ux strat usa, andrew hinton, "understanding context to shape ux strategy"
TRANSCRIPT
TO SHAPE UX STRATEGY
Andrew Hinton | The Understanding Group UX STRAT 2015
UNDERSTANDING CONTEXT
WE’LL LOOK AT 3 THEMES FOR HOW CONTEXT RELATES TO UX STRATEGY
1 ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLEXITY
CONTEXT+STRATEGY:
body as interfaceself-driving cars
smart homes pervasive algorithms
artificial intelligenceomni-channel
simulated affordances
semantic ambiguity
embodied cognition
digital agency
WHILE I WAS WRITING THIS BOOK, MY HEAD EXPLODED
liquidmatrix.org
Ecological Psychology
James J. & Eleanor Gibson
Radically empirical approach to understanding perception & behavior.
ENVIRONMENTwikimedia
ENVIRONMENTwikimedia
ENVIRONMENTwikimedia
ENVIRONMENT
PRODUCT
PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT
PRODUCT
PRODUCT
PRODUCT
PRODUCT
PRODUCT
PRODUCTPRODUCT
PRODUCT
PRODUCTPRODUCT
PRODUCT
APPROXIMATE INCREASE IN ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLEXITY OVER TIME*
Complexity added to human
environment
No big whoop.
OMG PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!!!!!!
What’s complexity?
We’re so modern!
Learn a new app? Uh. Ok.
I have no idea what my phone is doing.
I have no idea what my house is doing.
Time
Olden times Fin de siècle
* according to Andrew Hinton’s feelings on the subject.
Industrial Revolution
“Information Age” 21st Century
WE CANNOT ADEQUATELY ADDRESS THIS COMPLEXITY THROUGH INTERFACE DESIGN ALONE
THE ANTIDOTE TO UI FIXATION: MODELS & MAPS
RESIST PREMATURE INSTANTIATION. STAY AMBIGUOUS FOR AS LONG AS YOU CAN.
2PRINCIPLES AND FACTS
CONTEXT+STRATEGY:
“STRATEGY”
“ACTUAL WORK”
VS OR
“THEORY”
“PRACTICE”
VS
ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD — CIRCA 2006
laptop.org via archive.org
“It would have been far better to begin in the villages, spend time there and build from the bottom up. [The OLPC project] might have discovered there was little need for this kind of machine.” Bruce Nussbaum - Business Week, 2007
olpc.org
ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD — CIRCA 2007
olpc.org
ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD — CIRCA 2009
Systemic principles
BUBBLEAssumptions Ideologies
Received methods Momentary trends
Temporary priorities
Particular facts
Most design work happens within a bubble that ignores the principles and present realities.
Systemic principles
Particular facts
Strategy requires understanding the contextual relationships between the principles & the facts.
MESSY TRUTH OF REAL PEOPLE, NOT TIDY DATA
3FRAMING & NARRATIVE
CONTEXT+STRATEGY:
Tactical Frame Strategic Frame
S&P 50024 Aug 2015
We all have narratives. We’re all creating stories. Our lives are stories in that sense.
“
”James McGaugh Center for the Neurobiology of Learning, UC Irvine
99percentinvisible.org - Credit: Sam Greenspan]99percentinvisible.org - Credit: Gresham, Smith, and Partners
Floor tiles nudge foot traffic in the Atlanta International Terminal
Context controls conduct.
From Understanding Context, O’Reilly Media, 2014
NARRATIVE FRAMING CHANGES WHAT OUR ENVIRONMENT MEANS TO US
Actual Behavior: Using “Merchant” in
conversation, systems, and processes, arbitrarily.
Collective Narrative: “We know what ‘merchant’ means for our business!”
BEING STRATEGIC MEANS ESCAPING “NARRATIVE DEBT”
Real Facts = Complex
Mistaken Principle = “It’s Simple”
BEING STRATEGIC MEANS ESCAPING “NARRATIVE DEBT”
From Understanding Context, O’Reilly Media, 2014
THE ANSWER TO COMPLEXITY IS CLARITY, NOT SIMPLICITY
1. Consider the complexity of the full environment.
2. Understand the context between principles and facts.
3. Regularly question & reframe contextual narratives.
