A tutorial session on UXD hacks I gave at O'Reilly Etech in 2004. Original context here: http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/et2004/view/e_sess/4767 "User-Centered Design and participatory product development are established, proven techniques for making interfaces and information understandable. But how is it possible to use them when your knowledge, the technology, and the possible markets are moving so quickly? Is it possible to create alpha-tech that defines a new market and is a joy to use? UI Design for Alien Cowboys is a three-hour tutorial and workshop that proposes that it is."
- 1. UI for Alien Cowboys Matt Jones The Disappearing
Organisation
2. UI for alien cowboys or, easy user-centred practices for
designing emerging applications 3. Three things youll leave
with
- What user centred design is
- Easy ways to incorporate user -centred design
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- Tricks and tips that dont take long, and deliver results
- How to marry user-centred design with emerging technologies and
methodologies
4. Two (maybe three) parts
- Overview of user-centred design methods
- Practical tips and tricks
-
- Working on a design exercise
5. First though Whats analien cowboy? 6. One thing to always
remember 7. We are Aliens. 8. We are aliens
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- Geoffrey Moores Adoption Curve from his book Crossing the
Chasm
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- Even if we are building for other builders
Geoffrey Moores Adoption Curve:Don Norman Remix :http://www. jnd
.org 9. Crossing the Chasm Geoffrey Moores Adoption Curve:Don
Norman Remix :http://www. jnd .org WE ARE ALL HERE SOMETIMES WE ARE
HERE 10. Crossing the chasm Geoffrey Moores Adoption Curve:Don
Norman Remix :http://www. jnd .org [ UNDERSTANDING CONTEXTS OF USE
CREATES BRIDGES ACROSS THE CHASM 11. First though Whats an alien
cowboy? 12. I am a cowboy
- I like things which dont take long but give good results
- I like approaches, but dislike processes
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- Processes or methodologies used creatively can get you to
unexpected and delightful end results
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- But they can also become dogmatic and destructive
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- Things are useful as long as they are useful
- I think this is pretty common (are you a cowboy too?)
- This tutorial will focus on approaches and tips that appeal to
the cowboy in me
13. okay... 14. Part 1:Overview of User-Centred Design 15. What
is User-Centered Design?
- User-Centred Design (UCD) is an approach to design that grounds
the process in information about the people who will use the
product. UCD processes focus on users through the planning, design
and development of a product.
- Usability Professionals Association
16. Main Benefits 17. Macro & Micro macro micro What to
build What will solve the problem What will sell How to build How
to solve the problem How to sell What will people use How will
people use What/Why? How? 18. Enlarging markets
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- Design for extremes of market (old, young, less able)
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- Utility and desirability for everyone in between
- See your product/service in terms of an ecology
-
- Sonys sunrise to sunset view
19. Sunrise to sunset:evolve ideas in the market Market Creation
Market Penetration Market Domination NOON Market Expansion Market
Saturation Market Exhaustion SUNRISE Mid morning Mid afternoon
SUNSET 20. 21. Diagram from Digital Dreams: The work of the Sony
design centre Paul Kunkel 22. Benefits to Cowboys of User-Centred
Design process
- Removes the power politics of development:
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- Allows constructive discussion
- Shared frame of reference for all team members
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- User research information can introduce
-
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- More multidisciplinary approach
23. Some notable approaches 24. Some notable approaches
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- User Participatory Design
25. Coopers Persona Driven Design 26. Alan Cooper
-
- Cooper's personas are simply pretend users of the system you're
building. You describe them, in a surprising amount of detail, and
then design your system for them. Meg Hourihan*
-
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- On periphery of target market
-
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- Might even be anti-customers
-
-
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- People you will never satisfy
* http://www.boxesandarrows.com/archives/002330.php 27. ISO
standards on Human-Centered Design 28. ISO standards for UCDISO
13407 / ISO 18529
- Very high-level umbrella definition of user-centred
processes
- A pretty useful overview:
-
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- Understand and specify the context of use
-
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- Specify the user and organisational requirements
-
-
- Evaluate designs against requirements
- Useful to quote to the sort of people who like ISO
standards
29. User Participatory Design 30. UCD orUPD
- Sometimes UCD is referred to, or seen as specialised
sub-discipline:
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- User PARTICIPATORY design
- A set of methods for close cooperation with end-users
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- In product/service creation
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- User interface development
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- Often very good for internal / enterprise-specific
projects
- Very compatible with XtremeProgramming thinking
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- The Customer is Always Available
