Speed is key. Triage helps sort order in chaos and the time limit creates a scenario where there is lots of pressure.

First is Prioritization – look at all the products and features that must be dealt with and rank them. Minor Problems are low impact and can often be taken care of them by themselves or time. Delayed Problems need to be addressed but don’t drop everything to work on them. These are often client delays and often times these can be used as filler when downtime exists. Immediate Problems are projects with heavy impact and need help urgently- these are the problems you drop everything for. Expectant Problems are critical flaws. No amount of time will fix these – consider a mercy killing.

Secondly, the UX triage doctor needs selflessness. Collaboration is key but never forget that the product is the star, not the designer. Don’t blow past asking the right questions on the way to making solutions. Designers can sometimes get so excited on a new project design, they forget key questions. Remember: Think, Make, Check, Repeat.

Thirdly, you’ll need the ability to perform Mercy Killings. It can be hard to fail often when you get invested in the solution. In a good institution saying ‘no’ to bad ideas is easy: Tell the truth with data, ask the right questions (is there a vision?), and tell stories to bring bad ideas out into the light of day (Devil’s Advocate). In less comfortable institutions your options to saying ‘no’ are more severe: Reflecting back conflict, Poison Pill the idea (also know as Grassroots Murder) by dropping small negative hints at the idea until groupthink takes over, or Quit.

Fourthly, you’ll need MacGuyver-like scrappiness. Always be making awesome with what’s on hand. Try to DIY everything you can – there are many options for free and cheap tech/ prototyping models out there. Use your scrappiness to determine the vision of the design solution.

Lastly, staying human matters. Don’t burn yourself out for the product. Schedule sleep and rest – you’re more creative and productive when you’re not beating your head against a wall. Try to find your flow in the chaos – when you’re in the zone, you’ll feel better about your work and ideas will flow. Use lulls in the product life cycle to go back to those minor and delayed problems and fix them to give your mind a different tact. Spend energy on propaganda of inspiration – get others excited about the work and psych yourself up with good design.

Take Home
It’s important in designing solutions to prioritize effectively, especially as work comes flowing down the pipe at high speed. Effective prioritization means a more comfortable and easy workflow. Constantly be thinking about the vision to determine when ideas are good and when they can become critical flaws to the product vision. Work with your team to promote good ideas and mercy kill the bad ones by proving the concept out. Never be afraid to try and ideate. It’s important to look for cheap and effective ways to get the job done, not just for your team, but the company at large. Memento Mori – you’re only human and as such, you need to clear your mind from time to time and try to get into your flow whenever you can.

See Also
#uxtriage
Slides

It’s important to record testing – it serves both as memory aid for the tester as well as a powerful tool (evidence) for clients and stakeholders. I can also serve as an empathy aid for dev and design teams.

Handsets matter. Users want to test to test with their own phones. If that’s not possible, users should do test runs and practice with the phone that needs to be tested.

Don’t use Wi-Fi in your tests, using 3G is more likely for the field.

In comparing Field vs. Lab, everything is about equal, so keeping things easy, just do lab tests.

Document cameras are useful but expensive. The major problem with the DocCams are the stationary nature. Phones must be manipulated in 3D space.

When viewing remote screengrab software, it doesn’t work on all devices. No current platform supports all devices. Remote viewing also shows no fingers when swiping. Mouse movements on emulators don’t work either as touch is best.

Mounted devices are best for testing. The can be amazingly expensive, however, as well as heavy.

DIY rig is easy. It weighs 125g, is less than $200, won’t damage the phone, and the recording software is open source. (it even works with physical keyboards!)

See Also
http://goo.gl/rJi7M
#SXdiymut

Games are deeply embedded into Chinese culture, so playful interaction is needed to entice more users. How do you tap into a culture of competition.

Scale is Huge – How do you rethink your UI/UX to account for actions in the hundreds of thousands?

Safety is of huge concern in China. Seatbelts, however, are rarely worn. Most young people buy their first automobile at age 20. To that end, there are many social networks and conversations around cars and maintenance.

UX might still be cluttered but mobile is key. The government doesn’t sanction these mobile apps, so by their very nature they’re disruptive. Healthcare is one area where mobile can really help. SMS apps used to do social good for growing elderly population helps fill in gaps where doctors have less and less time to see the huge amount of patients.

Velo – A subway card kiosk which doubles as a merchant platform for groceries. By the time you’re back home, so are your groceries and purchased goods.

Taobao – App which allows you to haggle with employees to get a good deal before coming to the store. In advertising, the listed price is always the starting price for negotiations. By getting this out of the way at the beginning, the shopping experience is enhanced.

