An entry level class answering the question, what is user experience?

1. What is this
UX thing?
Presented by @Abby_the_ia

3. Agenda for Monday
Answer these questions:
• What is user research?
• What is information architecture (IA)?
• What is content strategy?
• What is interaction design (IXD)?
• What is user experience (UX)?
• What does “good” mean in this world?
• What does the process look like to get to good?
Assign some homework :)

4. Agenda for tuesday
Critique 0f homework
Q + A about UX, IA, Careers etc

5. Information
Architecture
• Facilitates understanding
• Orders meaning
• Establishes truth
• Creates clarity
• Makes pictures of consensus
5

6. Content Strategy
• Determines content requirements
• Documents page level info hierarchy
• Informs content creation by
establishing content level goals
• Shares content level audience insight
6

7. Interaction Design
• Designs the pieces
• Refines the flow
• Determines the edges and errors
• Documents the solutions
7

8. User Research
• Informs Strategy
• Tests solutions
• Compares performance
• Measures success
8

9. User Experience is
a result, not a tool
How users feel? How users act?
effect you have Your return on investment
9

10. And we want the
result to be good
10

11. Good is Goal Based
11

12. Good is worked
towards
12

13. Good is Measurable
• User testing
• Satisfaction Surveys
• Usage Data/Analytics
• Social Media Statistics
• Sales data, even non digital equivalents
• Qualitative metrics (sales force or
customer service quotas)

14. Getting to Good
14

15. First You have to understand
How people hear about
your offering(s)
How people explore
your offering(s)
What could detract How people Who else could
from this person opt into your entice this person
proceeding at this offering(s) at this point?
point?
How people use
your offering the
first time
How people use
your offering
over time

16. Then You have to Look forward
1. Map facts How people hear about
your offering(s)
2. Map Questions
3. Map Opportunity How people explore
your offering(s)
What could detract How people Who else could
from this person opt into your entice this person
proceeding at this offering(s) at this point?
point?
How people use
your offering the
first time
How people use
your offering
over time

17. And pick the right measures
If you have a question about Examples to be looking at…
If something is effective Completion rates
Whether something is findable Speed to find
People’s Expectations Bounce Rates & Time on Site
Satisfaction Interviews, Surveys, Ask Sales and CSRs
Is enough Information provided? Are people clicking to further information consistently?
Are people using the path as designed? Click path data
(Courtesy of Richard Dalton)

18. Example Questions Planning to measure
Awareness: How do people find out User interviews and Surveys
about us?
Acquisition: Where will our loyal users Surveys, Analytics: Traffic Sources for Repeat Users
be coming from?
Conversion: What is the average time on Analytics: Time on site compared to industry averages and
site for us? What is normal? for loyalty users vs single article users
Action: Will people interact with the Analytics: Click rates on items suggested on article pages
content we suggest they interact with after
reading the entry article?
Loyalty: How will loyalty users differ from Analytics: Compare variety of points across loyalty users
new users? and single article users
Other: How should sharing work? What Surveys, Interviews, Analytics: Track social sharing
do people share? behavior to establish baselines for types of events

19. Based on what you know,
get to know users
• Talk to potential users
• Talk to actual users (if you have them)
• Talk to competitive users (no one said you couldn’t –
unless they did, then don’t)
• Spend time shadowing users in their real lives
• Watch people using equivalent or similar things to what
you are making
• Use competitive things in the market
• Social media listening
• Blogs, customer reviews, forums… the internet is HUGE

20. Set some smart goals
q Specific
q Measurable
q Achievable
q Relevant
q Time bound

21. Establish your scope to meet
those goals
Scope = What we
all agreed to do

22. Prioritize your scope
Business Prioritization: User Prioritization:
ü Meets Competitive/Industry or ü Appropriate for my life
Regulatory Bar
ü Relevant to me
ü Meets Contractual Obligation
ü Availability of Resources or ü Within reach in price and
Partners availability
ü Budget to Produce
What measurement is fair?
• High: Must have and would consider holding launch until I get it
• Medium: Is pretty essential but launch is priority over it
• Low: Nice to have but not essential

23. Feature or Idea Brand (H,M,L) User (H,M,L) Phase Decision Cost/Hours to
Produce
Insert Insert Insert Insert Insert
• Allows for dual prioritization
• Allows for phase designation outside of
prioritization
• Indicates cost/time per feature or idea (optional)

24. Define the IA
24

25. Work through the
content strategy
25

26. Design The Interactions
26

27. Measure user
reactions at any
point along the way
27

28. Document Solutions

29. Work with Creatives
and Developers to build

30. Measure and React

31. #1 question:
Who does what?
31

32. Most people in
this world wear
many hats
Information
Architecture
As a result...
In
te
r • UX has become a catch all word for people
De ac
sig tio
n n working in these fields
• Job titles tend to be confusing
• Outsiders tend to not understand the
Con
ten difference between these things
t St
rat
egy
User
Research
32

33. #2 question:
How do I get
started?
33

34. Move the trashcan
Identify a problem in the
world and solve it by paying
attention to user needs
If that sounds fun...
you may be a UX
person
34

35. Activity
How people hear
about your offering(s)
• Break into teams of 3-5
• Pick a Product* How people
explore your
• In Class: Develop a offering(s)
Funnel listing:
– Facts (What exists
today) What could detract How people Who else could
from this person opt into your entice this person
– Questions + how to proceeding at this
point?
offering(s) at this point?
measure
– Opportunity How people use
your offering the
first time
★ Tomorrow you will
present this to class.. How people use
your offering
YAY! over time
35

36. Homework
1. Split up the “opportunities” identified
within your team. Assure everyone
agrees on its validity.
2. Each student should sketch a picture or
series of pictures to explain an
opportunity to the class during
presentation of their funnel

37. Thanks
Abbycovert@gmail.com
@ Abby_The_IA
www.Abbytheia.com
(slides will be up online later today)