Hacking UX Zombies

From “Hacking UX: better design for agile, lean, and waterfall teams” by Austin Govella, Oct 17, 2013

HACKING UXbetter design for agile, lean, and waterfall teamsby Austin Govella@austingovella

From “The Design Age: maximizing value in agile and lean teams” by Austin Govella, Feb 7, 2013

Zombies

THE DIRECTOR’S CUT

From “Hacking UX ZOMBIES: better design for agile, lean, and waterfall teams” by Austin Govella, Oct 17, 2013

Waterfall UX

UX Zombies

old fashioned

really, really slowobsessed with getting into

their users’ heads


http://www.slideshare.net/austingovella/hacking-ux-25091564


http://www.thinkingandmaking.com



Agile UX

contemporary process

everything’s a sprint

obsessed with getting to users as quickly as possible

Agile Zombies







Lean UX

less concerned with appearances

design is a series of questions

does everything as a team

LEAN Zombies

design is a series of questions







UX Zombies

Super Lean UX

Team one, daily scrums, and a two week sprint.

We were adding functionality to let users access auto-generated data quality reports. Similar functionality (reports) existed elsewhere in the app, so the team got together, discussed the scenarios, and agreed to tweak an existing design pattern.

We sketched a few screens on the whiteboard, and we were done.

There were a couple of follow-up questions around how users would access the new screen, and we handled those with a couple of hallway conversations.

We designed the feature through conversation.






WHERE WAS THE DESIGN?






The Models

Design is a modeling discipline. The design process

creates models we use to validate predictions about a

system. Design validates what we expect against what

we perceive. We architect systems that engender

expectations and perceptions. Experience is the gap

between expectation and perception. We design this

gap. We design experience.






Introduction

Design Has 4 Models

1.The User2.The Interface3.The Interaction4.The System






The Models

Users

oYou always have a picture in your head about who the users is. Your team’s image of the user is a collective

version of what everyone has in their heads.

http://www.slideshare.net/austingovella/design-age





The Models

Interfaces

pYou always have an idea of what the interface will be.

For most of us, this is usually a screen.






The Models

Interactions

o pThe way that User in your head uses the Interface in

your head over time, that’s the Interaction.






The Models

Systems

o po p

o po p

The System is how multiple Interactions affect each other.






WHAT DO WE DO WITH THE MODELS?

We share them.






WHY DO WE SHARE OUR MODELS?

To share our understanding.






WHY SHARE OUR UNDERSTANDING?

So we can iterate and refine.






Introduction

Sharing Models Is The “process”

Agile, lean, and design all have a

different process for creating,

sharing, and evaluating models.






The Process

The Agile Process

2. Plan

3. Build

1. Review






The Process

Lean Startup

Plan

Build

Review

3. Learn

1. Build

2. Measure






The Process

Lean UX

Plan

Build

ReviewLearn

Build

Measure

1. Think

2. Make

3. Check






The Process

It’s A Universal Process

Plan

Build

Review

Learn

Build

Measure

Think

Make

Check






The Process

Same Race, Staggered Starts

AGILE LEAN DESIGN

Plan Learn Think

Build Build Make

Review Measure Check

Agile, lean, waterfall, design, whatever all use the same process. They all have the same steps. They “start” at a

different point.






The Process

Sure, but the deliverables are all different, right?






The Process

No.






The Process

You aren’t delivering a document.The deliverable is understanding.






Introduction

UX Zombies Make Deliverables

If your process is all about process,

then you are a UX Zombie. It doesn’t

matter if you’re agile, lean, or

waterfall. You’re still a zombie.






The Process

You aren’t delivering a document.The deliverable is understanding.






A MANIFESTO FOR USER EXPERIENCE






Manifesto

Designers don’t design anything. Organizations design everything.

Just as your best thinker improves everything, that one person in your group who doesn’t understand user experience creates a drag on every product or service you produce. To create better experiences, you have to create better organizations. You have to improve your organ-ization’s design literacy. You have to improve the design literacy of everyone in the group.






