Tag / tools
What a Design Sprint CAN’T Do (for Enterprise Teams)
Editors Note: This is an excerpt from InVision’s Enterprise Design Sprints Handbook, which highlights the methodology behind successful design operations.
The original design-sprint format popularized by the Google Ventures team has been interpreted by some as a one-size-fits-all model. This was never the intention, and it’s definitely not the case for enterprise-level projects. Although UX, design and product teams have adapted sprints to find new applications for its prototyping value, it can’t be used in every situation.
Below are some situations in which a design sprint is not useful for enterprises. (It’s worth noting that this list is specific to enterprises. In some startups or small innovation groups, a design sprint might be the appropriate tool in these situations.)
For small iterative changes to an existing feature(s) If you have an established product and you’re making small iterative updates, a design sprint is going to be too much tool. Rather, use one of the many exer..
These UX Designers are Rethinking the Voter Ballot
I was five the first time I went to vote, excited for a field trip with my dad that conflicted with bed time. The polling place was a school gym. The room echoed with the clunk of machine levers as each vote was cast, and I munched on brownies from the bake sale set up in the lobby. That visit, which was repeated each election throughout my childhood, made it statistically far more likely that I would become a regular voter myself. Many people aren’t exposed to the voting process at a young age, and millions never make it to the polls.
Whitney Quesenbery and Dana Chisnell, co-founders of The Center for Civic Design, are focused on those people: where they fall off the voter journey, and how to get them back on. So they’ve set out to bring UX strategies to the myriad systems of local, state, and federal election offices, using human centered design thinking to shepherd citizens through the registration process to the moment they mark their choice on the ballot.
Chisnell and Quesenber..
Be Frugal with Everything Except Your Bed, Your Chair, Your Space, and Your Team
In the process of building a business—and in life, generally—you should manage expenses carefully. But sometimes frugality backfires.
For example, given that you spend 30 percent of your life in bed and that sleep has such a great impact on how you feel awake, you should not skimp on your bed. Same goes with your office chair: In this modern age, we often even spend more time sitting at our desks than lying in our beds! So go buy the best damn chair you can find. Beyond your chair, the overall work space matters. While I am certainly not a proponent of expensive offices, the thought you put into the tools and environment you use to build things influences the quality of what you make.
Most companies classify their spaces the same way they do office supplies: negligible. Facilities planners tend to focus on the cost per square foot and logistical efficiencies rather than how space impacts the psychology of its inhabitants. But how you locate and design your space is as important as yo..
Pourquoi la technologie n’est pas démocratique et comment peut-elle le devenir ?
Sur l’excellent Mais où va le web ? (@maisouvaleweb), Irénée Régnauld (@ireR1) cofondateur de l’association Le Mouton Numérique (@moutonnumerique) faisait récemment part de sa lecture de Choix technologies, choix de société (2003, éditions Charles Léopold Mayer, traduction de Democracy and Technology publié en 1995) de Richard Sclove, fondateur du Loka Institute, une association qui promeut la participation du public aux choix technologiques. Il y rappelle des questions de fond : comment orienter le choix technologique ? Peut-on rendre la technique plus démocratique ? Comment ?… Une lecture qui n’est pas sans évoquer les propos de l’historien des sciences, David Noble, dans Le progrès sans le peuple notamment, qui montrait lui aussi, comment les questions démocratiques sont évacuées des questions technologiques. La question démocratique est-elle l’impensée de la question technologique ?Lecture !
Dans les sociétés modernes, la technologie est une force qui dépasse bien souvent certaine..
Rethinking disruption: User empowerment
First in a series
The idea that incumbent businesses and even whole industries can be unexpectedly disrupted by newcomers to the market is a powerful one, and we have Clayton Christensen and his 1997 book, The Innovator’s Dilemma, to thank for this insight. In the over 20 years since the publication of Christensen’s seminal work, however, we have seen violent disruptions that were not predicted by Christensen’s description of disruptive innovation. This article begins to explore how we might update our understanding of disruption in a way that is more useful to businesses desiring to either disrupt or ward off disruption.
