UI For Alien Cowboys

UI for Alien Cowboys Matt Jones The Disappearing Organisation

UI for alien cowboys or, easy user-centred practices for designing emerging applications

Three things you’ll leave with…
What user centred design is
And why it is useful
Easy ways to incorporate user -centred design
Tricks and tips that don’t take long, and deliver results
How to marry user-centred design with emerging technologies and methodologies

Two (maybe three) parts
Overview of user-centred design methods
Practical tips and tricks
Working on a design exercise
If there’s time:
Specific challenges of
Mobile
MMORPG Gaming/Play
Some future trends

First though… What’s an alien cowboy?

One thing to always remember

We are Aliens.

We are aliens
We are not our audience
Geoffrey Moore’s Adoption Curve from his book “Crossing the Chasm”
Geeks forgive
Computers, not people
Even if we are building for other builders
Geoffrey Moore’s Adoption Curve: Don Norman Remix : http://www. jnd .org

“Crossing the Chasm” Geoffrey Moore’s Adoption Curve: Don Norman Remix : http://www. jnd .org WE ARE ALL HERE SOMETIMES WE ARE HERE

“Crossing the chasm” Geoffrey Moore’s Adoption Curve: Don Norman Remix : http://www. jnd .org [ UNDERSTANDING CONTEXTS OF USE CREATES BRIDGES ACROSS THE CHASM

First though… What’s an alien cowboy?

I am a cowboy
I am lazy
I like things which don’t take long but give good results
I like approaches, but dislike processes
Processes or methodologies used creatively can get you to unexpected and delightful end results
But they can also become dogmatic and destructive
“ Things are useful as long as they are useful”
I think this is pretty common (are you a cowboy too?)
This tutorial will focus on approaches and tips that appeal to the cowboy in me

okay...

Part 1: Overview of User-Centred Design

What is User-Centered Design?
“ User-Centred Design (UCD) is an approach to design that grounds the process in information about the people who will use the product. UCD processes focus on users through the planning, design and development of a product.”
Usability Professionals’ Association
http://www.upassoc.org

Main Benefits

Macro & Micro macro micro What to build What will solve the problem What will sell How to build How to solve the problem How to sell What will people use How will people use What/Why? How?

Enlarging markets
Inclusive design
Design for extremes of market (old, young, less able)
Utility and desirability for everyone in between
E.g. Good Grips
See your product/service in terms of an ‘ecology’
Apple’s iLife
Arguable…
Sony’s “sunrise to sunset” view

Sunrise to sunset: evolve ideas in the market Market Creation Market Penetration Market Domination NOON Market Expansion Market Saturation Market Exhaustion SUNRISE Mid morning Mid afternoon SUNSET

Diagram from “Digital Dreams: The work of the Sony design centre” Paul Kunkel

Benefits to Cowboys of User-Centred Design process
Removes the power politics of development:
Externalises issues
Allows constructive discussion
Shared frame of reference for all team members
User research information can introduce
Shared language
Shared goals
More multidisciplinary approach

Some notable approaches

Some notable approaches
Cooper
Persona Driven Design
ISO standard
ISO 13407
ISO 18529
UPD
User Participatory Design
Adaptive Design

Cooper’s Persona Driven Design

Alan Cooper
Alan Cooper
Persona driven design
“ Cooper's personas are simply pretend users of the system you're building. You describe them, in a surprising amount of detail, and then design your system for them.” – Meg Hourihan*
Primary personas
Dictate focus, scope
“ Target audience”
Secondary personas
On periphery of target market
Might even be ‘anti-customers’
People you will never satisfy
* http://www.boxesandarrows.com/archives/002330.php

ISO standards on Human-Centered Design

ISO standards for UCD ISO 13407 / ISO 18529
Very high-level ‘umbrella’ definition of user-centred processes
A pretty useful overview:
Understand and specify the context of use
Specify the user and organisational requirements
Produce design solutions
Evaluate designs against requirements
Useful to quote to the sort of people who like ISO standards

User Participatory Design

UCD… or UPD
Sometimes UCD is referred to, or seen as specialised sub-discipline:
User PARTICIPATORY design
A set of methods for close cooperation with end-users
In product/service creation
User interface development
Often very good for internal / enterprise-specific projects
Very compatible with XtremeProgramming thinking
“ The Customer is Always Available”
http://www.extremeprogramming.org/rules/customer.html

Ask the users? Are you crazy?

iiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnpuuuuttttt! users * The users are just one input into a successful design… biz tech

Research, analysis and synthesis Users Research Analysis & Synthesis Designer(s)/Builder(s) X

Designer-Centred Design…!

