Jun 21, 2015

UXcamp Europe 2015 - Day 2/Part 2: Conditio Humana (Why UX in real world sucks & agility stinks & some war stories) & Panel Discussion

Here are my notes from the final two sessions I participated at the UXcamp Europe 2015...
(Previous posts of the UXcamp Europe: Day 1/1, Day 1/2, Day 2/1)

#4 Conditio Humana: Why UX in real world sucks & agility stinks & some war stories - Jevgeni & Uli 

Conditio Humana is a philosophy term.
The Human Condition: We are born. We have to die. End of story. Everybody has to master the transition and they try their best.
BUT the limited perspective is leading to some limited results.

Have you heard of the peter principle? 
.... read about the peter principle.

Advertising & UX contradict each other.
"Let's make a website where people can..."
NOBODY - no user in the real world - ever will to that. Ever. Seriously

UX dies a slow death in advertising
- UX = Ease the pain
- Advertising = Increase the pain. ("Make the logo bigger.")
What is good for the user is bad for the brand.
"We've been working on our brand guidelines for 1 year, but we don't have something yet. Please use the version from 1996." (real quote from telecommunication company)
Why scrum does not work for big companies
General Show Stoppers in bsuiness: Procurement (they want to now upfront the costs in detail) & Legal

Show stoppers in doing:
- Daily business in departments, internal trainings, holiday situations
- Project vs. Operations
- Gap of reponsibility
- Agility in Strategy? Art? Creative Direction?
- Processes take time. Rework takes time. Time is money.
Who has participated in a daily standup taking longer than 1 hour?
"We don't have a product owner." (real quote from insurance company)
What can you do?
- Don't be afraid to fail. That's part of the process.
- Know when you screw up. It's a gut feeling. Act on it.
- Play. Have fun. You can see people smile in the results.
- Build a bridge you can be proud of. At least make some stories.

My conclusion: The scrum implemented in the large organizations was only bullshit-word-dropping, because Scrum with 400 people can't work - and it's not scrum.

... The conclusion: Isolate - Plan - Focus

#5 Panel Discussion

Panel discussion by a failed industrial designer, a failed frontend web developer, a failed project manager, a failed philosopher and a not-failed stage director :-)
Panel Discussion

Discussion on Apple Watch
"I have one so that I get to know the experience."
"I'm still searching for a use case."
"Probably sports is the main use case."
"The main use case of a watch is displaying the time."

Best Sessions/Topics
- Scrum Self Help
- "UX is still not appreciated how we want to have it."
- "The value of UX is there and we should try small steps to move the organisation." (referring to the talk by iversity)
- "We should not sell it, the results will sell itself."
- "A lot of eye opener discussion took place: like context ux, panel with women, education panel, ..."
- "Data collection is changing: is not only about collecting data, but it's about high quality data. But the analysis is done now very quick and dirty - I'm not sure if this is good or bad."
- "Visual User Research - Tools are very useful and easy to use."

The panel discussion closed with thoughts about how the UXcamp can improve... but many agreed that the conference is already at a high level and they should continue focusing on the Barcamp-Way of Conference.

Last but not least I also want to thank the organizational team for there perfect work and there huge engagement that was visible all over the conference.

See you soon :-)

UXcamp Europe 2015 - Day 2/Part 1: Scrum Self Help, VizWars and Shift Happens

Sunday Session Plan
After a great 1st day of UXcamp Europe - the second day again offered a lot of interesting session. Overall at the UXcamp Europe 74 sessions were proposed.

#1 Scrum Self Help - Tobias Ehni

Tobias started a session where he wanted to have some exchange about our problems and solutions regarding Scrum & UX.

Here some notes from the discussion:
- Being PO  & ScrumMaster at the same time is not a good idea
- UX experts working upfront are using Kanban Boards
- UX and PO can work hand in hand - both have to prepare upfront the Sprint.
- UX: not a finished concept is prepaired at the beginning of the project - it should be defined "far enough" for the next sprint.
- Ratio Dev/UX: 2:600 from 3:5… every project needs experts participating. If there are too less UX people, somebody else will do the job, like a developer.
- UX needs to part of the team and the whole team agrees on setting stories to done.
- "Green dot": The UX team had to agree at the end that the story is done (during the sprint).
- QA Engineer also can take care that the UX goals and requiements are fullfilled.
- UX also should fall in love building not perfect but working products and do continuous improvements - like the Developers are doing.

#2 VizWars - May the force of visualization be with you! - Tanja Cappell 

Tanja (@FrauHoelle) talked about why using paper and pencil are important and how to sketchnotes. Of course because this was a workshop about Sketchnotes... here's mine:

#3 Shift Happens - From product-centric to customer-centric in 12 months - Lara & Christina

In this talk Lara and Christina (from iversity) talked about how the changed their company culture towards user friendlyness. Iversity is live since October 2013 and is a plattform for online courses of higher education.

