UX for product managers - ProductCamp Vancouver 2011

A workshop and talk I ran at the inagural ProductCamp Vancouver in 2011. The focus was on teaching others some of the basics of user experience and interaction design and how to apply basic principles to improve their products and create alignment during requirements development. I/we had a blast!

Transcript

1. UX for Product Managers ProductCamp Vancouver 2011
2. Learn some of the basics of user experience and interaction design and understand how some core basic principles can help improve not only your product but also help create alignment during requirements development
3. I’ll try
5. do you do UX?
6. UX is...
7. Credit: Noah Baldwin
8. Credit: Peter Morville “Strike a unique balance on each project between business goals and context, user needs and behaviour, and the available mix of content.”
9. Useful Ask whether our products and systems are useful, and to apply skills to make them more useful. Usable Ease of use is vital Desireable Having an appreciation for the power and value of image, identity, brand, and other elements of emotional design Findable Design navigable and locatable objects so users can find what they need. Accessible
 to those with disabilities Credible Including design elements that influence whether users trust and believe what we tell them. Valuable Deliver value to our sponsors. For non- profits, the user experience must advance the mission. With for-profits, it must contribute to the bottom line and improve customer satisfaction. Credit: Peter Morville
11. compendium of techniques, methods and tools to help explain what our users want
12. what do you need to do UX?
14. facilitation user research personas sketching/drawing content strategy card sorting site maps workflows/task flows wireframes prototyping usability testing etc.
15. facilitation
16. learn
17. Open Set context, frame of reference, get people thinking, spark imagination Close Focus on convergence and selection Couple rules Don’t open and close at the same time - allow people to be creative and critical at different times Close everything you open Credit: Dave Gray, Gamestorming
18. use questions
19. produce artifacts
20. try it out
21. just do it
22. user research
23. ethnographic
    journals, shadowing, follow home
24. design the box
    name, tagline, selling features, system reqs
25. ask questions
    interviews, focus groups
26. closed questions won’t help you learn
    start with: do, would, are, will, if
27. answers: yes or no
28. use open questions
    start with: what, why, how, describe
29. you’ll get a longer answer
30. conversation
31. discover wants, needs & problems
32. and the extent of problems
33. create empathy
34. 5 whys
35. exercise
    few minutes
36. turn to the person at your right
37. learn about what they do
    try asking just open questions then listen
38. how was it?
39. personas
40. user archetypes
41. based on research
42. method for communicating user research
43. helps remind that you’re building for real people
44. Example: Oil Sands Information Portal Credit: nForm User Experience
45. put them in a usable format
46. hockey cards
47. posters
48. laminated one-pager
49. exercise
    few minutes
50. pick a super hero
51. list
    traits, attributes, qualities, interests, likes/dislikes, attitudes
52. write a story about them
53. express it visually
54. sketching/drawing
55. bill buxton sketching is an “essential part of the process when creating new products”
59. practice
60. 30 seconds: draw your neighbour
61. how’d it feel?
62. what did you hear?
    sorry, apologies, laughter
63. why?
64. fear
65. fear = self edit
66. stops creativity
67. don’t have to be an artist
    just need to know the basics
69. detail not critical
    (IA is called Boxes and Arrows for a reason)
71. most importantly you have to practice
72. to design “X”
73. draw
    as many ideas as you can
74. put them up
75. discuss
76. refine
77. repeat
78. sketchboards
    roll it up and takeaway
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVFTBj_BYy0
79. tell your story
80. content strategy
81. don’t make content an afterthought
82. consider both micro & macro copy
83. connect with those building interactions
84. maps
85. site maps
    show relationships between information/features
87. experience maps
    show user experience while interacting
90. mental models
    show relationships between features & content
92. exercise
    5 minutes
93. card sort
94. sticky notes
    but not this many
95. create a list of fruit and vegetables
96. organize them into groups
97. give those groups a label
98. compare
99. find common patterns
100. explore nomenclature
     pay attention to labels, words used to describe
101. workflows & task flows
102. how users personas use your product
103. scenarios
104. good complement for use cases
105. wireframes
106. like a blueprint
107. explains the information space
     is not about visual design
108. fidelity can vary
109. low fidelity
     sometimes easier to discuss with clients
     feels less committed
110. Credit: Basalmiq Mockups
111. high fidelity
     sometimes easier to test
112. Credit: Scott Baldwin
113. practice
114. define goals
     what is this for?
115. create a list of the information
116. determine size and visual priority
     top/bottom, big/small
117. flush it out
118. prototyping
119. try paper
120. html/css/js
121. build something your customers can use
122. test
123. iterate
124. rinse & repeat
125. usability testing
126. create script Credit: Scott Baldwin
127. practice
     so you don’t come off as a bumbling idiot
128. recruit
     5-7 people is enough
129. run tests
     findability, desirability, usability
130. summarize your results
131. make changes
132. wrap-up
133. have fun
134. play
135. experiment
136. make mistakes
137. fumble with your customers
138. thank you
     Scott Baldwin
     Sr. Product Manager, Direct Banking
     Central 1 Credit Union
     twitter: @benry
     www.benry.net/blog