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
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
3. • UXers / Designers • Developers • Project Managers A LITTLE ABOUT you
4. WIREFRAMING CHALLENGES • Lots of revisions • Lots of handoffs • Lack of engagement throughout the project
5. WIREFRAME DESIGN Site Building, Module Installation, Module Development DEVELOP Migration Theming DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES
6. DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES “But now that I see it…”
7. DESIGN CHALLENGES Later involvement of project = playing catch up
8. Easy to misinterpret functionality especially when it comes to responsive designs DESIGN CHALLENGES
9. Tons of time and effort getting buy-in from team members DESIGN CHALLENGES
10. UX CHALLENGES Designing wireframes in a vacuum
11. UX CHALLENGES Creating really high-fidelity wireframes… ...also means updating them.
12. UX CHALLENGES Hefty annotations… …still get misinterpreted.
13. ACCESSIBILITY CHALLENGES Wireframe concepts make it difficult to identify accessibility trouble spots.
14. WHAT DO WE REALLY NEED? • Something easier to understand • Something quicker to iterate upon • Something more realistic • Something that involves everyone earlier
15. WHAT’S THE SOLUTION? Collaborative Sketching and Digital Prototyping!
16. MAKING THE CHANGE: COLLABORATION Pick a small project. • Less risky • Manageable in size • Quicker to recover
17. MAKING THE CHANGE: COLLABORATION Get buy-in from your teammates. “Hey, would you be up for trying out this sketching approach?”
18. MAKING THE CHANGE: COLLABORATION Involve the right people. Everyone! UXers, developers, designers, accessibility analysts, content strategists, project managers...
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
20. HOW DO WE SKETCH collaboratively?
21. • Markers • Paper • Masking Tape • Scissors • Sticky Notes • Snacks! • Music! WHAT YOU’LL NEED
22. CHOOSE THE right SPACE • Open area • Ample wall space • Freedom from distractions
23. WHAT TO SKETCH • Main pages - homepage, landing pages • Pages with unique functionality/features (galleries, data-heavy pages, etc.) • Responsive versions of the above
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
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
26. SKETCHING SESSION
27. SKETCHING SESSION
28. SKETCHING SESSION
29. PRO TIPS FOR SKETCHING • Encourage everyone to sketch. • Remember that no idea is a bad one. • Pay attention to everyone’s energy level.
30. DISCUSSION SESSION
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!
32. PRO TIPS FOR DISCUSSION • UXer / PM - use your facilitation skills. • Make sure everyone is heard. • Vet the ideas with your teammates (experts!).
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.
34. SO… YOU NEVER WIREFRAME? Wireframes are a communication tool; so are prototypes. Use whatever is most appropriate for a task.
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...
36. HTML PROTOTYPES • Quick to build • Time-consuming to modify content • Throwaway code
37. DRUPAL PROTOTYPES • Slow(er) to build • Faster to modify content • Groundwork for your site
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
40. This isn’t a throwaway product… ...so you have to remove the things you don’t need. WARNING!
41. HOW DO WE CREATE DIGITAL PROTOTYPES? FRONT-END TASKS SITE-BUILDING TASKS CONTENT MIGRATION
42. • Install a prototype theme. • Consider source order and positioning. • Adjust the mobile experience as needed. FRONT-END TASKS (minimal)
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
45. Migrate content. Lots of content. CONTENT MIGRATION TASKS
46. SUCCESS STORIES
56. BENEFITS OF COLLABORATIVE SKETCHING & DIGITAL PROTOTYPES
57. Navigate challenges early. BENEFITS
58. Iterate more quickly on a design concept. BENEFITS
59. Reuse your work - no throw-away products! BENEFITS
60. Prototypes easily demonstrate responsive behavior. BENEFITS
61. Use your functional prototype to... • Get buy-in from your team. • Get buy-in from your client. • Do usability testing. BENEFITS
62. THINGS TO REMEMBER
63. Start with a small project first. THINGS TO REMEMBER
64. Keep communication open. THINGS TO REMEMBER
65. Get new staff involved early. THINGS TO REMEMBER
66. Remember, this is a process. Be adaptable. THINGS TO REMEMBER
67. THANK YOU! Michelle Chin | @soysaucechin Kat Kuhl | @webbykat Ika Lestari | convince her to join Twitter Rock Creek Strategic Marketing @rockcreeksm
68. ? QUESTIONS
69. LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! http://bit.ly/collaborative-sketches