Creating products for people

How user experience is creating

products that are shaping our future

@diegomendes

*slides will be posted (with all sources)

the mango tree story

We are tool makers.

Tools augment our abilities as humans.

We make tools to improve our lives.

1 undeniable fact:

We shape our tools Our tools shape us

Marshal MacLuan (1964) & Wilson Miner, When we build, 2010

The tool that is shaping the world today:

connected software

connected software

in other words:

internet of things

but what things do you mean?

everything

It is the beginning of the smart…

home

car

surfboard

bank

basketball

school

fridge

“There are already hundreds of

millions of things connected to the

internet.

We are headed for hundreds of

billions, possibly trillions…

and it will change our lives.”

Dr. John Barret, TedXCIT

phone

Apple Inc, iPhone 5s

fitbit aria

nest

nest thermostat

nest

nest smoke & carbon monoxide alarm

surgery room

fitbit aria

surgery room

iRobot, Essential Design

self-driving car

Google Inc, Self Driving Car

glass

glass

our future is being shaped by connected

software – it is changing our world

We shape our tools Our tools shape us

Marshal MacLuan (1964) & Wilson Miner, When we build, 2010

We are building an environment where we

will spend most of our lives.

Wilson Miner, When we build, 2010

What kind of connected software

environment do you want to have in the

future?

If you want the world to be better,

you have to help shape it.

Shape your future instead of reacting to it.

That’s where User Experience comes in.

Designing experiences is basically

understanding people and helping them.

Making that interaction between a

person and a product feel natural is what

makes the user experience great.

The medium may change from a large

screen, to a small screen, to a voice

interface

But the way we experience a product

remains the same.

We are still human.

Adaptive Path, 2012

Designing with a whole human in mind

is, well… really hard.

But really exciting!

Don Norman, 2014

“Design is the practice of intentional

creation to enhance the world.

It is a field of doing and making, creating

great products and services that fit human

needs, that delight and inform. Design is

exciting because it calls upon the arts and

humanities, the social, physical, and

biological sciences, engineering and

business.”

Dan Saffer, Kicker Studio, 2008

UX follows a simple process called

Human Centered Design

Human Centered Design

Discovery

Ideation

PrototypeExperiment

Improve

Some important interdisciplinary roles

*Disclaimer: These roles are gray areas. They intersect with each other and are fluid.

User Researcher or Design Researcher

Observe, listen, generate insight

Your are genuinely curious about human behavior.

You love to observe and listen to people.

You like to create insights from your observations and things you have heard.

You are really good at evaluation, clarification, analysis, and communication.

You like to ask questions that expose gaps and flaws.

You enjoy testing assumptions with quantitative and qualitative data.

** Usability Analyst – In larger companies, usually towards the end of the product

design cycle.

Interaction Designer

Invent, define direction, make ideas real

You can come up with enormous amounts of solutions for the problems you are

solving for.

You can make solutions “look real” – design and communicate how the product

could potentially work.

You like both the grand vision and the step by step details of how the user will

experience the product.

You can link ideas, solutions and design easily.

You understand how to apply user interface and interaction design to products.

Visual Designer

Your weapons are color, style, type, icons and information design.

You create visual hierarchy.

You indicate relationships and hint at behavior to help users interact with the

product.

You can create different visual stylistic approaches for different mediums (digital

product v. physical product).

Visual hierarchy, visual relationships & elegance

Content Strategist

Your weapons are your fantastic communication skills.

You are great at understanding how to develop content that is meaningful to

different audiences.

You like to figure out “when” certain content should surface for the user.

You love to make things “crystal clear”.

You are always thinking about what engages people.

You love to create new content and maintain relevant older content.

You love meaningful content

Information Architect

You like to visually structure information so it is intuitive to others.

You are always trying to facilitate how others understand content.

You see structure as a way to facilitate effective communication.

You enjoy working in large projects across different departments and help

maintain a unified vision of what you are trying to build.

You want to help others understand stuff

User Experience Designer

Observe, listen, generate insight

Invent, define direction, make ideas real

Hierarchy, relationships & elegance

Meaningful content

You want to help others understand

Research

Interaction

Visual

Information

Content

You do it all… thinking about how the user will

experience it

Why you should join this field:

We need great people to keep products

focused on people.

Serve your fellow human being as you

design.

This is a great field.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Web design & development job outlook

will increase 20% through 2022.

Tips & Tricks

Ideation method #1

Worst idea

Ideation method #2

Build up ideation

Participatory Design

Questions