User Experience for Producers

"The key element of an optimal experience is that it is an end in itself. Even if initially undertaken for other reasons, the activity that consumes us becomes intrinsically rewarding. ... the doing is the reward."
-Mihaly Csikszentmnihalyi

Experiences

We all share and have experiences of some sort. Whether that was your first kiss, first love, skydiving, good service in a restaurant, or even the perfect day; we all understand the essence of a great experience.

These experiences tend to be full-sensory, spatial, temporal, often interactive, valuable (in terms of time and money), emotional, and meaningful. The best experiences are almost always found in the "real" world. How many digital experiences can you remember from a year ago?

With the realization of what constitutes a quality experience we can discern patterns; patterns which can be analyzed and in some case reproduced.

I make it a habit to analyse and apply real world scenarios and metaphors towards the creation of digital product. You can apply this to any number of disciplines, information architecture, information design, wayfinding, visual design and, yes the broader term, user experience all can find paralells in the "real" world. This is common sense but in our excitement to execute the next great thing we sometimes forget that in some way it has been experienced before. While there are certainly some things which are totally unique to the medium, there are some universal truths and points that can be applied from our interaction in the "real" world.

An important concept to grasp is all experiences are important and that we can learn from them no matter which medium of experience in which they come.

Lets look at a couple of real world experiences.

Massage Experience

This is one of those experiences that is hard to forget, hard to forget because it was such a great experience. Hopefully everybody can recall something as memorable as this.

I was in Chiang Mai on vacation and had planned on visiting my favourite spa in the evening after a day of walking. I called the spa at about 1pm and was greeted with a friendly voice on the other line who spoke great English. I enquired about having an appointment that night and they said that it would be no problem and that they would pick me up at my guest house and take me to the spa. That way I would save the trouble of finding a tuk-tuk.

A driver arrived at the guest house at about 8pm, drove me to the spa which was only 10 minutes away. I opened the door and entered the spa where I was greeted by a beautiful, young lady wearing traditional Thai costume, who invited me to have a seat and served me tea. All the while making small talk and continuously showing the smile which Thailand is so famous for.

At this point I began to notice the environment of the waiting area. The furniture was comfortable, the room temperature was cool ( a contrast to the night air), the lighting was dimmed, the decore itself could be described as Thai. modern with warm earthen colours. The environment was designed to put you at ease.

My masseuse came out about 5 minutes later and greeted me with a 'wai' and asked me to please follow her to where she was going to give me the massage. At this point we were walking through a small secluded garden, it was dark outside and because the sky was quite cloudy there were not a lot of stars. Along the pathway to where I was going to receive my massage there were lit candles showing the way and you could smell the subtle scent of jasmine in the air. At the end of the pathway was a small, covered area, quite secluded and quiet and lit only by candlelight.

My masseuse asked me to please have a seat while she poured me a fresh cup of tea and turned on some very light relaxing music. Always speaking in very soft, soothing tones she preceded to give me a wonderful massage. During this massage, a very light rain started to fall, creating an interesting cascade of sound on the leaves in the garden further enhancing the overall experience.

At the end of the massage, the greeter came out to the massage area with an umbrella and took the masseuse and I back into the small building that housed the waiting area. I then paid a very reasonable fee and was given a drive back to my guest house where I preceded to have the best sleep of my life.

Creating a quality experience is conscious, not accidental. It can be designed, architected, engineered, crafted.

Experiences have an attraction, engagement, and a conclusion. It has a beginning, middle, and an end. Just like a good story or a great kiss.

Lets look at this experience in this context.

Attraction.

The attraction here is obviously a very relaxing massage after a long day walking. I have previous experience with this spa and they have a reputation of providing excellent service and product.

Engagement

They were friendly and courteous at every point, from the pick up at my guest house to the leading me down the secluded path to the massage room. The staff guided me every step of the way through the whole procedure of getting a massage. I was never left to wonder what is supposed to happen next. Frequently throughout the experience they asked if everything was ok - they asked for feedback. They appeared to be genuinely interested in my well being. They created an environment conductive to relaxation and their attention to detail was very high. Though the whole experience seemed spontaneous and unique, on reflection it is obvious that nothing was left to chance.

