What is UX design?Understanding User Experience for the Web

Oct 2009

Adrian Mendoza

UX principal

Mendoza Design & Marlin Mobile

What is UX design?UX or User Experience? Say what? Is the field of creating architecture and

interaction models that impact use of space, objects, and media.

The skill of UX design can be translated into architecture (space), industrial (objects), and graphic design (media).

In short, UX is understanding what people do and how we can make it better.

What is UX design?

How can you describe UX?Clients always ask me to describe what I do. (please feel free to use this analogy)Client:“I want to

build a better

mousetrap”

Adrian:“What color to paint the mouse trap”

And if they are

lucky…

I tell them:

Getting the mice to go there, that’s up to your client!

Adrian:“What type of mice will go

there”

Adrian:“What kind of mouse trap to

build”

Adrian:“What cheese

to use”

What is UX design?How is UX for the web different?

Working in the web, we call content consumers Users.

UX designers are part of the design process. They participate in the beginning stages of design, sometimes even throughout the life of the project.

UX designers can have a focus/specialty in Usability, Design, Information Architecture, or Software Development.

What is UX design?

Look at the Competition• We use documents called Competitive Audits in order to

compare Functionality and User Experience across competitors.

• These audits help our clients define what they want their product to do and how they want to compare against their competitors.

• We use images and text to describe user interactions and pages.

What is UX design?

People are Archetypes• User Personas help us

define who is using the site (market audience) and who we want to use the site (target audience).

• We create a personality based on ages, culture, usage patterns and communities.

• We can then do research to help support who these users are and what they will do on the site.

What is UX design?

User Matrix• After creating User Personas, we

develop a user matrix to better understand actions each user will perform on the site.

• This matrix allows us to see common functionality across all users.

Create Login

Purchase Online

Save Purchases

View Past Purchases

Personalize Products

Send Products via email

✗

✔

✔

✔

✗

✗

✔

✗

✗

✗

✔

✔

What is UX design?

Sitemaps• Sitemaps create an overall map of pages and paths that will

occur within the website.

• We focus on trying to cover as much of the pages and paths that the user will interact with.

• Using the sitemap, we will begin to help suggest or define an interaction model.

What is UX design?

User Scenarios• Using personas and the user matrix,

we help determine a user’s specific path on the site.

• User Scenarios help map out this detailed functionality in actual pages and process.

• User Scenarios show more detail as compared to the sitemap. “Jennifer commonly shops

online”

What is UX design?

Wireframes• Wireframes help us figure out

placement, size, and location of page elements.

• Wireframes show a basic layout that expresses a visual interpretation of the interaction model.

• We strip out any design or formatting. Focus should be on the layout. This will help with visualizing the design.

What is UX design?

Now Don’t forget to test!• Now that we have a web site or prototype, we use the user

personas that we created to find real users that match those archetypes.

• Real users will tell us whether or not the functionality works or needs improvement.

What is UX design?

What’s next for UX?

mUX!

What is UX design?mUX – mobile User Experience• Just because your users use the

mobile web, DOES NOT mean you can convert your site over just by changing the code.

• The mobile web is both your point of entry and your barrier to entry for many users.

• Understand what the intended mobile User Experience is for your User before you start.

Use our Twitter hash tag #mUX to discuss mobile UX topics

What is UX design?mUX – mobile User Experience

Use our Twitter hash tag #mUX to discuss mobile UX topics

“Do one thing, and do it well” Dom Sagolla on building Mobile Web apps.

• Keep the mobile web site, clean, simple, and direct.

• Understanding your site’s performance and how to optimize it is key to sound mUX.

Examples:

• See www.marlinmobile.com vs. mobile.marlinmobile.com

What is UX design?

Who is Adrian?Adrian's career is highlighted by over 10 years of design and user experience in the handheld, pharmaceutical, financial, and education sectors. His first studio, Synthesis3, worked with several Palm OS software companies in creating their brand for both a web and retail presence. In the financial and education sector, customers included Sovereign Bank, Houghton Mifflin, MIT and Harvard. Adrian has consulted in UX and Information Architect lead roles for Fidelity's E-business design group, Thomson Financial, and T.Rowe Price. Adrian earned his Bachelors from the University of Southern California and his Masters from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Currently, he is the UX principal at Mendoza Design a Brookline, MA based UX consultancy, and the mobile UX principal at Marlin Mobile, a user experience, performance, and optimization company. Additionally, he is a senior lecturer at the School of Art and Design at Suffolk University in Boston, MA.

Questions? Contact:adrian@mendoza-design.comadrian@marlinmobile.com

Follow Adrian on Twitter @marlinUXOr read his mobile UX blog at http://www.marlinmobile.com/blog/