Designing FOR User Experience 2

Editor's Notes

1. Intro. Can’t design an experience. Anticipate USER STATE of mind. Apply CONSTRAINTS, design FOR the best possible experience.
2. Not just Human/computer interaction. It’s a relationship. Starts casual. It either builds or it goes south.
3. High level. For the user it’s hard to articulate. It’s either GOOD or BAD. Easily swayed. Personal, INTIMATE, dependent, ephemeral. NOT the same as UI. UI is the collection of touch points and tools a user can manipulate.
4. handles, saddle, pedals (brakes, shifters, other cockpit controls)
5. BIG: global items we see right away. SMALL: tiny enhancements that go unnoticed unless they suck. Example: Hover over the JH Logo and the famous JH tram slides down to indicate “Home”. Example: Making sure we use SMART quotes, especially in display type.
6. Affordance uses familiar conventions to reassure users that their actions will produce the expected result. The effect is trust. Bad affordance creates a lack of trust, from which a brand is unlikely to recover.
7. It’s HUMAN/computer interaction. Working with consistency and confidence allows us to skip past the stages of validation and develop a relationship with the user. “Like meeting someone at a party you feel like you’ve known your whole life.”
8. Sympathy is a result of respect Components: accessibility, backward compatibility, graceful degradation, device support, usability Sympathy for the user created RWD
9. Every change will likely cause backlash from regular users. THIS is actually good. Can help with onboarding techniques or small iterative changes.
10. Users have baggage. How many times have you gotten irrational feedback? People tend to focus on things that affect them. Who wins? It’s not about preference. In the end it’s about WHAT WORKS. Let’s not wear a belt AND suspenders. Let’s not build EL CAMINOS. (Monteiro: “manifestation of compromised intent”)
11. It’s not a painting in a gallery. It’s a MEAL. People will eat it in different ways. Some will hate it. Some will clean the plate. But PRESENTATION is as important as the taste and nutritional value.
12. Honest expectations. No bait and switch. Clear copywriting on all points of interactions builds trust, credibility, positive UX.
13. The interactive experience is a crucial extension of the user’s overall interaction with USA Today. Every story, every click, every typo, every oddly aligned element affects whether or not they will choose to interact with our brand again.
14. We’re all working on this. Don’t hide behind “I’m not a designer.” You got dressed this morning, right? When designers seem irrationally fixated on a particular detail, it’s because it matters. Humor us. We should ALL be focused on those details.
15. Because USA Today is 100% on top of the trends.
16. One thumb, one eyeball. Real estate is not our only challenge. Finding the quickest path to a desired result is an ongoing quest. User mentality varies based on browsing mode (social, entertainment, task-oriented, research)
17. Let MOBILE lead the way. When mobile web first came about, we started watering down the experience. Now it IS the experience. Build UP (in theory). Additive instead of reductive.
18. Adding enhancements for larger screens with the assumption of consistent bandwidth. Treat the negative space. (Ads) Balance between quality experience and false ornamentation.
19. Oh boy. The shortest path to retina independence is vector graphics or code-based formatting. But what’s our approach for responsive image serving? Can we get ahead of the <picture> element?
20. Advantage for us with Futura Today (custom font). Other properties: Balance desired look & feel with font cost per traffic. What’s the big deal? the site’s personality and readability is at stake. Legibility: readability; Edibility: “yumminess”.
21. Long stories as the exception to the rule. Extra design and engineering effort. Exploring partnerships with companies like Storied for one-off experiences.
22. Extra layer of interest to a piece. Quick reader comprehension. Organic design element for visual interest.
23. Images are powerful. How can we maximize their impact in a repeatable way? Each product should have a realistic strategy for procurement and fulfillment.
24. Usability affects every UX/UI decision we make. Progression is also a factor. How far is too far?
25. When progression and usability become one.
26. Dialogue. Goals. Strategy. Documentation. Above all: BRUTAL HONESTY
27. Some great quotes by a design industry thought leader. As designers, we hold ourselves accountable for the impact of our work. We have strong ideas about how to make that impact.
28. Flow is obscure and elusive. We can try to guide users based on goals we’ve established together.
29. It may seem like we’re always removing stuff. YES and NO. We’re story tellers. SO we’re waiting for the right time to present it.
30. Let’s offer a central resource that’s dynamic and robust. Show use cases. Offer a lab for experimentation. Show methodology for efficient overrides. (SCSS)
31. Components to our system laid out and thought through. For reference and iteration. Hope to have it all coded some day in this format, along with code snippets.
32. Let’s hug it out. We may not always get it right the first time. After using the product, we may find out that we screwed up. We need to find ways to adjust and respond to feedback or surprise constraints.
33. Strategies include SVG, Icon fonts, ems vs. pixels, percentage based layouts, canvas element, picture element, etc.
34. Our designers have a background in code. We can suggest formatting methods and spot flaws in implementation. Don’t take it personally. Engineers need to show interest in design, point out problems early.
35. What’s the goal? For every project, we should ask ourselves this question. Even if it seems obvious.
36. What do we have that competitors don’t? Why do users pick us? Why DON’T they pick us?
37. Each project: Let’s discuss potential blockers and eliminate potential meltdown. Include stakeholders early. Reserve resources. Identify budget.
38. The glory part (for us). The easy part. The fun part.
39. Thanks.