-
-
- http://www.extremeprogramming.org/rules/customer.html
31. Ask the users? Are you crazy? 32.
iiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnpuuuuttttt! users * The users are just one input
into a successful design biz tech 33. Research, analysis and
synthesis Users Research Analysis & Synthesis
Designer(s)/Builder(s) X 34. Designer-Centred Design! 35. Ask the
users? Are you crazy? If you ask the public what they think they
will need, you will always be behind in this world. You will never
catch up unless you think one to ten years in advance and create a
market for the items you think the public will accept at that time.
Akio Morita, Sony 36. NOT user-centred till mid-afternoon Market
Creation Market Penetration Market Domination NOON Market Expansion
Market Saturation Market Exhaustion SUNRISE Mid morning Mid
afternoon SUNSET Entry with technology Drive with design Diversify
with marketing, and Some UCD 37. Adaptive Design 38. 39. Stewart
Brand: How buildings learn Sketch by Dan Hill
http://www.cityofsound.com/ 40. Dan Hill: Designing for adaptation
41. Adaptive Design + Emerging Tech Great basis / investment for
rapid cycles of emerging tech! 42. To sum up UCD. 43. UCD: summing
up
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- Enlarges market and return on investment
- If not, enlarges ecosystem
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- For emerging tech, this increases in importance
-
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- If people get it then they are more likely to play with it
-
-
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- Adaptive design is the best candidate here because
-
-
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- Most human behaviour changes slower than technology a good
anchor in rapidly changing tech environment
- A number of approaches but with one common aspect
44. Looking out from the screen at the world 45. To understand
peoples mental models of the world and design technology to solve
their problems The files areinthe computer? 46. The practical 47.
Tricks and tips
- Using some of the most useful tricks and tips Ive found
-
- Market mapping and persona building
48. Not to be taken as a substitute for a full user-centred
project These are tricks and tips that, if you only have time to do
a little design work before you build, will get you good results
49. The Brief. 50. The brief for the recipe aggregator
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- Can be used in the kitchen
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- Can be accessed in the supermarket
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- Can find recipes from key ingredients
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- Can share recipes easily with others
51. Caution... 52. = No speaking alien! Use ofexcessivejargon,
mention of RDF, XML, or anything that the benefit cant be explained
once and easily to a user (or causes geek religious wars) will be
punished by a fineWhich will be a beer fund! 53. Break... please be
back at 3:30pm... 54. The Brief. 55. The brief for the recipe
aggregator
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- Can be used in the kitchen
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- Can be accessed in the supermarket
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- Can find recipes from key ingredients
-
- Can share recipes easily with others
56. = No speaking alien! Use ofexcessivejargon, mention of RDF,
XML, or anything that the benefit cant be explained once and easily
to a user (or causes geek religious wars) will be punished by a
fineWhich will be a beer fund! 57. Even cowboys can pass ISO
standards
- Understand and specify the context of use
-
- Market mapping and persona building
- Specify the user and organisational requirements
- Evaluate designs against requirements
58. Understanding context of use real way
- Before each the cowboy tips, Ill outline some of the pro
methods
Contextual inquiry / interview by Lodestar, ltd. for BBC iCan
project. 59. Itch++ 60. Framework to ask yourself
questions*Familiar Context With Others One paragraph of an
experience relating to the brief for each Alone Unfamiliar Context
* This is even more useful if you can get someone else to ask you
the questions and record your responses 61. Itch++: 15 minutes
- If you want to pair, and interview: thats great
Familiar Context With Others Alone Unfamiliar Context 62. 63.
Market Mapping & Persona Building 64. Mapping users
characteristics practical ideas Business decision An example from
my past working on a design for an online home improvement store
65. Words to describe each user profile
- A:Practical, functional, does chores, room has to look okay but
not confident in design
- B:More interested in design, less confident in technical
abilities
- C:Always has projects on the go, hobbyist
- D:Creates a look, less involved in project execution, most
interested in creative, trends
practical ideas A B D C 66. Who are they? It helps!
