View Tim Brown "From Design to Design Thinking" critically, i.e. be prepared to answer three questions afterwards.
Group and mentor check-in time
Homework for Tuesday, 1 December:
Work on Project 4.3
Read Stanford dSchool Bootcamp Bootleg pp. 28 – 30, 33 - 35, “Brainstorming,” “Facilitating a Brainstorm,” “Selection,” “Prototype for Empathy,” “Prototype to Test,” “Testing with Users” and “User-Driven Prototyping” and UXD pp. 170 – 171 “Conclusions”
What is “brainstorming”? What is the value of it? What are the eight rules of brainstorming?
How are brainstorming sessions facilitated?
What is “selection” in the brainstorming process? Why is it important and how is it done?
How can you “Prototype for Empathy”? Please give an example of this that could be done by your group in the context of Project 4.
What is the purpose of the “Prototype to Test” method? Please give an example of this that could be done by your group in the context of Project 4.
What is the procedure you would follow, in the context of Project 4, to “Test with Users”?
Who, according to your textbook’s authors, is design for? Be comprehensive in your answer.
What are some of the benefits and challenges of design for user experience?
The deadline for Project 4.3 is now extended to Monday, 7 December at 11:59 pm
Final grades for those of you who earned extra credit now correct.
Review of Potential Quiz Questions
Why is it necessary to prepare for an interview?
Time with users is precious, we need to make the most of it!
While we always must allow room for the spontaneous, blissful
serendipity of a user-guided conversation, we should never abdicate our
responsibility to prepare for interviews. Especially in following up
with users (after testing, etc.), it is imperative to plan your
interviews. You may not get to every question you prepare, but you
should come in with a plan for engagement.
What steps are involved in preparing for an interview?
Brainstorm questions
Identify and order themes
Refine questions
What are the seven stages of an interview with empathy?
Introduce yourself
Introduce project
Build rapport
Evoke Stories
Explore Emotions
Question statements
Thank and Wrap-up
Why is it important to engage with “extreme users” in a design research project?
Designers engage with users (people!) to understand their needs
and gain insights about their lives. We also draw inspiration from
their work-arounds and frameworks. When you speak with and observe
extreme users, the needs are amplified and their work-arounds are often
more notable. This helps you pull out meaningful needs that may not pop
when engaging with the middle of the bell curve. However, the needs
that are uncovered through extreme users are often also needs of a wider
population.
What is the end goal of the method “saturate and group”?
The end goal is to synthesize data into interesting findings and
create insights which will be useful to you in creating design
solutions.
What is the advantage of imposing constraints in a user-centered design process? Give examples of three areas where imposing constraints can be useful.
Imposing constraints with intention can actually increase your creative potential.
[Students' examples]
What are the six principles of user-centered design as set out by the ISO (International Organization for Standardization)? To what extent are you following these in your work on Project 4?
The design is based upon an explicit understanding of users, tasks and environments.
Users are involved throughout design and development.
The design is driven and refined by user-centered evaluation.
The process is iterative.
The design addresses the whole user experience.
The design team includes multidisciplinary skills and perspective.
Mentor Yi Nie to Present [in Canvas Assignment 4.2 folder]
The Final Two Modes:
Prototype and Test
Prototype for Empathy (p. 33)
Prototype to Test (p. 34)
Testing with Users (p. 35)
User-Driven Prototyping (p. 38)
Next Steps in Project 4.2
Findings, based on what you found in your research create a
“Composite Character Profile” (or Persona) of the potential users of
your design.
Design Brief, What are the parameters for your prototype design
project? In other words, what (specifically) are you trying to
accomplish through your design? What is the key question in the design,
i.e. what must be addressed for your design to be a success? (You may
find it useful to apply the “Impose Constraints” method from the
Bootcamp Bootleg document at this stage).
In this interim phase each team should start with their Design Brief and
develop and test a paper prototype with your client/user group.
