Un-siloing Your Project Team with Collaborative Sketches and Digital Prototyping

Video recording available here: http://bit.ly/collaborative-sketches

Presented at Drupalcon Austin 2014 with Kat Kuhl and Ika Lestari.

Creating great user experience is critical to the success of a web project. Yet in the traditional approach, most of the site's experience is decided by one user experience professional, expressed in PDF wireframes, and interpreted by other team members after the fact. On rushed projects, the time for feedback from others may be limited, resulting in final wireframes that have your designer shaking his head, or your developer wondering what data is going to drive that neat "Related Publications" block the client loved.

By replacing wireframes with collaborative sketching and Drupal prototyping, you can get your whole team involved early and keep them engaged as the project moves from phase to phase. You can also build sites faster and better by answering the question of "How will it work?" and "How will it act on a mobile device?" while you're thinking through the functionality. We've had success with this method at Rock Creek, and we'll go over:

The benefits of collaborative sketching for the project and team members
How to conduct the sketching activity and the Drupal prototyping efficiently
Challenges of this approach and ways to implement it at your company
Case study samples
The trips and tricks we’ve learned along the way to make this a successful approach

Transcript

1. Michelle Chin • Kat Kuhl • Ika Lestari
   User Experience Design Track | June 4, 2014
   

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2. Kat Kuhl - Director of Technology | @webbykat
   Ika Lestari - Sr. Graphic Designer
   Michelle Chin - Sr. UX Strategist | @soysaucechin
   A LITTLE ABOUT us
   Rock Creek Strategic Marketing
   Washington, DC | @rockcreeksm
   

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3. ● UXers / Designers
   ● Developers
   ● Project Managers
   A LITTLE ABOUT you
   

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4. WIREFRAMING CHALLENGES
   ● Lots of revisions
   ● Lots of handoffs
   ● Lack of engagement throughout
   the project
   

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5. WIREFRAME DESIGN
   Site Building,
   Module
   Installation,
   Module
   Development
   DEVELOP
   Migration
   Theming
   DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES
   

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6. DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES
   “But now that I see it…”
   

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7. DESIGN CHALLENGES
   Later involvement of project =
   playing catch up
   

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8. Easy to misinterpret functionality
   especially when it comes to
   responsive designs
   DESIGN CHALLENGES
   

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9. Tons of time and effort getting
   buy-in from team members
   DESIGN CHALLENGES
   

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10. UX CHALLENGES
    Designing wireframes in a vacuum
    

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11. UX CHALLENGES
    Creating really high-fidelity wireframes…
    ...also means updating them.
    

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12. UX CHALLENGES
    Hefty annotations…
    …still get misinterpreted.
    

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13. ACCESSIBILITY CHALLENGES
    Wireframe concepts make it difficult to
    identify accessibility trouble spots.
    

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14. WHAT DO WE REALLY NEED?
    ● Something easier to understand
    ● Something quicker to iterate upon
    ● Something more realistic
    ● Something that involves everyone earlier
    

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15. WHAT’S THE SOLUTION?
    Collaborative Sketching and
    Digital Prototyping!
    

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16. MAKING THE CHANGE:
    COLLABORATION
    Pick a small project.
    ● Less risky
    ● Manageable in size
    ● Quicker to recover
    

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17. MAKING THE CHANGE:
    COLLABORATION
    Get buy-in from your teammates.
    “Hey, would you be up for trying out
    this sketching approach?”
    

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18. MAKING THE CHANGE:
    COLLABORATION
    Involve the right people.
    Everyone!
    UXers, developers, designers, accessibility
    analysts, content strategists, project managers...
    

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19. Set expectations.
    ● Sketching will lead to a prototype;
    no paper wireframes.
    ● Could make your life easier… maybe.
    ● Could be a bumpy road; but get pumped!
    MAKING THE CHANGE:
    COLLABORATION
    

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20. HOW DO WE SKETCH
    collaboratively?
    

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21. ● Markers
    ● Paper
    ● Masking Tape
    ● Scissors
    ● Sticky Notes
    ● Snacks!
    ● Music!
    WHAT YOU’LL NEED
    

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22. CHOOSE THE right SPACE
    ● Open area
    ● Ample wall space
    ● Freedom from
    distractions
    

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23. WHAT TO SKETCH
    ● Main pages - homepage, landing pages
    ● Pages with unique functionality/features
    (galleries, data-heavy pages, etc.)
    ● Responsive versions of the above
    

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24. PRE-SKETCH MEETING
    30 min
    1
    1
    3
    WHEN TO
    SKETCH
    SKETCHING SESSION
    1.5 - 2 hrs
    SKETCHING SESSION
    1.5 - 2 hrs
    2
    1
    DISCUSSION SESSION
    1.5 - 2 hrs
    3
    1 DISCUSSION SESSION
    1.5 - 2 hrs
    

