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An Introduction to Developinga Better Web-based User Experience
Sarah Barrett, SLA Boston, June 2015 http://taxonomy.sla.org/eval
First, an anecdote.
“An introduction to developing a better web-based user experience.”
“An introduction to developing a better web-based user experience.”
“An introduction to developing a better web-based user experience.”
Some Assumptions:• You’re not hiring anyone • You need some ideas to integrate into
your current work & process • You don’t think you’re a designer
UX and IA need you.
User Experience
Information Architecture
Taxonomy
Tools, resources, vocabulary
How to know what to do, how to do it, and how to talk about it.
Resource:
Christina Wodtke’s “Fundamentals of User Experience Design” presentations http://bit.ly/1QwN94Y
Resource:
Abby Covert’s book, How to Make Sense of Any Mess. http://bit.ly/1ITELZm
How to figure out what to do
Vocabulary time:
Heuristic - “A heuristic is just a fancy word for a measurement of something that can't readily be quantified.” - Smashing Magazine
Find the right heuristics
Make them work for you.
Resource:
Dan Brown’s “8 Principles of Information Architecture.” http://bit.ly/1dEtm1H http://bit.ly/1QX4bnO
Dan Brown’s 8 Principles of IA: 1. The principle of objects – Treat content as a living, breathing thing, with a lifecycle,
behaviors and attributes.
2. The principle of choices – Create pages that offer meaningful choices to users, keeping the range of choices available focused on a particular task.
3. The principle of disclosure – Show only enough information to help people understand what kinds of information they’ll find as they dig deeper.
4. The principle of exemplars – Describe the contents of categories by showing examples of the contents.
5. The principle of front doors – Assume at least half of the website’s visitors will come through some page other than the home page.
6. The principle of multiple classification – Offer users several different classification schemes to browse the site’s content.
7. The principle of focused navigation – Don’t mix apples and oranges in your navigation scheme.
8. The principle of growth – Assume the content you have today is a small fraction of the content you will have tomorrow.
“Links should be differentiated from other interactive functions.”
“The system resembles the user’s real world.”
What do your users need?
Do primary research! But make it count.
Resource:
Indi Young’s Mental Models. http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/mental-models/
Guidelines for primary research: 1. You can get great information from four people.
Guidelines for primary research: 1. You can get great information from four people. 2. It’s a lot like a reference interview.
Guidelines for primary research: 1. You can get great information from four people. 2. It’s a lot like a reference interview. 3. Always identify research objectives.
Guidelines for primary research: 1. You can get great information from four people. 2. It’s a lot like a reference interview. 3. Always identify research objectives. 4. Listen for problems, ignore their solutions.
Taking it further: decidewhat “good” really means.
Dan Klyn on Performance Continuums http://bit.ly/1Gm6pdH
How to do it
Translate your ideas into plans
Stick to words, you can still do great design.
“Users need to navigate by state.”
For a vacation rental site
What’s there? What’s important?
Home Page
About
About AuthorLink to Pen Name page
Series for New/Featured Book
TitleSummaryLink to Series page
On every page
Top Navigation• Blog• Most recent/important series
title• Pen Names• More by Author
New/Featured Book
TitleCover imageSummaryBuy on AmazonBuy on SmashwordsBuy on other servicesLink to Book page
Newsletter
AboutSign up for the newsletter
Newest Blog Post
TitleExcerptRead more link
Author Website:Preliminary Site Model
These diagrams are intended to define the templates and give an idea of what elements will be on each template, before we start designing what they should look like.
In each case, when a box is nested, that element (like a book, series, etc.) can show up one time, or many times, depending on what is needed. A series will have many books show up, but probably only one pen name associated with it.
For an author’s website
What’s there? What’s important?
Home Page
About
About AuthorLink to Pen Name page
Series for New/Featured Book
TitleSummaryLink to Series page
On every page
Top Navigation• Blog• Most recent/important series
title• Pen Names• More by Author
New/Featured Book
TitleCover imageSummaryBuy on AmazonBuy on SmashwordsBuy on other servicesLink to Book page
Newsletter
AboutSign up for the newsletter
Newest Blog Post
TitleExcerptRead more link
Author Website:Preliminary Site Model
These diagrams are intended to define the templates and give an idea of what elements will be on each template, before we start designing what they should look like.
In each case, when a box is nested, that element (like a book, series, etc.) can show up one time, or many times, depending on what is needed. A series will have many books show up, but probably only one pen name associated with it.
Exercise Time!
What’s on the page?
Write down what you see on this page.
What content, metadata, and links to types of pages are
here?
How is it ranked?
Based on how things are on this page, what’s most
important?
What is the page currently prioritizing?
Does that seem right?
Re-rank the elements on the page, if needed.
Write down questions that need answering.
What do we have? Testing and Evaluation
What do we need? Research and Design thinking
How should we do it? Planning and Specification
Taking it further: Plan how to get there
Change is hard, it needs to be planned.
Resource:
Switch by Chip & Dan Heath.
How to talk about it
Talk to anyone who will play along.
Resource:
Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher & William Ury.
Taking it further: Look for stories, not just data.
Thank you!
#SLA2015 @documentalope
@factorfirm http://taxonomy.sla.org/eval
