10
Most Common
Misconceptions About
User Experience Design
Whitney Hess
whitney@whitneyhess.com
@whitneyhess
http://whitneyhess.com

1
User experience design is NOT
User interface design.
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

“User experience isn't a layer
or component of a product or
service. It's really about the
design of whole systems and
their interconnections.”
Andrew Hinton
Senior information architect at Vanguard
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

http://www.jjg.net/elements/

2
User experience design is NOT
A step in the process.
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

“User experience design
isn't a checkbox. You don't
do it and then move on. It
needs to be integrated into
everything you do.”
Liz Danzico
Chair, MFA in Interaction Design
School of Visual Arts in NYC
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

SOLUTIONS
Future state
Current state
Write user-centered
requirements specifications
It stands almost complete
and finished in my mind so
ABSTRACTION
that I can survey it like a fine
Research user interface topics
picture or a beautiful statue.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, from
Create user interface style guides
Information Design, edited by Robert
Jacobson
Conceptual and detailed design
CONCEPTUAL
An ounce of action is worth
of user interfaces
MODEL
a ton of theory.
Friedrich Engels (1820 - 1895)
Review and test usability
Information architecture
USE
CASES for large bodies of content
“An architect is defined as
Write and edit documentation
someone who forgets to put
in the staircase.”
Gustave Flaubert, French novelist
(1821-80), Dictionnaire des idées
reçues (1881).
CONCEPTUAL
DESIGN
Dilbert: “Your user require-
ments include four hundred
features. Do you realize that
no human would be able to
use a product with that level
of complexity?”
“Rules are sparse; we forget Feature Creep: “Good point.
them. Stories, being rich in I’d better add ‘easy to use’ “If you want to know what
details, are multiply index- to the list.” happens when you throw
able...Moreover, if a rule fails,
a stone into a pond, it is infi-
Dilbert as quoted in Paper
it can be reassessed only
nitely better to make a trial
Prototyping, Carolyn Snyder
with great difficulty because
and film it than to attempt
rules hang in the air, unat-
to theorize about it.”
tached to experience. But if “Igloo: an indigenous home
René Thom, Physicist
the lesson attached to a spe- constructed of local building
cific story fails, the events of materials. Bavarian castle:
MOCK-UP
the story can be reassessed a home constructed to impress
to figure out why the lesson the neighbours. Space station:
failed and what other lesson a mobile home with a view.”
SCENARIOS
might have been drawn.”
Donald C. Gause & Gerald M. Weinberg,
USER OF USE
Tell Me a Story, Roger C. Schank Exploring Requirements: Quality Before
Design
REQUIREMENTS FUTURE STATE
USABILITY
I’m going to kill myself.
I should go to Paris and jump
TEST “Just wait, Gretel, until the
off the Eiffel Tower. I’ll be
CONTENT “I write scripts to serve as moon rises, and then we shall
PROTOCOL
dead. You know, in fact, if
skeletons awaiting the flesh see the crumbs of bread
INVENTORY
I get the Concorde, I could
and sinew of images.” which I have strewn about;
TAXONOMY
be dead three hours earlier,
they will show us our way
Ingmar Bergman, NY Times 22 Jan 78
which would be perfect. Or
SCENARIOS AND METADATA
home again.”
“Our burgeoning digital cul-
wait a minute. It – with the
ture is heading for oblivion,
OF USE
time change, I could be alive Hansel and Gretel
and fast…future anthropolo-
for six hours in New York but
CURRENT STATE gists will find our pottery but
dead three hours in Paris.
INFORMATION
not our e-mail.”
I could get things done, and
ARCHITECTURE
I could also be dead. James Gleick, Faster: the
Acceleration of Just about
Woody Allen (one of the greatest
Everything
personas of the 20th century… good
thing he didn’t take the plane to
Paris)
USABILITY
“Technical work needs “Break it, stretch it, bend it,
“Regulations [are] written for
reviewing for the same crush it, crack it, fold it.”
the obedience of fools and
TEST
reason that pencils need
the guidance of wise men.”
Bruce Mau, Lifestyle
erasers: to err is human.”
Anonymous. Featured in the film
Freedman and Weinberg, Handbook
EXPERT
Reach for the Sky (UK, 1956).
of Walkthroughs, Inspections and
GRAPHIC
PERSONAS
Technical Reviews
REVIEW STYLE
DESIGN
GUIDE
“Those things that hurt,
TEST instruct.”
REPORT Ben Franklin
COMMUNICATION PLAN
“Sight, even though used by
all of us so naturally, has not
yet produced its civilization.
Sight is swift, comprehensive,
simultaneously analytic and
RESEARCH DETAILED
synthetic. It requires so little
REPORT energy to function, as it does,
SPECIFICATION DOCUMENTATION
FIELD
at the speed of light, that it
permits our minds to receive
STUDIES and hold an infinite number
of items of information in
a fraction of a second. With
Observation The men of experiment are “First, the taking in of scat- “He who every morning plans “To determine whether or not
sight infinities are given at
like the ant, they only collect tered particulars under one the transaction of the day a spark is being delivered to
“A little manure on the boots
once; wealth is its description.”
and use; the reasoners Idea, so that everyone and follows out that plan, the spark plug, hold a spark
may disturb city folks, but in
Caleb Gattegno, Toward a Visual