Ikea – The retail giant has changed it’s model to act as a source of inspiration and encourages clientele to sit and be very comfortable. The food court is a site onto itself with Senior Dating groups and special family meals being had. Parents will dress their children up and use the store for family portraits, Ikea encourages this use of their products to make special life memories for shoppers.

Weixin – stomped Twitter in China. Massive messaging and social network. Includes fun, game-like elements like “shake-to-find” and “Message in a bottle”.

Big brands have yet to play in these spaces in China, perhaps as their virtual connection is more casual and lifestyle based (pictures of food) versus a platform to express points of view.

Android is key – the Chinese market has always been centered around bootstrapping for quick hardware – open source OS has been a great tool to manage new platforms.

See Also
Shanghaiist
Tech Rice

DIY has caused an influx of mass customization and rapid propogation of ideas wants massive customization (3-D printing technologies, open source software). Makers will start to own the interaction model through environmental changes.

The old model is massive variation leading to a favorite construct, leading to slightly less variation, leading again to a favorite construct. Now the model is shifting to massive change and customization to deliver the first valuable product which is rigorously tested. A methodology of commercially viable production is best.

Use expedient technology to try and stand up a model as fast as possible. When standing up a model use agreed upon fidelity and index of user vision to design. There is no need for excess wireframing over and over, the sim is the artifact.

Step one is generative white-boarding on a big board often with the client and outside stake holders such as engineering resources. By participating everyone loses their baggage and reliance on their ego. If needed, guide and force them through the interactive mapping.

Secondly, select the first viable idea. This is a democratic process but also one that isn’t looking for a perfect solution, just one that seems to answer the most problems for the end goal.

Next, code to fidelity – make quick and dirty prototypes in Fireworks, HTML, Flash, etc. to create a model that can still show interactivity through touch, hover, interaction models, etc.

Finally, you will reach a critical mass. This can be used as a sales tool and demoware, it can be used for user testing, for heuristic modeling, or simply to allow those who are constructing the finished product a model to build off of (to see the capabilities in action).

Now that hardware and software is much more approachable, it allows individual interaction designers, visual designers, and experience designers to get more intricate with their vision in front of clients. This also allows a greater level of validation to be performed at the design level rather than at the code level where it incurs much greater cost. A rapid-failure model means more viable designs in the long term; it “Ends the Tyranny of the Engineer Class”

There is another issue – as the hardware and software is more approachable, it is also becoming fragmented. The information wants to be free, but no one will document and release important info to further hack those concepts.

Prototypes as proof-of-concept still needs the same language around technical implementation (that is, you still need to build the the thing). use the PASSMADE principle:

• Performance
• Availability
• Security
• Scalability
• Maintainability
• Accessibility
• Deployability
• Extensability

Do not underestimate the importance of putting even the smallest artifact in the hands of the client to inform interactive decisions.

Take Home
New technologies are available which allow for a lower barrier of entry into prototype and simulation creation for clients. By getting some measure of sim into stakeholder’s hands you greatly improve the chances of making better, more reasoned design choices. Interaction models, especially in complex software. Gesture technology is best viewed in prototype.

When using these technologies to create the sims, be sure to account for time for the agreed upon fidelity. If running your UX on a budget, lower fidelity interactions can save you headache while still accounting for interaction troubles.

See Also
#SXfrogsxswi
PASSMADE

Gamestorming! Use the 6/8/5 sketch method to rapidly get ideas out on paper without huge overhead. Does it pass the sniff test? Use feedback from sketches to influence design – people are more likely to give feedback on low-fi mockups. Iterate, sketch, and play with ideas to work the bad ideas out of your head.

When asking for feedback:

“I am working on _______. I want feedback on _______ which is used to do _______. I do not want feedback on _______ it’s not as important to me right now”

Ask in as short a time as possible the challenges, considerations, and constraints to develop a critique. Use feedback for quick, fresh insights and listen to everything, you’ll be surprised what you will find out.

There are no bomb throwing in feedback sessions: give possible solutions with any negitive or critical feedback you deliver.

Rapid Prototyping methods will allow for quick iterations over time. You can use User/ Browser Role Play to act out how the user will perceive the interface instructions (forms can be assholes!). Use methods to play Devil’s Advocate with your design. Increases in tech allow for quick and very effective A/B testing at a moment’s notice. Each prototyping method has a time and a place in the UX methodology.

Other guerilla methods include the man-on-the-street approach and the burrito lunch – saves a lot of time and adds a lot of value from a fresh, quick perspective. Record over-the-shoulder style with your phone to capture the interactions. Quick and dirty is 100% fine.

See Also
#nouxteam
#uxbootcamp

The more information you need, the worse off you are – users only want you to have the data you really need.

