In the fast paced world of software development, products with great user experience are increasingly the deciding factor for where customers decide to spend their time and money. You don't need to be a designer to make great user experiences in your products. UX is a discipline, and a methodology, and a mind-set all rolled into one, and anybody can learn how. In this presentation I'm going to give you a starter pack of UX design tools you can use to start building better products immediately. The fundamentals of building quality user experiences are quite simple to get started, and will serve you well regardless of whether you are a seasoned UX veteran or a just trying to figure out how to make this web page not suck.

1. The Buttons They
Do Nothing!
A lesson in pragmatic UX
Pittsburgh TechFest 2014

2. – Nicholas McClay
“Hi”
@nickmcclay
UX Developer @ forever.com

7. Focus on UX

8. What is UX?

9. http://www.jjg.net/elements/pdf/elements.pdf

10. http://www.fastcodesign.com/1671735/infographic-the-intricate-anatomy-of-ux-design#2

11. Solve for ‘UX’
Technology
People
UX

12. Who should practice UX?

13. UX is your
responsibility
Maggot!

14. Start With People

15. Things that aren’t people
The technology or infrastructure
Business concerns or ideology
Features or products

16. Who are these people?

17. UX Technique : Personas

18. Persona Development Tips
Keep them concise
Emphasize differences between personas
Make them human

19. How do I figure out who
my personas should be?

20. UX Technique : Relationship Mapping

21. Relationship Mapping Process
Identify internal and external individuals that
influence your product and each other
Connect these individuals to each other
based on their relationship
Narrow in on the most connected influencers

22. How do I know I have the
right personas?

23. UX Technique : Usability Testing

24. Usability Testing Tips
Try to have a single moderator in the room
More questions than answers
Try to ask participants to perform tasks, not
keywords

25. – User
“I’ve read all your buttons!?”

26. Keep it simple
(such as the red slides in this presentation)

27. ― Douglas Crockford,
JavaScript: The Good Parts
“We see a lot of feature-driven product
design in which the cost of features is
not properly accounted. Features can
have a negative value to customers
because they make the products more
difficult to understand and use.”

28. Simplify your UI
1. Make a prioritized list of all the parts of your
interface.
2. Remove anything unnecessary with prejudice
3. Sketch out the remaining items on the screen
in order.

29. How do you decide what
is important?

30. UX Technique : Card Sorting

31. kk

32. Don’t like the outcome?

33. UX Technique : Design Review

34. Design Review Process
Recognize that iteration is part of the process
Identify ‘what’ it is you don’t like specifically
Articulate alternative options for comparison

35. Synthesis is key to UX

36. User
Research
AnalysisDesign
Product
Strategy
Prototyping
Data
Driven
Design
UX

37. –Jared Spool
“Good design, when it’s done well,
becomes invisible. It’s only when
it’s done poorly that we notice it.”
User Interface Engineering

38. Consider your
‘Minimal Desirable Product’

39. More content, less chrome

41. UX friendly visual design tips
Don’t be afraid of white-space
With visual effects subtlety is key
Emphasize what is important

42. Clarity is more important
than what you say

43. – unreadable business slobber
“Revenue-focused marketing
automation & sales effectiveness
solutions unleash collaboration
throughout the revenue cycle!”

44. User friendly language checklist
Speak in the language of your customer
Be clear and concise
Avoid superlatives and hype

45. –concise value proposition
“Unleash your marketing
potential!”

46. UX leads to product and
customer insight

47. What is valuable?
Time
Money
Control

48. Offer Consideration
What is it?
What does it cost?
What do I get for that cost?

49. How do I determine what
is valuable?

50. UX Technique : Buy a feature

51. Use tools with great UX

54. This is only the beginning

55. Things we didn’t talk about
Analytics and data driven design
Agile and UX processes
Building product vision

56. – Nicholas McClay
“Thanks!”
@nickmcclay
UX Developer @ forever.com