Presentation slides for the workshop on UX failure done at the conference UX Scotland 2014 from Edinburgh. First we look at some famous failures from the IT world, some with grave UX problems. In the second part the participants will do various exercises focusing on failure in UX. DISCLAIMER All the websites analysed here were used only for presenting a method/technique, not to grade (truly analyse) the websites. As these were chosen randomly and we do not know the business objectives that drives these websites we can not evaluate objectively the UX of the presented pages, but we can use them to present testing methods for UX.

1. Fail by UX
Learning from Failing
Adrian Iacomi [Cactus Ideas Ltd] @adrianiacomi

3. Agenda
✤ About me
✤ (UX) Failure
✤ Famous failures
✤ Let’s fail together [group work]
✤ Questions & Answers

4. About me
✤ Adrian Iacomi
15 years in the IT industry (UX Architect, Project Manager)
MSc in UX, IT University of Copenhagen
Experience with eCommerce, eLearning, HealthCare.
Other: tango, biking, snowboarding, photography and design

6. (UX) Failure

7. Failure
Why we fail by Victor Lombardi [Rosenfeld Media]
✤ Engineering failure - the product doesn’t work as designed
✤ Design Failure - it function, but it’s so badly designed, that
people can not use it
✤ Experience failure - the product physically works and
people can use it, but using an undesirable / perfectible
experience

9. Famous failures

10. Internet Explorer [1995- ...]
the most hated browser on the web
Engineering Failure: Slow, Freezes, Less Secure,

11. Improve The Product!
BMW iDrive [2002 - ...]
one button to rule them all
Design Failure: Radically New, Losing Focus On Driving, Testing On Different Markets?

12. Fail Fast And Cheap!
Google Wave [2010]
mail, chat, maps, browser, text, photos, projects, people, all !!!
Experience Failure: No Mvp, Too Many Features, Too Many Hats

14. Let’s fail together (group work)

15. 1. Pirates
A) Intro [5 min]
1. choose a pirate name (uX related)
2. write the name in front of you
3. present yourself
B) Work and pillaging [10 min]
1. Scenario: you are part of a pirate crew, but
you got payed off by the authorities to
sabotage the pirates
2. Brainstorm - as many ideas possible to
sabotage the boat
3. Present to your team members your
solution
[duration 15 min]

16. 2. Design failure
1. Split in two teams
Team A: sabotage
Team B: saviours
2. Check the project description on the table.
3. A team write down best ways to make the
project fail
4. B team write down possible solutions
!!! each for itself, hide them from the
opposing team
5. Fight! Team A show challenges, Team B
try to have the written solution
!!! Keep score
[duration: 20 min]

17. 3. Let’s fix it
How would you fix / prevent the major
failures proposed before:
A. IE
B. BMW iDrive
C. Google Wave
[duration: 15 min]

18. Questions & Answers

19. Thank you :)