A Day in the Life of a UX Designer - Emily Holmes, Director of UX for R&D, Hobsons, Inc.

This month, we explored the role of a UX Designer!

Some UX designers do a little bit of everything (concepting, information architecture, wireframing, prototyping, and usability testing) on a project, while others might specialize or lean more toward one area of the field.

Our guest speaker for this session is Emily Holmes, the Director of UX for R&D at Hobsons, Inc. Emily talked about her role as a UX Designer on an innovation team and walked us through a case study of a project she worked on using Lean UX methodology. This is her slide deck for her presentation. You can find a recap of the event on exploreUX.org or on the event’s meetup page.

About the A Day in the Life Series
Each month, we'll explore a different role in the UX field. This gives an opportunity for you to learn about what people do in that particular role, ask them questions, and participate in activity to “test drive” what it’s like to be in this role.

This event series is brought to you by exploreUX and Triangle UXPA. For more about this event or exploreUX in general, check out the exploreUX Raleigh Edition meetup page or exploreUX.org.

Transcript

1. Emily  Holmes  -­‐ @uxemily Director  of  UX  for  R&D,  Hobsons Using UX to guide innovation
2. background 8,500  middle  and  high  school  customers Used  in  80+  countries 95%  renewal  rate
3. background > 35% of  all  US  high  school  graduates  in  the   US  last  year  had  a  Naviance account
4. We want to do more 93% 44% of  middle  school  students   aspire  to  go  to  college of  students  actually   enroll  in  college
6. Lean ux
7. Can we use UX to empower K-12 students to take control of their futures?
9. Counselors are overburdened
10. Parents are lost Don’t  speak  English Haven’t  been  to   college Unfamiliar  with  the   college  application   process Work  multiple  jobs Assume  college  is   not  affordable   Aren’t  computer literate
11. Students are unprepared 33% • of  students  in  US  post-­‐secondary  institutions   will  require  remediation • of  US  students  who  go  to  college  will  never   graduate
12. Let’s find a way to help solve this problem.
14. Where do we start? What  we  know: What  we  don’t  know: Tool  to  help  students   prepare  themselves  more   effectively  for  the  future Focus  on  college  and   career  readiness Who  the  customer  is How  we’ll  sell  it What  we’re  building Everything  else!
15. Where do we start? Form  a  team Talk  to  people  we  already  know Look  to  see  what’s  out  there
16. User research
17. User research
18. User research
19. What we learned What  students  like: What  schools  want: Project-­‐based  learning Consistent,  standards-­‐ based  curriculum Video  content,  especially   when  it  shows  people   who  are  similar  to  them Identifying  their  own   strengths Progress  bars  and  bright   colors Ability  to  assess  student   progress Engaging  content  for   students
21. Testing assumptions Students  will  pay  for  a  solution Parents  will  pay  for  a  solution  and  have  access   to  tech Schools are  willing  to  pay  for  a  solution Schools have  access  to  adequate  technology Students  will  see  value  in  what  schools  want   for  them
23. personas
25. scenarios
26. scenarios
28. Story maps
29. Story maps More  info:  Jeff  Patton  -­‐ “The  New  User  Story  Backlog  is  a  Map”  http://bit.ly/1KQp
31. Testing the details A B
32. Testing the details Perceived  difficulty Interest  level Confidence  level
33. Testing the details
34. Testing the details
35. Ongoing iteration • Tested  every  new  piece  in  a  classroom  setting • Always  looked  for  the  simplest,  most   lightweight  way  to  test  new  hypotheses • Never  built  too  much  before  getting  direct   feedback  from  students  and  educators
37. Launch a product