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the many-tentacled beast or, what I’ve learned about UX so far

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Hi, I’m Michael Seidel & I’m an Information Architect

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LOOK FAMILIAR?

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Here’s where things got good My mentor (& savior of my professional life) Taught me UX methodologies Rigor How to really listen

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When doing tech comm work, I realized I was writing to my audience, but I’d never talked to, met, or learned from an actual human reader of my deliverables. How messed up is that?

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An “Audience” is not a person.

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then she left (the company)

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I took over as UX Lead

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UXers = diverse backgrounds Mike K. Painting | Web Design Manager | UX Architect Corey P. Management Systems | Software Engineer | UX Lead Gretchen T. Communications | Project Manager | UX Strategist

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UX is an umbrella term <ul><li>Accessibility </li></ul><ul><li>Content strategy </li></ul><ul><li>IA </li></ul><ul><li>Interaction design </li></ul><ul><li>Usability </li></ul><ul><li>UX design </li></ul><ul><li>The list goes on. Even I get confused. </li></ul>

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Labels are meaningless The work is what matters (and I only have 45 min to talk)

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Peter Morville’s UX honeycomb

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How I see it <ul><li>MEET thy user </li></ul><ul><li>Be empathetic </li></ul><ul><li>Balance user needs with business goals </li></ul><ul><li>See the big picture, connect dots, create purpose </li></ul><ul><li>Design work horses, not work unicorns </li></ul>

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IA What do I do?

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Cardsorting

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Cardsorting <ul><li>Helps identify trends: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>How should information be grouped? </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>How similar/different are the needs of different user groups? </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>How many potential main categories are there? (navigation) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>What should those groups be called? </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Source: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/card_sorting_a_definitive_guide </li></ul></ul>

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What you need <ul><li>Users! </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Groups or individuals </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>15-20 is ideal 1 </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Facilitator & note taker </li></ul><ul><li>3x5 cards or Post-Its </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Terms related to the project </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Audio/video recorder </li></ul><ul><li>Camera to take photos of groupings </li></ul><ul><li>1 Source: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20040719.html </li></ul>

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… and probably a few of these afterwards (they’re very large beers)

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Wireframing Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/theoxygenated /6087880415/in/pool-1070674@N20/

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Wireframes <ul><li>“ Blueprints” </li></ul><ul><li>Shows arrangement & flow sans visual distraction </li></ul><ul><li>Easily modifiable </li></ul><ul><li>Can be tested </li></ul>

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Tools <ul><li>Whiteboards </li></ul><ul><li>Sheets of paper </li></ul><ul><li>Omnigraffle & Axure </li></ul><ul><li>Countless web-based tools </li></ul>

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A couple other IA deliverables

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Sitemap Source: http://www.avermedia.com/avertv /aboutus/AboutUs.aspx?Id=25

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Userflow Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/doos /4157672097/sizes/l/in/photostream/

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Examples good & bad

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I Do other stuff, too

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Usability testing Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/witflow /5936042599/sizes/l/in/photostream/

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Encourage stakeholder observation (Creeeepy!)

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<ul><li>Formal </li></ul><ul><li>testing </li></ul>!

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<ul><li>Guerilla </li></ul><ul><li>testing </li></ul>!

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<ul><li>Not this </li></ul>

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<ul><li>this </li></ul>

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<ul><li>But truthfully </li></ul><ul><li>it usually </li></ul><ul><li>looks like </li></ul><ul><li>this </li></ul>

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<ul><li>Remote testing </li></ul>!

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<ul><li>UX without testing = strategic experimentation </li></ul>

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Deliverables <ul><li>Usually a formal report </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Executive summary (showstoppers) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Detailed findings for data wonks </li></ul></ul>Issue Severity Resolution Stakeholder notes Most of the participants discovered that UX is for suckers. Low Hugs for everyone! Fire the Uxer.

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Deliverables <ul><li>Stakeholder results meetings </li></ul><ul><li>Collaboration </li></ul><ul><li>More testing </li></ul>

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Heuristic evaluation

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Nielsen’s 10 heuristics <ul><li>Visibility of system status </li></ul><ul><li>Match between system and the real world </li></ul><ul><li>User control and freedom </li></ul><ul><li>Consistency and standards </li></ul><ul><li>Error prevention </li></ul><ul><li>Recognition rather than recall </li></ul><ul><li>Flexibility and efficiency of use </li></ul><ul><li>Aesthetic and minimalist design </li></ul><ul><li>Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors </li></ul><ul><li>Help and documentation </li></ul>

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How technical writing prepared me for UX

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Tech writing  UX <ul><li>99% of what I do is communication </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Be clear </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Be concise </li></ul></ul><ul><li>People do read online </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Need to find important info quickly </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Bullet points are our friends </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Documentation attempts to untangle complexity </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Design to minimize documentation </li></ul></ul>

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Come to mkeux.com!

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twitter: @michaelseidel & email: [email_address] & web: mkeux.com