Do You Find Inspiration in What Surrounds You?

Being in a creative field, I am often looking for sources of inspiration. It’s hard to get inspired when you’re working in a 6′ x 6′ square cube. My solution, taking post cards from Art Basel and covering the cubicle walls with them. This is something I’ve always done. When I was in college I made color copies from my Art Books and pasted my cubicle walls with them. What are those things that are in your proximity that inspire you? Is it your friends conversations on Facebook? Is it your favorite coffee house or the socialization that takes place there?

Yesterday I did something I haven’t done in a long time. I went to a book store with the intention of buying 2 books. One about developing my career path, and a children’s book for my son to read. I wanted a compilation of classic children’s stories in a format that he would be able to read to me at bed time. The day after my visit to the book store I hear a rumor that the bookstore chain was going to be closing.

During my search for the book I wanted to buy, I didn’t come home with the career book because I was unable to commit to one, and I also had the feeling that I would be able to get the same information online. The thing that the book store had to offer that I would not find on the internet was inspiration. I was surrounded by these artifacts that offered up information about topics that I would not have come across in any other way. I do go to the library more than most people, but the selection there is limited. When I want to get a book from there, it’s usually located at another branch and I have to put it on order, and if I get sent out of town on business before I can pick it up, I get charged a $1 fine.

The bookstore brought back a feeling of inspiration of when I studied art in college and would stay in the studio until late at night. Remember going to the video store just to read titles and perhaps run into other people who were looking for movies? Now you can watch previews in your living room.

So what is the solution to finding this new stimulation?

How does one surround them self with the inspiration they need to think differently when they are isolated except for a rectangular digital device, or a digital tube? What are the repercussions going to be on society as a whole? People need a way to connect with other people in a way that is not digital. Is there going to be a replacement for the Mall, offering some type of other interaction with other people that has a sustainable business model? It seems that I have more questions than answers at this point, but it feels like there’s an opportunity to be filled around the corner.

The Evolving Design Brief

I have used Design Brief as a guide document for the past 10 years. When I was first introduced to the  Design brief I was working as a business analyst/designer in the field of e-commerce. During that time the Design Brief was a very concise one page statement that worked as a guide for the designer to understand the project goals, objectives and mood.

Today I’m seeing design briefs becoming a much more robust document, however it still serves the same basic purpose, to represent the business needs of the design.

A design brief should include in summary form:

• Overview and Goals of the new design
• Target Audience
• Schedule Milestones
• Scope or Criteria
• Overall look/style

I have also seen them contain Reference Documentation, Product Overview, Problem Statement, Features, and Competitive Product information, and it can also contain information about what the design is ‘not’. Needless to say this has veered away from the one page format of yesteryear.

From an Usability perspective the design brief can be an effective tool of communicating a design hypothesis for an initial iteration to be leveraged during the Research Phase of the User Centered Design process. This can be an artifact that supports the scientific approach to collecting requirements. Make your hypothesis, and then validate it with users.

The important thing is that the Design Brief is used to guide the designer as to the business needs of the project, and to give some direction as to what needs to be achieved. Whatever format you choose, the design brief should be an effective tool of communication. If everyone working on the project and the end customer agrees with the content of the  the Design Brief and has consensus as to the design criteria then it can prevent conflicts later in the design process.

A UX Architect is an interpreter

Usability Architect

We take research data and synthesizes it into useful information. Everyone has presumptions with good intentions abut the product they want to build and sell. As the UX Architect we level set everyone involved and to create an experience framework with taxonomy and themes that will educate, and get everyone to use a shared language that everyone clearly understands.

There are product level UX Architects, and Enterprise level Architects. An Enterprise Architect synthesizes meaning from several systems that sometimes interweave. We show that if a change is made in one system, it can have an affect in another system. Systems thinking is a valuable skill in software development today.

Doing research is not enough, it’s  very important to make meaning out of that information. How do UX Architects find patterns and clues as to what features or functionality are the most valuable to a user? We use affinitized data and finds themes that emerge, and then apply it into the architecture.  When a stake holder or subject matter expert comes to the table with a presumption about what should be in the product the UX Architect provides Scenarios, Storyboards, Voice of the User, Experience Themes and User Stories artifacts which define the problem to be solved.

Once the story and user data is very clear (synthesized) other people can be brought in to contribute.  A Software Engineer Architect can view and understand the story and map out system dependancies, constraints, and what may need to be built into the platform to make the story happen.

Adding Value

How does using tried and true User Centered Design help deliver a world class experience? By discovering value propositions that are based off of real research.  UX Architects are trained to identify potential opportunities for value and determine ROI. Think about how can this opportunity lead to making money? How does alleviating a point point turn into a win for the customer and revenue for the business.

For example a Time on task study an be used to identify tasks that waste time. This technique can be used to determine critical features that can increase productivity.

UX Architectural Framework

Sometimes architecture diagrams can be a site map, a knowledge map, or a full blown diagram. It needs to include what themes are going to be included in the solution.

