describing the elephant. - moving beyond professional silos when defining ux
DESCRIPTION
Professional factions have made it impossible for the business community to make educated decisions - or even understand what UX is. Content strategists scream “Content is King.” The information architects yell “Structure the kingdom.” The SEO folks say, “There is no data without metadata.” And the business community says, “WTF” To which the advertising agencies say “We can solve your problem. Don’t ask how we do it, but we can. Just throw money in our direction.” Guess who gets the money thrown at them? I’d like to see these professional barriers broken down. We ALL bring something valuable to the table – if we’re ever allowed to sit at that table. And I’d like to share a model for UX that respects our differences, but provides an easy-to-understand framework on which businesses can build their UX strategies.TRANSCRIPT
Describing the elephantMoving beyond professional silos
Eric Reiss@elreiss
UX Camp PolandMay 17, 2014
Gdánsk, Poland
What is “Gdansk”?
Putting Gdansk on the map…
And historically?
So, what IS “Gdansk”?
Clients know what they want
But we know what they need
Clients know what they want
But we know what they need
This is the fatal disconnect
Content management
Knowledge management Personas
Scenaria
Thesauri
Sensemaking
Accessibility
Storytelling
Usability
Findability
Information architecture
Mental models
Experience design
“Creativity varies inversely withthe number of cooks involved
in the broth.”
Bernice Fitz-Gibbon1967
Webmaster WebmasterVisual designerCopywriter
DeveloperVisual designerInformation architectCopywriter
Front-end engineerFull-stack developerVisual designerUI designerInteraction designerContent strategistInformation architectContent providersSEO consultantSocial media guruProduct managerProject managerToken baby boomer
1995 1998 2000 2014
It’s all Greek to me....
Goethe
„Es hört jeder doch nur,was er versteht.“
“He hears only thatwhich he understands”
Goethe
“He hears only thatwhich he understands”
Goethe
CSS
User Experience
IA SD CS IxD GD PM KM DM SEO SM MKT IT
What does this mean for us asUX professionals?
No single person can truly be a“UX Designer”
No single discipline can trulytake ownership of UX
Can we define UX in simple,understandable terms?
Can we embrace allthese disciplines without
taking ownership?
Eric’s 1st Law of UX:
If a solution does not solve youruser’s problems, it will notsolve your company’s either.
So, let’s start by looking at a “user”
us·ernoun
1: a person who makes use of a thing;someone who uses or employs something
2: a person who uses something or someone selfishly or unethically
3: a person who takes drugs
When would you use (simultaneously):� An ergonomic seat designed for one person
� Optical lenses invented by Benjamin Franklin
� Alcoholic mixture invented by Dr. Iain Marshall
� Incandescent device invented by Thomas Edison
� Fabric made on a loom invented by JM Jacquard
� Rouge Royale (marble)
� Baskerville Light (typography)
� Domesticated mammal
(This is often how our clients look at their content)
When would you use (in simpler terms):� Armchair
� Bifocal eyeglasses
� Manhattan Cocktail
� Lightbulb
� Wool pullover
� Tabletop
� Book
� Cat
(This is an easier way to look at content)
Eyeglasses
Wool pullover
Lightbulb
Marble tabletop
Armchair
Book
Gus the Cat
Manhattan Cocktail
Sensory assistance
Warmth/comfort
Sensory assistance
Convenience/aethetics
Convenience/comfort
Education/information
Companionship
Chemical stimuli
The experience of a touchpointwill always situational
The touchpoints arecumulative
What do your users need?
What are the scenarios?
How many touchpoints are touched?
Perhaps UX design exists...
...just not UX designers.
How can anyone truly be a “UX Designer”without controlling all the touchpoints?
We need a more useful definition of UX!
ex·per·i·ence noun
1: having been affected by or learnedthrough observation or participation
2: the length of such participation
Eric’s 2nd Law of UX:
User experience is the sum ofa series of interactions betweenpeople, devices, and events.
Eric’s 3rd Law of UX:
There are three types of interaction:active, passive and secondary
Eric’s 4th Law of UX:
UX design represents the consciousact of coordinating interactions,acknowledging interactions, andreducing negative interactions.
Three types of interaction:� Active (things we control)
� Passive (things we don’t control)
� Secondary (things that have indirect influence)
Active interaction
Active interaction
Passive interaction (partly)
Passive interaction
Secondary interaction
Secondary interaction
UX design combines all three activites
� Coordinating interactions that we can control
� Acknowledging interactions beyond our control
� Reducing negative interactions
Coordinating interactions
Coordinating interactions
Coordinating interactions
Reducing negative interactions
Reducing negative interactions
Reducing negative interactions
Reducing negative interactions
So, where does that leave us?
Five things to consider if youwant to succeed in UX
Don’t speak geek
Don’t attack other disciplines
Solve problems, don’t create them
Think beyond your own self-interest
And finally, our new mantra...
Think crackers, not crumbs!
Dziękuję!
Eric Reiss can (usually) be found at:
The FatDUX Group ApSStrandøre 152100 CopenhagenDenmark
Office: (+45) 39 29 67 77Mobil: (+45) 20 12 88 44Twitter: @[email protected]