An introduction to user experience for the Master of Science program "Innovation and Entrepreneurship" at the ESADE university in Barcelona.

1. UX FOR FOUNDERS
VOLKER GERSABECK

2. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
ABOUT MYSELF
▸ Co-Founder of 2 startups (pidoco.com and crewmeister.com)
▸ Co-Initiator of UXcamp Europe, the biggest European User Experience
Unconference
▸ Alumnus of Hasso-Plattner-Institute and Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
▸ Currently, freelance UX designer in Berlin

3. WHAT MAKES
PRODUCTS SUCCESSFUL?

4. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
THE 3 DIMENSIONS OF SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTS
USER SOLUTION
PROBLEM

5. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
THE 3 DIMENSIONS OF SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTS
USER SOLUTION
PROBLEM
Who is your user?

6. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
THE 3 DIMENSIONS OF SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTS
USER SOLUTION
PROBLEM
How is this solved today?

7. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
THE 3 DIMENSIONS OF SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTS
USER SOLUTION
PROBLEM
Is this the best solution?

8. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
THE 3 DIMENSIONS OF SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTS
USER SOLUTION
PROBLEM
Has the User this Problem?

9. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
THE 3 DIMENSIONS OF SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTS
USER SOLUTION
PROBLEM
Does this solve the problem?

10. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
THE 3 DIMENSIONS OF SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTS
USER SOLUTION
PROBLEM
Does it work in this context?

11. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
THE 3 DIMENSIONS OF SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTS
USER SOLUTION
PROBLEM
Fit?
Who is your user?
How is this solved today?
Is this the best solution?
Has the User this Problem? Does this solve the problem?
Does it work in this context?

12. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
THE 3 DIMENSIONS OF SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTS
USER SOLUTION
PROBLEM
Fit?
Who is your user?
How is this solved today?
Is this the best solution?
Has the User this Problem? Does this solve the problem?
Does it work in this context?
IT DOES NOTHAVE TO BE ANAPP!

13. GETTING STARTED

14. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
BUILD-MEASURE-LEARN
▸ Start by learning something before you build
anything!
Image: http://theleanstartup.com/principles

15. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
CREWMEISTER - MY SECOND STARTUP
▸ Initial Idea: SaaS-Product for Shift Planning in small businesses
▸ Go Live after 6 months of development
▸ Small team: ~ 3 people

16. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
MY SECOND DAY
▸ We went to different small businesses and interviewed them
▸ Bakery, Optician, Restaurant, Toy Store, etc
▸ In total we got 5 useful interviews after a couple of hours

21. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
WHAT WE LEARNED AFTER JUST 1 DAY OF RESEARCH
▸ Creating a software to match the current shift plans is too complicated!
▸ Every small business has different needs, there won’t be a one-size-fits-all
▸ We need individual components that we can sell according to the customer’s
needs

22. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
WHAT WE LEARNED AFTER JUST 1 DAY OF RESEARCH
▸ Creating a software to match the current shift plans is too complicated!
▸ Every small business has different needs, there won’t be a one-size-fits-all
▸ We need individual components that we can sell according to the customer’s
needs
▸ We need to pivot!

23. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
OUR SOLUTION
▸ 6 so called Mini-Products
▸ Can be sold each on its own
▸ They get stronger in combination
▸ We used fake landing pages to identify the
Mini-Product to start with
▸ We got our first paying customer after just
7 months

24. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
WHAT IF WE HAD STARTED WITH BUILDING SOMETHING?
▸ We might not have made it within 6 months timeframe
▸ There wouldn’t have been the first paying customer in month 7
▸ Who knows what else…

25. HOW TO DO UX?

26. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
USER EXPERIENCE IS THE OVERALL EFFECT
CREATED BY THE INTERACTIONS AND
PERCEPTIONS THAT SOMEONE HAS WHEN
USING A PRODUCT OR SERVICE.
Leah Buley
Author of “The User Experience Team of One”
WHAT IS USER EXPERIENCE?

27. LEARN

28. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
USER EXPERIENCE HOW-TO
DOING USER RESEARCH
▸ Prepare yourself before you go outside
▸ Where can we meet the target group?
▸ What do we want to know?
▸ Who will ask questions, who will take notes / photos / do the recording?
▸ Assign roles upfront!
▸ Go in groups of 2, maximum 3 people

29. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
USER EXPERIENCE HOW-TO
DOING USER RESEARCH
▸ Start with one Screener Question
▸ e.g.: are you responsible for purchasing the soap in your hotel?
▸ or: would your visitors tell you about hygiene complains in your hotel?
▸ Does this person belong to your target group?
▸ Should be answered with yes or no
▸ Stop if the person is not in your target group

30. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
USER EXPERIENCE HOW-TO
DOING USER RESEARCH
▸ Continue with easy-to-answer, warm-up questions
▸ e.g. what is your job title? what kind of education did you do for your job?
▸ Start from broad towards more detailed questions
▸ e.g. which brand of soap do you use in your hotel?
▸ then: what feedback do you get from your visitors about the soap?
▸ Finish with: do you have any further questions / topics you want to talk about?

31. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
USER EXPERIENCE HOW-TO
DOING USER RESEARCH
▸ Ask open questions
▸ should not be answered with yes / no
▸ should not be “A or B” question
▸ Don’t talk about solutions but try to identify and understand problems
▸ Listen and let the user do the talking
▸ Give them enough time to answer

32. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
USER EXPERIENCE HOW-TO
ANALYZE YOUR RESEARCH FINDINGS
▸ What did you learn about the user?
▸ What did you learn about the problem?
▸ Share your learnings with your team
▸ Tell the stories that you heard
▸ How do you need to adapt your initial idea?

33. BUILD

34. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
USER EXPERIENCE HOW-TO
MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT - TYPES
▸ Email Newsletter
▸ Google AdWords
▸ Landing Pages
▸ Button to nowhere
▸ Paper Prototypes
▸ Digital Prototypes

35. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
USER EXPERIENCE HOW-TO
PROTOTYPES
▸ Different Prototypes provide different feedback!
▸ They differ in
▸ Appearance
▸ Interactivity
▸ Data
▸ Functionality
▸ Choose a matching type for what you want to test

36. LEARN AGAIN

37. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
USER EXPERIENCE HOW-TO
USABILITY TESTING
▸ Let the user try the prototype themselves
▸ Give them time to discover things
▸ Let the user describe what she sees, how she understands it, and how she
valuates it
▸ Let the user “think aloud” while using the prototype

38. Volker Gersabeck - @thinkingUX
USER EXPERIENCE HOW-TO
USABILITY TESTING
▸ Do not show how to use the prototype
▸ Only interrupt if the user tries something that’s not covered by the prototype
▸ If the user stumble upon something, ask what they would expect how it
worked
▸ Observe and listen, do not irritate the user by your behaviour
▸ Have one person moderate the test and a second person take notes

39. BOOK
RECOMMENDATIONS

40. BUILD BETTER
PRODUCTS
LAURA KLEIN

41. LEAN UX
JEFF GOTHELF
JOSH SEIDEN

42. VALIDATING
PRODUCT IDEAS
TOMER SHARON

43. ¿PREGUNTAS?

44. THANK YOU
VOLKER GERSABECK — @THINKINGUX