UX Design PDF

UX DESIGN CHAPTER 1 A Brief Introduction to User Experience (UX) Design 3 min read User experience (UX) design can be a complicated and overwhelming field for newcomers, as it encompasses a wide range of topics (from accessibility to wireframing). Some o...

UX DESIGN CHAPTER 1 A Brief Introduction to User Experience (UX) Design 3 min read User experience (UX) design can be a complicated and overwhelming field for newcomers, as it encompasses a wide range of topics (from accessibility to wireframing). Some of these topics overlap, while some of them complement one another. Therefore, it's important to come to a common and basic understanding of what the term “user experience” means in a design context. Complexity and Perception User experience design, as its name suggests, is about designing the ideal experience of using a service or product. As such, it can involve all types of products and services—think, for instance, about the design involved in a museum exhibition. However, in the main, the term user experience design is used in relation to websites, web applications and other software applications. Since the second half of this century’s first decade, technologies have become increasingly complex, and the functionality of applications and websites has become far broader and far more intricate. Early websites were simple static pages that served up information to feed curious searchers; however, a few decades later, what we can find a wealth of online are sites that are interactive and offer a much richer feel for users. INTERACTION-DESIGN.ORG 4 The Basics of User Experience (UX) Design by the Interaction Design Foundation 1. A Brief Introduction to User Experience (UX) Design You can add all the features and functionality that you like to a site or application, but the success of the project rides on a single factor: how the users feel about it. “Humans have always been emotional and have always reacted to the artifacts in their world emotionally.” —Alan Cooper, President of Cooper The questions that we as UX designers are concerned with are these: Does the site or application give the user value? Does the user find the site or application simple to use and navigate? Does the user actually enjoy using the site or the application? A UX designer can say he's or she’s doing a good job when the answer is "Yes!" to all of the above. What is User Experience (UX)? In general, user experience is simply how people feel when they use a product or service. In most cases, that product will be a website or an application of some form. Every instance of human-object interaction has an associated user experience, but, in general, UX practitioners are interested in the relationship between human users and computers and computer-based products, such as websites, applications and systems. What is a UX Designer? A UX designer is someone who investigates and analyzes how users feel about the products he or she offers them. UX designers then apply this knowledge to product development in order to ensure that the user has the best possible experience with a product. UX designers conduct research, analyze their findings, inform other members of the development team of their findings, monitor development projects to ensure those findings are implemented, and do much more. INTERACTION-DESIGN.ORG 5 The Basics of User Experience (UX) Design by the Interaction Design Foundation 1. A Brief Introduction to User Experience (UX) Design Why Does UX Matter? In times gone by, product design was simple; designers built stuff they thought was cool and that they hoped their clients would like. Unfortunately, there are two problems with that approach. The first is that, back then, there was far less competition for people's attention online. The second is that there's no consideration for the user of the product at all in that approach—the success or failure of a development project was down to luck as much as it was down to the judgement of the design team. Focusing on UX enables design to focus on the user. It increases the chances of a project's success when it finally comes to market, not least because it doesn’t gamble on the faith of users in taking to a product just because it’s a brand name. Where Can UX Design be Found? UX Design can be found in a variety of project environments today, including: Complex projects — the more complicated the project, the more essential UX design is. Too many features handled the wrong way can deter users like nothing else. Startups — you may not find dedicated UX teams in a startup, but UX is always part of the objective. High-tech startups developing innovative projects need to understand how their users feel even more than established companies do. Projects with decent budgets — UX tends to get skipped in low-value projects, but any development project team with a decent budget will tend to allocate some of their financial resource to UX so as to ensure that the budget brings a return on investment. Long projects — the longer the project, the more resources it consumes; thus, UX becomes ever more important to delivering a return on the investment. What's the Main Methodology for UX? The main methodology used to guarantee the user experience in most projects is user-centered design. Simply put, user-centered design is all about designing with the users’ needs and expected behaviors in mind. It's important for us as UX designers to remember that user-centered design is a INTERACTION-DESIGN.ORG 6 The Basics of User Experience (UX) Design by the Interaction Design Foundation 1. A Brief Introduction to User Experience (UX) Design means of achieving good UX—and not the only methodology or tool that one can use to ensure optimal UX in a project. The Take Away UX design is all about guiding product development to shape how users feel when using our products. It's not a perfect method; sometimes, even with all the UX design know-how in the world behind it, a product will still fail. However, the