Designing the right product Michele Ide-Smith, @micheleidesmith Senior UX Architect University of Cambridge @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
A cautionary tale • In 2002 I worked on a mobile (WAP) application. Over several weeks… – We discussed requirements – I designed user flows and crafted wireframes – We created a working prototype – We did lots of internal testing • Then we launched the product… @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
We may as well have built one of these… Photo by Steve Way: @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer http://www.flickr.com/photos/steve_way/3409302647/
We made a lot of assumptions @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
We didn’t validate our assumptions @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
We didn’t do any research with customers @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
“Unfortunately , we again made the mistake of focusing on engineering first and customer development second…We released our first version to some moderate success and then proceeded to continue to churn out features without really understanding customer needs.” Devver Blog – Lessons Learned @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
It’s tempting to design a product with loads of really cool features. @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
But in reality your users will only use a handful of useful features @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
% Software features used 20 30 Used Never used Rarely used 50 Source: Standish Chaos Manifesto 2013 @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
“ There is no doubt that focusing on the 20% of the features that give you 80% of the value will maximize the investment in software development and improve overall user satisfaction. ” Standish Chaos Manifesto @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
An evolution of thinking… @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Lean: deliver value to customers, minimising waste in the production process Photo by Toyota Material Handling @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer http://www.flickr.com/photos/toyotamheurope/8472007819
@micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
“ There are no facts inside your building, so get outside ” Steve Blank & Bob Dorf @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
“ The question is not “Can this product be built?” Instead, the questions are "Should this product be built? " ” Eric Ries @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Principles of Lean Startup • Eliminate uncertainty • Work smarter, not harder • Develop an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) • Validated learning @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Ideas Build Code Measure Data Learn @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
bringing the true nature of our work to light faster , with less emphasis on deliverables and greater focus on the actual experience being designed.” “ Lean UX is the practice of Jeff Gothelf @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Principles of Lean UX • Cross-functional teams • Outcomes, not output • Continuous discovery • GOOB: user-centricity • Shared understanding • Externalising your work • Making over analysis • Getting out of the deliverables business @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Make Check Reduce cycle time, not build time Think Design research Competitor Analysis Personas Ideation Usability testing Hypothesis A/B testing Sketching Analytics Prototyping Coding @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
“Requirements are assumptions.” Jeff Gothelf @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Some case studies… @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
“We wanted to make sure we were getting customer feedback as we worked so that we were never working on anything that wasn’t valued by the customer.” Nordstrom Innovation Lab: Sunglasses iPad App Photo by Prayitno @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer http://www.flickr.com/photos/34128007@N04/5279860498
Case Study #2 @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Hypothesis: Oracle Developers & DBAs need a better way to source control their database schemas >70% interest – develop a tool a.s.a.p. Photo by Paigggeyy @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer http://www.flickr.com/photos/paigggeyy/5533236567
@micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
25 feedback sessions with users @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Continual validation of assumptions through surveys, interviews and testing @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Make Check Reduce cycle time, not build time Think Design research Competitor Analysis Personas Ideation Usability testing Hypothesis A/B testing Sketching Analytics Prototyping Coding @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Get the team on the same page • Why are we doing this? • Who are building this for? • How will we know if we have succeeded? @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
State your assumptions! • Review your user stories or requirements • Which ones do you know to be true? • Which assumptions pose the biggest risk? @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Create a one page plan Put it up where everyone can see it! @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
“Design is problem solving. Design research is problem seeking .” Ac4d design library Photo by Tom Ryan @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer http://www.flickr.com/photos/t0msk/3983980813
understand our users’ contexts, we must “To make excellent products that truly look further, and investigate context first- hand” Cennydd Bowles @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
How and where will people use your application? Photo by Phil Dragash @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer http://www.flickr.com/photos/philman/2697665803
Who are they with? Photo by Jo Shlabotnik @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeshlabotnik/7364192792
Some research methods • Observation & contextual interviews – experience activities in context – observe how people behave – look for pain points and workarounds • Surveys • Guerilla usability tests – 5 minutes in a coffee shop @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Beware of asking people what they do, or what they want. @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Avoid questions like… • Which of these features would be useful to you? • How would you like this to work? • What would you most like to see in the product? • How do you think we should design this? @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
“What people say, what people do, and what they say they do are entirely different things .” Margaret Mead, Cultural Anthropologist @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Ask questions like… • Tell me about the last time you did... • What went well? What didn’t go so well? • What happened? • Why was that? • What did you do? • Tell me more about that… @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Get a shared understanding of user needs and problems. Involve the whole team in research! @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Write the things you see or hear on sticky notes. @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Group similar sticky notes together and discuss as a team how you will solve those problems for users. @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
You can’t design for everyone. Personas represent the main user behaviours you are designing for. @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Make Check Reduce cycle time, not build time Think Design research Competitor Analysis Personas Ideation Usability testing Hypothesis A/B testing Sketching Analytics Prototyping Coding @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Experiment template by: www.luxr.co | @luxrco @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
“if the call-to-action button is red then the number of people registering will go up” www.mindtheproduct.com/2012/08/experiments-101/ @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Make sure it’s easy to test ! @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Design studio: a lo-fi method to generate lots of ideas quickly, then refine them. 51 @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Combine the best ideas and start prototyping @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Paper prototyping: quick and easy to change before you commit to code Easy to get feedback and quick to change @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Get designs off the screen and on the walls! @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Make Check Reduce cycle time, not build time Think Design research Competitor Analysis Personas Ideation Usability testing Hypothesis A/B testing Sketching Analytics Prototyping Coding @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Validation • Usability testing • A/B (multi-variant / split) testing • Analytics @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Closing the feedback loop • Get the whole team to observe and analyse usability test sessions • Make usability testing habitual @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Summary • Treat requirements as assumptions • Get out of the building and observe customers in context • Build a shared understanding in the team of customer problems • Rapid think > make > check cycles • Everyone in the team owns the user experience of the product! @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
“Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right thing” Peter Drucker @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
Michele Ide-Smith Senior User Experience Architect University of Cambridge @micheleidesmith www.ide-smith.co.uk @micheleidesmith | #GOTOBer
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