1. From Muppets to Mastery:
Core UX Principles from Mr. Jim Henson
Russ Unger | @russu Big (D)esign 2012

2. #UXMuppets | @russu
A Brief Timeline
userglue.com

3. #UXMuppets | @russu
The World: Jim Henson:
1936
FDR Elected to 2nd Term Born

4. #UXMuppets | @russu
The World: Jim Henson:
1952
First MAD Magazine Parents Get First TV

5. #UXMuppets | @russu
The World: Jim Henson:
1954
First Color Televisions Available Enters University of Maryland

6. #UXMuppets | @russu
The World: Jim Henson:
1955
Rosa Parks arrested in Alabama Sam and Friends begins on TV

7. #UXMuppets | @russu
userglue.com

8. #UXMuppets | @russu
The World: Jim Henson:
1956
Rock & Roll Dance Craze Sweeps the World Muppets on The Tonight Show

9. #UXMuppets | @russu
The World: Jim Henson:
1957
Elvis Buys Graceland Shoots 1st TV Commercial

10. #UXMuppets | @russu
The World: Jim Henson:
1966
Mini-skirts are in Fashion Muppets on Ed Sullivan

11. #UXMuppets | @russu
The World: Jim Henson:
1969
Nixon Becomes President Sesame Street Airs on TV!

12. #UXMuppets | @russu
The World: Jim Henson:
1976
USA Turns 200 The Muppet Show Airs on TV!

13. #UXMuppets | @russu
1976

14. #UXMuppets | @russu
The World: Jim Henson:
1979
Sony Walkman Invented ($200) First Muppet Movie in Theaters

15. #UXMuppets | @russu
The World: Jim Henson:
1982
Time Mag s Man of the Year The Dark Crystal in Theaters

16. #UXMuppets | @russu
The World: Jim Henson:
1983
Dawning of the Age of Clippy Fraggle Rock Airs

17. #UXMuppets | @russu
The World: Jim Henson:
1986
Russ Unger Gets 1st Car Labyrinth in Theaters

18. #UXMuppets | @russu
userglue.com

19. #UXMuppets | @russu
The World:
1990
Milli Vanilli: Lip Syncers!

20. #UXMuppets | @russu
Jim Henson:
Dies, May 16th

21. #UXMuppets | @russu
The World: Jim Henson:
1997
Steve Jobs Returns to Apple Steve Jobs Honors Henson s Memory

22. #UXMuppets | @russu
The World: Jim Henson:
2011
Occupied. Occupies Theatres - Again!

23. #UXMuppets | @russu
Jim Henson & Design
userglue.com

24. #UXMuppets | @russu
A Good Experience is Invisible

25. #UXMuppets | @russu
A Good Experience is Invisible
Give the audience enough to work with
and they’ll do the rest for you.

26. #UXMuppets | @russu
A Good Experience is Invisible
Give the audience enough to work with
and they’ll do the rest for you.

27. #UXMuppets | @russu
Research
Give the audience enough to work with and they’ll do the rest for you.

28. #UXMuppets | @russu

29. #UXMuppets | @russu
Patterns
Original Muppets were designed so that ~6 Muppets could be
easily made from a single design.

30. #UXMuppets | @russu
Patterns
Original Muppets were designed so that ~6 Muppets could be
easily made from a single design.

31. #UXMuppets | @russu

32. #UXMuppets | @russu
Patterns
Original Muppets were designed so that ~6 Muppets could be
easily made from a single design.

33. #UXMuppets | @russu

34. #UXMuppets | @russu

35. #UXMuppets | @russu

36. #UXMuppets | @russu

37. #UXMuppets | @russu

38. #UXMuppets | @russu

39. #UXMuppets | @russu
“
[Muppets] was really just a
term we made up.

40. #UXMuppets | @russu
“
Skeumorphic
[Muppets] was really just a
term weFolksonomy
made up.
Affordances
Information
Participatory
Heuristics Design
User
Architecture
Contextual
Inquiry
Deliverables Mental
Experience
Design Bodystorming
Models
*No disrespect to our friends of have created these, of course!

41. #UXMuppets | @russu
“
I’ve always been most
intrigued by what can
be done with the visual
image. I feel that is
what is strongest about
the work I do...the
visual image.

42. #UXMuppets | @russu

43. #UXMuppets | @russu

44. #UXMuppets | @russu

45. #UXMuppets | @russu

46. #UXMuppets | @russu
Sketching
Henson started sketching characters and comic strips as a kid.
He never stopped.

47. #UXMuppets | @russu
Sketching
Henson started sketching characters and comic strips as a kid.
He never stopped.

48. #UXMuppets | @russu

49. #UXMuppets | @russu

50. #UXMuppets | @russu

51. #UXMuppets | @russu

52. #UXMuppets | @russu

53. #UXMuppets | @russu

54. #UXMuppets | @russu

55. #UXMuppets | @russu

56. #UXMuppets | @russu
Hacking
Jim needed to see what the viewer would see, so he started using a
“monitor” to view scenes from where he was located.

57. #UXMuppets | @russu
Hacking
Jim needed to see what the viewer would see, so he started using a
“monitor” to view scenes from where he was located.

58. #UXMuppets | @russu
Hacking
Jim needed to see what the viewer would see, so he started using a
“monitor” to view scenes from where he was located.

59. #UXMuppets | @russu
Bernard Tyers
Belén Barros Pena
http://www.diymobileusabilitytesting.net/
~$3,000.00

60. #UXMuppets | @russu

61. #UXMuppets | @russu
Storyboarding
A storyboard is a graphic organizer that visually tells a story.
Creating a storyboard helps you plan your story shot by shot.

62. #UXMuppets | @russu

63. #UXMuppets | @russu

64. #UXMuppets | @russu
A Team of One
What started as a one-man enterprise grew into an
internationally acclaimed phenomenon.

65. #UXMuppets | @russu
A Team of One
What started as a one-man enterprise grew into an
internationally acclaimed phenomenon.
We do that, too.

66. #UXMuppets | @russu
A Team of One
What started as a one-man enterprise grew into an
internationally acclaimed phenomenon.
We do that, too.

67. #UXMuppets | @russu
WWJHD?
What Would Jim Henson Do?

68. #UXMuppets | @russu
(So What?)
Jim Henson started sketching and making puppets at a young age.
He read books, but not rule books.
He sketched ideas.
He hacked things together.
He made it up as he went along.
As a relatively new industry, so do we.

69. Thank You!
Russ Unger | @russu Big (D)esign 2012