Strategic UX for Drupal projects

DRUPAL FORDESIGNERSBringing Strategic UX to Drupal Projects

Dani Nordinfounder, the zen kitchen• UX Designer and Strategist• Specialize in design strategy, UX and prototyping for Drupal projects• Author, Drupal for Designers seriesContact@danigrrldani@tzk-design.com

Lifecycle of a Drupal Project

Discovery• Understand the client’s specific functional needs• Get clear on the client’s marketing and business goals, and how this project fits in• Get a handle on resource issues, time investment and other practical considerations• Research the client’s competitive landscape and audience

UX/Architecture• Get an understanding of the site’s target users• Map out how users will flow through specific key tasks, and what information needs to be there to support them• Find out what content exists for the current site, what needs to be created, and how the content will be organized• Come up with a set of assumptions, and standards that will govern the project as you move forward

Selling UX to your team• Back up arguments with success stories from similar orgs• Start with a smaller project/section of the site to build credibility and show success of the approach• Find techniques that work with the team’s project style • Agile, Lean, Waterfall?• Set reasonable expectations for deadlines, project flow, and what can actually be accomplished• Get major stakeholders on board early • Lead developers • Managers

UX TECHNIQUESFor Drupal projects

Market research• Assess competitive landscape• Look at competitors• Look at market segments/metrics• Key questions: • What makes your client different? • Who are its customer segments? • What marketing tacticsare currently in play? What has worked and what hasn’t?

User interviews• Define 2-3 main user types• Set preliminary characteristics based on market research• Aim to interview 3 users of each type• Get client’s help in recruiting participants• Develop questions ahead of time for each type of user• Record interviews for later transcription/analysis• Timing: ½ hour for interview, ½ hour for notes, 2-4 hours for thematic analysis (once interviews are complete)

PersonasUse for:• Understanding primary user groups.• Prioritizing content/functionality needs.Include:• Typical tasks• Content areas of interest• Reasons for visiting• Messaging priorities• “Pain” areasBuild from research,preferably 1-3 interviewsin each category

Post-upsUse for:• Uncovering themes from user research• “Sketching” information architectureBenefits:• Can be done anywhere• Very quick to create and update• Gives stakeholders an opportunity to participateDrawbacks:• Uses a lot of paper

Mind MapsUse for:• Uncovering themes from user research• “Sketching” information architecture and menu hierarchyBenefits:• Very quick to create and update• Helps to see the whole pictureDrawbacks:• Requires special software• Clients generally don’t “get” them

Homesteaders Unite User Flow v. 2.0 July 1, 2011 Find Events?Task Flows No YesUse for: Host Events? Search• Explaining how a Yes No user completes a Maybe given task No Become an OrganizerBenefits: Events in area? Why Post Post blogs• Helps frame the Events? or video? Yes No design challenge Drupal Signup• Helps inform design Choose Yes & dev team’s process an event Eventbrite Signup Why postDrawbacks: Create a post your stuff?• Requires special software Post Event (Eventbrite)• Clients sometimes Forums don’t “get” them Go to "My Account," get RSS Feed (Eventbrite) Paste RSS URL into user proﬁle (Drupal)

WireframesUse for:• Establishing page- level content & functional prioritiesBenefits:• Can be sketched or done in software (Axure, Balsamiq)• Very familiar to most project teamsDrawbacks:• Often doesn’t take real content into consideration• Can be hard for stakeholders to visualize

DigitalPrototypesUse for:• Showing stakeholders how real content & functionality will flow• User testing and iteration of designsBenefits:• Can be used for remote testing and feedback• Saves time over prototyping in DrupalDrawbacks:• Doesn’t produce production-ready code• Lack of visuals makes it hard to test color, emotion, etc.

PROTOTYPING

Prototyping: Two Approaches• Prototype complex functionality in Axure or similar product • Test task flows and assumptions with real users, and see where you need adjustments • Avoid spending time on “production code” before you know whether a given approach is the best option • Refine functional requirements and understand what needs to be done to finish the project• Start setting up initial Drupal architecture, and laying in content to see how it works in “the real world”

When to Prototype in Axure• When functionality is complex and time-consuming to build in Drupal• When development will be done by others on the team, or by another vendor• When functionality has not been defined yet, and development tasks have not been defined

When to prototype in Drupal• When there’s a large amount of content to migrate into Drupal• When complex content relationships are involved (particularly using References, Views, etc.)• When you have stuff to build that’s already been defined (content types, Views, etc.)

QUESTIONS?@danigrrl on Twitterdani@tzk-design.com

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Strategic UX for Drupal projects

by Dani Nordin on Jun 21, 2012

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