These are my slides for the first week of the class "Mobile and Tablet UX" at the NYU School of Professional Studies. The course is taught online in 4 sessions.

1. Mobile & Tablet UX
Roz Chast,
The New Yorker
(2009)
Liz Filardi
January 27, 2015

2. SHOW OF HANDS
Do you remember your first handheld device?

3. DO TELL!
Name, location, profession,
memory of first handheld device

4. Please keep in mind…
1. Stay muted when not talking.
2. Raise your hand before talking.
3. No private messages.
4. No web cam unless you are presenting.
5. If you have tech problems, contact:
NYU IT Service Desk: 1-212-998-3333

5. Christoph Hitz, The New York Times

6. Agenda
6:30-7:00 PM Introduction to this Course
7:00-7:20 PM Review: What is UX Design?
7:20-7:45 PM Intro to Mobile & Tablet
7:45-8:00 PM BREAK
8:00-8:20 PM “The Download” Activity
8:20-8:35 PM Market Research
8:35-8:50 PM User Research
8:50-9:30 PM Assignment 1, Q&A

7. We’re peers. This is our contract.
MY JOB:
• Facilitate curriculum, design activities for you
• Share my experience, case studies, examples
• Give you feedback
YOUR JOB:
• Show up, participate, engage, ask questions
• Complete the coursework
• Share your insights with the class

8. Please raise your hand & ask
questions along the way!
PSSST…..

9. Curriculum
Week 1 (January 27)
Intro to Mobile & Tablet UX
• Review: What is User Experience?
• Getting in the Mobile Mindset
• “The Download” Activity: Write & Share Out
• A-La-Carte Market Research
• Conducting User Research

10. Curriculum
Week 2 (February 3)
Identify the Opportunity
• Analysis of User Research
• Project Briefs, Personas, and User Journeys
• Case Study: The Met App
– Project Brief
– Personas
– User Journeys
• Competitive Analysis of Mobile Products

11. Curriculum
Week 3 (February 10)
Visualize Your Mobile Product
• Deep Dive: Mobile Usability and Best Practices
• Sketches and Wireframes
• Prototypes

12. Curriculum
Week 4 (February 17)
Pitch Your Product, Then Test It Out
• Final Presentations: Pitch Your Product to the Class
• Usability / User Acceptance Testing

13. Ward Sutton, The New Yorker

14. Liam Francis Walsh, The New Yorker

15. Course Structure
• Meetings: online every Tuesday, 6:30-9:30 PM EST
• Discussions: weekly, due before the next meeting
• Assignments: weekly, due before the next meeting
Grades:
• 10% attendance in meetings *
• 30% weekly discussions
• 60% weekly assignments
* Minor assignments, such as the student survey, may also factor into the attendance
grade.

16. Discussions
Where: NYU Classes > This course site > Forums
What: An opportunity to engage with your peers,
complete discussion assignments, and ask general
questions.
How:
1. Post to the forum after you complete the week’s reading. Make
connections between your experience, the reading, and the
lesson that week.
2. Be sure to leave a few days for others to respond before the
next class session.
3. Respond to your peers’ posts. It’s part of your grade.

17. Assignments
Where: NYU Classes > This course site > Assignments
What: An opportunity to put the lesson into practice. UX is
a discipline where you learn by doing.
We will discuss each assignment in depth at the end of
each meeting.

18. Contact Me
OFFICE HOURS
Where: NYU Classes > This course site > Chat Room
When: Wednesdays, 7-9 PM EST
MESSAGES & EMAIL
Where: NYU Classes > This course site > Messages
Email: ewf210@nyu.edu
I will respond within 48 hours during the week. I am not available on
weekends.

19. Questions so far?

20. Alex Gregory, The New Yorker

22. What is
User Experience Design?

23. User Experience Design is…
• A step in the software design process
• Another term for user interface design
• A process of making products easy to use for a majority of people
• An excuse to ignore stakeholder concerns

24. User Experience Design is…
• A step in the software design process
• The practice of prioritizing user needs during product design
• Another term for user interface design
• Concerned with the whole experience, not just interface design
• A process of making products easy to use for a majority of people
• Concerned with making products delightful to use for target users
• An excuse to ignore stakeholder concerns
• An opportunity to raise user needs alongside stakeholder concerns

25. User Experience Design is…
• The more expensive way to design products
• A rigid process that always produces the same documentation
• The role of one team member
• A single, patented discipline
s

26. User Experience Design is…
• The more expensive way to design products
• Available to anyone designing something with any size budget
• A rigid process that always produces the same documentation
• Practiced using a dynamic range of tools and methods
• The role of one team member
• Best executed when the whole team is onboard and engaged
• A single, patented discipline
• A young approach that combines methods from across disciplines

27. Great UX Design is…
EASY TO USE,
EASY TO LEARN
VALUABLE
CONSISTENT &
RESPONSIVE
* Magical
Delightful
Frictionless
[Insert buzzword]

28. Via NYMag.com “What Silicon Valley’s Favorite Word Says About Tech Priorities”

29. What do we know
about Mobile?

30. You already know a lot!
You all have smartphones and tablets.
You have all engaged in UX design.

31. 42%
58%
American adults
who own
a tablet
American adults
who own
a smartphone
“Mobile and Technology Fact Sheet,” Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life
Project. Statistics are dated January 2014.