appropriate use of UX design does offer a much higher chance that a product will be successful for our clients than products developed without the application of UX design principles. Want to avoid the common pitfalls of UX design? Our course “Become a UX Designer from Scratch” will guide you—claim your spot now! Become a UX Designer from Scratch Beginner course If you want to join one of the most rapidly growing fields in design, then look no further—Become a UX Designer from Scratch is the course for you. You’ll learn the skills required to assist companies in delivering the right UX for their products through being taught tried-and-tested, industry standard techniques. You’ll also discover how to create various UX deliverables with the help of downloadable templates. From customer journey maps to paper prototypes, this course will show you how to make use of such templates when creating your UX portfolio—something that will truly make an impact on your UX job applications. What’s more, you’ll gain access to video interviews with senior UX hirers and experts from companies such as Google and SAP—providing you insight into what skills and attributes will give you an advantage over fellow candidates during the UX hiring process. Wait no longer to kick-start your professional UX career! Learn more about this course ∠ INTERACTION-DESIGN.ORG 7 The Basics of User Experience (UX) Design by the Interaction Design Foundation 1. A Brief Introduction to User Experience (UX) Design How Course Takers Have Benefited “The lessons are clear and easy to understand. The content in the lessons are thoroughly explained, and there's a good balance between video content vs. text content. This really is an intro or UX 101 course, which I really appreciated.” Seth Lemon, United States “The strength of this course is its content and the way all the lessons are organized. The experience the instructors possess is also a huge advantage to the course and its members in understanding the design methods effectively.” Prudhvi Raj Midasala, India “The course has given me a great overview of the foundation of UX design, the processes, players and understanding of the expectations of / on designers.” Barbara-Anne Tane, Australia View the course curriculum ∠ INTERACTION-DESIGN.ORG 8 The Basics of User Experience (UX) Design by the Interaction Design Foundation About the Interaction Design Foundation About the Interaction Design Foundation We thought this would be a good time to properly introduce ourselves, now that you’ve had a taste of what our ebook has to offer! Founded in 2002, the Interaction Design Foundation (IDF) is on a mission to provide accessible and affordable design education to people across the world, through open-source educational materials as well as online, self-paced UX Design courses. By taking our courses, you'll benefit from educational materials developed by leading practitioners and academics from top-tier universities like Stanford and MIT. Our course certificates will therefore help you land your next job in design through being recognized by industry-leading corporations. We also provide the opportunity to network with fellow designers through our Local Groups initiative — with meet-ups in over 84 countries across the globe! You can find out more about us and our mission if you’re interested. Because you’ve downloaded our ebook, we’re going to give you a special offer: 3 months of free membership. Become a member of the Interaction Design Foundation, receive all the benefits mentioned above, and start advancing your career today! INTERACTION-DESIGN.ORG 9  Empathise Define Ideate Prototype Test CHAPTER 2 What is Design Thinking and Why Is It So Popular? 9 min read Design thinking is not an exclusive property of designers—all great innovators in literature, art, music, science, engineering, and business have practiced it. So, why call it ‘design thinking’? What’s special about design thinking is that designers’ work processes can help us systematically extract, teach, learn and apply these human-centered techniques to solve problems in a creative and innovative way — in our designs, in our businesses, in our countries, in our lives. Some of the world’s leading brands, such as Apple, Google, Samsung and GE, have rapidly adopted the design thinking approach. What’s more, design thinking is being taught at leading universities around the world, including d.school, Stanford, Harvard and MIT. Even so, do you know what design thinking is, and why it’s so popular? Here, we’ll cut to the chase and tell you what it is and why it’s so popular. What is Design Thinking? Design thinking is an iterative process in which we seek to understand the user, challenge assumptions, and redefine problems in an attempt to identify alternative strategies and solutions that might not be instantly apparent with our initial level of understanding. At the same time, design thinking provides a solution-based approach to solving problems. It is a way of thinking and working as well as a collection of hands-on methods. INTERACTION-DESIGN.ORG 10 The Basics of User Experience (UX) Design by the Interaction Design Foundation 2. What is Design Thinking and Why Is It So Popular? Design thinking revolves around a deep interest in developing an understanding of the people for whom we’re designing the products or services. It helps us observe and develop empathy with the target user. Design thinking helps us in the process of questioning: questioning the problem, questioning the assumptions, and questioning the implications. Design thinking is extremely useful in tackling problems that are ill defined or unknown, by re-framing the problem in human-centric ways, creating many ideas in brainstorming sessions, and adopting a hands-on approach in prototyping and testing. Design thinking also involves ongoing experimentation: sketching, prototyping, testing, and trying out concepts and ideas. Design Thinking’s Phases There are many variants of the design