This document provides tips and advice for navigating a career in user experience (UX) design. It discusses key aspects of UX like defining UX versus UI, conducting user research, creating wireframes and prototypes, and effective project planning and workflow. Specific tips include talking to clients to understand needs, using agile methods, conducting card sorting and user interviews, and the importance of sketching, wireframing and iteration. Recommended books and tools are also provided.
11. let’s talk design in terms of web
• Graphic Designer
• Illustrator
• Typographer
• Web Designer
• Information Architect
• Interaction Designer
• User Interface Designer
• User Experience Designer
14. • Helvetica
• Steve Jobs
• Unsolicited Re-designs
• i.e. Weather Apps
• Research and Statistics
• Cheeky T-Shirts
• Adobe software
Things Designers Like:
• Comic Sans
• Steve Ballmer
• Unsolicited Feedback
• i.e. “My cousin is a designer”
• Opinions and Gut Feelings
• Cargo shorts
• Gimp software
Things Designers Don’t Like:
17. “
I’ve been amazed at how often those outside the
discipline of design assume that what designers do is
decoration - likely because so much bad design
simply is decoration. - Good design isn’t.
!
- Good design is problem solving.
Jeffrey Veen
”
31. conversation
• Talk to the client
• Listen to their idea(s)
• Take Notes
• Give Minimal Direction
• Keep in mind scope
32. The summation of an individual’s sensory driven
experience, created through their interaction with a
particular company, person, and/or other element.
user experience in brief.
33. “
UX is not UI. UX is an acronym for “user experience.” It is
almost always followed by the word “design.” …But these
designers aren’t designing things in the same sense as a
visual or interface designer.
!
- UX is the intangible design of a strategy
that brings us to a solution.
Erik Flowers
@Erik_UX
”
34. ux is not ui
www.uxisnotui.com
UX and UI are buzz words.
!
UX = User Experience
UI = User Interface
!
Be careful, and learn the difference.
UX is much more comprehensive
and encapsulates many professions
in the field.
!
Whereas UI generally refers solely
to a screen design, or specific
designer.
36. outline project scope
• Talk to your client
• Listen to their idea(s)
• Take Notes
• Give Minimal Direction
• Keep Realistic Parameters
• Pragmatism
40. gather ideas from stakeholders
• Establish Who is Client Lead
• Enlist Allies
• Encourage Interaction
• Feedback Windows
• Acceptance Doors
41. run meetings effectively
• Introduction
• Set Expectations First
• Present
• Elicit Feedback
• Summarize
• Close
42. agile workflow
• Not just for Developers
• Transparency
• Pivoting
• Thwarts Client Shock
• Elicits Ideas from Team
43. don’t go chasing waterfalls
• Slows down the process
• Ad Agency Model
• Hides Designs for “Big Reveal”
• Puts Eggs in One Basket
• Isolates Designer
45. persona research
• Target specific demographics for users
• Discover multiple personas
• Build out interactions
• Test Personas
• Tie Personas to Workflows
https://blog.mailchimp.com/new-mailchimp-user-persona-research/
59. wire-framing
• Sketching is not Drawing
• Layer your Sketches
• Loosen up
• Play to your strengths
• Focus on Interaction
• Design is in the Details
http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2011/12/13/messy-art-ux-sketching/
63. get ‘cool grey’ markers
• Expensive
• Worth it
• Usually around $40
http://www.amazon.com/Primsacolor-Premier-Double-Markers-Colored/dp/B0007YLFC6/ref=sr_1_cc_1?
65. take a life-study class
• Draw Naked People
• Get over yourself
• Turns out almost no one is a ‘model’
• Great way to learn how to sketch quickly
• Takes Pressure Away
!
66. Paper app - by 53
• Free
• Digital Wire-framing
• Extra nice features are $12