an intro to ux
for engineers
@meelijane
disclaimer:
this talk is not about php
what is ux?
is it ui? is it research? is it strategy? is it testing?
let's rewind
Ye Olde Webmaster Days
the webmaster was responsible for....
- designing websites
- building websites
- putting websites on the internet
- setting up the internet
- setting up emails
- setting up file servers
- setting up VOIP phones
- maybe also a DJ
- maybe also a hacker
websites looked kinda like this
for a long time, web designer actually meant web developer
but it was becoming clear that this whole internet thing was not just for weirdos & kids
important people and organisations were not only getting websites...
but some of these companies were online only, and they were getting pretty popular
at this point getting online was not very fast or easy
hence why websites were not great
but now that websites were important for business, people started to investigate...
"how can we make more money from this website?"
good ux = it is easy possible for someone to give you money
in 1998 wifi happened
some guys at stanford started talking about "design thinking"
soon, the public sector would be getting online
good ux = make it easy possible for people to access information online
then someone put the internet on a phone
2007
coincidentally, it was the same company that this guy worked at
Don Norman
Apple 1993-1998
wrote The Design Of Everyday Things
one half of Nielsen Norman
first person to change his title
to "User Experience Architect"
apple's approach to designing for the internet was revolutionary
strongly led by minimalism
and other design heuristics
the rise of the iphone required "web designers" to design "mobile sites"
soon we would be selling "responsive design"
let's fast forward
the digital landscape has evolved
the problems we are solving with software are more complicated
they need to do more things
and they need to work on more devices
the terminology has changed
searches for "responsive design" (google trends)
so the job of ux has evolved too
ux designers do many things and come in many flavours
but they all concern themselves with the same essential thing
on a more strategic level, it looks more like this:
so what do ux professionals actually do?
research interviews
build personas
user flow diagrams
affinity mapping
data analysis
workshop facilitation
surveys
focus groups
research
synthesis
build personas
card sorting
eye tracking
ethnographic research
analytics
prioritisation
competitor research
content audit
ideation
sketching
design studios
wireframing
workshops
mockups
prototyping in code
testing
usability testing
a/b testing
metrics tracking
analysis of data
cross-funtional pairing
paired sketching
clickable wireframes/mockups
fundamentally, ux is about putting humans at the centre of design
we call this "human centred design"
this means that the design isn't successful unless it's verified to be successful with the humans who will use it
sometimes design is messy
ux expands and contracts
it takes time and it can be expensive
but we do it because our job, as makers of things, is about helping actual people
not just being fancy hipster designers who have shiny portfolios
ux is about approaching problems humbly
ux is about admitting that we do not already know the solution
ux is about going back to the users and understanding the problem
ux is about trying things and testing hypotheses
ux is about discovering and refining the solution together
one last thing!
ux is not just for people who have "ux" in their job title
getting closer to users and understanding their problems will help you build better solutions
human-centred design is a shared responsibility
thanks!
@meelijane