The following methods & steps they took in the last months in order to improve:
  • Company Breakout: Building our army - "Therapy" for the company to build up a "real" team
    They facilitated two workshops:
    - Every departement was able to give feedback on other departments
    - Customer Journey workshop: Cross department teams and it was important to exchange the idea of the product.
  • Guerilla Testing: Let experience, don't tell.
    Guerilla Testing was done with people from the company.
    It was important for the team, because they found out that it doesn't hurt to get feedback.
    Take Away: Don't talk about your great methods, the team should experience them.
Customer Journeys
  • Customer Journeys: Using a customer journey it is easier to experience how the customer will feel using the system.
  • Company Strategy: Adding top down to bottom up. While supporting improving the Pitch Deck they got closer to the CEO.
  • Course Design: Creating new business opportunities
    They used paper prototyping and even role playing for designing the course.
    Now there are also supporting the universities in designing their courses
  • Business Design: Building alliances
    Because of there visible work they were asked for other consulting jobs in their company.
  • Organisation Design: Embracing crisis
    They were asked to make a organizational chart and helping restructuring the company: removed hierarchy, no departments anymore, only teams
Looking foward to an interesting afternoon.

UXcamp Europe 2015 - Day 1/Part 2: Designing for Context, Becoming buddies with your clients and 5 UX questions answered by Eric Reiss

Lunch @ Day 1: Sun is shining!
The first 3 session of the UXcamp Europe were really great... and so were the next 3 of day 1 at the UXcamp Europe 2015.

#4 Designing for Context - UX & new devices (Hany Rizk)

In a very crowded room Hany (@RizkHany) presented his learnings about "Designing for Context".

First he tried to answer "What is Context?"
Here & Now.
… also the physical, digital and social structures that surround the point of use.

There are the following traditional stereotypes:
- The Desktop Context
- The Mobile Context
BUT… Defining Mobile is not easy…

How should it be investigated?
Context based on data:
- Sensory data: Location, motion, temperature,...
- Hunt for patterns, and piece together the context of use accordingly.
When does users use which device?

What are the issues with data?
- Issues with data: Data cannot assure us of intent.
- Correlation vs. Causality
- Privacy concerns (especially relevant in Europe)

Hany tried an attempt to classify Context
  • Device context
    - Device form
    - Native capabilities (of plattform or device)
    - Native guidelines (stick to them)
  • Time
    - When will a user use the product? (morning, for lunch time, etc.)
    - What else is happening then?
    - What else could they be doing then? 
  • Activity
    - Passive vs. Active (Passive activity: YouTube browsing / Active activity: Certain task I want to do) > Qualitative difference (Amazon dash button)
  • Individual Context:
    - Ergonomics: Light on the screen based on the time of day (black screen), Bigger buttons for usage in winter that it is possible to use gloves.
    - Privacy
    - Behavioral preferences (likes, dislikes, search and browsing history)
  • Location
    - "Mobile" refers to location, it's not a device category
    - Cater to local information needs
    - Show users the benefit they get from providing their location
  • Social Context
    - Is there any user value for connecting this product to a social network?
    - What about sharing content from this product?
    - Would other people use the same device and/or product? (e.g. Netflix introduced various accounts, probably I am not interested in cartoon suggestions watched by my kids)
Contextual UX: It can also be hidden until one needs it.

One Example Hany often was referring to is Google Now: Based on time and location it gives you gentle information and suggestions.

Besides that also multi-device experience should be considered:
  • Core features should be available on all devices
  • Leverage native capabilities for each plattform
Conclusion: a "just right" experience - not too less, not too much.
Context is ever-changing, and your product should cater for that.

#5 Revolution and Evolution OR "Becoming buddies with your client" - Tina Ličková

Tina Ličková from Bratislava presented based on two projects various possibilities how to interact with your customers and presented her learnings.

Her presentation and ideas were very interesting and sometimes very controversial - like "I do my user tests with friends." She presented the following methods and ideas:
Design Mood Workshop

  • "I'm always testing with the client": She is testing with the trained client - so they get some instructions how they should behave during the user test.
  • Design mood workshop: Bring magazines and the customer has to play and select what they like.
    • The yellow cards show the "values".
    • The result and discussion help a lot in order to do the visual design.
  • User testing with friends in "real-life": Tina is not testing in the lab, because she said that the users are already are in a lab condition. And she is testing most of the time with friends ("we know them")
  • For most important subpages, do prototyping and prototype testing.
  • For the critical user testing and interviews they hired a psychologist: "It's hard to find the right way to ask something. Psychologist can ask the same thing in 10 different ways."
  • Internal research: "It's very helpful to work with the customer care team."

