Interaction Design for Enterprise Teams
Jason Moore, UX [email protected]
Agenda
I’d like to leave you with 3 ideas 1. What is Interaction Design (IxD)?2. How IxD’s are structured to support Workiva’s
success within our product teams3. How product discovery plays a key role in our
teams
Idea #1What is Interaction Design?
What is Interaction Design?
A design discipline dedicated to defining the behavior of artifacts, environments, and systems ...i.e. products
The Interaction Design Group’s (IxDG) definition of IxD can be found at http://define.ixdg.org/
If it were only that simple
Our challenges continue to grow
Idea #2The day-in-day-out of UX life at Workiva
What people think we do
image used from http://jmoo.re/1HMEWj7
What we don’t do
What we actually do
User Experience deals with:● The interaction itself● UI ≠ UX● It includes UI but, is not bound by it● Deals with all perceptions the user has while
interacting with it
We think of it like this
Content“What People are looking for”
Images used from: http://jmoo.re/ux-ui-diff
UI“Tools to use the content”
UXConsumption
Problems we are solving today
How do users retrieve and trust
the integrity of financial data?
How do we allow teamsof 3 to 1000 to collaborate
securely and effectively across desktop and
mobile?
How would our users most benefit from tracking their
document lifecycle and the resources involved?
Discovery ‘triads’ are at the core
Image From: Jeff Patton. “User Story Mapping.”
How did we get from here in 2009...
...to here in 2015?
Idea #3What role does Product Discovery play in
Workiva teams?
What is “Product Discovery”?
Product Discovery is a set of tools and methods that allow you to evolve a product idea into an actionable delivery plan, within just a few days.
Why is discovery important?
Ever ask questions like,● Does my product solve my customers
problems?● What works?● What could be better?● Where do we go from here?
Stuff I said“I've never met an engineer who wanted to build something over and over for a user
who has ZERO interest in using it.”- Jason
Ever have feature discussions like this?
Illustration by Luke Barrett
What shared understanding looks like
...So, how do we arrive at this place?
Illustration by Luke Barrett
The Goal of Product Discovery
Image From: Jeff Patton. “User Story Mapping.”
Quick! To the UX Toolbelt
● Maps! (of all kinds)● Customer Calls● Sketching ● Prototypes● Validation
We love mapping problems (+solutions)
● Maps are a CORE component of our UX Toolbox.
● Visualizing information is infinitely more powerful.
Our Compass
http://jmoo.re/jp-story
read itlearn itlove it...and use it.
When should I engage in discovery?
Not often, only when you have a need to:● Build an entirely new product● Add new features to an existing product● Innovate on existing features
Ok...so, a lot.
Empathy Maps
Rather than sympathy (pity), empathy allows you toimmerse yourself in a user’s environment
How we plan for a customer Call
If you make a habit of this, you’ll...
Do not ever ask, “what do you want?”
Image recreated from http://jmoo.re/3-better-questions
What do you want?
Feature 2Feature 1 Feature 3
...end up chasing features till you retire (or worse).
Build solutions, not features
What’s our alternative?
1. What are you trying to get done? Why?a. Getting background information about what a person is trying to do is
critical to understanding your users.
ExampleWhat are you trying
to get done? Build a Fence Why?
Image recreated from http://jmoo.re/3-better-questions
So I can surround my front yard.
Why?So that I can plant a garden.
Why?
So I can grow my own food.
So that I can save money on groceries.
USE CASE!Why?
What’s our alternative?
1. What are you trying to get done? Why?a. Getting background information about what a person is trying to do is
critical to understanding your users.
2. Can you show me how you currently do this?a. After understanding the scale of the ‘why’ and what they want to, step
into their shoes and see how they do it.
What’s our alternative?
1. What are you trying to get done? Why?a. Getting background information about what a person is trying to do is
critical to understanding your users.
2. Can you show me how you currently do this?a. After understanding the scale of the ‘why’ and what they want to, step into
their shoes and see how they do it.
