What I learned at Cooper U about Design Research

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User-Focused Design ResearchLunch n Learn

PRESENTED BY:

What I learned at Cooper in SFLunch n Learn

Alan Cooper says: !

“I've been a computer programmer since 1973 and an entrepreneur all of my life. I started my first company in 1976. I've invented software for Bill Gates and helped to define the profession and practice of user experience design.”

“When software makes users feel stupid, their self-esteem droops and their effectiveness plummets, regardless of their other goals. A system that violates [that] will ultimately fail, regardless of how well it achieves other goals.” !ALAN COOPER “The Inmates Are Running the Asylum” https://vimeo.com/32478185

“PRACTICE FUSION” https://vimeo.com/34875856 !

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“UI BRANDING” https://vimeo.com/28740656

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What does Cooper do? !

Research + Synthesis UX and Visual Design User-Directed Design Have empathy for users

Day 4 !

ReDesign the BART kiosk experience

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Let’s talk about:

1. Research 2. Personas 3. Scenarios 4. Frameworks

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Design Challenges IDEA SWORDFIGHTS ‘My idea’ vs. ‘your idea’

CRITICISM STANDSTILL ‘None of those will work...”

SELF-REFERENTIAL THINKING “Here’s what I would want/do…” FAST FORWARD INTO DETAILS

Jumping into solutions w/ assumptions

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Research

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Research defines user’s goals and ensures products are desirable. !

Getting to know what users really want makes products desirable. Good Research makes delightful digital experiences possible. And delightful user experiences make users happy and coming back for more. Research also reveals user behaviors and goals that aren’t apparent from stakeholder assumptions (AKA: “I know what our users want”). And most importantly, Research creates empathy for users that drives product design – for users. And that makes happy customers.

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Research stakeholders and the business domain that will be impacted by design decisions. Think empathetically about users’ experience with the product.

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“It is better to understand and perfectly meet the needs of the critical few than to poorly meet the needs of many. It is this specific problem that personas are meant to address.” “Universal Principles of Design”

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- Stakeholder Research (interview+planning, ethnographic research, paired-design) - Experience Goal (how you want to feel) - End-goal (what you want to achieve) - Mental Model vs. Functional Model

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Interview Planning • What do I need to learn?

• What could I ask to Learn?

• What else do I need to Learn and How?

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Paired Design:

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Generating ideas with another person gives better results and prepares you for communicating the rationale of your ideas to a larger group.

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Paired Design:

Generator : Leads concept creation !

• Good at visualizing systems and structures

• Well-versed in usability and interaction design principles

• Responsible for generating screen sketches

Synthesizer: Leads narrative creation !

• Good at narrative, facilitation, and detail

• Well-versed in communication and process

• Responsible for documenting research and design

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Personas

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Personas are fictional people created from synthesized Research. They are a visual tool that guide product design. Personas help focus the product design on the users that will use it.

Personas: • build empathy for users • guide better, more targeted

solutions • help teams communicate better

by creating a common language and point of reference about users

• help avoid self-referential design • are based on behavioral

patterns and goals that in turn drive decision making for the product

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Persona To Do:

1. Name. 2. Story. 3. Goals. 4. Behaviors.

• Define Primary personas and any essential secondary personas

• Create a visual representation (sketch) of the Persona(s)

• Use Persona(s) to guide design that ensure a user-focused product

• Share visualized Personas with Stakeholders

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Scenarios

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Scenarios are storyboards that visualize real-life situations that personas are likely to be in while interacting with a Product. Scenarios demonstrate the impact it will have on their lives.

Scenarios: • reinforce persona needs

and goals rather than system features and capabilities

• prioritize needs from the user‘s perspective

• guide design solutions so design always happens in context of user’s experience

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Scenarios : To Do !

• Create key scenarios that match day-to-day experiences of the defined Persona(s) using the product !

• Define each scenario with 6-7 storyboard panels (sketched) that describe a “before & after” scenario

!• Consider how the user will behave in their experience: See. Think. Do. !

• Bad idea exercise, Pretend it’s magic. !

• Use Scenarios to guide design that ensures a user-directed product !

• Share visualized Scenarios with Stakeholders

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Frameworks

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Frameworks support user goals, anticipate their behaviors, and correspond scenarios to interface screens. Frameworks include User-flows, UI Patterns, and Wireframes. Frameworks clarify how the scenarios flow together to support a great end-to-end user experience — and a viable product.

Frameworks: • establish UI functional

zones (ie: Navigation location)

• apply UI /UX design patterns (Tabs, Menu, Carousel, Spatial/Gestural, etc.)

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Frameworks: To Do !

• Create Mood Board: show how Sidewalk wants to look and be perceived as (in terms of design aesthetic) with a Mood Board !

• Create Style Guide (components, typography, iconography, etc.) !

• Establish + refine UI functional zones !

• Apply UI /UX design patterns (Tabs, Menu, Carousel, Spatial/Gestural, etc.)

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“Before Cooper I designed screens. Now I design user flows.”

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Thanks.