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25. ● Set expectations.
    ○ Goals of the sketching
    ○ What happens in each session
    ● Provide background info.
    ○ Site map
    ○ List of pages to sketch
    ○ User research - personas / scenarios
    ○ Previous project work
    PRE-SKETCH MEETING
    

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26. SKETCHING SESSION
    

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27. SKETCHING SESSION
    

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28. SKETCHING SESSION
    

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29. PRO TIPS FOR SKETCHING
    ● Encourage everyone to sketch.
    ● Remember that no idea is
    a bad one.
    ● Pay attention to everyone’s
    energy level.
    

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30. DISCUSSION SESSION
    

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31. DISCUSSION STEPS
    1. Pick a page.
    2. Go over ideas.
    3. Pick one sketch or parts of some.
    4. UXers - use your UX skills.
    5. Someone - take notes!
    

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32. PRO TIPS FOR
    DISCUSSION
    ● UXer / PM - use your facilitation
    skills.
    ● Make sure everyone is heard.
    ● Vet the ideas with your teammates
    (experts!).
    

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33. WHAT’S NEXT?
    The UX Designer:
    1. Creates lo-fi reference sketches.
    2. Works in tandem with the
    developer to begin building
    the prototype.
    

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34. SO…
    YOU NEVER
    WIREFRAME?
    Wireframes are a communication tool;
    so are prototypes. Use whatever is most
    appropriate for a task.
    

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35. “When PDFs, JPEGs and other
    static artifacts get thrown
    around, there’s a tendency to
    forget the medium for which
    you’re designing.
    - BRAD FROST
    “
    bit.ly/html-wireframes
    BUT REMEMBER...
    

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36. HTML PROTOTYPES
    ● Quick to build
    ● Time-consuming to modify
    content
    ● Throwaway code
    

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37. DRUPAL PROTOTYPES
    ● Slow(er) to build
    ● Faster to modify content
    ● Groundwork for your site
    

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39. WIREFRAME DESIGN
    Site Building,
    Module
    Installation,
    Module
    Development
    DEVELOP
    Migration
    Theming
    DEVELOP
    Theming,
    Module
    Development
    SKETCH PROTOTYPE
    Site Building, Module
    Installation,
    Migration
    DESIGN
    DEVELOP
    Migration,
    Module
    Development
    ORIGINAL
    NEW
    

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40. This isn’t a throwaway product…
    ...so you have to remove the things
    you don’t need.
    WARNING!
    

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41. HOW DO WE CREATE
    DIGITAL PROTOTYPES?
    FRONT-END
    TASKS
    SITE-BUILDING
    TASKS
    CONTENT
    MIGRATION
    

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42. ● Install a prototype theme.
    ● Consider source order and
    positioning.
    ● Adjust the mobile experience
    as needed.
    FRONT-END TASKS
    (minimal)
    

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43. ● Build out menus based on the sitemap.
    ● Set up content types, taxonomies, &
    views.
    ● Make persistent block associations.
    ● Set up aliases & breadcrumbs.
    ● Install modules for more
    complex functionality.
    SITE-BUILDING TASKS
    

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45. Migrate content. Lots of content.
    CONTENT
    MIGRATION TASKS
    

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46. SUCCESS STORIES
    

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56. BENEFITS OF
    COLLABORATIVE
    SKETCHING & DIGITAL
    PROTOTYPES
    

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57. Navigate challenges early.
    BENEFITS
    

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58. Iterate more quickly on a design concept.
    BENEFITS
    

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59. Reuse your work -
    no throw-away products!
    BENEFITS
    

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60. Prototypes easily demonstrate
    responsive behavior.
    BENEFITS
    

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61. Use your functional prototype to...
    ● Get buy-in from your team.
    ● Get buy-in from your client.
    ● Do usability testing.
    BENEFITS
    

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62. THINGS TO REMEMBER
    

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63. Start with a small project first.
    THINGS TO REMEMBER
    

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64. Keep communication open.
    THINGS TO REMEMBER
    

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65. Get new staff involved early.
    THINGS TO REMEMBER
    

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66. Remember, this is a process.
    Be adaptable.
    THINGS TO REMEMBER
    

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67. THANK YOU!
    Michelle Chin | @soysaucechin
    Kat Kuhl | @webbykat
    Ika Lestari | convince her to join Twitter
    Rock Creek Strategic Marketing
    @rockcreeksm
    

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68. ?
    QUESTIONS
    

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69. LET US KNOW
    WHAT YOU THINK!
    http://bit.ly/collaborative-sketches
    

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