Conclusion

All good things must come to an end. The greeter reacted to the change in weather and came out to help the masseuse and I with an umbrella. When we arrived in the waiting area their was fresh mint tea waiting and I was presented with an itemized bill which clearly stated what I was charged for. They again asked for feedback, engaged in small talk, and preceded to drive me back to my guest house.

This was rehearsed, planned, designed with genuine interest in my experience and as such they have a long term customer.

A Bad Day

Jesse James Garrett in his book "The Elements of User Experience" has a fairly atypical example of a bad day. Perhaps all of us share the same bad experiences. Here is a typical example of my bad day.

This week I woke up a little late and having little time to get ready needed to quickly have a shower and get dressed so that I could get to work on time. It's very important to me in the morning to have a good shower, without which I cannot possible function, without which I probably would not smell too good either. On this occasion I got into the shower only to realize that there was intermittent hot water. Which was not only a little bit painful because I would feel bursts of scalding hot followed by freezing cold, it also caused me to spend far more time in the shower then I had planned. There was no way I was leaving the house with a pile of shampoo on my head. Finally I was able to get dressed and went down to make the second most essential start of my day which is a cup of coffee. I was pouring the hot water into my portable cup, the water preceded to splash all over the counter and my hands, scalding me in the process. I grabbed my bag and off I went to the car.

I get to the parking lot to where my car is and upon leaving the lot I am delayed because the parking lot attendant is having trouble with the computer system. She says the computer system is not working properly and she doesn't know why. She goes through a very long procedure of explaining to me that I have to leave my parking card with her and pick it up later in the evening. Fortunately, this took a great deal of time.

I get in the car and drive very quickly to work when I realize that the traffic is backed up across the bridge for some unknown reason to me but it is quite obvious that I am going to have to sit and wait far longer than normal. I look at my watch and I realize that it is going to be extremely difficult to get to work on time.

I am almost to work despite the fact that I almost drive over a number of people on scooters because they are driving all over the road and you never really can trust which way they are going or what they are going to do. In fact the driving habits of many people on the road cause me to lose a great deal of time that morning. I arrive at work and I am late and I have lost my normal parking place which is close to my building. I am forced to park about 5 minutes away from my office which causes me to be even later.

You'll notice that it's far easier to recount point by point a bad day; far easier than a good day.

Analysis

<coming soon>

The User Experience

I have talked about the experience part of the user experience. The other key word and the center to this philosophy is the word user.

""User experience" simply refers to the way a product behaves and is used in the real world. A positive user experience is one in which the goals of both the user and the organization that created the product are met. " - Garrett

When creating product for the web there are some basic differences over the real world experiences I detailed previously. More detail needs to be paid to the user experience on a web site than perhaps real world product. Web sites are primarily solitary products (though not necessarily solitary events). There is no one there to guide the user through the use of her computer - browser - and eventually your web site. Their is only the user and her expectations to guide her.

When creating product for the web we must keep in mind that all experiences may not be created equally but they all compete for the attention of our audience. Our audience may have only themselves to rely on but they may have many things that could serve as potential distractions.

Think about how your audience would relate to your solution (operating system, applicaiton, website, etc.) if it were a person.

We need to treat the audience in the same manner as we would treat our mother, or father, sister, guest, or spouse. We need to think of people and treat them with great reverence.

The term user is perhaps a bad one - it conjures up some negative connotations and perhaps should be discarded for pleasant terms such as participant or audience. Whatever word you use it is the people "using" your product that are important. This is a different way of looking at things for many people - we are looking from the outside in - instead of focusing on engineering a list of spec - we are trying to meet real peoples needs.

The actual practice of creating these user experiences (participant experience just doesn't have the same ring to it) is called user centred design. The concept of user centred design is a very simple one: every step of the way, you take the user into account as you develop your product. Just like I am sure they did at the spa.

"User Centered-Design (UCD) is a philosophy and a process. It is a philosophy that places the person (as opposed to the 'thing') at the center; it is a process that focuses on cognitive factors (such as perception, memory, learning, problem-solving, etc.) as they come into play during peoples' interactions with things.