Ask the users? Are you crazy? “ If you ask the public what they think they will need, you will always be behind in this world. You will never catch up unless you think one to ten years in advance and create a market for the items you think the public will accept at that time.” Akio Morita, Sony

NOT user-centred till ‘mid-afternoon’ Market Creation Market Penetration Market Domination NOON Market Expansion Market Saturation Market Exhaustion SUNRISE Mid morning Mid afternoon SUNSET Entry with technology Drive with design Diversify with marketing, and Some UCD…

Adaptive Design

Stewart Brand: “How buildings learn” Sketch by Dan Hill http://www.cityofsound.com/

Dan Hill: “Designing for adaptation”

Adaptive Design + Emerging Tech Great basis / investment for rapid cycles of emerging tech!

To sum up UCD.

UCD: summing up
Drives
Acceptance
Makes utility obvious
Desirability
If commercial
Enlarges market and return on investment
Reduces risks
If not, enlarges ‘ecosystem’
For emerging tech, this increases in importance
If people ‘get it’ then they are more likely to play with it
Adaptive design is the best candidate here because…
Most human behaviour changes slower than technology – a good anchor in rapidly changing tech environment
A number of approaches but with one common aspect
Context of use

Looking out from the screen at the world…

To understand people’s mental models of the world and design technology to solve their problems “ The files are in the computer?”

The practical

Tricks and tips
We’re going to design
A recipe aggregator
Using some of the most useful tricks and tips I’ve found
Itch++
Market mapping and persona building
The value sieve
Use your illusion
Flowcrash

Not to be taken as a substitute for a full user-centred project… These are tricks and tips that, if you only have time to do a little design work before you build, will get you good results

The Brief.

The brief for the recipe aggregator
Goals
Can be used in the kitchen
Can be accessed in the supermarket
Can find recipes from key ingredients
“ What’s left on the shelf?”
Can share recipes easily with others

Caution...

= No speaking alien! Use of excessive jargon, mention of RDF, XML, or anything that the benefit can’t be explained once and easily to a user (or causes geek religious wars) will be punished by a fine Which will be a beer fund…!

Break... please be back at 3:30pm...

The Brief.

The brief for the recipe aggregator
Goals
Can be used in the kitchen
Can be accessed in the supermarket
Can find recipes from key ingredients
“ What’s left on the shelf?”
Can share recipes easily with others

= No speaking alien! Use of excessive jargon, mention of RDF, XML, or anything that the benefit can’t be explained once and easily to a user (or causes geek religious wars) will be punished by a fine… Which will be a beer fund…!

Even cowboys can pass ISO standards…
Itch++
The value sieve
Use your illusion
Flowcrash

Understanding context of use – real way…
Before each the cowboy tips, I’ll outline some of the ‘pro’ methods
Contextual Inquiry
A mile in their shoes
Shadowing
Ethnography
User diaries
Pager studies
Interviews
Build real personas
Contextual inquiry / interview by Lodestar, ltd. for BBC iCan project.

