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Presentation by John Yesko at the 2011 Information Architecture Summit (IA Summit) entitled: "The User Experience Brief: The What and Why Before the How." We IAs spend a lot of time discussing the “core” documents in information architecture—wireframes, site maps, prototypes. But we often jump into these very tactical, design-oriented deliverables too hastily. The user experience brief takes on a more strategic role. Early in the project, it’s our vehicle to summarize what we know so far, particularly requirements and research results. More importantly though, it lays the foundation for the UX design approach, with the goals of gathering consensus and identifying sticking points early on. The user experience brief illuminates the organizing principles—user experience fundamentals to be followed and referenced throughout the project. We’ll talk about the value of this early-project document, its role in shaping the user experience approach, how its composed, and its limitations. We’ll look at a number of great visual examples too. Introduced the right way and at the right time, the UX brief can be an invaluable stake in the ground with clients and internal stakeholders.
Citation preview
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The User Experience Brief
John Yesko IA Summit 2011
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About me
Now: Director of User Experience at Walgreens
1993
Web Designer
1995 2000 2005 2010
Information Architect / UX Designer
Medical Illustrator
Web!
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User Experience at
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User Experience at
• UX group– Organized by lines of business– 13 UX designers
Information architecture Interaction design Taxonomy User research
• Just announced deal to acquire Drugstore.com– 60K more products– 3M loyal customers– Several strong URLs/brands
• Looking for experienced UX help in Chicago!– And small agencies
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Basics
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What is the UX brief?
Early-stage strategic approach document with two primary goals:
• Summarizes what we know so far = output of Discovery process
• Sets up how we intend to attack the project
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Who is it for?
• Stakeholders– Clients (external)– Business owners and executives (internal)
• “Downstream” team– Creative– Technical
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Where does it fit?
*Your process may vary
UX Business Insight
User Experience TeamUX Brief
Implementation / Product Assignment
UX Business Insight
User Flows *
User Flows and Wireframes: Conceptual
Wireframes: Detailed / Annotated
DISCOVERY
Input from Stakeholders
Delivery to Creative and
Technical
User R
esea
rch
User R
esea
rch
DESIGN
Business Requirements
Document
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Why do we use it?
• To get a head start on building consensus
• To discover any early “red flags”
• As a touch point to reference later (CYA)
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Composition of the Brief
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What’s in the UX brief?
“Master” content outline includes:
1. Project overview2. User experience inputs3. Organizing principles4. Deliverables5. Issues and risks
• Tailored to the particular project
• Varies in length depending on needs (and audience’s attention span)– Often doesn’t include every possible element
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User Experience Inputs
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User experience inputs—what we know
Insights from:
• Analytics • User research • Competitive• Stakeholders• User experience / heuristic
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Inputs
• Analytics insights– Statistics– Survey results– Other metrics
6%21%
5%
16%4%
11%
Satisfaction Look & Feel
Merchandise Navigation Price Browsing Descriptions Images Performance
76 80 81 74 80 79 78 80 76
Customer satisfaction
On-site behavior
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“No additional features - the Home page is so crowded now that I want to give up now rather than slog through the ads and options for what I'm after…”
Inputs
• User research insights– Usability tests– Card sorting– Surveys
“I can’t find where to refill my prescription.”
“Let me finish my primary task first—then I’m OK with being upsold.”
@heyhiLindsay“[Expletive] just ordered a calender on walgreens.com and it was literally the hardest thing I've ever done in awhile, [expletive] that.”
“THIS APP SUCKS!!! IT DOESN'T BRING UP MY PHOTO ALBUMS...WALGREENS, I USED TO WORK FOR YOU, I BUY YOUR CRAP, SO GET YOUR [EXPLETIVE] TOGETHER!!!”
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Inputs
• Personas and scenarios– May be developed specifically for larger / longer-term projects– Existing “approved” personas can be referenced where applicable– Scenarios may reflect requirements and preview functionality
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Inputs
• Competitive insights– Best practices– Opportunities to fill a missing need– Emerging standards, e.g., common functionality or taxonomy
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Inputs
• Stakeholder insights– Goals and challenges from those sponsoring the project– Consensus, or alliances on controversial topics
“We have a great story to tell. We need rich case studies to show what we’ve done in the past.”
“Booking appointments online is great, but it doesn’t necessarily mean we can get them into the shop right away when they show up.”
“When a potential customer sends an email inquiry through the site, it typically gets shuffled around to five or six people. We don’t have any way to track whether it’s been followed up.”
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Inputs
• User experience / heuristic insights– Observations from the UX team– May be hypotheses, not yet proven by user research (or unprovable)
Potentially confusing category labels
Inefficient global navigation
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Inputs
Stupid elevator buttons
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Organizing Principles
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What are organizing principles?
Loosely interpreted:• Fundamentals and strategies we will observe while designing• Major areas of UX focus• High-level design approach
General Specific
Generic UX guidelines
Project-specific design ideas
• Range from general to specific
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What are organizing principles?
May include other “deliverables”:
• Concept map• User flow• High-level wireframes• Suggestions of look and feel (e.g., mood boards)
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What are organizing principles?
