what they didnt know they needed ia summit2010

What They Didn’t Know They Needed

Megan Grocki - @megUX

Amy Cueva - @amycueva

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Who are we?

Amy CuevaFounder & Chief Experience

Officer

amy@madpow.com

Megan GrockiSenior Experience Designer

mgrocki@madpow.com

We’ll share some stuff…

but we are just scratching the surface!

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

What (tf) are we going to talk about?

Different approaches to research + design

Getting the right information from research

Generating design ideas

Design execution considerations

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Who are you?

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

User-Centered Design

We love users.

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Genius Design

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Research Methods

Laddering

Triading

Storytelling

Game Play

Desirability Testing

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Laddering

Simple & Systematic

Clinical Psychology/Marketing

Get beyond surface to their core values and uncover

meaning

Experiences designed based on meaning have more

traction than those based on attributes

The art of asking “Why? Why?”

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Research technique to uncover core values

Laddering

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Triading

Discover dimensions that are relevant to audience

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Storytelling

Asking directly about needs and goals can limits

our insight

Give human characteristics to

an interface

Their perspective on how they interact with it

Lets participants explore approaches with their

own filters

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

StorytellingStorytelling

Gain insights into human perspectives

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Game Play

Break free from rigidity of traditional interview

styles

Ease stress on participants, making them less

reserved

Allows researchers to observe people in

competition

Capture emotional reactions

Insight into communication styles

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Game Play

Break free of the rigidity of traditional interviews

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Desirability Testing

Which visual design evokes a better emotional

response?

Halo Affect

Why not just ask them which design they like

better?

Assess emotional impact and how it aligns with

brand

Qualitative & Quantitative

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Desirability Testing

Assess the emotional impact of a design

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Other research approaches

Laddering

Triading

Storyteling

Game Play

Desirability Testing

Contextual Inquiry

Ethnography

Bodystorming

Early usability testing

Comics, sketching

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Findings Prioritization, Visualization, & Team Building

2 3 41 5 6 7

Importance Hig

h

Lo

w

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

So you’ve gotten to the core of what makes people tick, their emotional triggers, and their cognitive expectations. The team gets it.

Now what??

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Generate some fracking amazing ideas.

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

But wait… First you need to figure some things out.

What are your experience objectives?

What is your organization’s risk tolerance threshold?

Who will be involved in generating ideas, communicating them, and executing

on them?

Who are your allies? Form a multi-disciplinary team and start communicating

from the start.

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Brainstorming. Let’s get this party started right.

Lotus Blossom Technique

Brain Writing

Brain Drawing

User-Centric Narrative

& Storytelling

Slot Machine of Goodness

Brainstorming Solo

Chauncey Wilson is the master.

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Lotus Blossom Technique

Topic

A

D

F G H

E

CB

A B C

E

HGF

D Topic

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Brain Writing

Procedure 1

1. Present a group with a request for ideas

2. Ask people to write down ideas

3. Take those ideas and pass them to another person who reads the ideas and adds several more

4. Iterate several times (generally taking no more than 5-15 minutes)

Procedure 2

5. Hand pages out to each person

6. Ask the person to write 3 ideas on a page and put it in a pile and take one from the pile (or a clean sheet),

read the items and add a few more

7. Repeat several times and collect all the pages

8. Twist: This method could be tried via email

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Brain Drawing

Round robin brainstorming for rapidly generating concepts &

ideas

Requires people to write and draw quickly and show their results

to others on the team

Twist: This could be tried in “asynchronous” fashion in a group

area

Brain Drawing for the concept “Filter Object”

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

User-Centered Narrative & Storytelling

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Slot Machine of Goodness

Select Topic

Lists in Columns

Select one from each column

Ideas in the overlap

Topics Maslow’s

Hierarchy of

Needs

Channels,

Attributes, or

Methods

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Solo Brainstorming

Take your work offsite. Go for a sensory overload or underload

Go crazy on a whiteboard. SKETCH. Just. Go. Crazy.

Take a shower. The water increases circulation to your brain.

Caffeinate and eat chocolate.

Go for a drive, rock out. This can facilitate your “brain marination”.

Take a break, or switch tasks.

Go to sleep. But before you do briefly contemplate the problem.

Talk to someone who has no idea about the problem space.

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Execution Considerations

Communicate: What is the best way to communicate these ideas? Make the business case. Speak

their language.

Divide and conquer: Distribute concepting responsibilities

Validate: A design is just a hypothesis until you see it being used.

Prioritize: How will you prioritize the ideas?

Roadmap: Determine your plan for execution.

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Give the business what they didn’t know they needed.

Gradually integrate user touch points into every project.

De-mystify it. Don’t freak them out with big words or big budgets to start (unless they get it of

course).

Involve the business in the process. Have them brainstorm. Have them design. Have them

witness research and testing.

Work with them, how can they make sure this idea will not lose the business money or get

them fired?

Introduce corporate design challenges.

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Questions?

???

@ MegUX @AmyCueva

Contact Us

Amy CuevaFounder & Chief Experience

Officer

amy@madpow.com

Megan GrockiSenior Experience Designer

mgrocki@madpow.com