Itch++

Framework to ask yourself questions* Familiar Context With Others One paragraph of an experience relating to the brief for each… Alone Unfamiliar Context * This is even more useful if you can get someone else to ask you the questions and record your responses

Itch++: 15 minutes
10 minutes writing
5 minutes presentation
If you want to pair, and interview: that’s great…
but self-organise!
Familiar Context With Others Alone Unfamiliar Context

Market Mapping & Persona Building

Mapping users’ characteristics practical ideas Business decision… An example from my past… working on a design for an online home improvement store

Words to describe each user profile
A: Practical, functional, does chores, room has to look okay but not confident in design
B: More interested in design, less confident in technical abilities
C: Always has projects on the go, hobbyist
D: Creates a look, less involved in project execution, most interested in creative, trends
practical ideas A B D C

Who are they? It helps!
A: Mike, early 40s, depends on wife Louise’s opinion for design. Two kids, his wife is expecting a third
B: Jane, early 30s, has partner, busy, relies on friends and other people for advice
C: Jack, single, quite confident in abilities and taste. Shops around and reads lots of magazines, focusing on DIY titles: Better Homes, Changing Rooms
D: Lucy, single, in her 50s, out-sources doing, shops around, reads lots of magazines, style and end result oriented. Reads lots of magazines, broad lifestyle, Habitat, IKEA, BHS
practical ideas A B D C

Take personas and contexts to arrive at concepts/features for BBC iCan project.

Understanding context
Itch++
The value sieve
Use your illusion
Flowcrash

The value sieve

A value / complexity sieve “ The feature prioritisation is based on the user research and the business strategy, along with the initial technology estimates. I like doing this prioritisation exercise in person with all the stakeholders so all viewpoints can be factored in. It’s a seminal meeting and the results guide the rest of the project.” - Victor Lombardi http://www.noisebetweenstations.com

How to use the sieve
High Complexity / High Value:
“ It's important to include these features, and because they're hard let's address them first so we have enough time and find any unknown snags.”
High Complexity / Low Value:
“ They're hard and no one thinks they're important, so try to leave them out.”
Low Complexity / High Value:
“ Definitely include these, but give them lower priority.”
Low Complexity / Low Value:
“ These features can be put on a reach list, to do if resources permit. Or left until a future phase. Or you can re-examine them to see if your original values are accurate.”

Itch++
The value sieve
Use your illusion
Flowcrash

Use your illusion

‘ User Illusion’ – Alan Kay

Medium and message Harry Beck...

Jakob does it… “ Card Sorting to Discover the Users' Model of the Information Space” Jakob Nielsen, May 1995 http://www.useit.com/papers/sun/cardsort.html

Use your illusion: 30 minutes
5 minutes writing your imagined features to a fairly granular level, but nothing too detailed
remember, you will be fined for using jargon!
5 minutes arranging the cards into the system as you think it will be organised AS A USER EXPERIENCE
STOP! We’re going to take a snapshot… this should take 5 minutes or so
Swap your cards with someone else
5 minutes – organise the cards you’ve received into a system that makes sense to you, given the brief
STOP! We’re going to take another snapshot – another 5 minutes
Then, we’ll spend 5 minutes looking at the results

Itch++
The value sieve
Use your illusion
Flowcrash

Paper prototyping Courtesy Marc Rettig: http://www.marcrettig.com/

Fast, cheap and out of control Courtesy Marc Rettig: http://www.marcrettig.com/

“ But I can code quicker than I can draw” Courtesy Marc Rettig: http://www.marcrettig.com/
You can’t. Try it.
You don’t have to draw well – anyone can draw well enough to get results
You will get nitpicking at a coded prototype, not answers
But the biggest problem with coded prototypes…

You will not want to destroy it…

Flowcrash

Using paper prototypes for rapid testing
Design paper screens for your system
Include buttons, drop-downs, widgets…
Simulate them all with stickies for ease of repositioning and re-use
Make sure there are two of you who know how the design works
One of you will facilitate
One of you will play the computer
Go grab a colleague or family member who hasn’t seen your design
Facilitator: ask them to complete tasks based on the goals of your design
Computer: serve up the screens as per the ‘flow’ of the design you did. Be neutral! Emotionless!
Record what you learn, and redesign there and then
Retest!

The end?

Two (maybe three) parts
Overview of user-centred design methods
Practical tips and tricks
Working on a design exercise
If there’s time:
Specific challenges of
Mobile
MMORPG Gaming/Play
Some future trends
Discussion…?