Each group’s write up should show the evolution of your prototype – its iterations, indicate the rationale for them, highlight the response
from testing, and indicate how your understanding of client needs
improved through the prototyping process. Video might well be usefully
incorporated here.
Assignment for Wednesday, 18 November at 11:59 pm:
3. Apply whichever methods you need to determine a specific need for design to benefit them -- it's a real world scenario so reflect and be flexible
4. Engage in Prototype Design and Testing with the client -- and document the evolution of your design idea.
Mentor Yi Nie to Present [in Canvas Assignment 4.2 folder]
The Final Two Modes:
Prototype and Test
Prototype for Empathy (p. 33)
Prototype to Test (p. 34)
Testing with Users (p. 35)
User-Driven Prototyping (p. 38)
Next Steps in Project 4.2
Findings, based on what you found in your research create a “Composite Character Profile” (or Persona) of the potential users of your design.
Design Brief, What are the parameters for your prototype design project? In other words, what (specifically) are you trying to accomplish through your design? What is the key question in the design, i.e. what must be addressed for your design to be a success? (You may find it useful to apply the “Impose Constraints” method from the Bootcamp Bootleg document at this stage).
In this interim phase each team should start with their Design Brief and develop and test a paper prototype with your client/user group.
Each group’s write up should show the evolution of your prototype – its iterations, indicate the rationale for them, highlight the response from testing, and indicate how your understanding of client needs improved through the prototyping process. Video might well be usefully incorporated here.
Group Time and Mentor Check in
Assignment for Tuesday, 17 November:
Continue work on Project 4.2
Read Stanford dSchool Bootcamp Bootleg pp. 9 – 11, 14, and 32 “Interview Preparation,” “Interview with Empathy,” “Extreme Users,” “Saturate and Group,” and “Impose Constraints” and UXD pp. 130 – 131 “Standards” and prepare for a quiz on the following topics:
Why is it necessary to prepare for an interview?
What steps are involved in preparing for an interview?
What are the seven stages of an interview with empathy?
Why is it important to engage with “extreme users” in a design research project?
What is the end goal of the method “saturate and group”?
What is the advantage of imposing constraints in a user-centered design process? Give examples of three areas where imposing constraints can be useful.
What are the six principles of user-centered design as set out by the ISO (International Organization for Standardization)? To what extent are you following these in your work on Project 4?
Any remaining issues with your student group or organization?
You should be making observations and interviewing now
Next steps to be introduced in class today
Housekeeping
You may choose to have your Project 4.2 grade count for Project 4.1 as well, if you choose to do this please notify your mentor by email
Project 3.2 Observations
A lot of people seemed to enjoy the project.
Most of groups gave a design recommendation based on their usability tests. The recommendations addressed well the issues they discovered though research.
Balancing user needs and business needs is a critical lesson to be learned here. We cannot simply remove ads from a site - it's an important source of revenue.
Most group found some important usability issues from the test, like, lacking of feedback inconsistency layout of different OS and did design recommendations based on them.
Almost all teams had sketches/ illustrations for their design recommendations and they did a pretty good job.
Review Potential Quiz Questions:
What are the five modes of design thinking according to the dSchool? Please summarize the nature and characteristics of each mode.
Empathy is the foundation of a human-centered design process. To empathize, we need observe, engage, and immerse.
Define is when you unpack and synthesize your empathy findings into compelling needs and insights, and scope a specific and meaningful challenge. It is a mode of “focus”. Two goals of the define mode are to develop a deep understanding of your users and the design space and, based on that understanding, to come up with an actionable problem statement: your point of view.
Ideate is the mode during your design process in which you focus on idea generation. It is a mode of “flaring” that “going wide” in terms of concepts and outcomes. The goal of ideation is to explore a wide solution space.
Prototyping is getting ideas and explorations out of your head and into the physical world. Prototype is used for empathy gaining, exploration, testing and/or inspiration. We also prototype to learn, solve disagreements, start a conversation, fail quickly and cheaply and manage the solution-building process.