- A: Mike,early 40s, depends on wife Louises opinion for design.
Two kids, his wife is expecting a third
- B: Jane,early 30s, has partner, busy, relies on friends and
other people for advice
- C: Jack,single, quite confident in abilities and taste.Shops
around and reads lots of magazines, focusing on DIY titles: Better
Homes, Changing Rooms
- D: Lucy,single, in her 50s, out-sources doing, shops around,
reads lots of magazines, style and end result oriented.Reads lots
of magazines, broad lifestyle, Habitat, IKEA, BHS
practical ideas A B D C 67. Take personas and contexts to arrive
at concepts/features for BBC iCan project. 68. 69. Understanding
context
- Understand and specify the context of use
-
- Market mapping and persona building
- Specify the user and organisational requirements
- Evaluate designs against requirements
70. The value sieve 71. A value / complexity sieve The feature
prioritisation is based on the user research and the business
strategy, along with the initial technology estimates.I like doing
this prioritisation exercise in person with all the stakeholders so
all viewpoints can be factored in.Its a seminal meeting and the
results guide the rest of the project.- Victor
Lombardihttp://www.noisebetweenstations.com 72. How to use the
sieve
- High Complexity / High Value:
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- It's important to include these features, and because they're
hard let's address them first so we have enough time and find any
unknown snags.
- High Complexity / Low Value:
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- They're hard and no one thinks they're important, so try to
leave them out.
- Low Complexity / High Value:
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- Definitely include these, but give them lower priority.
- Low Complexity / Low Value:
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- These features can be put on a reach list, to do if resources
permit. Or left until a future phase. Or you can re-examine them to
see if your original values are accurate.
73. 74. Understanding context
- Understand and specify the context of use
-
- Market mapping and persona building
- Specify the user and organisational requirements
- Evaluate designs against requirements
75. Use your illusion 76. User Illusion Alan Kay 77. Medium and
message Harry Beck... 78. 79. Jakob does it Card Sorting to
Discover the Users' Model of the Information Space Jakob Nielsen,
May 1995http://www.useit.com/papers/sun/cardsort.html 80. Use your
illusion: 30 minutes
- 5 minutes writing your imagined features to a fairly granular
level, but nothing too detailed
-
- remember, you will be fined for using jargon!
- 5 minutes arranging the cards into the system as you think it
will be organised AS A USER EXPERIENCE
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- STOP!Were going to take a snapshot this should take 5 minutes
or so
- Swap your cards with someone else
- 5 minutes organise the cards youve received into a system that
makes sense to you, given the brief
-
- STOP!Were going to take another snapshot another 5 minutes
- Then, well spend 5 minutes looking at the results
81. 82. Understanding context
- Understand and specify the context of use
-
- Market mapping and persona building
- Specify the user and organisational requirements
- Evaluate designs against requirements
83. Paper prototyping Courtesy Marc Rettig:
http://www.marcrettig.com/ 84. Fast, cheap and out of control
Courtesy Marc Rettig: http://www.marcrettig.com/ 85. But I can code
quicker than I can draw Courtesy Marc Rettig:
http://www.marcrettig.com/
- You dont have to draw well anyone can draw well enough to get
results
- You will get nitpicking at a coded prototype, not answers
- But the biggest problem with coded prototypes
86. You will not want to destroy it 87. Flowcrash 88. Using
paper prototypes for rapid testing
- Design paper screens for your system
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- Include buttons, drop-downs, widgets
-
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- Simulate them all with stickies for ease of repositioning and
re-use
- Make sure there are two of you who know how the design
works
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- One of you will facilitate
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- One of you will play the computer
- Go grab a colleague or family member who hasnt seen your
design
- Facilitator: ask them to complete tasks based on the goals of
your design
- Computer: serve up the screens as per the flow of the design
you did.Be neutral! Emotionless!