thinking process in use today, and they have from three to seven phases, stages, or modes. However, all variants of design thinking are very similar—they all embody the same principles, which were first described by Nobel Prize laureate Herbert Simon in The Sciences of the Artificial in 1996. Here, we will focus on the five-phase model, which the Hasso-Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford (aka ‘d.school’) proposed. We’ve chosen d.school’s approach because they’re at the forefront of applying and teaching design thinking. The five phases of design thinking, according to d.school, are as follows: Empathize – with your users Define – your users’ needs, their problem, and your insights Ideate – by challenging assumptions and creating ideas for innovative solutions Prototype – to start creating solutions Test – solutions It is important to note that the five phases, stages, or modes are not always sequential. They do not have to follow any specific order. What’s more, they can often occur in parallel and repeat iteratively. As such, you should not envision the phases as a hierarchal or step-by-step process. Instead, you should understand it as an overview of the modes or phases that contribute to an innovative project, rather than sequential steps. INTERACTION-DESIGN.ORG 11 The Basics of User Experience (UX) Design by the Interaction Design Foundation 2. What is Design Thinking and Why Is It So Popular? The Problem with Ingrained Patterns of Thinking Sometimes, the easiest way to understand something intangible, such as design thinking, is by understanding what it is not. Humans naturally develop patterns of thinking modelled on the repetitive activities and commonly accessed knowledge. These assist us in quickly applying the same actions and knowledge in similar or familiar situations, but they also have the potential to prevent us from quickly and easily accessing or developing new ways of seeing, understanding, and solving problems. These patterns of thinking are often referred to as schemas, which are organized sets of information and relationships between things, actions, and thoughts that are stimulated and initiated in the human mind when we encounter some environmental stimuli. A single schema can contain a vast amount of information. For example, we have a schema for dogs which encompasses the presence of four legs, fur, sharp teeth, a tail, paws, and a number of other perceptible characteristics. When the environmental stimuli match this schema—even when there is a tenuous link or only a few of the characteristics are present—the same pattern of thought enters the mind. As these schemas are stimulated automatically, this process can obstruct a more fitting impression of the situation or prevent us from seeing a problem in a way that will enable a new problem-solving strategy. Rising above this ‘fog’, or—more aptly—floating up and away from this confining compartment, calls for us to be innovative in our approach. Unsurprisingly, innovative problem solving is also known as ‘thinking outside of the box’. An Example of Problem solving: The Encumbered Vs. The Fresh Mind Thinking outside of the box can provide an innovative solution to a sticky problem. However, thinking outside of the box can be a real challenge as we naturally develop patterns of thinking that are modelled on the repetitive activities and commonly accessed knowledge we surround ourselves with. It takes something to break away from a situation where we’re too closely involved INTERACTION-DESIGN.ORG 12 The Basics of User Experience (UX) Design by the Interaction Design Foundation 2. What is Design Thinking and Why Is It So Popular? to be able to find better possibilities. Still, that is what we must do. To illustrate how a fresh way of thinking can create unexpectedly good solutions, let’s look at a famous story. Some years ago, an incident occurred where a truck driver had tried to pass under a low bridge. Alas, he failed, and the truck became firmly lodged under the bridge. The driver was unable to continue driving through or reverse out. The story goes that as the truck became stuck, it caused massive traffic problems, which resulted in emergency personnel, engineers, firefighters, and truck drivers gathering to negotiate various solutions so as to dislodge the truck. Emergency workers were debating whether to dismantle parts of the truck or chip away at parts of the bridge. Each spoke of a solution which fitted within his or her respective level of expertise. In the heat of the emergency, all parties carried on with their ways of viewing the problem, including the truck driver, whose initial dismay over a scraped roof had turned into a deeper concern. A boy walking by and witnessing the intense debate looked at the truck, at the bridge, then looked at the road and said nonchalantly, "Why not just let the air out of the tires?" to the absolute amazement of all the specialists and experts trying to unpick the problem. When the solution was tested, the truck was able to drive free with ease, having suffered only the damage caused by its initial attempt to pass underneath the bridge. Whether or not the story actually happened in real life, it symbolizes the struggles we face where oftentimes the most obvious solutions are the ones hardest to come by because of the self-imposed constraints we work within. Challenging our assumptions and everyday knowledge is often difficult for us humans, as we rely on building patterns of thinking in order not to have to learn everything from scratch every time. We rely on doing everyday processes more or less unconsciously—for example, when we get up in the morning, eat, walk, and read—but also when we assess challenges at work and in our private lives. Especially experts and specialists rely on their solid thought patterns, patterns that serve them well in their respective fields, not to mention the people to whom they deliver their skills. Even so, it can INTERACTION-DESIGN.ORG 13