Title: Uncomfortable UX: making life difficult and improving your product  Description: No wireframe survives contact with the user. This is great for UX people, because it means our lives are never dull — but it also makes things complicated for developers who just want to get on and build something. While it can be uncomfortable to challenge a team’s assumptions about what you are building and who it’s for, it is absolutely worthwhile. In this session, I will talk about:  * getting over the fear of putting something half-finished in front of users   * how to get fast feedback from your users  * different ways to involve your team in research  * quick methods for communicating research findings * some surprising ways that continuous feedback from users benefits everyone 

1. Uncomfortable UX:
making life difficult and
improving your product
Chris Atherton
Senior UX Consultant
Equal Experts
@finiteattention

2. pain in the ass

3. GOV.UK

4. usability of
online visa forms

5. no plan survives contact
with the enemy
— Field Marshall Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

6. no wireframe survives
contact with the user

7. my mission:
ants in your pants

8. I want you to get
UNCOMFORTABLE

9. out of your
comfort zone

10. strong urge to
make things better

11. uncomfortable is where
progress happens

12. 1. uncomfortably
fast research cycles

13. test early,
test often

14. are you doing any
usability testing with
real people?

15. are you testing in every
development cycle?

16. has the product
you’re testing
been released yet?

17. test in every
development cycle

18. ...learn in every
development cycle

19. test early,
test often
test lightweight

20. we went to
language schools

21. we used gotomeeting

22. I went to Starbucks

23. 2. uncomfortably
unfinished product

24. “it’s not ready
to test yet”

25. “what do we have that
nobody’s seen?”

26. consider ...
how much authority
you’re wearing

27. ... they might need
permission to criticise

28. we used flat mockups

29. sometimes we used
comic sans

30. users don’t care
if it’s not finished

31. 3. uncomfortable
team involvement

32. wireframing workshop

35. “come with us and
observe research”

36. “come with us
and take notes”

37. “come with us and
talk with our users”

38. ‘bring your own
device’ day

39. solutions sessions

40. 4. uncomfortable
communication

41. affinity sorts

42. quick and dirty
email summaries

43. show video clips
every cycle

44. video clips should be
EXCRUCIATING

45. show, don’t tell

46. inexpensive software

47. clip libraries

48. 5. uncomfortable
personal growth

49. take risks

50. learn new skills

51. challenge the client

52. can’t complain
nobody understands UX

53. can’t dismiss users

54. can’t dismiss usability

55. may become
MOTIVATED

56. may have to start
LIKING PEOPLE

57. your mission:
ants in their pants

58. Katy Arnold @katyarnie
Simon Bostock @i4_1
Clare Wilcockson @clarewilcockson
Andy Kemp @kyndainverse
Ed Horsford @edwardhorsford
Equal Experts
GOV.UK team