Download - UX Camp Europe 2017
Beyond the BullshitLessons from a long career
Eric Reiss
@elreiss
UX Camp Europe
4 June 2017
Berlin, Germany
Lots of issues and buzzwords
Design thinking
Storytelling
Lean / MVP
“Awesome”
“Intuitive”
AI / IoT
Portfolios
Methodologies
Case studies
Research
Certification
Research
Research
Creating better designs
Getting a job
Getting promoted
Starting for yourself
Understanding globalization
Tailoring your portfolio
Avoiding UX mistakes
� what a company does
� Website
� what customers are saying
� TrustPilot (products and services)
� Yelp (hospitality industry)
� TripAdvisor (hospitality industry)
� Blogs (products and services)
� Social media (everything and then some)
� where you can make a difference
� That’s up to you!
You need to know before you write...
� Tell me a story:
� What was the problem?
� How did you solve it?
� What was the result?
� Your process
� How did you get from A to B?
� What kinds of decisions did you make along the way?
What I look for in a portfolio
� Curiosity
� Even when the subject is boring to most others
� Understanding
� Of the business needs as well as the user’s needs
� Empathy
� Can you see things through your user’s eyes?
� Passion
� Do you live and breathe for your projects?
� Skills
� Aesthetic sense, artistic skills, practical skills
What I look for in a designer
“We have lots of
research! We know
all about our users.
We know all about
our competitors”
(Clueless marketing manager)
� read the business plan
� research your competitors
� gain insights that marketing/sales may have
missed
� suggest more informed design decisions
� impress your boss
With just a little effort you can...
1. Make it easy to verify the accuracy of the information on your site
2. Show that there’s a real organization behind your site.
3. Highlight the expertise in your organization and in the content and
services you provide.
4. Show that honest and trustworthy people stand behind your site.
5. Make it easy to contact you
6. Design your site so it looks professional (or is appropriate for your
purpose).
7. Make your site easy to use – and useful.
8. Update your site’s content often (at least show it’s been reviewed
recently).
9. Use restraint with any promotional content (e.g. ads, offers)
10. Avoid errors of all types, no matter how small they seem.
*Stanford University Web Credibility GuidelinesBased on 4,500 interviews with business users
Stanford Web Credibility
X Y Z A B C
Accurate ☺ � ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺
Real org. ☺ ☺ ☺ � ☺ �
Expertise � � � � ☺ ☺
Honest ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ � ☺
Contact ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺
Design ☺ ☺ ☺ � � ☺
Usability � � ☺ � � �
Updates � � � � � �
Promo ☺ ☺ ☺ � � �
Errors � ☺ � � � �
Stanford Credibility – May 2017
� URL: CompanyX.com
� Tagline: none
� Position: El, natural gas, district heating
� Statement: “Company X provides electricity, natural gas, and district heating with several important advantages. We give you personal advice regarding your energy purchases – even if you aren’t currently our customer.”
� Comments: Only natural gas to business customers. Focus on district heating for private customers.
� Overall impression: �
Company X
How you will spend your time
Billable design workBusiness development
Finances
Invoicing
Meetings
Recruiting
Staff reviews
� Observe your users
� Talk to your users
� Look for touchpoints that you can influence
Lesson to be learned
� We need to understand different cultures,
not just general design patterns
Why globalization is important
� We need to understand different cultures,
not just general design patterns
� There are few things where “one size fits all”
� Vacuum cleaners, gas stations, and rice cookers
Why globalization is important
� We need to understand different cultures,
not just general design patterns
� There are few things where “one size fits all”
� Rice cookers, vacuum cleaners, gas stations
� You have to see the forest, not just the trees!
� How is your stuff going to be used?
Why globalization is important
� We need to understand different cultures,
not just general design patterns
� There are few things where “one size fits all”
� Rice cookers, vacuum cleaners, gas stations
� You have to see the forest, not just the trees!
� How is your stuff going to be used?
� Do your homework before you come up with a
bad design or bad answer
Why globalization is important
� Use phrases
� Use multiple words
� Write query as an answer rather than a question
Keys to good search results
What’s the key ingredient in bearnaise sauce?
What’s the most fuel-efficient car in the world?
How many stripes does a zebra have?
Some research questions
According to Fast Company:
1. Define the problem
2. Create and consider many options
3. Refine selected directions
4. Repeat as necessary
5. Pick the winner
6. Execute
What is “design thinking”
� Tell me a story:
� What was the problem?
� How did you solve it?
� What was the result?
� Your process
� How did you get from A to B?
� What kinds of decisions did you make along the way?
What I look for in a portfolio
(Click here to add obligatory Venn diagram)
All the people in the
whole world
All the people in the
whole world
who do UX
Eric’s 1st Law of UX:
User experience is the sum of
a series of interactions between
• people
• devices
• events
Eric’s 2rd Law of UX (CARE):
UX design represents the conscious
act of :• coordinating interactions
we can control
• acknowledging interactions
we cannot control
• reducing negative interactions
• examining the journey
between these interactions
Observing the User Experience
Mike Kuniavsky
Morgan Kaufmann, 2003
Design Research
Brenda Laurel (editor)
MIT Press, 2003
Validating Product Ideas
Tomer Sharon
Rosenfeld, 2016
Contextual Design
Karen Holtzblatt, Hugh Beyer
Morgan Kaufmann, 2015
Must-have books for researchers
Measuring the Success of Your Website
Hurol Inan
Prentice-Hall, 2002
Measuring the User Experience
Tom Tullis, Bill Albert
Morgan Kaufmann, 2008
Books – UX metrics
Designing a UX Portfolio
Ian Fenn
O’Reilly, 2017
The Interview Expert
John Lees
Pearson Business, 2011
A Project Guide for UX Design
Russ Unger, Carolyn Chandler
New Riders, 2012
Books – self-help
Actionable Web Analytics
Jason Burby, Shane Atchison
Sybex, 2007
Web Analytics – an hour a day
Avinash Kaushik
Sybex/Wiley, 2007
Web Metrics
Jim Sterne
Wiley, 2002
Practical Web Analytics for UX
Michael Beasley
Morgan Kaufmann, 2013
Books – web analytics
How to Conduct Your Own Survey
Pricilla Salant, Don A. Dillman
Wiley, 1994
Improving Survey Questions
Floyd J. Fowler, Jr.
Sage, 1995
Mail and Internet Surveys
Don A. Dillman
Wiley, 2000
Interviewing Users
Steve Portigal
Rosenfeld, 2013
Books – surveys and interviews
Rocket Surgery Made Easy
Steve Krug
New Riders, 2010
Handbook of Usability Testing
Jeffrey Rubin, Dana Chisnell
Wiley, 2008
Don’t Make Me Think
Steve Krug
New Riders, 2013
Usable Usability
Eric Reiss
Wiley, 2012
Books – usability
The FatDUX Group ApS
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