resemble spiders, who make understands what is being carries a thread that will plug wire approximately 1/4
requirements work, you learn
Culture
cobwebs out of their own talked about…Second, the guide him through the maze inch away from the cylinder
not to mistake appearance
substance. But the bee takes separation of the Idea into of the most busy life. But head as the engine is cranked
for value.”
the middle course: it gathers parts, by dividing it at the where no plan is laid, where with the starting motor…If a
Donald C. Gause & Gerald M.
its material from the flowers joints, as nature directs, the disposal of time is surren- spark is noted from each of
Weinberg, Exploring Requirements:
of the garden and field, but not breaking any limb in dered merely to the chance the wires, the trouble is not
Quality Before Design
transforms and digests it by half as a bad carver might.” of incidence, chaos will soon likely to be with the ignition
a power of its own. Not unlike reign.” system.”
Plato, Phaedrus, 265D
this is the true business of Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885) from Ford’s 1941 Deluxe and Super
philosophy (science). Deluxe Reference Book (Ford did not
caution the reader against getting
Francis Bacon
shocked or performing this quick-fix
Current state
while standing in a puddle.).
Future state
hoto credits: Geert Allegaert, Joannes Vandermeulen and Karolien Taverniers - Thanks to Alain Schiffeleers and Andreea Chelaru
http://www.namahn.com/resources/poster.htm TIME
COMMUNICATION PLAN CONCEPTUAL MODEL DETAILED SPECIFICATION FIELD STUDIES INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE PERSONAS STYLE GUIDE USABILITY TEST USE CASES
A document describing the scope and the The concepts that the design must communicate A detailed specification describes the compo- Observing users in the environment in which Document describing the information architec- Personas are lively descriptions of typical users. A document describing the formal conventions A method by which users of a product are asked A use case defines a set of use-case instances
planning of the communication project: what in order for the user to understand and operate nents and behaviour of the user experience they will work with the digital product that is ture of a digital product. In some cases, the They are based on patterns and findings to be followed within a family of digital prod- to perform tasks in an effort to measure the in which each instance is a sequence of actions
is to be communicated, for whom and how; the product. The conceptual model in sufficient detail for the developer, and may being designed. information architecture specification offers gathered during field studies. Using personas ucts. Conventions can be lexical (what are the product’s ease-of-use, task time, and the user’s a system performs that yields an observable
where the challenges and opportunities lie. differs from the technical model, which is the include the design rationale. two perspectives: prevents designers from drifting towards an codes, both visual and linguistic) and syntacti- perception of the product. result of value to a particular actor, often a user.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
way the developer understands the product. • User’s side: what the user sees —the taxonomy idealized view of users that lacks nuance. cal (how the codes can be assembled to form
CONCEPTUAL DESIGN DOCUMENTATION USABILITY TEST PROTOCOL USER REQUIREMENTS
It also differs from the mental model, which is The design of the look and feel of the digital and structuring of the information on the pages. practical wholes).
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess
RESEARCH REPORT
A set of sketches illustrating the main interaction the concept that an individual user develops The final deliverables of a documentation product. The graphical design usually consists • Authoring/Storage side: describing the author- The protocol describes scope, goals, settings, User requirements are a formal expression
TAXONOMY AND METADATA
concept of a digital product. The conceptual in order to understand the product. project. Usually the writing process of docu- of a specification of standard colours, icons, the ing and storage of the information, workflows, A document that expresses the findings of a instructions and tasks to be performed by of the desired functions and qualities of the
design starts with paper and pencil. mentation takes three iterations: draft version, location of graphical elements and typography. metadata, topics and information types. research project. Creative and rational at the Design of the information structure, the labelling a test participant. future digital product. Not only product features,
CONTENT INVENTORY pre-final version, and final version. same time, it provides insight into murky territory. and the terminology that will be applied to the but also non-functional requirements, such
MOCK-UP
A structured list of all content (documents, digital content of a digital product. The information as reliability and usability, are included.
EXPERT REVIEW SCENARIOS OF USE
assets, information chunks, etc.) that must be A more or less realistic simulation of the user structure is usually a tree or a matrix (faceted
[current state/future state]
considered for publication in a digital product. During expert reviews, a number of experts interface that combines the scenarios of use classification).