Test is the chance to refine our solutions and make them better. We do test for three main reasons: to refine our prototypes and solutions, to learn more about our user, to test and refines our POV.
What are Personas, or Composite Character Profiles? What are their characteristics and what purpose do they serve?
A persona is a fictional description of a model user based on high-quality user research of actual users in the target user group. It will include details about the user’s education, lifestyle, interests, values, attitudes and patterns of behavior. Personas make the design task less complex and the goal of creating a good user experience for the defined group much more achievable.
What is the relationship between Personas and Scenarios? Please be specific.
Personas can be given life by creating scenarios that feature them in the role of a user. Scenarios usually start by placing the persona in a specific context with a problem to solve. When used alongside personas, scenarios can provide really useful pointers to a design team striving to provide a good user experience.
What, according to your textbook's authors, are the five steps in building a prototype?
Preparing to build;
Make the interface and interface elements;
Build;
Try it out;
Test it.
What are the benefits of assuming a beginner's mindset?
So that you step out of yourself, recognize that different people have different needs and expectations, and avoid constraint of your design experience.
Final Exam Study Topics
Now available in Canvas Assignments under Exams, Final Exam
Review Next Set of Methods
Empathize: observation, interview, etc.
Define
Saturate and Group (p. 14)
Composite Character Profile [Personas] (p. 17)
Impose Constraints (p. 32)
Ideate
Brainstorming (p. 28)
Facilitate a Brainstorm (p. 29)
Selection (p. 30)
Next Steps in Project 4.2
Findings, based on what you found in your research create a
“Composite Character Profile” (or Persona) of the potential users of
your design.
Design Brief, What are the
parameters for your prototype design project? In other words, what
(specifically) are you trying to accomplish through your design? What is
the key question in the design, i.e. what must be addressed for your
design to be a success? (You may find it useful to apply the “Impose
Constraints” method from the Bootcamp Bootleg document at this stage).
In
this interim phase each team should start with their Design Brief and
develop and test a paper prototype with your client/user group.
Each
group’s write up should show the evolution of your prototype – its
iterations, indicate the rationale for them, highlight the response from
testing, and indicate how your understanding of client needs improved
through the prototyping process. Video might well be usefully
incorporated here.
Prototype and Test
Prototype for Empathy (p. 33)
Prototype to Test (p. 34)
Testing with Users (p. 35)
User-Driven Prototyping (p. 38)
Group Meeting Time -- and discuss your progress with your mentor (for a Professionalism and Participation grade)
Assignment for Thursday, 12 November:
Continue work on Project 4.2, specifically:
Identify your organization to work with
Do structured observations of the physical space
Observe the activities taking place
Prepare to conduct interviews of relevant stakeholders
Invitation to participate in Master's Project Study of Microsoft
Mentor Ceci Gutknecht to Present
Review Project 4.1 Issues
Introduce Project Research, Prototype Design and Testing
Each group will do a near-complete version of their Case Study including:
Process, adopting the seven mindsets and working through the five design process modes identified in the dSchool documents, applying the relevant methods at each stage.
Methods, choose relevant methods, such as those from the dSchool Bootcamp Bootleg document (page numbers (in parentheses)). Note: methods without page numbers will be introduced in class.
Research Context
Adopt the Seven Mindsets (on third actual page of PDF)
Assuming a Beginner’s Mindset (p. 6)
Literature Survey
Empathize
Extreme Users (p. 11)
Observation
Physical Traces
Environmental Behavior
User-Camera Study (p. 8)
Shooting Video (p. 42)
Video Editing (p. 43)
Interviewing
Interview Preparation (p. 9)
Interview with Empathy (p. 10)
Define
Saturate and Group (p. 14)
Composite Character Profile [Personas] (p. 17)
Impose Constraints (p. 32)
Ideate
Brainstorming (p. 28)
Facilitate a Brainstorm (p. 29)
Selection (p. 30)
Prototype and Test
Prototype for Empathy (p. 33)
Prototype to Test (p. 34)
Testing with Users (p. 35)
User-Driven Prototyping (p. 38)
Findings, based on what you found in your research create a “Composite Character Profile” (or Persona) of the potential users of your design.
