ux camp europe 2017

Beyond the BullshitLessons from a long career

Eric Reiss

@elreiss

UX Camp Europe

4 June 2017

Berlin, Germany

What can an old man like me

say that will help you?

The BIG question...

Lots of issues and buzzwords

Design thinking

Storytelling

Lean / MVP

“Awesome”

“Intuitive”

AI / IoT

Portfolios

Methodologies

Case studies

Research

Certification

Research

Research

Creating better designs

Getting a job

Getting promoted

Starting for yourself

Understanding globalization

Tailoring your portfolio

Avoiding UX mistakes

So, you want to get a job…

� what a company does

� Website

� what customers are saying

� TrustPilot (products and services)

� Yelp (hospitality industry)

� TripAdvisor (hospitality industry)

� Blogs (products and services)

� Social media (everything and then some)

� where you can make a difference

� That’s up to you!

You need to know before you write...

Now about that portfolio…

� Tell me a story:

� What was the problem?

� How did you solve it?

� What was the result?

� Your process

� How did you get from A to B?

� What kinds of decisions did you make along the way?

What I look for in a portfolio

And if you get an interview…

If I take the time to interview

you, I want to hire you!

The BIG secret...

� Curiosity

� Even when the subject is boring to most others

� Understanding

� Of the business needs as well as the user’s needs

� Empathy

� Can you see things through your user’s eyes?

� Passion

� Do you live and breathe for your projects?

� Skills

� Aesthetic sense, artistic skills, practical skills

What I look for in a designer

Now, you want a promotion…

“We have lots of

research! We know

all about our users.

We know all about

our competitors”

(Clueless marketing manager)

(Eric, tell them about Claus and the 400)

� read the business plan

� research your competitors

� gain insights that marketing/sales may have

missed

� suggest more informed design decisions

� impress your boss

With just a little effort you can...

1. Make it easy to verify the accuracy of the information on your site

2. Show that there’s a real organization behind your site.

3. Highlight the expertise in your organization and in the content and

services you provide.

4. Show that honest and trustworthy people stand behind your site.

5. Make it easy to contact you

6. Design your site so it looks professional (or is appropriate for your

purpose).

7. Make your site easy to use – and useful.

8. Update your site’s content often (at least show it’s been reviewed

recently).

9. Use restraint with any promotional content (e.g. ads, offers)

10. Avoid errors of all types, no matter how small they seem.

*Stanford University Web Credibility GuidelinesBased on 4,500 interviews with business users

Stanford Web Credibility

X Y Z A B C

Accurate ☺ � ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺

Real org. ☺ ☺ ☺ � ☺ �

Expertise � � � � ☺ ☺

Honest ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ � ☺

Contact ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺

Design ☺ ☺ ☺ � � ☺

Usability � � ☺ � � �

Updates � � � � � �

Promo ☺ ☺ ☺ � � �

Errors � ☺ � � � �

Stanford Credibility – May 2017

� URL: CompanyX.com

� Tagline: none

� Position: El, natural gas, district heating

� Statement: “Company X provides electricity, natural gas, and district heating with several important advantages. We give you personal advice regarding your energy purchases – even if you aren’t currently our customer.”

� Comments: Only natural gas to business customers. Focus on district heating for private customers.

� Overall impression: �

Company X

Screw that, Eric!

I want to be my own boss!

How you will spend your time

Billable design workBusiness development

Finances

Invoicing

Meetings

Recruiting

Staff reviews

“Form follows function”

The Villa Savoye

1929


Women’s fashion

(1895-1898)


Infant death and service design

(1847)

Ignaz Semmelweis

� Observe your users

� Talk to your users

� Look for touchpoints that you can influence

Lesson to be learned

Globalization

� We need to understand different cultures,

not just general design patterns

Why globalization is important



� There are few things where “one size fits all”

� Vacuum cleaners, gas stations, and rice cookers





� Rice cookers, vacuum cleaners, gas stations

� You have to see the forest, not just the trees!