Manifesto

Organizations face common barriers to designing better experiences.

These barriers — value, focus, time, memory, talent, process, and improvement — represent the distance between you and the balanced teams your organization needs to create better experiences. Sometimes these cultural barriers are codified into your organization’s process. Sometimes they exist as hidden assumptions in your team member's minds.






Manifesto

Don’t change what you do. Change how you do it.

Your design activities don’t change. Change how you work with your team. Change how you work, so your goal is always a better organization instead of a better product. Change how you accomplish the design, so that you are always improving your team’s design literacy.






Manifesto

Don’t look for the next opportunity.

The one you have in hand is the opportunity.

— Paul Arden

Start Today






SO, HOW DO I CHANGE?

It’s all about fidelity.






Fidelity

Fidelity

How close is your model is to the real thing?






Fidelity

sketch wireframe visual comp

lower fidelity higher fidelity

Fidelity is easy to understand when you compare a sketch to a final visual design.






Fidelity

Four Types Of Fidelity

1.Visual2.Behavioral3.Content4.Contextual






Fidelity

Visual Fidelity

Does your model look like the real thing?






Fidelity

Visual Fidelity

wireframe visual comp






Fidelity

Behavioral Fidelity

Does your model behave like the real thing?






Fidelity

Behavioral Fidelity

no visible behavior links, search forms, and a dropdown






Fidelity

Content Fidelity

How close is your model’s content to the real thing’s content?






Fidelity

Content Fidelity

greeked content

sample content






Fidelity

Contextual Fidelity

How close is your model’s context to the real thing’s context?






Fidelity

Contextual Fidelity

the entire comp

the comp in a browser window






HOW DO I USE FIDELITY?It’s all about understanding.






Understanding

Three Types Of Understanding

1.Tacit2.Explicit3.Implicit






Understanding

Tacit Understanding

What does your audience naturally understand?(This is cultural.)






Understanding

Tacit Understanding

Most people understand that the magnifying glass means “search”.






Understanding

Explicit Understanding

What does your model tell your audience?






Understanding

Explicit Understanding

“View My Profile Page” tells your audience what that text does. It’s probably a link (even though it’s gray) , and it probably takes you to your “profile page”.






Understanding

Implicit Understanding

What can your audience learn about your model?






Understanding

Implicit Understanding

Click the blue, post button once, and you learn it lets you post a new Tweet. At first glance, you don’t know what the blue button does, and the interface doesn’t tell you what it does, either.






Understanding

Fidelity Affects Understanding

Your model’s fidelity affects how well

your audience can answer your

question.






Understanding

Models Are HypothesesWhat hypothesis are you trying to test? The User, the

Interface, the Interaction, or the System?

Who is your audience?

What does your audience need to understand to

evaluate your hypothesis?

How can you tailor your fidelity to the question you

want to answer?






WHAT IF FIDELITY ISN’T ENOUGH?

Then you annotate.






Annotation

Annotation Assists Fidelity

Annotation is a way of improving fidelity without improving fidelity. Parts of your model that require tacit or implicit understanding can be annotated, so your model

communicates in a more explicit fashion.






SO... HOW DO I USE THIS TO KILL UX ZOMBIES?

Ask yourself questions. Zombies can’t co-exist with questions.






Questions

When You Want To Use A Method...

Are you thinking, making, or checkingyour models?






Questions

When You Make An Artifact...

Are you modelingusers, interfaces, interactions, or systems?






Questions

When You Share An Artifact...

What question are you asking?


FOR MORE INFORMATION

Download Hacking UX: an illustrated primer, a presentation/e-book on how to hack

your UX process for any team, agile, waterfall, or lean.

My blog about agile, lean, and balanced UX:

www.thinkingandmaking.com/ux-lab

Follow me on Twitter: @austingovella







http://www.thinkingandmaking.com/ux-lab

http://www.thinkingandmaking.com/ux-lab

http://twitter.com/austingovella

http://twitter.com/austingovella

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Hacking UX Zombies