Design Brief, What are the parameters for your prototype design project? In other words, what (specifically) are you trying to accomplish through your design? What is the key question in the design, i.e. what must be addressed for your design to be a success? (You may find it useful to apply the “Impose Constraints” method from the Bootcamp Bootleg document at this stage).
In this interim phase each team should start with their Design Brief and develop and test a paper prototype with your client/user group.
Each group’s write up should show the evolution of your prototype – its iterations, indicate the rationale for them, highlight the response from testing, and indicate how your understanding of client needs improved through the prototyping process. Video might well be usefully incorporated here.
Group Meeting Time
Assignment for Tuesday, 10 November:
Begin work on Project 4.2, specifically:
Identify your organization to work with
Do structured observations of the physical space
Observe the activities taking place
Prepare to conduct interviews of relevant stakeholders
Read Standford dSchool Bootcamp Bootleg [read from beginning to page 6, and read page 17 as well (linked to Canvas Assignment page for Project 4.1)] and UXD pp. 114 - 119 "Personas" through "Scenarios" and pp. 166 - 169 "Build a Prototype" and prepare for a quiz on the following possible questions:
What are the five modes of design thinking according to the dSchool? Please summarize the nature and characteristics of each mode.
What are Personas, or Composite Character Profiles? What are their characteristics and what purpose do they serve?
What is the relationship between Personas and Scenarios? Please be specific.
What, according to your textbook's authors, are the five steps in building a prototype?
What are the benefits of assuming a beginner's mindset?
What are the six stages of a usability test, according to Steve Krug?
Welcome
The questions
The Home page tour
The tasks
Probing
Wrapping up
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the following approaches:
Evolutionary design: Simply further develops what is already there.
Expert review: Knowledgeable people decide what is best for the rest of us.
Task modeling: Analyzes the tasks a user needs to complete in order to reach a goal
Agile software development: A fast and flexible approach to software development
Usability: A method of assessing the quality of an interactive design.
What is the role and importance of stakeholders in a UXD process? What tool can be used to track stakeholders' interests? Draw an example, showing the axes and key categories.
In a UXD process, stakeholders are who you are designing for and who should be considered if the project is to be a success. It is important to identify all the stakeholders and consider their interest or power for the project.
An influence/interest grid could be used to track stakeholders’ interest.
What is the firm "Keep It Usable"s preferred method of finding out about user experience? What is the characteristic of this approach? [you may wish to use your textbook's glossary in answering this].
Their preferred method is ethnographic-style research. In this approach, researchers observe and interview users in their environment in an everyday context. It shows a more natural interaction with the product or service being tested, and gives a truer reflection of the user experience.
What is the most surprising thing you learned from the User Experience Machine graphic?
95% of website visitors leave before making a purchase
83% leave a website due to poor user experience
Spend just 10% of your budget on UX improve conversion by 83%
73% expect apps to be easier to use than websites
74% of users are more likely to visit a mobile-friendly site
66% download an app based on recommendation.
What is Heuristic Analysis? Give good examples of three of the heuristics you've found in an app you regularly use.
Heuristic evaluation is a usability engineering method for finding problems in a user interface design so that they can be attended to as part of an iterative design process.
The 10 heuristic principles are:
Visibility Of System Status
Match Between System & The Real World
User Control & Freedom
Consistency & Standards
Error Prevention
Recognition Rather Than Recall
Flexibility & Efficiency Of Use
Aesthetic and minimalist design
Help Users Recognize, Diagnose, & Recover From Errors
Methods, choose relevant methods, such as those from the dSchool Bootcamp Bootleg document (page numbers (in parentheses)). Note: methods without page numbers will be introduced in class.
Research Context
Adopt the Seven Mindsets (on third actual page of PDF)
