UX designer and comics nerd Deb Aoki shows examples of how simple whiteboard sketching and storyboards can foster collaboration and facilitate better user experiences. Bonus content: a quick drawing tutorial so you can do it too!
8. THEN I GOT A JOB AT…
I still write, but now I mostly draw.
…which is pretty awesome
9. WHY DRAW PICTURES?
• Focuses on users’ needs and problems, rather than on
design, business, or technology concerns or limitations
• Pictures can communicate abstract ideas and user
experiences quickly and powerfully
• Faster and cheaper than coding clickable prototypes
or designing wireframes, or polished page mock-ups
• Can provide a ‘big picture’ perspective
of the entire user experience, goals &
messaging
• It’s fun! And it encourages participation
and informal discussions
32. idea
lock / security time listen
cloud laptop NO!
money
fast slowsmartphone
email
DRAW COMMON CONCEPTS IN A
FEW STROKES
33. SHOW DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES
CLOSE-UP
Emphasis on
screen/finger
interaction
MID-TORSO
Emphasis on
screen
SEMI-CLOSE
Emphasis on
device / human
context/use
FULL BODY
Emphasis on ‘real
world’
context/place of
use
Workflow sketch for content development processes at Citrix
June 2014 Consultants workshop to brainstorm eDocs changes
eBay shopping cart customer experience, from “just browsing” to “ready to buy”
eBay Green Box – a re-usable box for shipping. Red represents seller experience and blue represents buyer experience.
CX customer journey sketching / customer insights of an interview with a doctor / end user of Citrix products
End user customer journey moments
End user interview with Olga, a globetrotting graphic designer who worked remotely for a month from Thailand, using Citrix products like ShareFile, Podio and GoTo Meeting to stay in touch with the Santa Clara offices.
GoTo Meeting user personas
Sample silhouettes of customer personas
One unique aspect of using a shopping cart on eBay is that many of the items on sale are one-of-a-kind, or available in very limited quantities. But we also couldn’t reserve items if someone put it in their cart – the items had to remain available to other buyers.
So I used the metaphor of someone going tot the supermarket to buy cereal – he puts the cereal in his cart, then he remembers he needs milk. So while he’s looking at his milk, someone snatches his cereal away and buys it before he does.
Illustrating the problem by using everyday, non-website situations really helped us to see how these situations would be really frustrating to users.
Painpoint: Too Many Buttons!
One thing that happens in eBay is that we offer our users a lot of different ways to buy something or save it for later. So one of the by-products of that is a page with a lot of buttons!
Quite often, we design based on what our one improvement/change would look like on the site – but often, we don’t take into account the cumulative effect of many changes made by many teams to the same page.
This page was part of a story about a user who hears about a cool thermostat, then tries to go to eBay to buy it – and along the way, is confronted with a dizzying array of choices.
XenMobile day in the life storyboard
CubeLess scenario – for an app that helps mobile workers find cafes / shared workspaces
File sharing and collaboration app concept drawings
Group Gifts concept storyboard for eBay
GoTogether concept drawing – shared/social concert/event ticket buying on eBay
Think Tank 2014 – June / 3 day session with Citrix Execs, sketching the high level strategy / planning topics
Dave Gray’s style of drawing stick figures
David Sibbett’s “star people”
Doodle Revolution by Sunni Brown
The Sketchnote Handbook by Mike Rhode
The Graphic Facilitator’s Guide by Brandy Agerbeck
Visual Meetings by David Sibbett
Understanding Comics and Making Comics by Scott McCloud
See What I Mean by Kevin Cheng
Drawing Words and Writing Pictures by Jessica Abel and Matt Madden