An end to end deep dive through the process of designing user experiences — especially for mobile and responsive web apps. The presentation covers the design process from defining and understanding the problem through iterative solution sprints where hypotheses are tested with lean prototypes.
This talk was originally prepared for a three hour course on User Experience design for a group of start-ups working with an incubator for whom I serve as a mentor.
12. THE PROBLEM SPACE
Just offered a job in a new city
Need to list house for sale
Don’t have an agent
Not sure what house is worth
Need to move quickly
Feeling panicky
21. GOOD QUESTION
How do single urban
adults choose and
acquire a pet?
Courtesy of Erika Hall
22. A WORD ABOUT BIASES
Confirmation
Sampling
Interviewer
Social Desirability
Anchoring
Curse of Knowledge
…
Source: Wikipedia entry on Cognitive Biases
23. THE FIRST PLACE YOU
SHOULD LOOK IS IN THE DATA
YOU ALREADY HAVE
30. QUESTION DESIGN
Avoid ambiguous questions
Speak their language
Don’t ask leading questions
Minimize effort required (within reason)
Ask enough people
Have some open ended questions
39. WHAT WE’RE GOOD AT*
Language
Simple morality
Simple physics
Simple engineering
Simple psychology
Spatial recall
Number recall
Simple probability
Simple economics
Logical deduction
Short term memory
Empathy
*We need help with everything else.
41. DOES THEIR CONTEXT
ALLOW THEM TO DO IT?
WHAT MOOD
ARE THEY IN?
ARE THEY PHYSICALLY
ABLE TO DO IT?
HOW MUCH DO THEY
WANT TO ADDRESS THIS?
DOES YOUR APP
DO WHAT THEY NEED?
46. USER JOURNEY
Title & Blurb
Social buttons
16:9
Foodie TV
iPad Design Draft v01
User Journey Mon May 06 2013 GLAM
User launches the Foodie TV app.
Orientation of loading screen prompts user to turn the
device to landscape mode if not already in it.
Goal is for app launch to last shorter than 1.5 seconds.
1. Launch the App
For first launch, the user is brought to the most recent
batch of videos with the first video selected.
For subsequent launches, the app attempts to remember
the state that user was last in and brings them exactly
back to where they were.
If a video asset was playing when they last suspended the
app, the playhead is placed 2 seconds earlier than where it
was and the video is paused.
2. Select the video you want to watch
The user watches the video in full screen mode.
If the user wants to skip a video, they can swipe to
advance to the next video.
If the user wants to return to a previous video, they can
swipe to go backwards.
Videos do not auto play when swiped to. Instead the
user must tap to start playing.
3. Watch videos
The user can tweet or post a link to the video to
Facebook. They can also email a link to the video
within the app.
In all cases, the resulting link will attempt to launch the
app if on an iOS device and take the recipient to the
App Store if that is not possible.
4. Share or comment on video
Key
Anonymous Foodie User
Loading State (as fast as possible)
Current Scenario Alternative Scenario
Play Mode
Single Tap
Main Screen — Tray closed
16:9
16:9
Pause/Play Toggle
Once loading is completed
Drag Flick
If one or more new batch has been published since the
last time you had the top of the video tray visible, then a
new batch indicator appears. Tapping on that opens the
tray and scrolls the user smoothly to the top of the tray
revealing the new batch(es).
Each flick snaps to next frame,
bounces at end of batch
Authenticate / Associate accounts
16:9
Sign in so we
know who
you are
Sign in
16:9
Tweet
Share
With count incrementation
Batch of
5 videos
Current
video
Vertically
scrollable
tray of
past
batches
Flick down
to close
Flick up
to open tray
FoodieTV Identity
Most recent batch
Last week's
batch
Title & Blurb
16:9
Batch from
2 weeks ago
Tray slides down
and scrolls to show
batch in which
selected video
appears
Main Screen — Tray open
Main Screen — Tray closed with newly selected batch
Immediately proceeds into play mode
Screen fades,
social controls
emerge
Selected video
is highlighted
New Batch
Indicator
(Tap scrolls
to top)
Pull to refresh
also works
47. THE BIG LIST
List every scenario, state,
or context that you can possibly
imagine the user experiencing.
And prioritize them by how much
they affect the experience.
48. BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT
I’m sure they’ll fix it
Track record
Benefitofthedoubt
I see where they’re
going with this
I can’t wait to try that
Here we go again
They don’t even have
my favorite feature!
Sure it sounds cool but
I’ll believe it when I see it
53. COMMON HEURISTICS
Don’t make people think
Choose your affordances wisely
Great copywriting = great interface
Design for touch
React immediately
Use natural transitions
Minimize re-orientation
Be forgiving
54. BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS
Safe exploration
Instant gratification
Satisficing
Midstream changes
Deferred choices
Incremental
Construction
Habituation
Microbreaks
Spatial Memory
Prospective Memory
Streamlined Repetition
Social Proof
From Designing Interfaces by Jenifer Tidwell
69. SIGNPOSTS
Design in grayscale first
The fewer colors, the better
Select colors with HSB
Choose your contrasts wisely
Consider dark grey
Restraint goes a long way
73. SIGNPOSTS
People are very familiar with 3-D objects
Light typically comes from the sky
Our eyes gravitate to motion and contrast
From Erik Kennedy’s 7 Rules for Creating Gorgeous UI
76. TRUISMS
People spend more time in other apps than yours
Visual prioritization helps guide attention
People cannot tap what they cannot reach
Larger targets are easier to hit
Like things are expected to behave alike
There’s rarely such a thing as too much feedback
98. HOW WILL YOU DELIGHT?
Discover
First
Experience
Habit
Formation
Pass It On Contribute
99. RECIPE
Identify the conceptual frames that
most closely match your user’s mindset
Figure out who does that frame well
Borrow heavily from it —
adjusting it to your context
Test it and repeat
100. Perfection is achieved not
when there is nothing more to
add, but when there is nothing
left to take away.”
“
— Antoine de Saint-Exupery