� How is your stuff going to be used?





� Rice cookers, vacuum cleaners, gas stations

� You have to see the forest, not just the trees!

� How is your stuff going to be used?

� Do your homework before you come up with a

bad design or bad answer


Bonus #1

How to search

� Use phrases

� Use multiple words

� Write query as an answer rather than a question

Keys to good search results

What’s the key ingredient in bearnaise sauce?

What’s the most fuel-efficient car in the world?

How many stripes does a zebra have?

Some research questions

Bonus #2

Answering some questions

According to Fast Company:

1. Define the problem

2. Create and consider many options

3. Refine selected directions

4. Repeat as necessary

5. Pick the winner

6. Execute

What is “design thinking”

� Tell me a story:

� What was the problem?

� How did you solve it?

� What was the result?

� Your process

� How did you get from A to B?

� What kinds of decisions did you make along the way?

What I look for in a portfolio

(Click here to add obligatory Venn diagram)

All the people in the

whole world

(Click here to add obligatory Venn diagram)


whole world


whole world

who do UX

Berlin | 20 June 2015 | 01:35

Berlin | 20 June 2015 | 08:12

Eric’s 1st Law of UX:

User experience is the sum of

a series of interactions between

• people

• devices

• events

Eric’s 2rd Law of UX (CARE):

UX design represents the conscious

act of :• coordinating interactions

we can control

• acknowledging interactions

we cannot control

• reducing negative interactions

• examining the journey

between these interactions

Can influence

Cannot influence

Business

critical

Screw

it

True UX

Artistic masturbation

Scrum and UX

Which tool would you NOT want to have if you were building a house?

Pick me! Pick me!

Introducing “Carpenter thinking”

Measure twice, cut once

My Favourite Process

DWYNTDTGTSD

Do What You Need To Do To Get The Shit Done

Observing the User Experience

Mike Kuniavsky

Morgan Kaufmann, 2003

Design Research

Brenda Laurel (editor)

MIT Press, 2003

Validating Product Ideas

Tomer Sharon

Rosenfeld, 2016

Contextual Design

Karen Holtzblatt, Hugh Beyer


Must-have books for researchers

Measuring the Success of Your Website

Hurol Inan

Prentice-Hall, 2002

Measuring the User Experience

Tom Tullis, Bill Albert


Books – UX metrics

Designing a UX Portfolio

Ian Fenn

O’Reilly, 2017

The Interview Expert

John Lees

Pearson Business, 2011

A Project Guide for UX Design

Russ Unger, Carolyn Chandler

New Riders, 2012

Books – self-help

Actionable Web Analytics

Jason Burby, Shane Atchison

Sybex, 2007

Web Analytics – an hour a day

Avinash Kaushik

Sybex/Wiley, 2007

Web Metrics

Jim Sterne

Wiley, 2002

Practical Web Analytics for UX

Michael Beasley


Books – web analytics

How to Conduct Your Own Survey

Pricilla Salant, Don A. Dillman

Wiley, 1994

Improving Survey Questions

Floyd J. Fowler, Jr.

Sage, 1995

Mail and Internet Surveys

Don A. Dillman

Wiley, 2000

Interviewing Users

Steve Portigal

Rosenfeld, 2013

Books – surveys and interviews

Rocket Surgery Made Easy

Steve Krug

New Riders, 2010

Handbook of Usability Testing

Jeffrey Rubin, Dana Chisnell

Wiley, 2008

Don’t Make Me Think

Steve Krug

New Riders, 2013

Usable Usability

Eric Reiss

Wiley, 2012

Books – usability

Danke!

The FatDUX Group ApS

Strandøre 15

2100 Copenhagen

Denmark

Office: (+45) 39 29 07 07

Mobil: (+45) 20 12 88 44

Twitter: @elreiss

[email protected]

www.fatdux.com

Eric Reiss can (usually) be found at: