it's about the journey

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PREPARED BY

IT’S ABOUT THE JOURNEY

@MARSINTHESTARS

September 10, 2016

Big Design Conference

Marli Mesibov, Director of Content StrategyMad*Pow

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• Managing Director of Content Strategy at Mad*Pow

• Managing Editor of UX Booth

• Theater Major, Brandeis – that’s a long way from speaking about design

Big Design | @marsinthestars

Who am I? Why am I here?

3Big Design | @marsinthestars

I took a journey to get here

_______ My journey


I took a journey to get here

Apply Acceptance Travel Arrive Speak

I researched Big Design conference, and decided it was a good fit for my talk. I applied using the online form.

I received an email accepting my talk, responded, and began looking up flights to book.

I checked in the day before, then took an Uber to the airport, flew to Texas, and took a cab to the hotel.

I checked into the hotel, went to my room and unpacked.

I checked into the conference, and prepared to speak with you.


Let’s make this a mobile-first experience


Create responsive submission form, accessible via mobile phone.

Design email to load easily, with few (small) images.

Allow check-in via phone, and hotel updates in my email designed for mobile access.

Include a QR code for mobile hotel check-in, and a key via QR code for my hotel room.

Show conference badge on phone screen.

Phone Phone Phone Phone Phone


Let’s make this a journey-first experience


I researched Big Design conference, and decided it was a good fit for my talk. I applied using the online form.

I received an email accepting my talk, responded, and began looking up flights to book.

I checked in the day before, then took an Uber to the airport, flew to Texas, and took a cab to the hotel.

I checked into the hotel, went to my room and unpacked.

I checked into the conference, and prepared to speak with you.

Computer Tablet Phone Phone In-person

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WHAT’S WRONG WITH MOBILE-FIRST?


Desktop thinking

Desktop Mobile


Mobile-first thinking

“Mobile devices require software development teams to focus on only the most important data and actions in an application. There simply isn’t room in a 320 by 480 pixel screen for extraneous, unnecessary elements. You have to prioritize.”

–Luke Wroblewski, Mobile First (2009)


Mobile-first thinking

Mobile Desktop


Journey-first thinking

“If I’m browsing and adding to a cart on my smartphone, I expect that same history and half-filled shopping basket to be carried across to the desktop site, and vice versa. It’s the only way to guarantee customer satisfaction, aid conversion, and encourage return visits.”

- Christopher Ratcliff, More than 40% of Online Adults are Multi-device Users (2014)



The divide between online and IRL has dissolved. Our experiences run across phone, laptop, tablet…



…watch, TV, car…



…and toilet?

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WHAT IS THE JOURNEY?


The journey is the steps taken


The journey is the path of touch points


The journey is the user flow


The path

The journey is the path a person takes from the start of the experience, through to the end of the experience.

Along the way, they encounter touch points. That’s what we can design.

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FINDING THE PATH


The Mad*Pow Process


5 steps of journey-first design

Action Goal Deliverable

Interview end-users Learn from the source Raw notes

Create personas Compile the details of many people into a representation

1-3 Personas

Map the user flow(s) Understand potential scenarios and identify touch points

Journey map

Connect the touch points to channels

Learn how users communicate at each touch point

Ecosystem web

Design and content Build something A prototype


Step 1: Interviews


Step 2: Personas


Step 3: User flows


Step 4: Touch points


Step 5: Design

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WELCOME TO THE FUTURE


Convince your boss

• Mapping the journey doesn’t take significant extra time or budget – it can be done in as little as 2 hours, and it doesn’t require screens to be designed for every option

• It can be done with a team of one, or a huge group

• Thinking about the multitude of possible devices helps prepare for the future

• Identifying touch points helps us create engaging content


Take into consideration

• Have I designed for the most critical device?

• What other devices might come into play here?

• What is the context for this interaction? Where will my user physically be?

• Is my content dynamic or static?

• What is the conversation between person and device?


How to get started

• Don’t wait for permission. Grab your sticky notes!

• Talk it out: talk through the story of what the persona is doing, where they are, and why.

• Imagine the use-case scenario for every screen you design.

• Read up on the Internet of Things.


Resources

• Designing Multi-Device Experiences, by Michal Levin (book)

• Adapting Ourselves to Adaptive Content, by Karen McGrane (presentation)

• Mobile First, by Luke Wrobelwski (book)

• Designing Digital Strategies, by Sofia Hussain (article)


Thank you!