From Muppets to Mastery:Core UX Principles from Mr. Jim Henson

Russ Unger | @russu Big (D)esign 2012

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A Brief Timeline

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The World:FDR Elected to 2nd Term

Jim Henson:Born1936

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Jim Henson:Parents Get First TV1952The World:

First MAD Magazine

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The World:First Color Televisions Available

Jim Henson:Enters University of Maryland1954

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Jim Henson:Sam and Friends begins on TV1955The World:

Rosa Parks arrested in Alabama

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Jim Henson:Muppets on The Tonight Show1956The World:

Rock & Roll Dance Craze Sweeps the World

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Jim Henson:Shoots 1st TV Commercial1957The World:

Elvis Buys Graceland

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Jim Henson:Muppets on Ed Sullivan1966The World:

Mini-skirts are in Fashion

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Jim Henson:Sesame Street Airs on TV!1969The World:

Nixon Becomes President

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Jim Henson:The Muppet Show Airs on TV!1976The World:

USA Turns 200

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1976

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Jim Henson:First Muppet Movie in Theaters1979The World:

Sony Walkman Invented ($200)

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Jim Henson:The Dark Crystal in Theaters1982The World:

Time Mag’s Man of the Year

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Jim Henson:Fraggle Rock Airs1983The World:

Dawning of the Age of Clippy

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Jim Henson:Labyrinth in Theaters1986The World:

Russ Unger Gets 1st Car

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1990The World:Milli Vanilli: Lip Syncers!

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Jim Henson:Dies, May 16th

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Jim Henson:Steve Jobs Honors Henson’s Memory1997The World:

Steve Jobs Returns to Apple

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The World:Occupied. 2011 Jim Henson:

Occupies Theatres - Again!

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Jim Henson & Design

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A Good Experience is Invisible

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A Good Experience is InvisibleGive the audience enough to work with and they’ll do the rest for you.

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A Good Experience is InvisibleGive the audience enough to work with and they’ll do the rest for you.

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ResearchGive the audience enough to work with and they’ll do the rest for you.

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PatternsOriginal Muppets were designed so that ~6 Muppets could be easily made from a single design.

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PatternsOriginal Muppets were designed so that ~6 Muppets could be easily made from a single design.

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#UXMuppets | @russu

PatternsOriginal Muppets were designed so that ~6 Muppets could be easily made from a single design.

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[Muppets] was really just a term we made up.“

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*No disrespect to our friends of have created these, of course!

[Muppets] was really just a term we made up.“

HeuristicsContextual

Inquiry

Affordances

DeliverablesBodystorming

Skeumorphic

Mental Models

Participatory Design

Information Architecture

Folksonomy

User Experience

Design

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I’ve always been most intrigued by what can be done with the visual image. I feel that is what is strongest about the work I do...the visual image.

“

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SketchingHenson started sketching characters and comic strips as a kid.

He never stopped.

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SketchingHenson started sketching characters and comic strips as a kid.

He never stopped.

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HackingJim needed to see what the viewer would see, so he started using a “monitor” to view scenes from where he was located.

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HackingJim needed to see what the viewer would see, so he started using a “monitor” to view scenes from where he was located.

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HackingJim needed to see what the viewer would see, so he started using a “monitor” to view scenes from where he was located.

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Bernard Tyers Belén Barros Pena

~$3,000.00

http://www.diymobileusabilitytesting.net/

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StoryboardingA storyboard is a graphic organizer that visually tells a story. Creating a storyboard helps you plan your story shot by shot.

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A Team of OneWhat started as a one-man enterprise grew into an internationally acclaimed phenomenon.

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A Team of OneWhat started as a one-man enterprise grew into an internationally acclaimed phenomenon.

We do that, too.

#UXMuppets | @russu

A Team of OneWhat started as a one-man enterprise grew into an internationally acclaimed phenomenon.

We do that, too.

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WWJHD?

What Would Jim Henson Do?

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(So What?)Jim Henson started sketching and making puppets at a young age.

He read books, but not rule books.He sketched ideas.

He hacked things together.He made it up as he went along.

As a relatively new industry, so do we.

Thank You!

Russ Unger | @russu Big (D)esign 2012