the importance of ux/ui design in the software/app development framework

The importance of UX/UI design in the software/app development framework

Engaging Human-Computer Interaction & Ergonomics Experts to Boost

User Experience and Profitability

The Panel

• Mark Garnish – Development Director / Tikit (@MarkGarnish)

• Peter Zver – President / Tikit North America (@PeterZver)

• Justin Hectus – CIO / Keesal Young and Logan (@JustinHectus)

• Jeffrey Brandt – Owner, Brandt Professional Services / Editor, PinHawk Law Technology Daily Digest (@Jeffrey_Brandt)

Why all the fuss – UX and UI

No need for UX consideration when :

The computer interaction was input/output

focused, executed by trained staff in a

predictable environment …. and delivered

as a service (using paper reports as the

medium of consumption).

Today, interaction introduces many variables and is in no way predictable either input

or output ….. hence a potential experience ranging from great to ugly… UX is key!!!

Why all the fuss – UX and UI

Accessibility today, but at a cost

There are many endpoints for

consumption and access.

However, most UI being

delivered is ‘legacy’ resulting

in negative UX.

Touch where????

UI is what an app looks like.

UX is what an app is like.

What's in a name?

This is a real homepage – no joke!

[Check it out at Lingscars.com]

Bad design

Icons – did we get it wrong?

Investment in time and cost to design icons that require “hovers” to explain what they mean.

Why not skip the icon and explain the action in English?

Add time

Make it obvious

A good design should make it

obvious to the user what they

should have to do within

seconds of viewing!!!

Not only about clicks

It’s not only about the clicks. Just

because I can do something in 3

clicks doesn’t mean I should.

Sometimes a user will intuitively

do something better in 5 clicks.

The UX is just better that way. Go

with it.

Engaging the user – a balancing act

Focusing only on simplicity is simplistic thinking

Simplicity is just one consideration among many

that contributes to the design of the UX

User personas Environment of engagement

Cognitive behavior Existing reflex

Opportunity cost Propensity to invest for high value

Effective interface with sub optimal experience – but warranted

Sometime extra UI

overhead is warranted

to avoid a huge cost

or take advantage of a

huge opportunity

A UX journey – QWERTY

Qwerty keyboard is an example

of sub-optimal design (to

essentially slow down the user)

in order save on the cost of

repairs to the keys and ribbon .

However it’s evolution to a

“standard” now makes the UX

untouchable to optimization.

Don’t underestimate propensity to invest for value

Who would have thought that high profile busy

attorneys (who are allergic to the full keyboard) would

become Blackberry power users often wearing out the

touch keys on the device? Why did they engage in this

negative UX? Because the value (extremely high) of

instant communication any time, any where

outweighed the effort.

Measure Analyze Present Keesal, Young & Logan’s MAP’ing process

1

The importance of “Metrics” to gauge personas

1

The importance of “Velocity of Capture”

“Lack of rigor in time recording is contrary to the principles of trust and integrity”

1 As lag to capture increases, quality erodes

1 Timers

Mobile App Express Time

Day List Workspace

Dashboard

Passive

Multiple capture points are necessary to serve multiple user personas,

but they inherently lend themselves to variations in velocity of capture.

1

But the data shows that capture points may have impact

beyond that one point (a “halo effect”):

• Timekeepers who regularly use timers also had greater

velocity of capture across the board

• Timekeepers who use mobile time entry at least once per

week achieved a velocity of capture 60% closer to 1.0 in

non-mobile and time entry areas vs. their peers

• Timekeepers who used timers or mobile entries on a

regular basis were subject to significantly less write offs on

a consistent basis

• Outstanding interface

• Perfect integration with device

• Installation handled by IT

• Training provided by IT

• Promo by firm champion

• “It’s in the app store”

• 44% increase in entries

• 40% smaller entries on average

2010 Mobile Time Entry 2014 Mobile Time Entry

Application reflex arrived with iOS

Takeaways

• The bar for the end user experience (UX) for business applications

is being reset.

• Making a consumer grade UX/UI available to busy professionals ensures high adoption and ROI.

• Understanding user personas in UX/UI design is critical… Obtaining objective metrics to support user persona definition key in that it eliminates stereotyping.

• Understanding and leveraging existing human behavior/interaction into the design delivers an easy win.

• Start with biggest challenge – delivering usability on the smallest

footprint (i.e. smartphone).

Interested in seeing modern UI/UX at work?

Check out Tikit’s next generation of

Carpe Diem timekeeping software.

For more information:

Peter Zver

President, Tikit North America

Peter.Zver@Tikit.com | www.Tikit.us

Follow @TikitNA and @PeterZver