Noel Holmes User Experience Portfolio 1 Of 2

Noel Holmes – User Experience

Noel Holmes&User Experience

(Portfolio 1 of 2)

Last update: 3/2//2009Noel Holmes • User Experience

[email protected] • 512.484.4195A grate user experience?

The trick is… getting the experience right.

Magic Slide

Why is great design like a good magic trick?


Case Study: LeisureplanetPosition: Director – Executive Producer

When: Jul 1999 – Aug 2000

Visual DesignFront-End DevelopmentInformation Architecture

ContentProduction

Managing across roles, offices, countries and cultures

The Trick is…


Leisureplanet - Before

Know the Goals• Make

Leisureplanet THE travel site in Europe

• Launch localized sites for 20 countries – ALL AT ONCE

• Tap into travel aspirations –

“From the Dreamto the Memory”

Getting agreement on the goals and sharing the visionThe Trick is…


Leisureplanet - After

The Trick is…

Know the Roles• Headquarters in

Belgium• Technology group

in South Africa• Front-end Dev in

Amsterdam• Translation

providers in U.K.

Know (and love) the technologygroup


Leisureplanet - Evolved

The Trick is…

Know the users• Localizing site

meant understanding needs (including rules and regulations) AND culture

• Hired producers native to each country’s site

Hire the right people and research the users!


Guiding the Focus

Focus?

Experience

Merchandising the Experience


Translation Strategy

Translation Service

Tier 3

Tier 2Business Logic

User Interface

Front End

com objectcom object

Site Server

.com

.de

.fr

.uk

...

GDS

DanishDutchEnglish FinnishGerman

IBE

ItalianNorwegianPortugueseSpanishSwedish

Tier 1Business Logic

SQL 80 Guides102 Others

en +5 + CT

en +10

Flight Rules

Website Content

Travel Guides

CTTranslators

FIGS

Hotel DataCT

DB TeamCT

Edit Team

1

2

3

4

Set up processes to ease flow and accelerate productionThe Trick is…


Dream & Experience

Know and convey the brand essenceThe Trick is…


Online identity guidelines

Non-clichéd presentation

Direct address to users

Strong titlesborntobeWilde Wayne’s dream is…

To visit the favorite watering holes of Dublin's greatest writers.

Magazine-like features

Photos of people, not simple postcard shots

Yet colour photos where best - hotel slides, travel guides

Geometric frame provides coherence, echo of logo, and increased flexibility for photo selection

Photos should:Prioritize the following keywords -emotions, vacation, experience, the senses, pan-ethnicity, pan-generational…

Get the foundation right before extending too farThe Trick is…

Pyramid writing…nutshell intros, hyperlinks, FAQ, etc.


No “leisure” in leisureplanet

In 12 months…• Launched Sites in 12

Countries– Six Languages

• Designed Sites for Multiple Cultures

– Hired producers native to each country’s site

• Managed Teams in Five Countries

– Belgium (HQ), South Africa (Dev), U.K. (Translation), U.S. (WebSphere), and Holland (Vignette)

• Met Needs of Multiple Partners

– CNN, Y! France & Y! Germany, Infospace and Lycos


Case Study: ProdigyPosition: Director - User Interface Design

When: Jan, 2001 – Mar, 2002

User Research Visual Design

Information ArchitectureAccessibility

Creating a brand new application and a web site to match… in 7 monthsThe Trick is…


Project Leapfrog Building the New Prodigy


Introducing Leapfrog…

The Problem…Prodigy had lost market and mindshare to competitors as an Internet Service Provider (ISP).

The Solution…Build a product that would integrate Prodigy’s applications in a revolutionary way that had not been done in the market; one that would position Prodigy as the product-leading ISP.


The Goals

What were the goals for Project Leapfrog?

•Replace old/incompatible software– Three major operating systems had been released since

Prodigy’s last major software release

•Build an Integrated Application– Put all current and future applications into one seamless

environment

•Build a Framework for the Future– Build a solution that would accurately reflect Prodigy’s

brand

•Build a Real-world Solution– Build a software utility that would solve real needs for real

people


Our Considerations

– Short Time Frame (6 months)

– Minimized Staff

– Improve Existing or Build New


Our Approach

With very little time to conceive, design, implement, test and launch several major applications, we knew we had to…

– Get Skilled People• Contract a Design Company• Staff Up Internal User Experience Team

– Put a Solid Process In Place– Make Vision Clear– Do Everything at Once


The Product

• Prodigy 7.0 was composed of the Connection Manager the Console and six applications.