- Record what you learn, and redesign there and then
89. The end? 90. Two (maybe three) parts
- Overview of user-centred design methods
- Practical tips and tricks
-
- Working on a design exercise
91. Mobile 92. Marc Rettig sums up the main challenge well 93.
Contextual inquiry is key
- Understanding the real attention deficits that your application
will suffer
- Understanding the in-between times in real life, where your
service or product might be a boon
- Understanding the audio, visual and interaction constraints
your design will operate under
- Walk a mile in mobile shoes
94. A trick pioneered by Palm / Handspring too 95. For
mobile
- The world is more important than the screen
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- Invest in studying the world
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- Its not that easy to hack
- Products and services are
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- Used in social situations
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- Study the social patterns of use
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- Social interactions more valuable that screen interactions
96. Further at Etech
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- Art-of-Logic: Experience Making, the Nokia Way
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- Track:Untethered Date:Wednesday, February 11 Time: 2:45pm -
3:30pm
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- http://conferences.oreillynet.com/
cs/et2004/view/e_sess/4864
97. Gaming/Play MMoRPGs 98. From a conversation with Stewart
Butterfield
- Looking at Play as a broad category
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- In addition to the activity (chess, rugby, Quake)
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- A way of trying on another mode of relationship or
identity
-
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- Children play the limits of the relationships. They have
violence, sexuality, power dynamics in their games. Exploring the
kinds of ways they can have relationships with their peers
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- Even if we are friends - when we play we become
competitors.
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- Control over identity is the most important control
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- In most apps like online banking or search the users character
or personality is kind of irrelevant because task overrides
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- But in worlds of Play ways in which peoplecome
together(place/channel) andidentify each other/selfare key
99. UIs that get out of the way ofthe players and their
relationships Drag and drop to establish chats and ad-hoc groups
Visualising relationships in heads-up displays From
http://www.gne.net 100. Future trends 101. Next-gen mobile Bigger
screens,more whizzy features Same old messy world. 102. More
embodied interaction 103. Converts This holiday, my two sisters -
who to my knowledge had neverplayed a console game before - got
addicted to EyeToy 104. Discussion 105. Thats all... Thank You for
your timeand energy 106. Further study: Web
- Mark Rettig: http://www.marcrettig.com
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- Interaction design history in a teeny little nut shell
http://www.marcrettig.com/writings/
rettig.interactionDesignHistory.2.03.pdf
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- Design for small screens:
http://www.marcrettig.com/writings/rettig,SmallScreens.pdf
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- Interface Design in Seven Weeks: Marc Rettig
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- http://loop.aiga.org/content.cfm?ContentID=83
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- http://www.adaptivepath.com/
- Carolyn Snyder on paper prototyping:
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- http://www.snyderconsulting.net/paperprototyping.htm
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-
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/library/us-paper/?dwzone=usability
- UsabilityNet.org: EU funded resource centre
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- http://www.usabilitynet.org/home.htm
- User-Centred Design & Agile methodologies: Anthony
Colfelt
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- http://www.colfelt.com/blog/cat_agile_development.shtml
107. Further study: Books
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- About Face, The Inmates Are Running the Asylum :Alan
Cooper
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- Don't Make Me Think:Steve Krug
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- The Design of Everyday Things:Donald Norman
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- The elements of user experience:Jesse James Garrett
(http://www.jjg.net/elements/)
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- Observing the User Experience:Mike Kuniavsky
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- Information Architecture:Christina Wodtke
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- Christina also has a great reading list at
http://www.eleganthack.com/reading/
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- Information Appliances and Beyond: Bergman
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- Mobile Usability: Lindholm, Keinnonen, Kiljander
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- Handheld Usability: Scott Weiss
108. Further study: Organisations/Events
- ACM SIGCHI, the ACM's Special Interest Group on Computer-Human
Interaction
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- CHI2004: April 24-29 th , Austria
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- DIS2004: Designing Interactive Systems, August 1-4, Cambridge,
Mass
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- http://sigchi.org/dis2004/
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- http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm?Alias=experiencedesign
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- Information Architecture summit:March 21-23, 2003 Portland,
Oregon
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- http://www.asis.org/Conferences/IA03/
- AifIA: The Asilomar Institute for Information Architecture
109. Send me questions... [email_address]