UX Architects use Themes – “A theme helps teams collectively build a more meaningful product. It is a coordinating force behind the design. When all the tangible elements of a product are all working together for the same purpose the product has a stronger story to tell.” (see boxes & arrows Experience Themes for more information)

Themes emerge from the patterns derived from artifacts collected from the research subject. It could be a business goal, marketing message, contextual inquiry artifact. An experience theme expresses the core value of the user experience.

Once themes are identified they should be evangelized to everyone who is collaborating on the project. This helps build a common lexicon and allows everyone involved on the same page.  When everyone is using the same design language, it saves time and effort. When we go to collaboration meetings, everyone will be talking about the same thing. When you have the data to back up a theme, then it becomes easier to communicate and justify why a feature is required. If someone suggests something that ‘sounds cool’ but is not supported by data then it can be validated as to why it should be in or out of the product.

The UX Architect creates a UX roadmap that will show a starting point, where you want to be, an how to get there. Roadmaps put work into buckets or workable chunks. Once you have your vision you can create a solution with major UX architectural components. Remember when you develop your roadmap to keep it based on themes from the over all vision.

The UX Architect influences the design. Its important to influence peers and stakeholders of the value that we offer. It is our goal to provide our users with a World Class experience and for it to result in our products that are market differentiators. When you are a good UX evangelist, you illustrate the value of Usability and the risk of the cost model that does not follow good Usability Practices.

 

Usability – A Sign of Business Maturity

Just about everybody is familiar with Facebook these days, prior to their IPO last year, Mark Zuckerberg announced that their company would stay cutting edge by  moving fast and breaking things. This is a concept that the company would fearlessly break new territory than settle in the dust. However as time moves on, Facebook is seeing the value in increasing their Usability behind the scenes before going into the spotlight with new features and designs. 

By collecting information about their users and testing new ideas they can predict the success of changes before they go live. These are some of the tenants that User Centered Design are based on.

How do you get started with User Centered Design? Well a good start is a Usability Strategy for success. This should include process for projects to follow that are based around:

• Research and Observation
• Interpreting Data and Design Ideas
• Testing and Evaluation

There should also be project success criteria outline. Like how all of this sounds? I’m just getting started, more to come…

Decreasing the Knowledge Gap

One of the considerations in interface design is that not only do you have to acknowledge that you are not the user, but that your users will all come from unique background experiences. During life our quest for knowledge takes us from zero at birth, and many strive for that unobtainable ‘all knowing’ status. Our experiences leave us somewhere in the middle at our ‘current’ knowledge point. 

When we strive to do a new task that we have never performed before, that becomes our ‘target’ knowledge. Our goal to assist the user to get to their ‘target’ knowledge is to remove the gap between current, and target. Designers can use many techniques, but there are only 2 ways of moving a user from their current knowledge to their target knowledge, and that is either through training, or by moving the target closer to current by simplifying the design.

Often times when a user struggles with a task during User Testing, they will need a nudge in the right direction. Sometimes giving them a hint one time, will allow for them to accomplish the rest of the tasks (usually I remind them that left click, right click, and double click are all options). Usually the next time they are faced with the same challenge for which they received a nudge, they will glide past it without even giving it a second thought. I call this a “learn once, use many” situation — a pattern that is used consistently throughout the UI, a metaphor that makes sense.  If the user does not hesitate during the next encounter,  I will usually not suggest its removal.

The way to move the user from current knowledge to target knowledge by simplify the design is to do things like reducing the number of fields on a form, or stepping the user through the sections, or using dynamic displays so that the users actions determine their next steps. Requiring field validation informs the user immediately when they enter invalid information and makes it impossible for the user to proceed. 

Another technique for simplification is to map out what we know about our users and their tasks starting with basic information and moving on to more complex concepts. You can use personas and scenarios to illustrate examples of levels of current knowledge starting points.

Jared Spool of UIE 18 discusses what he calls The Magic Elevator of Acquired Knowledge as a metaphor for a way to illustrate the Knowledge Gap and how it can be reduced. 

Jennifer Bruner Aid Fundraiser – This Sunday Aug 4th

I am holding a fundraiser for a South Florida Hero named Jennifer Bruner. 

On July 4th Jennifer Bruner shielded a 3 year old girl from being hit by a renegade firework. She sustained injuries that resulted in her going to the emergency room from her heroic action. 
Jennifer Bruner Aid is a fundraiser to raise money to pay for Jennifer’s medical bills and lost wages during her recovery. 

The Fundraiser is August 4th at 4PM at Kaos Ultra Lounge in Fort Lauderdale
Address: 2724 East Commercial Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL
Suggested donation $10
Event URL: https://www.facebook.com/events/533470390039605/

Here is Jennifer’s story:

It’s the fourth of July… the BBQ is going, laughter is in the air and everyone is having a picture-perfect evening.  The sun has set and it’s time for the best part of the night….. fireworks, big fireworks. The kind that can be seen for miles.
Seated in lawn chairs at the other end of the yard were Audrey, a 3-year old girl in a ballerina outfit, and a new friend she just met that day, 31 year old Jennifer Bruner. The fireworks flew high above the trees. They were loud. They were beautiful.

