user experience (ux) basics for business

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Ux Basics for Business


A short introduction for business ownersand founders without any

User Experience skills.



Introducing the Pixiel Brutal Pixie is an Australian content strategy companyl Our core concept is “connection”

https://hangouts.google.com/call/6yotwmamw6b4mho3nhlknrqxmma



Introducing the Pixiel Ux projects and consulting include:l The Location SA Map Viewer (2015)l (unofficially) the SA Water Website (2014)l A range of startup and small business websites



Introducing the Pixiel Ux projects and consulting include:l The Location SA Map Viewer (2015)l http://location.sa.gov.au/viewerl (unofficially) the SA Water Website (2014)l http://www.sawater.com.au



Definitionsl Accessibilityl Customer experiencel Usabilityl User Experience



5 Stages of Work

1. Plan2. Prepare3. Prototype4. Test5. Triage & Iterate



Stage 1: Plan

Planning Ux is like planning any commercial thing that has people interaction.

l Examples include books, websites, products, businesses.



Stage 1: Plan

Who is your audience?



Stage 1: Planl Who is your audience?l Know who they are, and the devices they usel Understand their contexts of usel Understand their reasons for using the product or sitel Know when they use itl Know how they use itl … etc



Stage 1: Plan

What is the purpose of your site or product?



Stage 1: Planl What is the purpose of your site or product?l There are 3 parts:

l Your purposel Your audience's purposel The purpose of the site or product



Stage 1: Planl Audience + Purpose = Relevancel Relevance of the product is essential, or you wouldn't build itl Create use casesl Create a relevant user experience study

l Good questions = good resultsl Bad questions = good results that don't help you



Stage 1: Planl Critical question: What problem are they solving?l Know the probleml Know how you solve itl Understand the fastest, simplest way to the solution

l Build the solutionl Test for the solutionl Don't frustrate people or make them think.



Stage 2: Prepare

Six minutes of thinking saves you six weeks of work



Stage 2: Preparel Six minutes of thinking saves you six weeks of workl Use cases:l Whatl Whyl Howl Whenl Define what success looks like (key measures)



Stage 2: Preparel Work out your method.

For the purposes of today, I'm going to teach you the method that we use and recommend for SMEs.



Stage 3: Prototypel Prototyping is not developmentl There are many tools you can use.



Stage 3: Prototypel Prototyping is not developmentl There are many tools you can use.l Axurel Balsamiq Mockupsl Omnigrafflel Other wireframing tools



Stage 3: Prototypel As far as tools go, here's our preferred one:

Paper & Pen



Stage 3: Prototypel Best practice paper prototyping by Mozilla.

Mozilla used paper prototyping to go through a lot of iterations of the Firefox interface. They did it before they went back to development.



Stage 3: Prototypel When people click the right thing first, they are three

times more likely to succeed in whatever they are doing.

l So, the first stage was to limit choice.



Stage 3: Prototype Example

This is the firstprototype usedby Mozilla.




This is a lateriteration of the same page.

Note theincreasedsimplicity.




An early HTMLversion of the page.

Note use of colour groups.




The final version.



Stage 3: Prototypel Mozilla's key learnings were:l Use a method that lets you do fast, frequent iterationsl Test earlyl Be consistent with colour, size, and resolution.



Stage 3: Prototypel Good prototyping is quickl Paper is the fastest prototyping methodl Go to HTML in your last stages only



Pro Tipl Paper prototyping also works for continuous

improvement. You can use it:l In meetings with people you knowl In meetings with people you don't knowl Over the phonel … and in many other situations.



Stage 3: Prototypel Good prototyping is quickl Paper is the fastest prototyping methodl Go to HTML in your last stages only



Stage 4: Testl Typical understanding of Ux testing = $$, difficultl Test components are:l Designl Test conductorsl Observersl Focus groups are not tests or test environments.



Stage 4: Testl How many should you test?

5 tests will surface 80% of the problems.



Stage 4: Testl There are two types of testl Task-oriented testl A “do they get it” test



Stage 4: Testl Task oriented tests give testers a purpose and problem

to solve.l What they don't do is tell them what they have to do

Task-based tests present a problem and ask for a solution. Be careful about your language: Avoid using any of the items on the prototype to describe it.



Stage 4: Testl Task oriented tests give testers a purpose and problem

to solve.l What they don't do is tell them what they have to do

“Do they get it” tests are not so directed. You still want a use case, but the purpose is to see if people understand the interface, not necessarily to solve a direct task.



Stage 4: Testl Example of task-based test phrasing.

This is good:You want red shoes.

This is not: You need to go to shoes and put the red ones in your cart.



Stage 4: Testl Arrange for observers. Or alternatively, use your

smartphone to record the tests.l Review the tests with your team straight away. Block

out the morning for tests, then lunch over a review.



Stage 5: Triage & Iteratel Know the difference between problems and distractionsl Put them into an order that will help you test again.



Stage 5: Triage & Iteratel Things to fixl Surprises with an obvious solution.l The first time a user encounters it and everyone goes

“ohhhhhhh”. Fix immediately.l Short, cheap wins.l Changes that require almost no effort. OR things that require a

bit of effort but are highly visible. Fix next.



Stage 5: Triage & Iteratel Things to ignorel Feature requests. Probe deeper – usually people just request

what they like.l Your impulse to add things. NEVER add things. More likely you

need to remove things that are distracting or obstructive.l Kayaks. If the user quickly realises they've gone wrong, and

right themselves, and is unfazed, it isn't enough of a problem.



Stage 5: Triage & Iteratel Fix the immediate problemsl Next, fix the short, cheap winsl Re-test.l Rinse and repeat until you're satisfied that you've

solved as much as possible.



Sometimes it's not usabilityl Testing, testing, testing, and getting nowhere fast?

Maybe it's the content.



Sometimes it's not usabilityl Testing, testing, testing, and getting nowhere fast?

Maybe it's the content.l Understandability versus usabilityl Pull the content out and test it without the design



Or…l Use a content-first method. (It's faster.)l Test the content, make sure people can do what they

need to, and that they get itl Then put the content into a prototype to test.



Get a content strategist on board

If you've got the time and ability to do it, get a content strategist on board at the beginning.

When you can go content-first, you know that understandability is never going to be a problem.



Post-launchl Understand that Ux studies never endl Methods and tools you can use:l Decibel Insight www.decibelinsight.coml Crazy Egg www.crazyegg.com l Analytics (Google/Clicky/KISSMetrics)l Continuous questioning using printouts/paper



Beyond your site or appl A journey has a start and an endl The experience starts before the user takes action (is

just thinking)l The experience ends at the conclusion, which is not at

completion of shopping, for example. It's at transactional completion (receipt of product)



Recapl Lean, fast Ux has 5 stages:l Planl Preparel Prototypel Testl Triage & Iterate



Recapl The fastest method is paper prototypingl 3-5 test subjects at a time is plentyl Test often, don't test morel Remember your triage (fix surprises & cheap, fast wins;

ignore requests, adding, or kayaks)l Remember it never ends.




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