The Ten Commandments of
User Experience
Nick Finck & Raina Van Cleave
March 13, 2010
SXSW Interactive 2010

Use #UXsxsw on twitter

?
What the hell is UX?

“User Experience is a focus,
a thread that runs through
all of our disciplines, and
which no discipline owns
or controls.”
- The UXsters
Explain UX

• Accessibility (GAWDs)
• Information Architecture (IAI)
• Information Design (IDA)
• Interaction Design (IxDA)
• Technical Writing (STC)
• Usability Engineering (UPA)
• User Research (HFES)
• Visual Design (AIGA)
• Web Analytics (WAA)

The First Commandment
The User is
always Right

“You are not the user.
Neither is your boss.”
- Jessyca Frederick
Director of Product Management,ThisNext

Finding the sweet spot
Tec
s
tive
hn
ica
je c
lR
Ob
equ
ess
Sweet
irem
sin
Spot
Bu
ent
s
Customer (or User) Needs

The Second Commandment
Understand the
User

Photo by Andrea Wiggins
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anikarenina/550438755/

The Third Commandment
Avoid
Solutioneering

Identify & fully understand
problems before finding
solutions

The Fourth Commandment
Form follows
Function

“Form must play within
the general realm of
the familiar for easily
understood functions.”
- Thomas Vander Wal
Principal, InfoCloud Solutions

Photo by Jason Hoover
http://www.flickr.com/photos/surrealize/3366780929/

Photo by Thomas Hawk
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/2671536366/

Photo by Andreas Adelmann
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adelmann/3302583508/

The Fifth Commandment
Content is King

“Design is about
communication, and it
takes more than pixels
to communicate.”
- Derek Powazek
Content & Community Genius

!
95% of web users do not
read 80% of your content!

This doesn’t mean that
your content isn’t
important, it means it’s
more important.

The Sixth Commandment
Innovate, do not
Imitate

Pedometer Nike+

The Seventh Commandment
Access is
for Everyone

Photo by Jenny Morros
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13799732@N08/1411680967/

Photo by Dirk Borchers
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dirkborchers/495659224/

Photo by Rion Nakaya
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rion/47437262/

The Eighth Commandment
Plan before you
Design

“With our users in mind and
the right vision we can plan,
and develop successful
applications”
- Aaron Irizarry
Principal, Solv

Photo by Roxanna Salceda
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roxsm/1210497131/

Photo by Effie3
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclennox/181224204/

Photo by Luann Hopkins Photo by Paige Adams
http://www.flickr.com/photos/luannhopkins/2156607113/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/phadams/2642717270/

The Ninth Commandment
Understand the
Goal

“Executives can no longer
afford to formulate strategy
without embracing user
experience”
- Peter Morville
Principal, Semantic Studios

Photo by Howard Gees
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyberslayer/952953634/

If your website could do
only one small thing, what
would that one thing be?

The Tenth Commandment
Learn from Failure

“Failure is success
if we learn from it.”
- Malcolm S. Forbes

!
Michael Jordan failed to make
his varsity basketball team
Albert Einstein's teacher
described him as "mentally slow"
Walt Disney went bankrupt
several times

Thank you!

The Ten Commandments
of User Experience
Nick Finck Raina Van Cleave
@nickf @rainaterror
nick@blueflavor.com raina@spindriftdesignworks.com
http://blueflavor.com http://rainavancleave.com