3. Can you tell me what’s painful about this?a. If you jump to asking users about how they think something can be better
from the start, you only get their opinion, not how they actually deal with their current problem.
We try and remember that...
When talking to our customers, ● Great discovery feels like a conversation, not
an interrogation. ● We never assume that we know what a user
means. Ask. ● Silence is our friend.
Journey Maps
Journey Maps
● Allows us to understand what the user is doing TODAY.
● It’s about mapping the process of observing, and describing all the experiences and emotions the our user has as they encounter a product.
● There will most-likely be gaps!○ That’s why we’re here!
Time to Pause!
The tools mentioned previously are meant to help create shared understanding about who our user is and the pain around their current solution(s).
Going through the motions without reaching the why’s is called “Discovery Theatre”.
Do we know the user now?
Let’s map a solution!
“Story maps are really about discussion, conversations, breaking big ideas into granular detail..”- Jeff Patton
What’s a Story?A story is a named item that we might build in our software
● It names what we might build● It avoids saying how it would be built
Why Stories?User stories act as the narrative with which you can have conversations in and around your triad (PM/UX/DEV) and team:
Illustration by Luke Barrett
How do we write stories?
● Keep the language simple○ Express stories in a language most people can
understand● Build wide, then deep
○ Start with the big ideas and then backtrack.○ Details should be discussed in other pertinent
meetings, where they are useful.
The life of story map
How it breaks down
Big Ideas (concepts)
User's steps
- smaller steps
- UI details
- technical details/steps
MVP/Release level
MVP/Release level
Build better maps● Build a physical map when possible...and
let the rest of the team see it!● Start with the ‘Walking Skeleton’
○ build wide, then deep● Focus on the MVP’s or MVR’s (Minimum
Viable Release *)● Add UI to the map to spark discussion● Revisit the map constantly (during the
project)
Milemarker: Storymap Progress
A good way to understand if our story map is on the right track is to sketch it out.● Everyone on the team is invited to participate.
Yes, Engineers too!● We pick a vertical column of our map and
timebox 5 minutes sessions to walk through it. ● Have each person share and discuss.
Sketching ideas … is a good idea
Rough sketch of user interface flow on a mobile app.Image by Fernando Guillen.
Interaction Flow Single Screen
Why do we prototype?
To EXPLORE concepts for ourselves
To VALIDATE concepts with users
To COMMUNICATE concepts with stakeholders
and teams
How we select the right fidelity
What is the FASTEST, cheapest way to
explore
validate
communicate
[ insert what you are prototyping ] ?
Prototyping: One size does not fit all
Low High
live data, polished ui, html or axure
wireframes and lo-fi ui. clickable interactions
paper or balsamiq, high level flow
After we validate our hypothesis
Time to build ... aka define the MVP!
“The minimum viable product is the smallest solution release that successfully achieves its desired outcomes.” ← solves our clients pain!
Excerpt From: Jeff Patton. “User Story Mapping.” iBooks.
This is NOT MVP
Illustration by Henrik Kniberg
This is a beautifully incorrect product plan for MVP. At every release the user gets something they can’t use, until the
last release when they get something that they finally can.
Bingo. MVP FTW
Illustration by Henrik Kniberg
If we build like this, our user gets somethingat every release that they can use!
Define MVP
Excerpt and Images From: Jeff Patton. “User Story Mapping.”
“Focus on outcomes—what users need to do and see when the system comes out—and slice out releases that will get you those outcomes.”
Wait, that’s a lot of maps...
Q: How do I know which one to use and when?
A: You won’t...right away.The key is to build habits around around
each of these tools so that you can recognize what’s appropriate and when.
It eventually becomes second nature
photo: boltmade.com
A sample week might look like…
Be ready — the plan will change. Adapt with it.
The way our interaction designers, product managers and engineers continue to build and iterate, is never ending.
There is no finish line…There is no finish line…
The way our interaction designers, product managers and engineers continue to build and iterate, is never ending.
@mooreplusone
Thank you!Feedback + Questions
Welcome!
Thank you!Feedback + Questions
Welcome!@mooreplusone