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 :-)