A project guide to UX Design | Russ Unger & Carolyn Chandler

Presentazione di Valentina Marzola

What is User Experience Design?

User experience design is the creation and synchronization of the elements that affect

users’ experience with a particular company, with the intent of influencing their

perceptions and behavior. The elements include things that the user can

TOUCH HEAR SMELL

and the things that users can interact with

DIGITAL INTERFACES PEOPLE

Starting a new project

It is necessary to understand of the project ecosystem: the environment you’re working

within (the company culture), the general type of work you will all be engaged in (such as

the types of sites you’re designing), and the people who you’ll be interacting with

(including their roles and responsibilities).

COMPANY CULTURE TYPES OF WEB SITES PEOPLE WITH WHOM INTERACT

Writing a proposal

Well-written proposals provide clients with a sense of stability and protection, which can

help alleviate many of the concerns that might arise, and it also allows you to define terms that protect both sides in the event that something changes.

The core components of a good proposal are:1.Title page | 2.Revision history | 3.Project overview | 4.Project approach | 5.Scope of

work | 6.Assumptions | 7.Deliverables | 8.Ownership and rights | 9.Additional costs and

fees | 10.Project pricing | 11.Payment schedule | 12.Acknowledgement and sign-off.

What the project will accomplish?

A solid objective is

Easy to understand. Avoid insider terminology.

Distinct. Avoid vague statements; instead, use wording that seems like it will be useful when you’re prioritizing requirements.

Measurable. Make concrete statements that you can set an independent measurement against to determine your success.

How can a UX Designer help?

Doing a SWOT analysis = bringing out information of the company’s strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats.

What’s the project approach?

The methodology you

choose can depend on

many things, including the

structure and location of

the project team, the

technologies being used on

the project, and the

degree to which

collaboration is a part of

the company’s culture.

WATERFALL APPROACH

AGILE APPROACH

MODIFIED WATERFALL APPROACH WITH BETA RELEASE

Project requirements

REQUIREMENTS = statements defining what the site or application needs to do.

Getting to a consolidated list of project requirements involves the following steps:

1. Understand the current state of the site or its competitors. (heuristic analysis)

2. Gather needs and ideas from business stakeholders as well as current and potential users.

3. Coalesce ideas into requirements.

4. Prioritize requirements based on project objectives.

Define the user groups

1. Define your user groups = Create a list of attributes and discuss it at the company’s

project, prioritize the attributes and define the user groups that you will focus on.

2. Plan for user involvement

3. Conduct the research (tab. 6.1 – A project guide of UX Design, p. 92)

4. Validate your user group definitions

5. Generate user requirements

Personas | Find the best way to put your team or your client in your users’ shoes

With appropriate research and descriptions, personas can paint a very clear picture of who is using the site or application, and potentially even how they are using it.

UXD and SEO

Search Engine Optimization is the process of developing and maintaining a Web asset

with the intention of gaining and keeping top placement on public search engines for

specifically targeted keyword phrases.

UX design is critical to search engine optimization and you must take into account so that

the environments you create will have a fighting chance on Google.

An optimized Web site relies on a structure and technology that facilitates the movement

of the search engine spiders.

Elements that matter: Flash, Ajax, JavaScript, domains, directories, content, metadata,

keywords, and link popularity.

From defining to designing

This point in the process is the right time to:

1. Ideate and visualize features that did not emerge during stakeholder interviews or user research. (many conceptual techniques helping visualize the context. Ex. Storyboards).

2. Prioritize project requirements.

3. .Plan the activities and documentation you’ll be using during design.

Site maps and Task Flows

A site map is simply a visual way to display

representative pages of a Web site. It

generally fits on a single sheet of paper and

ells you the visual hierarchy of a site’s or

application’s layout.

Task flows identify paths or processes that users

(and sometimes a system) will take as they

progress through your Web site or application. It

gives you details of users’ options and the paths

they will be able to take.

Wireframes and annotations

A wireframe is a low-fidelity prototype of a Web

page or application screen, used to identify the

elements that will be displayed on the page or

screen, such as navigation, content sections,

imagery and/or media needs, form elements and calls to action (CTAs).

To create a wireframes, it is necessary to understand what it is that you are trying to create

for a user, what the connections are, and a

general understanding of the technological

limitations and expectations.

Prototyping

In the context of user experience design, prototyping is the art (not an artifact) of creating

and testing all or part of the functionality of an application or Web site with users, and

depending on time and budget, it can be made with analog, digitally or with other

technology-based tools.

What Happens After Prototyping? Synthesize your results and turn them into something

actionable. If you were paper prototyping, create digital wireframes based on the

feedback you received. If you are already in a digital wireframe mode, update your

wireframes and proceed through your project process. Or, you may need to take your

feedback and update your prototype for another round of reviews.

Design testing with users – Find out how they think

CONCEPT EXPLORATION

Concept is generally the word used to describe an abstract idea, but in the field of UX

design, it is also used to refer to a conceptual design element that can be visual or text-based.

CONCEPT EXPLORATION: typically happens early in the design process, after you’ve defined your user groups but before you’ve gotten into the detail of each page or screen,

and it needs to understand the kinds of responses and ideas that are elicited from your

user groups when faced with a set of design elements. (one-to-one discussions or other

activities)

Other methods: Usability test

Launch and postlauch

Once you identify your target set of users, you can test the Web site against any scenarios

that appear to be high risk or that may have issues in previous iterations of the site.

AFTER THE LAUNCH? After you’ve launched your site, one of the first things you should do is

begin to accumulate data on site usage.

THE BEST SOURCE: THE LOG FILE.

This information can help you understand where users are having problems by highlighting

trouble spots on the site.

After you accumulate data from your Web site analytics and gather information from

customer support or other departments interacting with users, you can begin to compile a

list of questions to use in another round of design testing with users. analyzing the

differences in responses may also help you identify new questions that were not

considered previously.