Then something went wrong. What was supposed to go up instead went sideways, across the yard. An explosive meant to light up the sky instead landed right at Audrey’s feet. 

Heroism is sometimes a decision. Other times it is rooted deeply- it is an instinct. This instinct makes all the difference between life and death, between a scare and disfigurement. Jennifer has this instinct. In less than two seconds Jennifer had bolted up from her seat, taken Audrey into her arms on her way up, and shielded the little girl with her own body. The shrapnel ripped what the doctor said looked like a gunshot wound in Jennifer’s leg. The little girl got away with a tiny burn mark. Jennifer was rushed to the hospital. She waited for the surgeon with calmness and grace. She was there for a week with complications and for multiple surgeries.

What happened on July 4th is the Jennifer Bruner that I have known for 10 years. “Amazing” and “courageous” come to mind. But these qualities take a deeper meaning when they are seen in action, when a person makes a personal sacrifice to save someone from a blast. 

Jennifer is a student and full-time worker who lives alone. She would do just about anything to help others. That is exactly what she did on July 4th. And she paid a painful price. Jennifer is unable to walk unassisted and does not know when she will be cleared by the doctors to work again. Meanwhile, her medical bills are piling up.

Please help and make a difference, just like Jennifer did.

Donate here: http://www.HelpJennifer.info

A Real Life Hero

A friend of mine told me he feels like often times he lacks the satisfaction of making a difference. Some people have the desire to make the world a better place, yet doesn’t see the impact of the change that they bring.

Are you looking to make a difference today?

Over the 4th of July weekend, my friend Jennifer Bruner selflessly threw herself between a 3 year old girl and a renegade firework. Needless to say she took a hit in the leg and has been unable to work. She also has accrued some hospital expenses.

We have set up a Fund to help her in this time of need. Please take a moment of your time to donate what you can to help her get back on her feet. Thank you.

Here is the link to her fund:
http://www.helpjennifer.info

Over the 4th of July weekend, my friend Jennifer Bruner selflessly threw herself between a 3 year old girl (shown in the picture) and a renegade firework. Needless to say she took a hit in the leg and has been unable to work. She also has accrued some hospital expenses.

We have set up a Fund to help her in this time of need. Please take a moment of your time to donate what you can to help her get back on her feet. Thank you.

Here is the link to her fund:
http://helpjennifer.info

Using a Narrative Story in User Centered Design

Part of the process of creating an easy to use application is sharing vision in a Narrative Story. This entails creating user empathy and explains what issue or pain point is going to be addressed by the software feature. These stories should use the  information collected by the same Contextual Inquiry process performed at customer visits that is also used to build personas.

The persona should be the star of the Narrative Story, and should leverage persona details. The narrative story should be part fact, and part imagination. It should paint a picture around the value of the features that are required to create a most viable product. The narrative should cover an actual sequence of events. It should tell a story around the users pain and frustrations, and it should include day to day information. The story should flow in a narrative sequential way exploring a series of events. Then the narrative should tell how the product should resolve the issue or conflict that the persona experiences.

A Narrative Story can follow a Story Spine like the following format:

Persona name and role, responsibilities….

Primarily concerned with …

(Cadence).. and list of repetitive, tedious or time consuming tasks that produces contrast in the users life.

Painpoint/Frustration

Painpoint/Frustration

Painpoint/Frustration

Persona really wants to…

For (length of time) this has been Persona’s reality.

Until one day, the persona was introduced to/found/adopted, etc…

Which allowed the persona to…(high level summary)

Ever since that day.. list improvements, delights.

Benefit

Benefit

Benefit

As a result Persona… conclude with how personas motivation/goal/pain point has been addressed. Include time/cost savings info (faster, more efficient, cheaper)…

What used to take (time/cost reduction or avoidance) now takes (shorter time/cost).

List how the persona feels now.. with the time/cost saved, the persona can….

The Social Media Universe

The Conversation Prism

The Conversation Prism – http://www.theconversationprism.com

 

A view of the social media universe categorized and organized by how people use each network.

Replacing Requirements Gathering with a more Scientific Approach

I recently stumbled across the article from User Interface Engineering

http://www.uie.com/articles/requirements_gathering

 

The gist of the article states that most people pull requirements out of thin air instead of getting in front of the customers to get more information, as a result there are a bunch of things that popup that derail the project.

 

The new method is to do what we used to do at the science fair when when we were kids doing science projects.

 

Using the following steps loosely based on the Scientific Method:

• Create a Hypothesis
• Conduct Research to test the Hypothesis
• Envision with Scenarios
• And Validate with a Critique

 

The result is that by taking the time to follow these steps you save time in the long run.