Seeking a meaningful definition of “disruptive innovation”Professor Christensen says on his website:
Disruptive innovation describes a process by which a product or service takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relentlessly moves up market, eventually displacing established competitors.First Edition, The Innovator’s DilemmaBut ..
Free Sketch Template for building a meaningful “Affinity Diagram” during the UX Process
A step-by-step guide with some key concepts explained*I believe that doing an affinity diagram exercise is more efficient in a physical space with teammates scribbling notes, thinking out loud and engaging in discussions. Therefore, unless Sketch provides the ability to share/edit a file with multiple people at once, I would suggest to use the template to digitally store written Post-it notes or to showcase the process/result somewhere (i.e portfolio).
At the end of this article, there is a link to download a Free Sketch Template to create a digital version of an affinity diagram with explanations 😎
What is an Affinity Diagram?In short, the affinity diagram shows the common issues, themes, and scope of the customer problems and needs in one place. By hierarchically grouping the data, or affinity notes that reveal the problems and needs, it acts as the voice of the customer and the issues become the basis for user requirements. With just a few tools, you can create a visual representati..
Why the discovery phase is the most important web design step
The discovery phase in web design can help you create products and services that your users really need. Here’s why you need to take it seriouslyCreating websites that people want to use requires an intense amount of research. To truly understand the people who will be using your products and services is the main current of user experience design.
Oriol Beda quipped in UX Collective that “research is still seen as a magic wand that is only waved when problems arise”.
If you don’t know who your audience is, how can you ever expect to design something suited to their wants and needs? The answer is you won’t. You’ll end up with a half-baked product that nobody will want to use. For a better design process, research should be a primary tool for answering problems and not a fall back for when things go awry.
So, what steps can UX/UI designers take to ensure that they’re creating successful work? When it comes to web design, one of the most important steps is the discovery phase.
In this pos..
Why Focusing Too Much on App User Acquisition is Not Right
In the mobile app world, focusing on ANYTHING too much is already a growth killer. You know why? Because there are a dozen things to take care of and if you invest too much energy into one thing only, you might end up losing the others. The same applies to focusing too much on user acquisition. Of course, it’s tempting to invest money into acquiring new users especially if you are just starting but there are other growth factors you should consider too such as engagement and retention.
Let’s start with understanding what user acquisition is and how it can help you.
Basically, mobile user acquisition equals to getting people to download your mobile app.
User acquisition is sometimes rather costly but you cannot overlook it because let’s face it, you need people to learn about your app and to download it to understand what a treasure it is.
via GIPHYThere are tons of acquisition strategies you can use. You can start with the following:
You can build a landing page with links to your app ..
Wireframing Tools for Beginners
Wireframing is a key skill for UX design and often used to show layouts or visualize ideas to clients, stakeholders, and developers. Today’s wireframing programs can make it quicker and easier to develop these deliverable. Sketch, Figma, Codepen, Invision, Mindmeister, and many more are available and widely used.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of available design tools when creating your wireframes. I haven’t even mention Adobe, PowerPoint, and good old pen and paper. Sometimes a sketch on a piece of paper works just as well as presenting digital wireframes. As beginners, many UX professionals get caught up in software – Which ones are the best to use? What will look best on my resume for future jobs? The design stage, project requirements, and even the client or employer will influence which tool to use.
Wireframes range from low fidelity, with placeholders for elements, text, and media, to high fidelity versions that look, and may even function, like the finished ..
Website Personalization Planning
Users’ expectations are high, and attention spans are short. There’s a multitude of alternative destinations if a website doesn’t present messaging, content, or functionality that immediately connects with what a visitor wants and needs. If a company is lucky enough to get users to its website, it should do everything in its power to keep them there and content. Website personalization is a proven way to engage audiences more effectively. Not only does it create better experiences for users, it can increase conversion rates, generate more revenue, and build brand affinity. Organizations who fail to personalize experiences are missing out on opportunities to better connect with prospects, retain existing customers, and generate greater brand loyalty.
What is personalization and why does it matter? Website personalization is about creating a highly relevant, targeted, and individualized experience to suit a user’s needs. It is dynamically presenting something that might be helpful or mo..