Flow is important to gaining traction in small apps – every button, field, etc. is a new risk of losing a potential user.

Build on networks people are already using. Facebook, Google +, and Twitter have all solved the security authentication issues for you. Use the SSO that fits the info you’ll need from the users – i.e. Twitter doesn’t offer you email. Network distribution improves user sign up and therefore interactions

The SSO promise was to make the system easy to use, asking for little info, and allow users to be autonomous. In reality, it’s difficult to implement and recognize all the new use cases.

How do we resolve difference in UX, data needed, and platform complexities? Transparency will guide the best experience for the user. Layer on useful data such as pseudonyms, asking the right questions of users, and being involved in building the type of community you want.

Identity versus Permissions is a huge balance act: Users have different concepts on different networks, each network has nuanced privacy approaches to think about each time, and it’s good for short term boosts.

Take Home
SSO is difficult to implement, but users are comfortable as long as you ask for the right data (that is, only what you need). More users will sign in if they trust the social network to authenticate them. Use the SSO that will help promote the type of community you wish to build but be cautious about what data you receive from that network.

See Also
#sso
Survey Shows Majority of Consumers Prefer Social Sign-In

In the Desktop world devs are often concerned with browsers, their capabilities, and their shortcomings. Differences in browsers account for most of the code changes. In the mobile space, that’s been take care of. Mobile FF, Opera Mini, and Webkit all provide a very similar, up-to-date experience on a wide array of devices.

A new iPhone, however, is just a bad iMac from years ago only with a better resolution screen. The constant memory and hardware constraints need to be taken into account when running mobile web touch interfaces – the browser WILL crash on you.

Touch interfaces are tactile functions. In this way, the user’s brain responds to feedback in a haptic way. Feedback must be continuous and constant to make the user aware of what’s happening. Good rule of thumb is to stop all other actions while touch is taking place.

Interaction Designers must respect new conventions introduced by native mobile systems. Despite the systems being so very young, they are critical. Slide to unlock, pinch to zoom, etc. are all cases of these new conventions in practice over an array of touch devices. By following patterns that users are familiar with, other interaction designers have done, we create a “Social HIG” from which to work in the browser.

Job number one is to prioritize user feedback while touch is taking place. Pause all running scripts while gestures are firing. Stop reading the DOM for actions – this is costly and often times the #1 source of browser crash. Whenever possible use CSS transitions to run touch, they are far less costly than JS.

Because DOM reads are expensive, read once and then consider the DOM to be write-only. Transitions (with easing) are often enough to give the users the touch they were looking for (i.e. swipes). Easing helps ‘snap’ content back and forth, further helping the user. JS will help with edge detection for the easing transitions. Keeping in mind: when the user gestures, the element needs to be moving.

Keep scrolling native, it’s just easier on everyone.

Pinch to zoom requires math. There’s no way around it, but don’t worry, it’s not actual matrix math. Use Matrix Transforms:

transform:
matrix (1, 0, 0, 1, 10, 10)

Where the ones are the scale, the tens are the translation – you need both. Translate the position to original touch point after the scale transform to determine the zoom.

1. Determine touch center
2. Calculate scale percentage
3. Apply scale
4. Translate position

Oh, yeah – do all this without a DOM read!

If you have the cash, a giant pile of old devices to test on can’t be beat! Testing on devices is always better than emulators to test touch points.

For Dev tools, use Weinre (Webkit Inspector spoof) or use Adobe Shadow as a wrapper for your page (prototypes).

For progressive enhancement: Feature detect on each device. Build on transitions, don’t depend on them for core functionality. Click should still work – gesturing is still an enhancement. Be able to disable on user-agent detection.

See Also
#SXHTMLtouch

Focus Groups: These are often done in situ. Individual assignments given before the discussion can be used to produce better results and data. Small workshops are sufficient for the data you’ll need to collect.

Site Visits are important!

“What people do, what they say, and what they say they do; are all different things”
- Margret Mead.

When watching users in their own place there are new methods and structures in place you won’t see in a focus group. Focus Groups have problems with human memory failures, groupthink, and misrepresentation bias.

Eye Tracking is a useful (if very expensive) tool. Intrapage data is beter than interpage data to find how quickly users are actually observing the system. To have an effective study, however, requires real product users performing real product behaviors for the right stuff and the right time in development. Eye Tracking can even be done in the field. Toby is one method, though it’s about $10,000.

Rapid Testing (Prototypes) allows the designer to make near instantaneous changes to tweak processes on the fly. One testing round can lead to one change in about a 3 day turnaround all told. Tweaks made for clarity of use are often best and can be made immediately. It is often easier to elicit needed negative feedback from users on rough prototypes than it is with high fidelity mockups.

