This document provides an overview of user experience (UX) design and how to transition into a career in UX. It defines UX and discusses how UX creates value for businesses. It outlines the key skillsets involved in UX work, such as user research, strategy, information architecture, and design. The document also describes the typical phases of a UX process from discovery to design to implementation and testing. Finally, it offers advice on how to begin developing UX skills through reading, online courses, networking, and hands-on projects. The overall message is that passion and experience are more important than technical skills when starting a career in UX.

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Transitioning to UX
1
Feb 2015

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Business Strategists
IA, Library
science
Technology
Graphic
Designers
Copywriters
Content strategists
HCI
UI Engineers
Researchers
Product
Managers
Industrial
Designers
Architects
Front End Dev
Others???

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• Why is UX valuable to business?
• What is UX? How do we create that value?
• How can you begin to develop the skills that deliver
that value?
It’s a question of value

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Digital is part of almost every
product/service experience
The “Digital” is silent
Digital media
Digital services
Digital communication
Digital marketing
Digital technology

5. Small
players
are
disrup.ng
big
ecosystems

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Value of Human Centred Design

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8. OK, so what is UX?

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UX, UI, CX, IXD, XD, HCI, HCD, UCD,IA, PX, WTF…
UX
iPhone
Human Factors
& Ergonomics
Cognitive
Psych
WWWGUI
“Scandanavian”
approach
& UCD
(2000s)
9
(2020s)(1980s)(1960s)(1940s)
GUI design
Pilot error
IA IXD ?Lean UX
“Ambient
Digital”
?

10. ContextContext
Proposition
Structure
& Flow
Interaction
User
Interface
Design in context

11. An exercise
in
Context

12. ContextContext
Proposition
Structure
& Flow
Interaction
User
Interface
Goals
Delight
Persuasion
Usefulness
Usability

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Usability
• “If something is “usable” it means that …A
person of average (or below average) ability
and experience can figure out how to use the
thing to accomplish something without it being
more trouble than its worth.” -Steve Krug
• “Intuitive” actually just means self evident (or at
least self-explanatory)

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Usefulness

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Persuasion

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Delight

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Key UX Skillsets: How do we create value?
• User research: Understand and models who the users are and what they need and want, as
well as testing prototypes and products.
• UX Strategy: Define strategy for product/service that supports customer, business & brand.
• Information Architecture: Design how content is organised, structured and described.
• Interaction design: Design flows, interactions and affordances.
• Content strategy: Design, create/source and govern content in the product.
• Visual design: Design and maintain appealing visual style and branding that supports the
experience.
• Prototyping: Create model interactive products/interfaces
• Development and Development support: Code applications that users interact with or
support integration with technical systems.

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Components of a UX process
Discover Define Design Implement
Test and
Optimise
Research
Data
Strategy
Concept
Visual
Content
IA
Interaction
Prototype
Front-end dev
QA
Usability
Analytics
SEO

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Insights
Workshop
Sketch
Prototype
Build
Test
Document?

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Discovery
Discover Define Design Implement
Test and
Optimise
Research
Data
Strategy
Concept
Visual
Content
IA
Interaction
Prototype
Front-end dev
QA
Usability
Analytics
SEO

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Hands on: Context of experience
• Activities
• Environments
• Interactions
• Objects
• Users
• Time
Money
Transactions

24. Customer Personas
Descrip.on
(Name,
Image,
Relevant
details)
Goals
(Needs,
Wants,
Gains
sought,
JTBD)
Behaviours
(Currently
doing,
Think,
Feel,
See,
Do,
Use)
Pain
points
(Current
problems
and
obstacles)

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Definition
Discover Define Design Implement
Test and
Optimise
Research
Data
Strategy
Concept
Visual
Content
IA
Interaction
Prototype
Front-end dev
QA
Usability
Analytics
SEO

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Finding the problem
Finding the problem
PLAY
http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2738

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Hands on: Pain points
Top 3-5 pain points related to money transactions

28. The Vodafone Answer Machine

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Discover Define Design Implement
Test and
Optimise
Research
Data
Strategy
Concept
Visual
Content
IA
Interaction
Prototype
Front-end dev
QA
Usability
Analytics
SEO
Design

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Site map

32. Wireframe

33. Visual, Content and Information design

34. 1
2
3

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Hands on: 6-8 solutions to one of the problems
• Design 8 features
• Try 8 ways to do one thing

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Implementation
Discover Define Design Implement
Test and
Optimise
Research
Data
Strategy
Concept
Visual
Content
IA
Interaction
Prototype
Front-end dev
QA
Usability
Analytics
SEO

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Prototyping

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Test and Optimise
Discover Define Design Implement
Test and
Optimise
Research
Data
Strategy
Concept
Visual
Content
IA
Interaction
Prototype
Front-end dev
QA
Usability
Analytics
SEO

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Testing and
optimisation

41. Transitioning

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T-shaped people
Depth
Breadth

43. Some aptitudes of UX
UX
• Passion and curiosity: for people,
design, digital tech, etc.
• Creativity, vision, innovative mindset
• Logic, organisation, structure
• Storytelling, presentation, facilitation
capabilities
• Business and commercial awareness
• Technical understanding and
capability
• Independence of thought

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Business and commercial awareness

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Technical understanding and capability

46. 46
My path

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Building your value
Think Do Use
Read
Study
Get curious
Evaluate experiences
Make stuff
Research/Empathy
Contribute
Rehearse
People
Events
Hackathons
Educational providers
“Clients”
Grow your skills, portfolio and connections

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Think: Passion is more valuable than skill
• Read
• Steve Krug: Don’t make me think
• Don Norman: The design of everyday
things
• Jeff Gothelf: Lean UX
• Dan Brown: Designing together
• Study
• YouTube
• Online courses (Coursera, Udemy, Udacity,
NovoEd, etc)
• Classroom courses: General Assembly
• Hands on
• Meet people
• Credibility
• Get curious
• About everything digital, design,
experience
• Follow interesting companies
• Browse bookstores and libraries:
Architecture, design, technology, business

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Do: Experience is really just having done stuff
• Evaluate experiences
• Websites, apps, products
• Airports, dashboards, mail, shops
• Make stuff
• Blogs, apps, prototypes
• Physical as well as screens?
• Code (at least a little)
• Research / Empathy
• Get used to asking people
• Become more observant
• Contribute
• Converse
• Write
• Evangelise
• Rehearse
• Talking about design
• Talking about and showing your
experience
• Talking about “why” and “so what”

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Use: You are the average of the 5 people you
spend the most time with
• People
• Follow interesting people. Connect with
purpose
• Network (or just talk to people!)
• Offer to help
• Events
• Attend
• Browse, subscribe and keep abreast
• Hackathons / Design sprints
• Great place to hothouse your skills
• Education providers
• Courses like what GA offers
• “Clients”
• Internal teams who need UX help
• Volunteer for charities, clubs, startups

51. Learn the rules so you can break the rules

52. Ted
Kilian
Brilliant
Basics
tkilian@brilliantbasics.com
Make amazing stuff
Make stuff amazing

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