UCD seeks to answer questions about users and their tasks and goals, then use the findings to drive development and design."
--Raïssa Katz-Haas

Tools and Disciplines

As user experience practitioners, of which you are as producers on a user experience team, we need to fully understand our audience; their needs, experience, ability, and environment. At least to the degree that time and money will allow. As producers you need to understand the tools available to you to bring the user of your product into the process and you need to know the disciplines involved in the various stages of development.

JJ Garrett has an excellent way of bringing an end to the confusion surrounding all the various job titles that tend to do nothing but confuse us and the people we work for. He first breaks the experience of using a website into their respective layers - then fits these confusing titles into his model.

We will do somewhat the same thing but place them within a process - something that may be more familiar. In listing these terms it's important to think of them as disciplines and not specific job titles. Not every project you lead will require a full time information architect nor will it necessarily require an interaction designer. You may have people within your team who, though stronger in some roles than others, may call upon skills in a number of disciplines. As well, you being the producer should be able to step in to help support any of these roles when needed. I'm assuming you don't need clarification on the various stages in the process. I'm also only explaining those roles which seem to cause the greatest confusion.

The effort of creating a good user experience involves acquiring and analyzing user data. Selecting exactly the right method for this can be difficult without a clear understanding how each method is used. In each part of the process there is a brief outline of some of the more common user-centered design methods.

1) Concept and Planning, Strategy and Scope

Tools and Techniques

Log Analysis/Logging
In log analysis, close attention is paid to all computer records of user activity, including statistics about the frequency of feature use and events of interest (such as error messages). Other data such as browser, OS, connection speed, etc. can also help drive user requirements.

Questionnaires
Questionnaires are written lists of questions that you distribute to users, to be completed at their leisure. These are especially useful for remote testing.

Contextual Inquiry
The analyst conducts one-on-one interviews with customers in the physical location where they would use the product while they're using the product. The interaction provides an opportunity to ask follow-up questions, to better understand user motives, and to gain insight into the reasoning behind their answers.

Surveys
Surveys are interviews conducted with users in person or over the phone. An interviewer asks a list of questions, and the responses are recorded. Face-to-face interviewing provides an opportunity for both follow up questions to gain further clarity, as well as a chance to observe physical behavior and reactions.

Field Observation
Human factors engineers go to representative users' workplaces and observe their typical environment and usage behavior. The goal is to understand how they use the system and what their mental models are. This shadowing can provide an understanding of real-world, uninterrupted behavior.

2) Content and Structure

Disciplines

Instructional Design
Instructional design is a systematic approach to course development that ensures that specific learning goals are accomplished. It is an iterative process that requires ongoing evaluation and feedback.

Many instructional design models are based on a behaviorist foundation where the focus is on such things as learning objectives and operant conditioning through reinforcement of the desired behavior.

Instructional Design is a field that prescribes specific instructional actions to achieve desired instructional outcomes; the process decides the best methods of instruction for enacting desired changes in knowledge and skills for a specific course content and learner population. Instructional design is usually the initial stage of systematic instruction, for which there are dozens of models.

Information Architecture
Information architecture (IA) is primarily about cognition, how people process information and construe relationships between different pieces of information.

Both require different skills. Information architects come from a variety of backgrounds, but I sense that a majority of them display an orientation toward language.

Information architecture belongs to the realm of the abstract, concerning itself more with the structures in the mind than the structures on the page or screen.
-- JJ Garret(?)

Interaction Design
"Development of application flows to facilitate user tasks, defining how the user interacts with site functionality."

"Interaction Design aims to integrate the physical and cognitive product interface into a successful whole in order to create understandable, usable and enjoyable computer-based products".

"The creation of experiences for others relates to everything from party planning to theater to new media. However, there is a difference between building experiences for others to enjoy and building experiences for others to interact in. This latter aim is what interactino designers focus their efforts toward. Interactivity is a poorly understood word, at present, but it is the key for understanding and succeeding in online and other "interactive" media." - Aiga

Link: So You Want To Be An Interaction Designer (http://www.cooper.com/newsletters/2001_06/so_you_want_to_be_an_interaction_designer.htm)

Tools and Techniques

Persona's and Scenarios
A hypothetical, archetypal user is created based on user and market research to guide design.

A scenario is a description of a persona's interaction with a system. Scenarios help focus design efforts on the user's requirements.

Prototype Testing
Testing prototypes is a quick way to incorporate direct feedback from real users into a design. Can be paper or HTML. Paper-based prototyping bypasses the time and effort required to create a working, coded user interface.

