Communicating Design

Communicating DesignBy Daniel M. Brown

Presented by

Stanley Chang Ph.D. student, University of Michigan

Outline

• About the Author• Introduction• Simple intro. to User Needs Documents • The good of the book

About the Author

Dan BrownIA & User experience design

• Consulting work• Writing and speaking• Commitment to IA communities

Consulting Experience

• Developed user models, interaction models, information architectures, and content models for such clients as First USA, the World Bank, webMethods, and US Airways.

• Developed wireframes and user flows for major applications on USPS.gov, including ZIP Code Lookup, Online Tools, and Carrier Pickup. Designed usability tests and analyzed results to improve applications.

Dan Brown > Speak and Write

Introduction

Structure of the book

• What is deliverable?• Why produce deliverables?

– Consistency of vision– Accountability

– Traceability

• The Ten deliverables• Layers of each deliverable• Tips of presenting • How are they used with other documents?

The Ten Deliverables

• User Needs Documents– Personas, Usability test plan and Usability test

results

• Strategy Documents– Concept models, Content inventories and

Competitive analyses

• Design Documents– Wireframes, Flowcharts, site maps and

screen designs

Deliverable, Like a Cake

• Layer 1• The most important

elements

• Layer2• Enhancement, some

background information• Layer3

• Very further details

Layer Example

• Layer1• Layer2• Layer3

Tips for Presenting Deliverables

• Establish and communicate a purpose

• Decide what you want to get out of the meeting before going into it.

• Think through participant expectations, agendas, and questions

• Invite the minimal number of people possible

• Send materials around before the meeting

• Write up an account of the meeting.

• Take pride in running a good meeting

• For new clients, assume the first meeting won't go well

User Needs Documents

Personas

A summary representation of the system's intended users, often described as real people. Also known as: user profiles, user role definitions, audience profiles.

• Purpose– Help prioritize system features and content that

best support the audience

• Audience– Design team the primary audience

• Context– At the beginning of a project

• Challenges– Summarizing can be tough– Dealing with companies that have done business

successfully for years without personas

Persona > Overview

Persona > Creating > Layer 1

• Name• Motivations and needs• Scenarios


• System Feature• Behavior• Quotes


• Demographic information• Technology comfort level• Personal background• Photograph

• Recruit for usability test

• Rationalize existing design decisions

• Clients not buying into personas

• No time or resources• Identify extraneous

content• Show how existing

segmentation models are inadequate

Persona > Justification

• Buy-In meeting: Selling the Idea– Only at the very beginning– Show the need for personas– Demonstrate their function

• Feedback meeting: Getting input from the team– Need to be well-structured

• Brainstorm meeting: Building personas Together– Review and then construct

Persona > Presenting > Meeting Purpose

• Priority order approach– Most important persona first

• Steps followed approach– The most popular meeting structure– Explain the process

• Family resemblance approach

Persona > Presenting > Meeting Structure

Family resemblance approach

Family resemblance approach

Personas Tree

• Keep the agenda on track

• Make use of research

• Keep meeting participants engaged

Persona > Presenting > Key Points

• User-Needs Documents– Usability Test Plan– Usability Reports

• Strategy Documents– Competitive Analysis– Concept Model

• Design Documents– Wireframes– Site maps– Flowchart– Screen Designs

Persona > With Other Documents

Usability Test Plan

The usability test plan describes the goals, method, and approach for a usability test.

.

• Purpose– Lay out the approach for a usability test

• Audience– Everyone in the team

• Context– Whenever scheduling usability testing

• Challenge– Creating a multi purpose document but not out of

scope

Usability Test Plan > Overview

Usability Test Plan > Creating > Layer 1

• Test objectives• Test logistics• Test scenarios


• User profiles and Screener• Pre-test and post-test questions• Script

• Background• Functional details• Expected behaviors


• Securing buy-in– Go through every aspect of the plan

• Soliciting input• Testing the test

– Mock test – Ensure you can do everything you need to in

the given amount of time

– Potential issues

Persona > Presenting > Meeting Purpose

• Risk of losing sight of objectives• Usability newbies• Methodological questions

Usability Test Plan > Presenting > Key Points

• User-Needs Documents– Persona

– Test results

• Design Documents

Usability Test Plan > With Other Documents

Usability Reports

The usability report is the outcome of a usability test, whose results are compiled into an actionable format.

• Purpose– Highlight the main findings

• Audience– Everyone

• Context– As long as there is a test

• Challenge– The more details you include, the more you need

to explain– Distinguishing between observations and

recommendations

Usability Reports > Overview

Usability Report > Creating > Layer 1

• Test summary• Basic observations• A little context• Next Step

• Summary of observations• Summary of recommendations• Severity level• User quotes


• Quantitative data• User profiles• Tactical recommendations


• Inflating severity• Too much or too

little detail

Usability Report > Creating > Risks

• Presenting findings to stakeholders:– They are more concerned about the overall

tenor of the usability tests– Spend more time on the pre- and post-test

questions that shed light on the audience more broadly

• Presenting findings to the design team:– They are more interested in the observations

& solutions

Usability Report > Presenting > Meeting Purpose

• Start with the basics: – Test objectives

– Test method– Logistics

• Summarize the observation first• If have to report findings ASAP

– hold a usability test debriefing

Usability Report > Presenting >

Meeting Structure

• Be objective and honest– Tell the truth

– Offer several explanations why

Usability Report > Presenting > Key

points

Truth

You may face this question…

“what should

we do?"

“I don't solve, I just identify”

• Difficult design problems do not have just one answer

• So, force yourself to think of a couple different approaches for each main design problem

• Explain, and then suggest

This might not work….

• User-Needs Documents– Persona

– Test plan

• Design Documents– Wireframes– Site maps and

flowcharts

The number of users is represented by the weight (thickness)

Usability Reports > With Other Documents

• Strategy Documents– Concept models, Content inventories and

Competitive analyses

• Design Documents– Wireframes, Flowcharts, site maps and

screen designs

The other deliverables….

Please refer to the books

What’s Good about This Book

• Use 3 layers to introduce how to create different documents

• Readers can take advantage of the layer structure to create documents depending on different context

• Provide practical suggestions on meeting strategies

• Great reference book for people new to this field

Thank you

Communicating Design

Design

family resemblance approach

usability report

usability reports

usability test plan

usability test

creating

persona

presenting