Tuesday, 7 April

User-Centered Design 2/4

Empathy, Define, Interview with Empathy

Summer HCI/d Class Opportunity
If you might be interested in a 400-level class this summer that takes these ideas further, and that meets the HCC (Human-Centered Computing) requirement please email me -- mitchelc@indiana.edu

Note: This class would be taught by an Informatics PhD student.

Project 3.3 Resubmission Opportunity

Since some of you didn't get feedback on Project 3.2 before submitting 3.3, I'm giving anyone who wants it the opportunity to edit and resubmit project 3.3.

If you wish to do this please do not take time away from Project 4. Instead incorporate the changes after completing Project 4.

The deadline for the resubmission is: Tuesday, 5 May at 12:01 am

If you plan to resubmit, please email your mentor to let them know to look for your project.

Reading Suggestions

Mitchell Chapter: "Design Thinking: From the tactical to the strategic"

 

http://www.economist.com/news/business/21647612-once-dominant-software-giant-determined-prove-life-begins-again-40-opening?zid=293&ah=e50f636873b42369614615ba3c16df4a

Good Design/Tech Twitter Follows:
@FastCoDesign
@TheEconomist
@waltmossberg
@WSJD
@DesignObserver
@Dezeen

Reading Response 11: Read UXD pp. 144 – 155:

1. What is empathy? Why is it important? How is it cultivated in the UXD context?

Putting yourself in someone else's shoe...and acting on that understanding. (As indicated in the book)

2. What is project management? Why is it important? What tools are available to help with project management? Do you use any of them in your projects?

A way to explicitly organize your work process...you will almost always work collaboratively in groups, e.g.

https://basecamp.com/

https://trello.com/

3. What approaches are available to visualize interface designs? Review a range of options and cite examples of any of the approaches that you, yourself, have used.

Paper, tablet, steel template (pp. 146 - 147), whiteboards, sketchnoting, audio/video on smartphone, gamestorming and brainstorming, flowcharts, diagrams, storyboards

http://sketchnotearmy.com/

4. What tools are available to help elicit feedback from users? Be specific about the approaches and their characteristics.

Desk research, card sorting, contextual inquiry, content experiment, etc.

5. What is a “prototype”? What are the two types of prototype? What are the characteristics and benefits of each?

"A prototype (or mock up) is a model of an interactive design that can be used as a basis for developing improvements in the design (my italics)."

1. Wireframes, visual prototypes that reveal the underlying structure of an interactive design as a grid.
2. Interactive prototypes, take the mock-up a step further by simulating an interactive session. 

http://www.shankarux.com/the-unexotic-underclass/

Project 4.1:

What places have you chosen, what issues have you identified?

Review select student examples

Project Emphasis: Strategic, not Tactical

Review Project 4 Brief: 

Design Thinking Process Guide
 
Bootcamp Bootleg 

Project 4.2:

dSchool modes being utilized:

1. Empathize -- it's why we're doing user-responsive design in the first place -- to bring benefit to others
2. Define -- it's what you're doing now in your project, defining the user group's need for design

Resulting in a Composite Character Profile, or Persona as a basis for design itself.

Web Based Persona Resources:

http://uxmag.com/articles/personas-the-foundation-of-a-great-user-experience

http://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/guidance/gsa-first-fridays-program.html

http://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/methods/personas.html

Meet with your Team
 

Homework for Thursday, 9 April:

Do preliminary (or follow) interview, as a group, with your Project 4 client and, if possible, users themselves. Apply the dSchool methods explicitly.