Connection Manager “The Console”

E-mail

CalendarContacts

Messenger Media Player

Browser


The User Experience

In line with the overall company direction, Prodigy 7.0 took major steps forward in improving the User Experience

– PDA Metaphor– Tactile– Garden with a Gate– Unified Look & Feel

• Web to Console• Web Application to Client Application• Application to Application

– Broadband “Always On”


The Process

Requirements

Existing Apps

User Research

Text

HTML

Core Team

Flows &Wireframes

Visual & SoundDesign

UI team& frog,

VisualComps

WebOps

Coding

Dev

Testing

QA


User Research

Lilly’s buddy categories are ‘Best Buds’, ‘Acquaintances’, and ‘Guys’. Her family members aren’t on her list. “My Dad tried it for a while, to be cool, but I think he gave up.” Lilly likes IM because you can do other things at the same time—go eat, talk with someone else, do homework, etc. She also likes it better because she feels she can express herself more easily there.

“It’s easier to ask someone out on a date on IM than on the phone. It’s easier to take a ‘no’. You feel more detached… [And] It’s easier to tell someone you don’t like them—you don’t have to see their face.”

IM Email

66% 17%Teens

Adults 33%17%

People vary in their choice of Internet ‘habitat’. Some favor email. Others use IM, an equal balance of IM and email, or chat.

Study Example


User Research

People want to handle interruptions gracefully, at the time they occur. Comfort level with interruptions varies.

Recommendations: 1) Give users control (in settings) over the handling of messages that come in while they are on another IM; 2) Offer a message handler that shows a summary of active and waiting IMs.

Many teens like IM because they can use it to talk to several people at one time, or do other things. One adult described using an IM as like using the phone. He feels it is rude to leave one IM to respond to another (he dislikes call waiting for this reason). He feels conflicted when an IM arrives and he is already on another IM.

Maximum # of IMs active at one timeAverage for teens: 4.5Average for adults: 1.6

Teens Adults Total

% Of conversation that are serial and discrete (one at a time) 39 72 55.5

% Of multi-tasked, intermittent conversations 61 28 44.5

Results and Recommendations Example


The Requirements


The Flows


The Wireframes


The Visual Comps


The HTML


The Testing


The Interfaces


Internet Console: Browsing the WebA new managed web browser, makes browsing easier


Internet Console: Multi-tab Browsing

Multiple tab browsing without losing your place

Introduced multi-

tab

pre-Firefox and 5

years before IE

multi-tab


Internet Console: Client Email

Integrated mail client, to make browsing– emailing a snap


Internet Console: Instant Messenger

New look for PIM brings the Console and IM together


Internet Console: Lock-out WindowLock-out Window with screen saver


Internet Console: Integrated Media Player

Listen to music while you browse or email.


Internet Console: Project Malibu

Web and Desktop integration, creates seemless experience


Portals - from 3 to 1

dial.net

dsl.net

.com


styleguide


Accessibility

Creative Alt Tags

Logical Tabbing


Accessibility

90% Compliance for web portal, 70% compliance for client kit

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Aug-01 Sep-01 Oct-01

Console

Portal

Perc

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P

riori

ty O

ne


Accessibility

Highest accessibility ranking compared to other ISPs

0

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20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

AOL MSN Earthlink Yahoo! ProdigyPerc

en

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Teams & Leadership

ListeningMotivating

CollaboratingInspiring

Recognizing

Hire the best and brightest and help them continue to be.

The Trick is…


YouTube clip. My Hands Are Bananas UI Team = Thought Leaders “We are ze monkeys”


Building the UX Team @ Travelocity

• Broken process• Visual Designers w/ HTML was the only role• Added User Research

– Gained trust

• Evangelized Information Architecture then Added Role – Gained trust, Integrated into Process

• Added Front-End Technologists– Gained trust, Integrated into Process

• Built Dependencies


Principled /Values

More Friends More Diverse

Respect Intelligence

Optimistic /Positive

Internet Natives More Choices

Format Agnostic

Balanced Lives Adaptive / Flexible

Civic Minded

High Expectations

Collaborative Nomadic Gamers Experiential

Independent Confident Direct More Liberal

Multi-taskers Inclusive Patriotic Entrepreneurial

Healthy Lifestyle Family Oriented Graphical Achievement Oriented

Credit: Richard Sweeney, NJIT

Motivating Millennials

Leadership / Teams


What this means for you…

Noel Holmes brings you…

• Experienced leadership for growing rockstar

teams

• A practiced user experience

evangelist/salesperson

• Strong inter-office Coordination

• Broad range of hands-on product design across

multiple channels

• Engaging public speaker/presenter

The trick is… getting the experience right.

Magic Slide

Noel Holmes512 x 484 - 4195 - cell

[email protected]

Career

Noel Holmes User Experience Portfolio 1 Of 2