Visualising the User Experience

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)

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

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

Getting serious about movement & transitions

How did 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/

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/

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Visualising the User Experience

by Grant Robinson

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