Tina's Intergalactic Wisdom
  • Stop fighting about whether evolution or revolution is the king. The process and the client's reality will tell.
  • Respect your client and their knowledge. (We tend to emphatize with the users and we are arrogant to the customer.)
  • Know you client: Get to know if they have childen, a farm, are divorced, have to leave the office for a soccer training of their youngest, is a freshwede,…
  • Play and let people play. Use sticky notes, magazines, etc… 

#6 Five UX questions in search of answers - Eric Reiss

Like in several UXcamp Europes before Eric Reiss (@elreiss) did again a great session. This time he tried to answer 5 UX questions.

#1 Why are companies doomed without a focus on UX?

Probably we should start with #0 What is UX? - perfect time for some great examples and several loughs: 
"Prostitution is a whole industry built around user experience"
"The lovely in europe is that you can present and drink at the same time"

UX of the UXcamp Europe: Registration by first name
We are not User Experience Designers - but we all design user experience.
"Should there be a surprise that business community is struggling to find out what we do?"

Eric's 1st Law of UX
User Experience is the sum of a series of interactions between:
• People
• Devices
• Events

Eric's 2nd Law of UX
UX design requires the conscious act of
• Coordinating interactions we can control
• Acknowledging interactions
• … (see slides for details)

#1 Why are companies doomed without a focus on UX?
Let's talk about pizza…. If you have 2 providers of the identical pizza: You would take that with the better service. 
Service design is one of the most visual part of the user experience spectrum.

Nota bene
• In a "me-too" world, UX is the key to company/products/service differentiation
• Higher product/service prices can be justified if you provide better UX
• Merely "making customer happy" cannot be the goal. Increased conversions IS the goal and UX helps make that happen.

What YOU can do now
• Do something quick and easy that makes your client/company look good
• Seek champions within the organization
• Make everyone feel that their contribution is valuable

#2 When is a company ready to embrace UX?

Nota bene
• Most companies examine UX when all the tried-and-true-options have failed.
• Most companies ignored UX because the definitions are too academic.

3 steps of establishing UX in a company
• Nobody talks about UX
• Everybody talks about UX
• Nobody talks about UX (either the establishment failed or succeeded)

What YOU can do
• Aggressive promote acitivities that are understandable, actionable and measurable.
• Get senior management involved

#3 Who are people that are good UX designers?

Nota bene - three key skills
• Curiosity - You've got to be interested
• Empathy - both for users and stakeholders
• Understanding - a perception is always true
○ One insight is worth a 1000 data points
○ "Understanding" does not mean "agreeing"

What YOU can do
• Get out of the building and talk to users
○ Not just to discover a problem, but also to see problems through someone else's eyes
○ You have to understand the context of UX
• Make sure you are always solving a real problem, not merely inventing one
• Don't just ask what, ask why
• Don't argue, LISTEN!

#4 What are the ingredients of UX?
Let's build an ark…
"Why do we have to do that? - BECAUSE GOD TOLD US TO DO IT!"

Building requires four things (the ux part)
- Content, code
- Strategy, visual design
- IA, navigation
- Metrics, testing, etc.

Nota bene - three key ingredients
- Utility: stuff needs to work
- Relevancy: stuff needs to provide value within a specific context
- Consistency: 
○ Stuff that looks the same should act the same
○ Stuff that looks different should act differently
○ Retroductive inference lowers the learning curve

What YOU can do now
• Create a UX shortlist
○ Focus on what is REALLY important
○ Eliminate the "nice to haves" - think feng shui
○ Matrix: Can be Influenced / can't be influenced & Business critical / Not business critical
• Keep users in the loop
○ Practice user-driven design
• Don't succumb to "deliverables creep"
○ Communicate, don't try and impress.

#5 How do we measure the results of our UX effort?
"Flying on time…"

Nota bene - three metrics
• Conversions - Has the business improved?
• Efficiency - Are we saving time and money? Are we reducing effort and stress for our users?
• Satisfaction - Are the users truly better off than before?

What YOU can do now
• Compare your work to current best pratices
○ Don' reinvent the wheel - until you need to
• Make sure you measure things that are important (!= Likes on Facebook)
• Talk to help-desk and call-center personnel
• Insist on having influence regarding the questions asked in all future customer-satisfaction surveys

One final story….
Alfred Wegener and continental drift (presented in 1911)
• He described tectonic plates.
• He was a meterologist - so he wasn't accepted by the geological society

What YOU can do now
• Don't let UX become a buzzword
• Don't think you need certification (It's not what you do, it's what you think.)
• Don't be afraid to disagree with current practices
• Pick your battles with care … but … 
• Don't be afraid to fight for what is right

... so this was a great closing session for the 1st day. You should have a look at the slides by Eric for some more funny examples and all the explanations.