Card Sorting
Best used in the early stages of information architecture design, card sorting is a categorization method in which users sort cards depicting various pieces of information into categories. The results can then be leveraged to build an intuitive navigational hierarchy.

Task Analysis
Task Analysis is the methodical dissection of a scenario into discrete and precise tasks and actions.

Conceptual Modeling
A model is a representation of the user's perception of the way something is organized or works. As a design tool, it promotes clear and critical thinking about the core nature of a project. It's also useful for communicating user mental models to the development team.

3) Design

These three elements tend to be closely bound together; in fact you never hear navigation design within the context of an explicit role.

Information Design
Information design is concerned with transforming data into information, making the complex easier to understand and to use. It is a rapidly growing discipline that draws on typography, graphic design, applied linguistics, applied psychology, applied ergonomics, computing, and other fields. It emerged as a response to people's need to understand and use such things as forms, legal documents, computer interfaces and technical information.

They consider the selection, structuring and presentation of the information provider's message in relation to the purposes, skills, experience, preferences and circumstances of the intended users. To do this they need specialist knowledge and skills in graphic communication and typography, the psychology of reading and learning, human-computer interaction, usability research and clear writing, plus an understanding of the potential and limitations of different media.

Interface Design
"Design of interface elements to facilitate user interaction with functionality "

Interface Design helps people do things. Interface design already has a well-founded and somewhat determined history in the software development industry that doesn't normally include many of the emerging aspects of both information and interaction design. Interface design on the web is all about selecting the right interface elements for the task the user is trying to accomplish and arranging them on the pasge in a way that will be readily understood and easily used.

Navigation Design
"Design of interface elements to facilitate the user's movement through the information architecture"

Navigation design for a whole site must accomplish three simultaneous goals:

1. It must provide users with a means for getting from one point to another on the site. Because it’s usually impractical to link to every page from every other page, navigation elements have to be selected to facilitate real user behaviour.
2. The navigation design must communicate the relationship between the elements it contains. It’s not enough to merely provide a list of links. What do these links have to do with each other? Are some more important than others? What are the relevant differences between them? This communication is necessary for users to understand what choices are available to them.
3. Navigation design must communicate the relationship between its contents and the page the user is currently viewing. This helps users understand which choice presented to them will help them accomplish their desired task or goal.

Tools and Techniques

Thinking Aloud Protocol
During the course of a usability test, the test users are asked to verbalize their thoughts, feelings, and opinions as they interact with the system.

Question Protocol
During a usability test, the subject is asked direct questions about the product. Moderator uses this to suppliment the thinking-aloud protocol to better understand the user's mental model of both the system and the tasks ? as well as trouble points in understanding and using the system.

Performance Measurement
This technique is used to obtain quantitative data about test participants' performance as they attempt tasks. During a usability test the quantitative data such as time to completion and number of errors are recorded.

4) Implementation and
5) Q.A.

Who does the testing throughout the process?

While we may like to be able to have a budget to hire Jacob Neilson et al to join the team to perform usability and performance measurement, it is not entirely necessary. In some ways it may not even be desirable. It is far more important to spend budget on a multitude of tests than placing all your resources on one single event. Test often as a mantra is a good rule. Since you are going to be testing your product many times through out the process it becomes necessary to involve everyone. Everyone should take an interest in proving solutions for real people with real people. While there is no substitute for experience and expertise, there is no reason why with a little bit of guidance all members of the team could not support testing initiatives.

Tools and Techniques

Heuristic Evaluation
A type of usability inspection in which a usability specialist judges each element of an interface according to established usability principles.

Consistency inspection
Evaluates the consistency in interface/interaction design across multiple products in the same product line. Consistent design conventions reduce the learning curve and minimize usability problems.

Cognitive Walkthrough
A less formal method of inspection in which one or more evaluators scrutinize the design while "walking through" a set of key tasks.

You

Only by having you, the producers thinking about all of these tools, techniques, and disciplines for creating a high quality user experience can we hope to achieve great product. How these responsibilities are distributed isn't as important as making sure they are there in the first place.

.css file based on the work of Jeffrey Zeldman

Kelake is written by Clark MacLeod.
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