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So much good stuff to take away from UXLX this year. Here are some of the nuggets (with the corresponding pages from my sketchbook)
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UX LXIn short...
What happens when you put 450 UX people from around the world into one building and supply them with plenty of coffee, booze and the chance to pitch their opinions against like-minded souls? UX Lisbon.
"It's all still theoretical design until you let someone else play with it"
3 Guiding Principles: - set expectations for what users will (and won't) see - the best tool to build a prototype with is the one that you know - prototype only what you need
"CSS is totally the new photoshop" - get it 90% there in Photoshop and then get the designer and the developer to sit together and tweak the final 10% using CSS.
http://bit.ly/HTML5_prototype (downloadable kit to play and learn with)
Todd Zaki Warfel (prototyping with HTML5 and CSS3)
High res versions: (left)(right)
“Using cues from old technology in new technology to increase engagement and usability”
Some examples take the metaphor too far … does using skeuomorphs mean you miss out on innovation?
Takes advantage of nostalgia and emotional response
Which one do you buy for grandma? (know your audience)
(Andrew Watterson) skeumorphs
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"Good documentation tells a story"
We're all short of time - we need to understand when it's appropriate to create documentation (and what type to create).
A document has to have a defined and understood purpose. Talk to the people who are going to be using the document (set expectations and show examples)
Dan Brown (effective design documentation)
"It's our responsibility as designers/authors to make our documents readable and enjoyable"
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Be a journalist, not a comedian (don't bury the lead)
Dan Brown (effective design documentation)
High res versions: (left) and (right)
"Strive for clarity but don't dumb it down"
Bill Hicks (via Ian Fenn)
"Don't kill yourself, but do knock over some tables"
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bill+hicks&aq=f
"In order to convince, you need the tools with which to build the argument"
We're not designing for everyone… personas help to identify who you are designing for
A persona is: the story of someone realistic who is a unique part of the audience
Steve Mulder (personas)
How will the persona impact on design decisions/testing/validation? (if it doesn't impact, it's not worth using)
Keep personas visible (and used) throughout the project or they will die!
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Steve Mulder (personas)
High res versions: (left) and (right)
"Comics are fun"
Using comics (visualisation) forces you to strip out a lot of the unnecessary text and to communicate concisely
People are more inclined to engage with comics than (longer) text-only based communications
Kevin Cheng (communicating with comics)
Elements of a comic script:- Scene- Actors- Action- Dialogue
Good dialogue avoids you having to use (bad) captions as a crutchHigh res version
Comics allow you to get to a level of abstraction that places the focus on the detail that is important
It's easy to learn the visual language you need to communicate visually (using comics) - you can do it with very simple/basic shapes.
Kevin Cheng (communicating with comics)
Composition is much harder but is a real differentiator
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"What would a user research set-up look like if it was designed rather than organic?"
Different silos (disciplines) look at and question data in different ways (multiple interpretations)
Analytics = whatUX = why
Very powerful when combined but not often considered together
Lou Rosenfeld (going beyond user research)
Get out of your silo (mentally as well as physically) - make small but meaningful connections with other groups
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"Design has never really meant controlling the entire experience"
Frameworks/controlled co-design (e.g. Facebook profile) are a mixture of defined/controlled elements and customisation
(Kids do) but adults don't know how to play. Using masks allows you to create an identity to hide behind and frees you up to play.
Christian Crumlish (keynote)
"Tuning": within a framework calibrate and curate your own experience (e.g. Twitter)
"Allowed chaos" lets the user create/have fun via surprises
Competition is a great motivator but can also get in the way of the experience - it's not the only way to play (e.g games like Pandemic where you have to work together)
High res version
"Follow the whole experience, not just the digital interaction"
Nick Finck (keynote)
Cross-channel experiences are often not continuous or a single set of touchpoints - how can you make this a seamless experience (e.g. Kindle and Netflix)
Observe how the other touchpoints impact on and affect the experience and strive to create a hive mentality (all working together holistically)
Attention to detail counts (observe in context and look for 'hacks')
Tangible, offline and mobile are all key parts of the experience that need to be thought of and integrated
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People don't visit your website for the design/experience- they come for the content
Kristina Halverson (keynote)
Simplying your content strategy helps you figure out how content will help you meet your business objectives
All too often no-one is talking/thinking about who is creating the content and where it will come from - content producers are being brought into the process to late
High res version
"It's not about the tools it's about the thinking process that led to these tools"
Stephen Anderson (keynote)
Change from a product/solution focus to an experience focus ('design a better way to…)
Re-frame the problem to ensure you solving the right problem
Map the peaks and valleys of the user's experience (these are the memorable parts) - how can we make the valleys positively memorable? [See the Dominos Pizza Tracker]
'Z-shaped' thinkers:
Change directionExplore many different perspectivesSynthesise info & embrace constraintsChallenge assumptions & appreciate details
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"There is no single mobile culture (and there is room for more than one winner)"
Josh Clark (keynote)
Apps are better suited to 'doing'(mobile) Web is better for reference activities
Think small (SMS) - only 30-40% of adults in the US have (and are using) apps on their phone
Apps make it easier to build the awesome (but you MUST have a mobile-friendly website)
Don't confuse context with intent - just because I'm on a smaller screen doesn't mean I want to do or see less… I just want to see it in a different way
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Finding apps (via app store/word of mouth) is an important criteria for success
"Build once, deploy many is a pipedream"
"Cognition is a limited resource - it's our job to allow the end user to 'spend' it wisely"
Chris Fahey (keynote)
We're creating interactions that are unnecessary and have no real reward (e.g. collecting badges and achievements in games)
We're spending a lot of time and effort doing things manually (e.g. tagging) when technology could do it better and faster
We waste a lot of the time and cognitive energy that technology frees up doing stuff like watching TV - what could we achieve if we we to make better use of this time?
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Work smart: if something is 'good enough' use it and move on to the next challenge
Use a 'Parking Lot' to get the idea out, park it and move on
We like complexity and sometimes we create our own problems (unnecessarily complex data porn)
Dario Buzzini (keynote)
Work with/alongside others to build the right knowledge base and skill-set (pairing)
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"Examining the obvious is where great insights come from ...”
“… don't start with the solution, examine the question first"
Don Norman (keynote)
Marketing is about what people buy - UX is about what people need (these are not the same thing and should not be confused or lumped together)
"Life is complex: our tools must match life. We need to design to help us understand and live with this complexity"
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Don Norman (keynote)
"Examining the obvious is where great insights come from ...”
Simplicity doesn't always result in usability. The Google search page is simple and highly usable if you want to search, but if you want to do any of the secondary tasks, the simplicity of the interface makes these harder to initiate
We need to set the balance of complexity right to avoid users getting bored (too low) or frustrated (too high). As users gain experience, they require more complexity to achieve this balance.
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System thinking design (looking at the whole experience) can be the reason for success failure: iPod vs. early mp3 players with no app store or interface / Kindle (self contained system)