32. Pew Research Center: (1) “Mobile and Technology Fact Sheet,” 2014; (2) “Emerging
Nations Embrace Internet, Mobile Technologies,” 2013
95%
China
Portion of Population
with Cell Phone
94%
Russia
90%
U.S.

33. Handheld devices do a lot more
than enable voice calls.

34. Our devices are
extensions of ourselves.

35. Indian Girl, or The Dawn of Christianity by Erastus Dow Palmer
1855-1856
It’s physical.

36. “As Humans, we are captivated with the
interplay between the build-up and the
release. And as app developers, we can
leverage this interplay to enhance our
apps.”
—Rob Foster, Mysterious Trousers

37. Photo: Ariel Zambelich, Wired.com

38. VIRTUAL BUBBLE WRAP
Ø The thumb-optimized menu in Path
Ø The bounce at the end of the scroll view
Ø That pull-to-refresh animation

39. “I believe a visceral app actually causes
your body to release endorphins.”
—Rob Foster, Mysterious Trousers

41. 15 Minute Break
Get ready to write when you return.

42. The Download
Think about what you did in the last 24 hours.
Write down 3-5 events from the day.
When/Where/Why did you use your device(s)?
Ø Check your browser history
Ø Look at recently used apps
5 MINUTES

43. The Download
MOBILE
INTERACTION
FEATURES &
PRODUCTS USED

44. The Download
ANY INSIGHTS? WHAT WAS UNEXPECTED?

45. The Download
This exercise was like a research method
called a diary study.
Who does diary studies and why!?

46. RESEARCH METHODS
Qualitative: 7-day diary, video recordings of app use, and
follow-up interviews
Quantitative: 1000-person survey and device tracking

47. Me Time.

48. Me Time.

49. Which brand UX
is better for Me Time?
Lululemon

50. Which brand UX
is better for Me Time?
Uniqlo

51. Take Away
Research, done well,
leads us to the design opportunity.
Research makes for better designers.

52. A-La-Carte
Market Research

53. Market Research is
NOT User Research.
BUT
Consuming market research
helps you understand markets,
which is useful.

54. Where to Start
• Pew Research Center
• Global research and advisory firms like Nielsen
and Forrester
• Analytics companies like Flurry and App Annie
• Google it (many reports are published
publically and free to access)

55. Take it with a grain of salt
• Check the date of the report and the research.
• Look into the context for the report.
– Where does it come from?
– Was it commissioned, or is it used to sell a product?
• Notice how data was collected.
– Quality research reports describe research methods
up front. You will notice market research and user
research utilize some of the same methods.

56. Market
Research
User
Research

57. Market
Research
User
Research
u Research is
formal, expensive,
time consuming.
u Purpose is to
understand the
market.
u Findings are
shared.
u Research is casual,
practical and
cheap.
u Purpose is to make
a design decision.
u Findings are used
by the product
team only.

58. Market
Research
User
Research
u Research is
formal, expensive,
time consuming.
u Purpose is to
understand the
market.
u Findings are
shared.
u Research is casual,
practical and
cheap.
u Purpose is to make
a design decision.
u Findings are used
by the product
team only.
UX people read it
UX people do it

59. About that
User Research…

60. Benefits of User Research
ü Saves time and money
ü Focuses team efforts
ü Defuses design arguments

65. Questions so far?

66. User Research Process
1. Define the Problem
2. Select the Approach
3. Collect Data
4. Synthesize Results
5. Identify the Opportunity

67. DARIA
The Client

68. MALL FOOD COURT
The Setting

69. DARIA
The Client
“Design a
mobile app to
eliminate the
biggest pain
points in our
service design.”

70. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
“In design, you’re solving for user needs and
business goals. In research, you’re solving
for a lack of information.”
“You want to know when you’re finished,
right?”
—Erika Hall, Just Enough Research

71. 1. Define the Problem
1. Start with a ‘tidy’ verb.
– Define. Determine. Evaluate. Identify.
2. Include the scope of the task.
– Interview 3-5 users. Observe weekday rush
hour.
3. Put it together, concisely.
To identify the top three wayfinding
pain points at Terminal 4 of the JFK
airport.

72. 2. Select the Approach
Ø Visit Usability.gov
Ø Check out IDEO Method Cards
There’s an app for that…
TODAY:
• Observations – always a great place to start
• Interviews – discover what’s under the surface

73. Observation
QUESTIONS
• What services are offered?
• What are the key behaviors?
• Who is there--what are some of
the more common visitor
demographics?
• Where do people get stuck?
What at the bottlenecks?

74. Interviews
• Prepare 3-5 questions
• Approach your target audience
• Ask for permission, have courtesy and respect
• Take shorthand notes
• Review and fill in details after

75. Assignment 1:
Conduct User Research

76. 1. Choose a location near you.
2. Write your research objective.
3. Research Method 1: observe and take notes.
4. Research Method 2: conduct three interviews.
5. Compile & turn in your research.
NOTE: We will finish the process and analyze and
report on research next week!
The Assignment

77. MALL FOOD COURT
The Setting

78. MUSEUM LOBBY
The Setting

79. GROCERY STORE
The Setting

80. • Review: What is User Experience?
• Getting in the Mobile Mindset
• “The Download” Activity: Write & Share Out
• A-La-Carte Market Research
• Conducting User Research
Lesson Review
Questions?

81. Prepare for Next Week
• Assignment 1: Get Ready for Show & Tell
• Materials to Have Handy:
• Post-its
• Markers
• Blank wall or poster board