Visualising the
User Experience
Grant Robinson
Senior Interaction Designer at Xero
grant@xero.com

Let’s talk about...
1. Rapid prototyping
2. Visualising the UX with screenflows
Movement and transitions

Rapid prototyping

Is this rapid prototyping?

Is this rapid prototyping? Nope!

What is rapid prototyping?

What is rapid prototyping?
• User-centered design methodology

What is rapid prototyping?
• User-centered design methodology
• For designing, communicating and evaluating
user interfaces

What is rapid prototyping?
• User-centered design methodology
• For designing, communicating and evaluating
user interfaces
• Getting feedback as early as possible

What is rapid prototyping?
• User-centered design methodology
• For designing, communicating and evaluating
user interfaces
• Getting feedback as early as possible
• Fast

Prototyping life-cycle

Prototyping life-cycle
The more cycles the better

Agile development mantra:
release early, release often

Agile design mantra:
fail early, fail often
"If you’re not failing now and again, it’s a
sure sign you’re not doing anything very
innovative."
Woody Allen

No designer is an island
1. Fellow designers
2. Project team
3. Wider team
4. Users

Common techniques
• Paper prototyping
• Wireframes and page schematics
• HTML wireframes
• Interactive prototypes

Paper prototypes...

Paper prototypes
Love:
• Quick & dirty
• No software needed
• Very inclusive
Hate:
• Not quick enough
• Too dirty (lack context & scale)
• Hard to share amongst team
• Still needs a separate documentation step

Wireframes & page schematics...

http://gapingvoid.com/2007/05/15/random-thought/

Wireframes
Love:
• Good for defining content
• Good for documenting screens
Hate:
• Bad at showing interactivity / flow
• Can’t really use them for testing
• Slow. Too much time spent describing.

HTML wireframes...

• Better success rate
• Much faster
• Less confusion

HTML wireframes
Love:
• Can show interactivity / flow
• Good for simple interaction (links, buttons etc)
• Experienced in the browser (correct context &
scale)
Hate:
• HTML, CSS (and JS) knowledge necessary
• Time wasted on hacking layout & advanced
functionality

Other interactive prototypes...

Axure (www.axure.com)

Axure (www.axure.com)

SketchFlow (www.microsoft.com/expression)

Other interactive prototypes
Love:
• Good for testing moderately complex interactions
• Some support collecting feedback
• Some can generate specs
Hate:
• Difficult to get custom interactions working
• Can require expertise in proprietary languages
• Often not cross-platform (no love for Mac users)
• Often low-fidelity only

Choosing a prototype technique
What a dilemma!

Visualising the UX
with screenflows

http://gapingvoid.com/2007/05/15/random-thought/

So how do we describe what users
do?
Visualise the experience...
• Show every step to complete a task
• Show every click
• Preview the experience - see and feel how
everything flows together

It’s like stop motion

From low to high fidelity

• 32 iterations
• 5 released

Using Flash as a design
tool
{eh, what?}

Flash: Not just a development tool

Flash: Not just for video

Flash: History in drawing &
animation

FutureSplash Animator

FutureSplash Animator

Anatomy of a screenflow

Screenflows

Screenflows
• Perfect fit for agile teams

Screenflows
• Perfect fit for agile teams
• Very effective communication tool

Screenflows
• Perfect fit for agile teams
• Very effective communication tool
• Easy to evaluate

Screenflows
• Perfect fit for agile teams
• Very effective communication tool
• Easy to evaluate
• Ideal for explaining changes over time

Screenflows
• Perfect fit for agile teams
• Very effective communication tool
• Easy to evaluate
• Ideal for explaining changes over time
• Easy to share. Experienced in the browser.

Screenflows
• Perfect fit for agile teams
• Very effective communication tool
• Easy to evaluate
• Ideal for explaining changes over time
• Easy to share. Experienced in the browser.
• Obvious focus & limits

Screenflows
• Perfect fit for agile teams
• Very effective communication tool
• Easy to evaluate
• Ideal for explaining changes over time
• Easy to share. Experienced in the browser.
• Obvious focus & limits
• Significantly reduces documentation

Screenflows
• Perfect fit for agile teams
• Very effective communication tool
• Easy to evaluate
• Ideal for explaining changes over time
• Easy to share. Experienced in the browser.
• Obvious focus & limits
• Significantly reduces documentation
• Support low to high fidelity

Screenflows
• Perfect fit for agile teams
• Very effective communication tool
• Easy to evaluate
• Ideal for explaining changes over time
• Easy to share. Experienced in the browser.
• Obvious focus & limits
• Significantly reduces documentation
• Support low to high fidelity
• No coding necessary

Screenflows
• Perfect fit for agile teams
• Very effective communication tool
• Easy to evaluate
• Ideal for explaining changes over time
• Easy to share. Experienced in the browser.
• Obvious focus & limits
• Significantly reduces documentation
• Support low to high fidelity
• No coding necessary

Getting serious about
movement &
transitions

How did this...

...become this?

...become this?

How did this...

...become this?

How did this...

...become this?

"Unless you can show me where
you've fleshed out the character
and aspects of the transitions at
the same level of thought, rational,
exploration and fidelity as you have
the states - you're fired."
Bill Buxton
HCI pioneer
Currently Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research

Movement: the new
affordance
• Use movement to orientate user and keep
them in flow
• Explain changes/transformations
• Use physical metaphors to describe the
action: zoom, slide, reveal
• Not just for fun: Research on the
importance

Yahoo Design Pattern Library
http://developer.yahoo.com/ypatterns/richinteraction/transition/

Yahoo Design Pattern Library
http://developer.yahoo.com/ypatterns/richinteraction/transition/

Transitions decreased task completion times
Reduced error rates for reading tasks
0.3 seconds - optimal transition speed

Some takeaways...
{nom nom nom}

The timeline is your friend

The timeline is your friend
• Efficient digital sketching tool

The timeline is your friend
• Efficient digital sketching tool
• Best way to manage changes over time

The timeline is your friend
• Efficient digital sketching tool
• Best way to manage changes over time
• Supports low to high fidelity

The timeline is your friend
• Efficient digital sketching tool
• Best way to manage changes over time
• Supports low to high fidelity
• Natural starting point for exploring

Visualising the experience
makes you a better

Visualising the experience
makes you a better
• Puts you in the user’s shoes

Visualising the experience
makes you a better
• Puts you in the user’s shoes
• Keeps you focussed on user flow

Visualising the experience
makes you a better
• Puts you in the user’s shoes
• Keeps you focussed on user flow
• Best way to communicate your designs to
team and stakeholders

Visualising the experience
makes you a better
• Puts you in the user’s shoes
• Keeps you focussed on user flow
• Best way to communicate your designs to
team and stakeholders
• Cuts documentation in half. Less time
describing = more time designing

Any questions?
Please feel free to flick me an email: grant@xero.com
Photo credits:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/editor/3370897686/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fuyoh/748118128/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/celloc/3145987130/
3777808203/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eraphernalia_vintage/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rcourtie/3500123702/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rcourtie/3500124362/
21218849@N03/3902295700/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/
21218849@N03/3901459255/
21218849@N03/3902296466/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/
21218849@N03/3901509379/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/