Become a User Experience Designer in 45 MinutesBy Sara Summers

Design can seem like a black art.

The toys, messy desks, strange lingo…

User experience is all around us.

User experience can be reduced to one idea:

The practice of design that is on behalf of the user in order to bring about purposeful change

and meaning.

…I will tell you to sketch, prototype and be a savvy storyteller.

Oh and test, test, test.

…I will tell you to sketch, prototype and be a savvy storyteller.

Oh and test, test, test.

Let’s start with understanding…

It is no longer acceptable to simply serve user’s needs.

People want:

delight, discoverability, fun, enchantment, rewards, excitement,

connection, goals, direction, participation, generosity, exploration,

play, engagement, serendipity, seduction

No problem right?!

TYPICAL REQUIREMENTS LIST

- Technology constraints

- What we think we want

- What someone else told us we need

- The internal org legacy decision

- What the competitor has

- What executive management insists we need

UX takes diverse view points and maps a cohesive direction.

• Clear • Actionable• Insightful• Humanized Ideas

REQUIREMENTS LIST- Technology constraints

- What we think we want

- What someone else told us we need

- The internal org legacy decision

- What the competitor has

- What executive management insists we need

People’s aspirations say more about what they truly desire than

past behavioror what they say

they want.

People’s aspirations say more about what they truly desire than

past behavioror what they say

they want.

REQUIREMENTS LIST- Technology constraints

- What we think we want

- What someone else told us we need

- The internal org legacy decision

- What the competitor has

- What executive management insists we need

HUMAN

Psychology

UX Problem 1: We have to have a sign in page

Awesome, I want to play with that…

Ughhhhhhh…

Ok, almost there…

Why is this one better?

You can still see why you are there and it

looks like nearly instant reward.

UX Problem 2:Our product has a lot of forms to fill out

(either task driven or data collection based)

Typical form layout

*Everything is required

Unclear/ Duplicate info?

Huh, this looks easy…

I can jump right in…

If you either want or need people’s data, make it clear, dead simple and ENJOYABLE.

Web Form Design by Luke Wroblewski

An organized, useable product or application isn’t enough anymore.

UX patterns help people get things done (and have fun doing it).

Experience patterns for people:

Task progression:indicators, orientation & engagement

Transitions:recognition, reassurance & status

Getting things done:directives, online brain & human(ize) error

Task progression: Satisfies and serves user’s goals.

indicators

orientation

engagement

Transitions: ‘Is this thing on?!’ Calming frustration & fostering delight.

recognition

reassurance

status

Getting things done: Task easing, comfort and memory.

directives

online brain

human(ize) error

More great patterns here:

quince.infragistics.com/

Game Theory

Mashable.com - December 2009

Mashable.com - December 2009

18 Million69 MillionActive, monthly players

What is the deal?!

Farmville has the secret sauce:

Your real friends…

…who you can gift (free!!)

Easy and enjoyable to play.

Tons ways to connect and customize.

Friends: reciprocity and teamwork required.

Learning: easy start w/ depth for skill and mastery.

Customizable: Zynga listened to user feedback.

Don’t want to farm veggies? They made flowers, vineyards,

extra livestock.

No pets in Farmville? They made dogs.

- Sid Meier, Civilization

“…a series of meaningful choices.”

Games and UX are:

Easy enough…

A good, contagious game has:

- Points- Badges- Levels- Status

A good, contagious game has:

- Points – Encourage & reinforce good behavior

- Badges – Acknowledge completion & participation

- Levels – Reward milestones & unlock more stuff

- Status – Top User benefits; runs discussions, perks

A good, contagious game has a SOUL.

- Relevant – adds to my life

- Realistic – fits into my life

- Trustworthy – I do good things/makes me better

- Intrinsic – Learn, problem solve, help out, desirable

What happens when we don’t reward correctly?

People feel deceived, bribed and despise you for it.

Understanding human incentives:Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn

Amazing game theory: The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell

Ubiquity

Ubiquitous computing

The term was coined by Mark Weiser, Chief Technologist at Xerox Research, in 1988…

…describes human-computer interaction where information processing completely integrated into

everyday objects and activities.

Ubiquitous computing

Launched research around:

- Distributed and mobile computing- User experience and interaction- Content and context awareness

Ubiquitous computing

Defines devices that THINK and improve day to day life.

“In this world of ubiquitous computing, where there are different types of

information appliances - your car, your watch, your phone - how do these things work together as a society of appliances

that exists within a society of people.”

- Bill Buxton, on the future of experience design

We have a lot to design and build for…

Tools should enable and drive the content not just the structure or device.

The tools connect our experiences…so we can focus on context and user goals.

…so you can be experience INNOVATORS