
The reservation app failed at three main components of the UX honeycomb
1. Usable (Usability) – It wasn’t easy to use, too many clicks
2. Useful (User needs) – It wasn’t useful, it didn’t account for people waiting in the bar
3. Valuable (Business requirements) – It wasn’t valuable. They paid a custom software price tag for a whiteboard.
How do we do it right?
We need a framework for success – The UX process
The UX Process Discovery – Research to obtain an understanding of the business and user needs
Strategy – Establish a shared vision for an ideal user experience that meets these needs
Design – Realize the strategy and ensure that it truly accomplishes the goals…iterate if necessary
How does the UX process help? Helps flush out legitimate business and user needs that would otherwise been overlooked
Builds credibility and consensus with decision makers
Provides real data to drive design decisions
Ultimately produces a more polished and valuable final product
Discovery
• Questionnaires• Surveys• Stakeholder Interviews• Comparative Analysis
Strategy
• Design Brief• Personas• Card Sorting• User Story Maps
Design
• Sketching• Wireframes• Prototypes• Usability Testing
UX Process & Methods
Demonstration: UX Process
Nordstrom Innovation Lab: Sunglass iPad App Case Study - http://youtu.be/szr0ezLyQHY
Discussion
Did you notice the UX process throughout the video?
What kinds of methods were used? Interviews
Paper prototyping
Card sorting
User story maps
Usability testing
Usability Testing was the key!
What is Usability Testing?
Usability Testing: Observing real users performing critical tasks with the goal of identifying pain-points and opportunities for improvement.
Why test for usability?
Designing and developing for yourself is stupid – you are not every end-user
Usability testing doesn’t have to be time consuming or costly – Guerilla Usability Testing You only need 5 people -
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/why-you-only-need-to-test-with-5-users/
How to go Guerilla
1. Find Real UsersIdentify real users and target them for optimal feedback
2. WhereContext matters, think back to that waiter and his fast paced-environment
3. Create a Testing PlanIdentify key scenarios, tasks, and user flows
4. Record sessionObserve, talk out loud, interview
5. Analyze results and iterate
In Summary
1. Creating a good user experience requires empathizing with those users…UX helps with this
2. Don’t design based on intuition and assumptions; use UX to make data-driven design decisions
3. Get your project functional as fast as possible and put it in front of real users
4. Gather feedback and improve and iterate
