Visualising the User Experience by Gran Robinson

What is rapid prototyping? •Usercentered design methodology • For designing, communicating and evaluating user interfaces •Getting feedback as early as possible Common techniques • Paper prototyping •Wireframes and page schematics •HTML wireframes •Interactive prototypes So how do we describe what users do? Visualise the experience... • Show every step to complete a task • Show every click • Preview the experience see and feel how everything flows together The timeline is your friend • Efficient digital sketching tool • Best way to manage changes over time • Supports low to high fidelity • Natural starting point for exploring movement and transitions

Rapid prototyping

Is this rapid prototyping?

Nope!

What is rapid prototyping?

• User-centered design methodology

• For designing, communicating and evaluating

user interfaces

• Getting feedback as early as possible

• Fast

Prototyping life-cycle

The more cycles the better

release early, release often

Agile development mantra:

fail early, fail often

Agile design mantra:

"If you’re not failing now and again, it’s a sure sign you’re not doing anything very innovative."

Woody Allen

Paper prototypes

• Not quick enough

• Too dirty (lack context & scale)

• Hard to share amongst team

• Still needs a separate documentation step

Wireframes & page schematics

http://gapingvoid.com/2007/05/15/random-thought/

Love:

• Good for defining content

• Good for documenting screens

Hate:

• Bad at showing interactivity / flow

• Can’t really use them for testing

• Slow Too much time spent describing

HTML wireframes

• Better success rate

• Much faster

• Less confusion

HTML wireframes

Love:

• Can show interactivity / flow

• Good for simple interaction (links, buttons etc)

• Experienced in the browser (correct context & scale)

Hate:

• HTML, CSS (and JS) knowledge necessary

• Time wasted on hacking layout & advanced functionality

• Design only what you can build

• Can’t throw away, but should

Other interactive prototypes

Axure (www.axure.com)

Axure (www.axure.com)

SketchFlow (www.microsoft.com/expression)

Other interactive prototypes

Love:

• Good for testing moderately complex interactions

• Some support collecting feedback

• Some can generate specs

Hate:

• Difficult to get custom interactions working

• Can require expertise in proprietary languages

• Often not cross-platform (no love for Mac users)

• Often low-fidelity only

• Make me think like a developer, not a designer

Choosing a prototype technique

What a dilemma!

Visualising the UX

http://gapingvoid.com/2007/05/15/random-thought/

So how do we describe what users do?

Visualise the experience

• Show every step to complete a task

• Show every click

• Preview the experience - see and feel how

everything flows together

It’s like stop motion

From low to high fidelity

• 32 iterations

• 5 released

Using Flash as a design tool

{eh, what?}

Flash: Not just a development tool

Flash: Not just for video

Flash: History in drawing & animation

FutureSplash Animator

Anatomy of a screenflow

• Perfect fit for agile teams

• Very effective communication tool

• Easy to evaluate

• Ideal for explaining changes over time

• Easy to share Experienced in the browser

• Obvious focus & limits

• Significantly reduces documentation

• Support low to high fidelity

• No coding necessary

Getting serious about

How did this

become this?

How did this

become this?

How did this

become this?

"Unless you can show me where you've

fleshed out the character and aspects of the

transitions at the same level of thought,

rational, exploration and fidelity as you have

the states - you're fired."

Bill Buxton

HCI pioneer

Currently Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research

Movement: the new affordance

• Use movement to orientate user and keep them in flow

• Explain changes/transformations

• Use physical metaphors to describe the action: zoom, slide, reveal

• Not just for fun: Research on the importance

of movement is just starting to come in

Yahoo Design Pattern Library

http://developer.yahoo.com/ypatterns/richinteraction/transition/

Yahoo Design Pattern Library

http://developer.yahoo.com/ypatterns/richinteraction/transition/

Transitions decreased task completion times

Reduced error rates for reading tasks

0.3 seconds - optimal transition speed

Some takeaways

The timeline is your friend

• Efficient digital sketching tool

• Best way to manage changes over time

• Supports low to high fidelity

• Natural starting point for exploring movement and transitions

Visualising the experience makes you a better designer

• Puts you in the user’s shoes

• Keeps you focussed on user flow

• Best way to communicate your designs to team and stakeholders

• Cuts documentation in half Less time describing = more time designing

Please feel free to flick me an email: grant@xero.com