Unmoderated Testing is cheap and requires few logistics depending on the service used. The pressure is taken off the UX lead on testing day, but there are no shortcuts – you must still screen and ask questions effectively

High Fidelity Prototyping (Simulations) look sharp and give an emotional response. Hi-Fi allows the designer to identify stakeholder response as it is close to what the actual product will look like. Interaction Design (IxD) is also improved as motion and delicate interaction can be seen.

Take Home
There are plenty of UX testing methods that are available to designers and each has their place. There are upsides and downsides to each method, many relating to cost, time (which is another way of saying money), and value of the data collected. Performing tests in the wild, at the right time can help you capture wild data, as long as that’s what you want to collect (awesome for mobile testing). Focus groups can be improved with individual assignments, and unmoderated testing saves you more time and stress.

See Also
#uxsmackdown

The scent of good information is strong – Humans are infovores for content.

Content trigger words prompt users for action. Having a link is useless without descriptive content. Links secretly want to deliver you to the content.

Good design is greater than the experience. The back button, however is the Button of DOOM. The back button always predicts failure of the system. 95% of users fail after 2 uses of the back button to try and figure out content.

Bring your own link to the search button. Well managed search logs will key the owner into the user’s trigger words. Because 7% of users search on the home page, it’s important to track the page the search bar was used from (that is, the page the user lost ‘scent’ on). 53% of users have more success without the use of search.

Users won’t pogo back and forth between content – links which are rich and differentiating will promote success. Pogo design means that users will get lost of fed up.

The number of pages to purchase, conversion, etc. is a good indication of the quality of the link – less is always more. Even a more cluttered page can bring more value if there is differentiation and quality behind the substance of the links.

Secondary navigation fails users every time – users have already decided the action they want to take before they get to the link, the hover confuses users.

Good design is invisible and as such, your design must help emit the right scents. You can remain cool while still delivering consistent visual language around what you want users to act upon.

See also
free book via email to webappbook@uie.com

Watches and digital clocks point to a system that looks simple but is actually very complex. Only a few buttons, but presses, sequences, and the manual are all difficult to understand or remember.

“I know it [simplicity] when I see it!” Designers see: Space (white space), Noise (visual cleanliness), and Hierarchy (typography) IXD see: Functionality (interactivity), Context (user goals), and Flow (structure) People see: Relevance (clutter), Difficulty (standardization), and Confusion (what I need, when) Scientists see: CHAOS! (Lorenz Systems – Unpredictable but deterministic)

Models of the systems are: The Mental Model which is what the user expects from a system, The Concept Model which is what the designer uses to design the interactions, and The System Model which is the capability structure of the way the system is working. Mental and Concept model mismatch causes confusion.

Beware when designing off copies. Each copied pattern must solve the same problems for the user and fit the overall UX.

Beware of “Dark Patterns” like Interactive ads or other properties that cause an unintended action to take place on a normally passive action.

Scope Creep that kills simplicity: Forgotten scope – things not in the spec Executive Bungie Jumping – full scope not comprehended. Tech/Legal – unrealistic constraints Business Units – build in exposure to System Model

Difficult tasks only seem complex because we often lack the needed knowledge to understand the flow of the system and we become experts.

Expertise is moving from declarative (telling yourself steps) to procedural (following a set path memorized) to automatic (second nature reflex) learning

Build in patience around a design, make changes slowly. Be prepared to jump, however, when forces push you forward into new technology – Retina Displays, Battery Cars. Users can have motivation to continue despite hurdles if it’s the only way to solve the problem.

Teach your users and put people first. Be sure to hide the System Model unless absolutely needed and to that end, work to match the Conceptual to the Mental with research. Don’t be afraid to evolve your Conceptual Model to meet changing user needs and Mental models.

Work to shift the complexity of the system from the user to the system, sure it takes more work but we should be doing more work to deliver the user a simple experience. Remember, we never lose complexity, we just shift it.

Critical thinking is key: Question your assumptions of the system, question the consequences of your decisions, question reasons and analyze opportunities, and question the simplicity of a system continuously.

Ten Opportunities for simplicity:

1. Users claim the interface is “Messy”
2. Users forced into indirect actions
3. Trying to be everything to everyone
4. Design by consensus
5. “Nice to Haves”
6. Copied solutions from elsewhere
7. Solution mapped to system rather than mental model
8. Leading with the tech
9. Self designed systems
10. Accepting assumptions

Take Home
UX Designers need to think about why a system has chaos. By looking for options for simplicity and thinking critically about the solutions that can

See Also
#SXsimplerUX