“Most clients expect experience design to
be a discrete activity, solving all their
problems with a single functional
specification or a single research study. It
must be an ongoing effort, a process of
continually learning about users,
responding to their behaviors, and evolving
the product or service.”
Dan Brown
Co-founder and principal at EightShapes
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

3
User experience design is NOT
Just about technology.
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

“User experience design is not
limited to the confines of the
computer. It doesn't even need a
screen... User experience is any
interaction with any product, any
artifact, any system.”
Bill DeRouchey
Director of interaction design at Ziba Design
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

Carelman’s teapot
from Don Norman’s ﬔe Design of Everyday ﬔings
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

4
User experience design is NOT
Just about usability.
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

“While usability is important, its focus
on efficiency and effectiveness seems
to blur the other important factors in
UX, which include learnability and
visceral and behavioral emotional
responses to the products and
services we use.”
David Malouf
Professor of interaction design
Savannah College of Art & Design
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

http://semanticstudios.com/publications/semantics/000029.php
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

5
User experience design is NOT
Just about the user.
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

“We just can’t always do what is
best for the users. ﬔere are a set
of business objectives that are
needing to be met—and we’re
designing to that, as well.”
Russ Unger
Director of Experience Planning, DraFCB
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

http://www.semanticstudios.com/publications/semantics/images/threecirclesbig.jpg
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

http://idea-sandbox.com/blog_images/strategic_sweet_spot.png
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

6
User experience design is NOT
Expensive.
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

“Sometimes a fully-fledged, formal UCD
process may not be the best thing to try first
time. It’s extremely important–and totally
possible no matter where you’re working or
when you arrive on a project–to make small
improvements to both the project and the
product by introducing some user
experience design techniques.”
Steve Baty
Principal and UX strategist, Meld Consulting
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

“People cling to things like personas,
user research, drawing comics, etc. In
reality the best designers have a
toolbox of options, picking and choosing
methods for each project what makes
sense for that particular project.”
Dan Saffer
Founder and principal, Kicker Studio
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

7
User experience design is NOT
Easy.
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

Cutting corners
All assumption, no validation
One-size-fits-all solutions
Feature creep
Design during development
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

8
User experience design is NOT
ﬔe role of one person
or department.
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

“User experience isn’t just the responsibility
of a department or a person. ﬔat
compartmentalist view of UX is evidence
that it is not part of the organizational
culture and hints to teams not having a
common goal or vision for the experience
they should deliver collectively.”
Livia Labate
Principal, UX, Comcast Interactive Media
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

http://www.slideshare.net/jmspool/
journey-to-the-center-of-design

9
User experience design is NOT
A single discipline.
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

“User experience may not even be a
community just yet. At best, it’s a common
awareness, a thread that ties together people
from different disciplines who care about good
design, and who realize that today’s
increasingly complex design challenges
require the synthesis of different varieties of
design expertise.”
Lou Rosenfeld
UX book publisher at Rosenfeld Media
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

http://www.montparnas.com/

10
User experience design is NOT
A choice.
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

“ﬔe biggest misconception is
that companies have a choice to
invest in their user’s experience.
To survive, they don’t.”
Joshua Porter
Principal at Bokardo Design
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

Experiences happen,
whether or not you plan them.
When not intentionally designed,
there’s a much higher likelihood
of the experience being poor.
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

User experience design is
NOT...
1. User interface design It is the system
2. A step in the process It is the process
3. Just about technology It is about behavior
4. Just about usability It is about value
5. Just about the user It is about context
6. Expensive It is flexible
7. Easy It is a balancing act
8. ﬔe role of one person or dept It is a culture
9. A single discipline It is a collaboration
10. A choice It is a means of survival
Whitney Hess @whitneyhess

ﬔank you.
Whitney Hess
whitney@whitneyhess.com
@whitneyhess
http://whitneyhess.com