Looking forward on the 2nd day to come... 
Good night :-)

UXcamp Europe 2015 - Day 1/Part 1: UX Guidelines, Visual User Resarch and Expert Reviews for Mobile

This weekend again I'm participating in the great UXcamp Europe in Berlin. During the Session Planning it is always fantastic to see how many participants step up to propose sessions. For most of the time slots the though task is too chose one out of the 7 parallel tracks.
Session Planning on Saturday Morning
Here are my notes and thoughts of the first three session of day 1.

#1 (Unofficial) Top 10 UX Guidelines - Jasson Schrock

The first session I visited was by Jasson Schrock (Onefootball) presenting the 10 UX Guidelines they want to establish in their company. He pointed out very well what UX experts should focus on. Some of the guidelines are very common sense in the UX community, but often still ignored.

The 10 guidelines are: 
Planning Phase
  • Increase users happiness
    He pointed out that speed and simplicty are important, but not always the answer, and that it is important to empathize with the user in order to understand his needs.
  • Solve a user need and make it a habit
    The Toothbrush Test is a possiblity to check if it could evolve to a habit - "Would you want to use it twice a day?"
  • MVP shouldn't been not just feasible.
  • Make it valuable not just feasible.
  • Plan for the next steps but focus on the MVP.
    New ideas should be collected and prioritized. 
  • Implicit over explicit personalization
    We should keep the complexity on our end, not the users. To add a new feature just as a new setting that the user should take care of is not a solution.
  • Tell a story
    ... and it's not a feature list.
Design Phase
  • Have a clear visual hierarchy
    Check if your design can pass the squint tests. Squint - and check if you can still identify the primary and secondary hierarchy.
  • Provide feedback for every interaction
  • Encourage interaction with context
    For example community details can be used to improve gamification and encourage exploration (e.g. # of review, ratings,...)
  • Be consistent. 
    ... and don't reinvent the wheel. Use common design frameworks so the user know what to expect.

#2 Visual User Research - Jan Diettrich

Jan (@simulo) did a nice presentation about Visual User Research. He presented various techniques of how visual techniques can be used to facilitate user research and improve the outcomes of workshops with users. With these visual tools you can focus on documenting workflows, moods, relations, etc.

Why visual tools?
  • It's accessible for researchers and participants alike.
  • It gives an overview
  • It's easy for referring back
  • Mood diagram with annotations
  • It helps not asking for features but for users experience
Sequence:
  • Explain the task including an (not to well drawn) example 
  • User should draw/write by himself
  • Ask for more information, clarification, demonstration
  • Wrap up
We also tried out the method of a mood diagram by drawing the mood of "Breakfast" from preparing to enjoying... It really was interesting to see which different moods various people are going through (motivated to prepare, because everything is smelling good vs. checking out that some ingrediants are missing)

I really appreciate that Jan provides all the templates and also a short book about the methods open source, so you are free to use it. (He would be happy about feedback or adapted templates.)
  • Templates & Description: https://m18.uni-weimar.de/~jand/static/researchAssets.html 
  • Book "A Beginners Guide To Finding User Needs": https://jdittrich.github.io/userNeedResearchBook/
He also recommends the book "Convivial Toolbox: Generative Research for the Front End of Design" by Liz Sanders and Pietter Stappers (on Amazon).

#3 WTF? Evaluating Usability Without a User - Expert Reviews in the Age of Mobile - Hans Joachim Belz

Hans-Joachim talked about Expert Reviews. Because I'm using that very often in my daily business it was very interesting especially with the focus on mobile reviews.

Expert reviews are cheap and can be surprisingly effective (check out the CUE reports).

WTF? Usability without a user?
Good expert reviews take into account
  • User needs
  • Mental models
  • Typical perception behaviour
Experts have extensive experience with user behaviour (use lab experience, participating in user research efforts,...).

Pro Tip #1: Create maps of needs & mental model
The map and mental model should be based on research.

Pro Tip #2: Multiple experts
  • If possible let more than one expert review the product.
  • Every expert tests independently. 
  • Build consensus about your test results by a thourough and frank discussion of your observations.
Pro Tip #3: Use scenarios (and personas)

The Usability Inspector ... 
  • Should have a (small) usability focused set of test devices
    • Main display sizes, aspect ratios and screen resolutions
    • Leaning towards the more contrained devices
  • Should have a agreed set of evaluation criteria including
    • Information Architecture
    • Interaction Design
    • Domain-specific aspects
AND you should evalute complete user journeys based on scenarios.