Mapping the Way Forward UX Scotland 2014

Maps are more than just diagrams of the route from A to B – to draw one is to bring together the whole view of our surrounding world so that we can gain a better understanding of it. Even a single, simple example has the ability to delight, unsettle and reveal truths. In politically-charged environments an objective visual map can reinforce, influence or challenge held perceptions and beliefs, making them a vital tool in designing pliable, people-focused content systems that are fit for purpose. Their proactive and reactive qualities force ourselves and others to see things as they really are; to contemplate the relationship between them and how they vary together.

Presented at UX Scotland 2014 in Edinburgh on 19th June 2014.

Transcript

1. MAPPING THE WAY FORWARD Richard Ingram @richardjingram UX Scotland, 19th June 2014 #uxscot
2. OpenStreetMap of Boston, MA So much to see and do and yet my stay was short.
3. Sketched map of Boston, MA I didn’t need an accurate map. My friends edited out what I didn’t need.
4. © Trustees of the British Museum Babylonian map of the world Clay tablet, probably from Sippar, southern Iraq (c.700-500 BC) Babylon
5. © Trustees of the British Museum Hereford Mappa Mundi (‘Sheet of the World’) Inked parchment, the largest medieval map known to still exist (c.1300) London Edinburgh
6. Administrative
7. Social
8. Military
9. Political
10. Walt Disney’s business map,1957 Depicts a central film asset and its supporting entertainment assets
11. Growth of Las Vegas, NV 1984–2012 Google Earth timelapse constructed from satellite imagery
12. Radial hierarchical organisation structure About as complex and contradictory as its name suggests
13. John Rocque’s map of London, 1746 Rocque deliberately left out the city’s unsavoury elements
14. John Rocque’s map of London, 1746 Rocque deliberately left out the city’s unsavoury elements
15. John Rocque’s map of London, 1746 Rocque deliberately left out the city’s unsavoury elements
16. Map of organisation-wide content distribution Or that giant hairball the cat coughed up yesterday. Equally yucky.
17. MAPPING OUT A STORY Beyond physical geography
18. Wabash river Ohio river Mississippi river © Trustees of the British Museum Native North American buckskin map Possibly used in land negotiations with the British (c.1744)
19. Distribution Distance Overlap Direction N A B C A B
20. LIGHT HEAT SUN gives gives Exploded view Concept map Different maps, same basic building blocks
21. Topological map Star map Different maps, same basic building blocks
22. North South East West Find your coordinate system Anything can be mapped using pairs of opposites
23. Find your coordinate system Anything can be mapped using pairs of opposites Expensive Cheap Slow Fast
24. Find your coordinate system Anything can be mapped using pairs of opposites High Low Small Large
25. Plot your landmarks Start with the most prominent feature, then move outward
26. N Plot your landmarks Start with the most prominent feature, then move outward
27. FINDING OUR WAY The unfamiliar environment
28. Content Processes People Tackling that complex trinity Content governance is an important tool for this end
29. web
30. Regional English Council Approx. 15,000 staff 7 departments Serving approx. 700,000 people Scenario: Design a new content workflow
31. Digital Services department (Our heroes) Our varied, siloed environment Some departments are responsible for 100s of pages, while others only a few
32. Follow
33. Our varied, siloed environment To discover how content decisions are made and how they could be improved, we need to figure out who best to talk to Mandy ? ? ? ? ?
34. Let’s map our environment Digital
35. Large Small Fast Slow Let’s devise our coordinate system Digital
36. Large Small Fast Slow We’re on the move! What can we see? Digital
37. Large Small Fast Slow Digital
38. Large Small Fast Slow Digital
39. Large Small Fast Slow Digital
40. Large Small Fast Slow Digital
41. MAPPING OUT A PROCESS The unfamiliar environment
42. Requirements for an effective CMS workflow Meet the needs of the organisation and
43. Conducting internal user interviews Ask them to walk you through several different content creation and publishing scenarios Digital
44. The ensuing conversation Mandy talks us through the typical process for publishing a press release on the council website On
45. The ensuing conversation cont. Mandy talks us through the typical process for publishing a press release on the council website After
46. The ensuing conversation cont. Mandy is still talking us through the typical process for publishing a press release on the council website John,
47. Who are the characters in our story? Mandy
48. Mandy
49. Mandy
50. Mandy
51. Mandy
52. Mandy
53. Mandy
54. Large Small Fast Slow Digital
55. Large Small Fast Slow Digital
56. Large Small Fast Slow Digital
57. Large Small Fast Slow Digital
58. MAPPING THE WAY FORWARD The power of drawing
59. Remember: We are not completely bound by what has happened before Content Processes People Balancing that complex trinity
60. Suggestion: let’s not always rely on the old established categories, we can always invent new ones New ideas won’t always fit neatly
61. Suggestion: let’s all step away from our screens and draw together. Encourage those innate inventive qualities
62. Make use of basic shapes, arrows, and faces. Find your axis. Above all: Embrace your mistakes. Mapmaking is a basic human instinct
63. THANK YOU, EDINBURGH! UX Scotland, 19th June 2014 #uxscot Richard Ingram @richardjingram
64. Communicating Design: Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning by Dan M. Brown (@brownorama) ! You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination by Katharine Harmon ! Blah Blah Blah: What To Do When Words Don't Work by Dan Roam (@dan_roam) ! The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam ! Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer by Peter Turchi Recommended reading
65. You have been watching... David Helen John Mandy Me Mr