How to avoid the User Experience dark side Cennydd Bowles

Senior Information Architect uSwitch.com Cennydd Bowles

!= Star Wars geek It’s just cool Cennydd Bowles

Personal experience

!= expert

= expert

Where it starts 1

Passion

Easy stuff? Easy!

Not for long…

Letting it slip 2

Big guns

Disagreement

Business v User

Business v User

It won’t happen again!

(except, of course, it does)

“ I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it further.” - Darth Vader

must… find… proof…

must… find… proof…

must… find… proof…

Cognitive psychology von Restorff effect heuristic walkthroughs mental model information design short term memory chunking Gestalt Pragnanz closure interaction design metaphor Fitts’ Law information seeking behaviour berrypicking progressive disclosure framing microcontent labelling information architecture usability testing affordance cognitive dissonance mapping card sorting complementary colours user stories constraints aesthetic-usability effect form follows

whatever…

“ Don’t you call me a mindless philosopher , you overweight glob of grease” - C3PO

The Dark Side 3 a

Dark side is mechanistic

Dark side is isolated

Dark side is misunderstood

Dark side is evil

The Light Side 3 b

Involved

Beyond the interface

Innovating

How to resist 4

Light v Dark

Real users, not proxy users

Learn, always

Get personal

Passion != zealotry

“ Let the Wookiee win. ” - C3PO

Ethics

Hard work

“ Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter” - Yoda

Good luck! You’re going to need it. cennydd.co.uk twitter.com/cennydd