Green Custard Friday Talk 7: Scientific Product Design
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The document discusses the importance of evidence-based design in user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) to enhance product usability and appeal. It emphasizes understanding user needs through research, the generative process of design, and the necessity of iterative testing and revision based on user feedback. The text warns that developers often misjudge their products and highlights methods for recruiting representative users for testing.
![“[We] have had enough of experts”
All this said, do not underestimate the value of experience:
● Often we know if we have made something bad
● If you have a usability problem, probably all your users will
too
● Conventions and design patterns are well established
Probably not a
UX expert either](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/copyof7-190111170136/85/Green-Custard-Friday-Talk-7-Scientific-Product-Design-8-320.jpg)
Green Custard Friday Talk 7: Scientific Product Design
- 1. Scientific Product Design (or: the use of evidence to inform the optimisation of a product’s user interface and its users’ experience) 13th April 2018
- 2. ● I am not an expert ● Huge subject ● Aiming to raise awareness
- 3. Rationale “Our interface is so good it doesn’t need a manual” ● This is a fallacy unless we have evidence to back it up ● Design should be evidence based Project circumstances may affect how much we do.
- 4. The Scientific Method Hypothesise → Test → Revise
- 5. For the avoidance of doubt ... User Interface Design (UID) ● Concerned with appearance User Experience Design (UXD) ● Concerned with usability Both are vital in determining how users perceive and accept (and enjoy) a product.
- 6. UI / UX Matter ● First Impressions ● Reputation - the veneer of quality ● Repeat business
- 7. Developer != Design Expert ● Developers are some of the worst people to evaluate their product: ○ Male ○ Young ○ Intelligent ○ Slightly “on the spectrum” ○ Familiar with product’s concepts and UI ○ Tech savvy ○ Used to using work-arounds / shortcuts We almost never represent our target audience.
- 8. “[We] have had enough of experts” All this said, do not underestimate the value of experience: ● Often we know if we have made something bad ● If you have a usability problem, probably all your users will too ● Conventions and design patterns are well established Probably not a UX expert either
- 9. Lies, damned lies, and statistics (1)
- 10. Lies, damned lies, and statistics (2)
- 11. Hypothesise (1) The process of creating an initial design starts with understanding typical users ● Identify and understand your users by: ○ Speaking to product Stakeholders - can be inaccurate ○ Contacting real people - the best but hardest ○ Analytics, socio-economic profiling, social media ... ● Things to find out: ○ Why the person wants to use the product (goals and motivations) ○ Technologies / products they already use ○ Demographics / attitudes ○ Technical competence
- 12. Hypothesise (2) Generate personas - a fictional user of the product
- 13. Hypothesise (3) ● Generate designs ○ A whole process in its own right! ● Test ○ “Paper” prototyping ○ Prototyping tools ● Iterate
- 14. Recruiting “Users” We need to speak to representative users to get the best information. How do we recruit these? ● “Hallway”, “Cafe” or “Guerilla” - can be unrepresentative ● Existing users (web surveys, phone calls, recruiting via product, social media) ● Online recruitment (Mechanical Turk, Craigslist, etc) ● Panel agencies - not guaranteed responses from the people you want ● Market research recruitment company - expensive
- 15. Test The process of validating the design of what you have created ● Large-scale user testing ○ Recruit representative users ○ Can be very complex (screen recording, click tracking, eye tracking …) ○ Have a clear script ○ Observe, do not interfere ○ Can be very frustrating! ● Guerilla testing ○ 5 users, 85% of the usability problems ○ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YL0xoSmyZI ● Analytics ○ Google Analytics, etc
- 16. Revise ● Analyse test results ● Products evolve ● The process never ends ● The user experience can always be improved ● Continue the cycle ...
- 17. The End (until we redesign something)