Examples from several diverse projects…
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Examples
Leverage multiple inputs to taxonomy design
New
TaxonomyUser Experience Team
Analysis
User Research
Industry Standards
Internal Business Insight
Really means…
There will be several influences, but we’re ultimately making the decision.
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Examples
Leverage multiple inputs to taxonomy design
The inputs will have different levels of influence at various levels of the taxonomy.
Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4
Influ
ence
User ResearchInternal Insight
Industry Standards
Really means…
We care most about what customers think of our higher-level taxonomy. Once we get down to the deeper levels, we need the internal team to make decisions—because it’s harder to test (and it’s a lot of work.)
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Examples
Establish the online relationship among the three brands
Really means…
If we can’t figure this out pretty soon, it will be hard to proceed with the UX design at all. We’ll give you our opinions, but it’s primarily a business decision that we don’t have authority to make.
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Examples
Position the holiday content as free-standing, but with key hooks into permanent site features
Road TripGift
Face-Off
ProductCatalog
Gifts
Holiday HQ (Holiday Hub)
Seasonal
Year-round
Checkout
Multiple connections between
holiday experience and products
WishRegistry
Military Initiative
ShoppingTools
Home
Gift Detective
(Facebook)
Gift Detective
GNN
Give Together
(Facebook)Give
Together (Evite)
Give Together
Wireless
Personal Shopper
FacebookHoliday
Programs
Daily Deals
Community
Really means…
There are parts of the site that we’re not going to touch—but others that we need access to and cooperation on.
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Examples
Video Demo
The RAZR 2 Experience
Zoom & 360 View
Phone Menu Simulation
Details & Purchase
Product description
Main product photo
Product options and purchase
Accessories <or> Compatible Products
Resources
Support
Promotions <and/or> Packages
Product
Features
Specifications
Similar Products
Product Product Product
Reviews
Blog <and/or> Wiki
RAZR 2
More Photos / Colors
Interactive product experience / microsite
Search Go
Product Kernel
Browse
On-site search
Interactive product experience / microsite
Inbound links
Outbound linksRetailer / dealer finder
ZIP / Postal Code:Go
Shopping cart Checkout
ResourcesSupport
Product at the Center
Content shared between product Kernel and content’s permanent “home” in other sections
Search Go
Search engine
Online advertisingExternal links
Treat the product as the core, and organize the site around it
Really means…
Just what is says—this one is more about a design philosophy.
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Examples
Candidates
Low usage; poor labeling
Low usage; redundant
Low usage; especially frames 2-5
May be consolidated
Low usage; poor content
Eliminate underused or poor-performing content
Really means…
We’re getting rid of all this crap that you all fight over, but users don’t care about.
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Examples
Develop a lead management / CRM solution
Really means…
You came to us for a re-design of your site, and we’re doing that. But your main call-to-action is that users should contact you to establish a relationship. If you screw that up, it doesn’t matter how good the site is.
By the way, we don’t do CRM systems—this isn’t an upsell.
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Examples
Adapt store operations to integrate with eCommerce
Really means…
This is a multi-channel experience (even though we’re only working on one channel). If we promise something on the Web that the in-store experience doesn’t follow through on, both are screwed.
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Examples
Leverage the rich visual nature of the company’s work
Really means…
There’s a real “cool factor” with your work, but your 100x100 pixel graphics aren’t cutting it.
Also we have a bunch of visual designers with hipster glasses who get tired of combing through stock photo sites.
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Examples
Introduce customers to the concept of buying online, not just buying from us
Choose your tires
1
Check out online
2Make an
appointment at one of our
certified installers
3
We ship your tires to the
installer
4Go in for your
installation appointment, and you’re
done!
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Really means…
This kind of shopping is still new to a lot of people. If they don’t understand the overall concept, it won’t matter how usable the site is.
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Examples
Expand the use of dynamic menus
Fly-out menus can empower more direct user navigation to deeper content and functionality
Accessibility and mobile device limitations need to be considered
Pharmacy
Refill Prescriptions
Transfer Prescriptions
New Prescriptions
Express Refills In-Store
Chat With a Pharmacist
Automatic Refills
Example
Really means…
We’re going to expand the use of dynamic menus.
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Considerations
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Risks and limitations
• May quickly become out-of-date as details are fleshed out– Approach evolves as design details are worked out– Treat as a “snapshot” in time
• Can create a perception of added time that could be spent designing– Although it probably saves time in the long run
• Stakeholders may not understand what they’re agreeing to– Can be too abstract for some to provide meaningful feedback– May not engage until they’re seeing design treatments
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Wrap up
• Helps survey the situation– Who has strong opinions? How much weight do we need to give them?– What factions are going to clash?– What important issues may have been missed?
• Encourages collaboration early (or at least healthy discussion)– Can save time defending solutions later– Winning over key allies can smooth the road
• Builds credibility for UX– Demonstrates that a lot goes into the design process– Positions us as strategic thinkers and experience planners, not order-takers
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Thank You
John Yeskowww.yesko.com@jyesko
