User Experience Design
(
(UXD))
An Overview
By
Russ Unger

Why is UXD Right For Us?
Don’t T k My Word f It. Take Steve J b ’
D ’t Take M W d for It T k St Jobs’:
“I get asked a lot why Apple’s customers are
so l
loyal.
l It's not because they belong to the Church
of Mac! That's ridiculous. It's because when you buy our
products, and three months later you get stuck on
something,
something you quickly figure out how to get past
it. And you think, ‘Wow,
someone over there
at Apple actually thought of this!’ And
the three months later you try to do something you
hadn't tried before and it works, and you think ‘Hey, they
thought of that, too.’ And then six months later it
There's almost no product
happens again.
pp g p
in the world that you have that
Product Quality = Brand Loyalty
experience with, but you have it with
a Mac.”

What Is UXD?
User Experience Design:
Delivers successes by emphasizing the overall “experience” while
allowing for a balance between user needs and business goals.
Useful. We must have the courage and creativity to ask whether our products and
systems are useful, and to apply our deep knowledge of craft and medium to define
innovative solutions that are more useful.
Usable. Ease of use remains vital, and yet the interface-centered methods and
perspectives of human-computer interaction do not address all dimensions of [web]
useful design. In short, usability is necessary but not sufficient.
Desirable. Our quest for efficiency must be tempered by an appreciation for the
usable desirable power and value of image, identity, brand, and other elements of emotional design.
Findable. We must strive to design navigable [web sites] and locatable objects, so
valuable users can find what they need.
Accessible. [Websites] should be accessible to people with disabilities (more than
findable accessible 10% of the population). Today, it's good business and the ethical thing to do.
Eventually, it will become the law.
credible Credible. Design elements can influence whether users trust and believe what we
tell them.
Valuable. Our [websites] must deliver value to our sponsors. For non-profits, the
user experience must advance the mission. With for-profits, it must contribute to
the bottom line and improve customer satisfaction.
Longevity. Our [websites] must be able to stand the test of time without
Longevity rebuilding from scratch. Users should expect to see the same styled website for up
to 5 years (or more), with substantial modifications throughout its life.
From Semantic Studios / Peter Morville at: http://www.semanticstudios.com/publications/semantics/000029.php

What Is Information Architecture (IA)?
The Sh t D fi iti
Th Short Definition:
Information Architecture is SMOLFing Information.
Information Architecture is the Art and Science of Structuring, Managing,
g, g g,
Organizing, Labeling and Finding Information.
The Long Definition:
e o g e to :
Information Architecture is…
1) The combination of organization, labeling and
navigation schemes within an information system.
2) The structural design of an information space to
facilitate task completion and intuitive access to
content.
3) The art and science of structuring and classifying
[web sites] to help people find and manage
information.
4) An emerging discipline and community of practice
focused on bringing principles of design and
architecture to the digital landscape.

What Is User-Centered Design?
“User experience and interface design in the context of creating software
(applications, websites, etc.) represents an approach that puts the user, rather
than the system, at the center of the process.
This philosophy, called User-Centered Design, incorporates user concerns and
d f h b i i f h d i dd h
advocacy from the beginning of the design process and dictates the needs ofd f
the user should be foremost in any design decisions*.”
Business goals
and context
content User needs
and behavior
*Executional Mandatories and Business Goals have priority and should be appropriately considered and/or negotiated to drive the best
possible user experience.
From Microsoft’s MSDN Library, User Interface Design and Development section at:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa286531.aspx

What Is UXD? (Redux)
User Experience Design:
• Investigating how the user’s needs
g g
align with the business objectives to refine the
useful
foundation of the design.
usable desirable
• Determining what we are making, why we are
valuable
making it and who it is for. Identifying the features,
content, navigation and components of the interface findable accessible
design. credible
• Planning this approach to allow for expansion and
growth while ensuring th viability of th d i f an
th hil i the i bilit f the design for
extended period of time.
Longevity

h
Pitch
Busin
ness Req
quiremen
nts
Cons
sumer Re
esearch
rmation Architect
Infor A ture
Inter
raction Design
D
Bran Design
nd n
tent Desi
Cont ign
Project Development Life Cycle
UXD & the Project Life Cycle
Visua Design
al n
User Experience Design
Tech
hnology & Development
lity rance
Qual Assur
Post-
-Launch Evaluation

Deep
Shallow
Pitch
h
Busin
ness Req
quiremen
nts
Cons
sumer Re
esearch
Infor
rmation A
Architect
ture
Inter
raction D
Design
Bran Design
nd n
Cont
tent Desi
ign
Project Development Life Cycle
Visua Design
al n
User Experience Design
Tech
hnology & Development
Qual Assur
lity rance
UXD’s Involvement in the Life Cycle
Post-
-Launch Evaluation

UXD Work Product (not all-inclusive)
• Personas
P
Fictional representative user archetypes based on the behaviors, attitudes and goals of the target
• Scenarios / Use Cases
Descriptions that illustrate how a user intends to use a site—defines the site behavior from a user POV
• Content Maps
Iterative approach to displaying content categories in logical groupings to drive intuitive navigational
hierarchy
• Site Maps
Visual representation of the primary sections, page types and task flows within a website
• Wireframes
Lo-fidelity representation of a web page to identify all content and features on the page
• A t ti User R
Annotations / U i t
Requirements
Identifies and defines the elements and rules of the user interactions on a page
• Content Inventory
Identifies all content on all page types of a site
• Consulting / Analyzing
Review visual design, measure results of design and recommend improvements for future iterations
• User Testing
Require users to perform tasks and identify points of user difficulty or failure to identify improvements

Why is UXD Important?
UXD i Agnostic
is A ti
User Experience Design should be involved in any project—not just websites!
UXD has been applied to Mobile Phones, Biometric Devices (fingerprint readers), Telephone Voice User
Interface (VUI), Desktop Applications, Websites, Business Processes and more!
UXD Maximizes Usability
Wireframes and Prototypes can be used to for User Testing prior to beginning Visual Design and/or
Development.
UXD Minimizes Design Failures
Task Flows and Wireframes are the “design before the design” that provide a well-defined canvas for visual
design.
UXD Provides Project, Operational Efficiencies
Proper User Experience Design provides clear, thorough guidelines / direction for Visual Design, Development
and Quality Assurance.
UXD Brings It All Together

Why Is UXD Important to Brands?
User Experience is at the
very CORE of the brand:
brand
• Brand Managers create Brand Promises
Medium Medium
• Brand Promises are fulfilled by… Promise
medium medium
medium
broken working
working
Good Brand Experiences.
consumer consumer
consumer
What is a Good Brand Experience? No Experience Bad Experience
Good Experience
An Experience that meets or exceeds the
Endorsements
expectations of a Consumer (User) with a
consumer consumer consumer
Product.
Community

Brand and the User Experience
Creating a good customer (
C ti d t is the
(user) experience i th
) i
essence of good branding
Hugh Dubberly’s Model of Brand

What’s Next for UXD?
User Experience Design Needs to Influence:
“We will never make progress as long we are
resources and not leaders. Resources don t
leaders don't
discuss the business plan, the marketing
strategy. Resources don't help decide what
the product or service will be in the first
place. Resources are called in when the
leaders think they are needed. They do their
job and then get out of the way.”
Dr. Don Norman

Thank You
• Questions & Critiques
Q i Cii