Mobile

Marc Rettig sums up the main challenge well

Contextual inquiry is key
Understanding the real attention deficits that your application will suffer
Understanding the in-between times in real life, where your service or product might be a boon
Understanding the audio, visual and interaction constraints your design will operate under
Walk a mile in mobile shoes…

A trick pioneered by Palm / Handspring too…

For mobile…
The world is more important than the screen
Invest in studying the world
It’s not that easy to hack
Products and services are
Used in social situations
Study the social patterns of use
Social interactions more valuable that screen interactions
Prada… a cautionary tale…

Further at Etech
Christian Lindholm
Nokia UI pioneer
“ Art-of-Logic: Experience Making, the Nokia Way ”
Track: Untethered Date: Wednesday, February 11 Time: 2:45pm - 3:30pm
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/ cs/et2004/view/e_sess/4864

Gaming/Play MMoRPGs

From a conversation with Stewart Butterfield
Looking at “Play” as a broad category
In addition to the activity (chess, rugby, Quake)
A way of trying on another mode of relationship or identity
Children play the limits of the relationships. They have violence, sexuality, power dynamics in their games. Exploring the kinds of ways they can have relationships with their peers
Even if we are friends - when we play we become competitors.
Control over identity is the most important control
In most apps like online banking or search the user’s character or personality is kind of irrelevant because task overrides
But in worlds of “Play” ways in which people come together (place/channel) and identify each other/self are key

UIs that get out of the way of the players and their relationships Drag and drop to establish chats and ad-hoc groups Visualising relationships in ‘heads-up’ displays From http://www.gne.net

Future trends

Next-gen mobile Bigger screens, more whizzy features Same old messy world.

More ‘embodied’ interaction

Converts… This holiday, my two sisters - who to my knowledge had never played a console game before - got addicted to EyeToy…

Discussion

That’s all... Thank You for your time and energy

Further study: Web
Mark Rettig: http://www.marcrettig.com
Interaction design history in a teeny little nut shell http://www.marcrettig.com/writings/ rettig.interactionDesignHistory.2.03.pdf
Design for small screens: http://www.marcrettig.com/writings/rettig,SmallScreens.pdf
Interface Design in Seven Weeks: Marc Rettig
http://loop.aiga.org/content.cfm?ContentID=83
AdaptivePath:
http://www.adaptivepath.com/
AskTog: Bruce Tognazzini
http://www.asktog.com/
Carolyn Snyder on paper prototyping:
http://www.snyderconsulting.net/paperprototyping.htm
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/library/us-paper/?dwzone=usability
UsabilityNet.org: EU funded resource centre
http://www.usabilitynet.org/home.htm
User-Centred Design & “Agile” methodologies: Anthony Colfelt
http://www.colfelt.com/blog/cat_agile_development.shtml

Further study: Books
General
About Face, The Inmates Are Running the Asylum : Alan Cooper
Don't Make Me Think: Steve Krug
The Design of Everyday Things: Donald Norman
The elements of user experience: Jesse James Garrett (http://www.jjg.net/elements/)
Observing the User Experience: Mike Kuniavsky
Information Architecture: Christina Wodtke
Christina also has a great reading list at http://www.eleganthack.com/reading/
Mobile
Information Appliances and Beyond: Bergman
Mobile Usability: Lindholm, Keinnonen, Kiljander
Handheld Usability: Scott Weiss

Further study: Organisations/Events
ACM SIGCHI, the ACM's Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction
http://sigchi.org/
CHI2004: April 24-29 th , Austria
http://www.chi2004.org/
DIS2004: Designing Interactive Systems, August 1-4, Cambridge, Mass
http://sigchi.org/dis2004/
AIGA-Experience Design
http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm?Alias=experiencedesign
ASIST
Information Architecture summit: March 21-23, 2003 Portland, Oregon
http://www.asis.org/Conferences/IA03/
AifIA: The Asilomar Institute for Information Architecture
http://www.aifia.org/

Send me questions... [email_address]

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UI For Alien Cowboys

by Matt Jones

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