Introverts & Extroverts: Extreme UX Personalities

miketownson.com • @miketownson • Slideshare.com/miketownson April 24, 2014
Introverts & Extroverts
Extreme UX Personalities
by Mike Townson

Mike Townson
UX Designer
I work at projekt202 and focus on
user research and software design.

AUSTIN DALLAS SEATTLE

What are Introverts & Extroverts?
What are the extremes?
Why you should care.
History of UX and how I&E’s ﬁt
Work Environments
Leadership Styles
Communicating
Networking
Procrastinators and Perfectionists

I had a serious problem...
I used to be an EXTREME extrovert.

7:00am
Wakeup, get ready for school.
8:30am
Class
10:00am
Go to work
5:00pm
Guitar Lessons
7:30pm
Help a buddy with studies
9:00pm
Party #1
10:30pm
Party #2
12:00am
Party #3
1:30am
Party #4
Typical Extrovert Day

1 Year, 100 Books
1 Day, 100 People

1year100books.com

miketownson.com • @miketownson • Slideshare.com/miketownson April 24, 2014miketownson.com • @miketownson • Slideshare.com/miketownson April 24, 2014

Introverts
Extroverts

What’s an extrovert?

Extroverts according to Myers-Briggs
“I like getting my energy from active
involvement in events and having a lot of
diﬀerent activities. I’m excited when I’m
around people and I like to energize
other people. I like moving into action and
making things happen. I generally feel at
home in the world.”
http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/extraversion-or-introversion.asp

FERRIS
BUELLERmiketownson.com • @miketownson • Slideshare.com/miketownson April 24, 2014

STEVE
JOBSmiketownson.com • @miketownson • Slideshare.com/miketownson April 24, 2014

WINSTON
CHURCHILL

JACK
DONAGHY

BIG
BIRDmiketownson.com • @miketownson • Slideshare.com/miketownson April 24, 2014

What’s an introvert?

Introverts according to Myers-Briggs
“I like getting my energy from dealing with
the ideas, pictures, memories, and
reactions that are inside my head, in my
inner world. I often prefer doing things
alone or with one or two people I feel
comfortable with.”
http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/extraversion-or-introversion.asp

CAMERON
FRYE

BILL
GATESmiketownson.com • @miketownson • Slideshare.com/miketownson April 24, 2014

HILARY
CLINTONmiketownson.com • @miketownson • Slideshare.com/miketownson April 24, 2014

LIZ
LEMONmiketownson.com • @miketownson • Slideshare.com/miketownson April 24, 2014

BURT

Can you be a little of both?

YUP

Ambiverts
“An ambivert is moderately comfortable
with groups and social interaction, but
also relishes time alone, away from a
crowd.”

Not everyone is just one or the other.
Most of us are a little bit of both.
By now you probably know
what you are.
But if not...

miketownson.com • @miketownson • Slideshare.com/miketownson April 24, 2014 bit.ly/1hVmWth

What can make you extreme?

Reminder: I am not a doctor.

Introvert
Decide when something
is ﬁnished, or done
enough.
Extrovert
Not focusing on a task at
hand, never getting
started.
The inability to...

The inability to...
Introvert
Talk to anyone.
Extrovert
Shut up.

The inability to...
Introvert
Work well with others.
Extrovert
Work well with others.

Personality Disorders
Attention deﬁcit/
hyperactivity disorder
Pathological Gambling
Intermittent Explosive
Disorder
Kleptomania
Pyromania
Trichotillomania
Self-mutilation
Sexual impulsivity
Borderline Personality
Disorder
Impulsivity which has been linked to
extroversion can in its extreme case cause:
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f03/web1/nkrimgold.html

Personality Disorders
Social Anxiety
Major Aﬀective
Disorder
Somatoform Disorder
Eating Disorders
Avoidant
Dependent
Obsessive-Compulsive
Schizoid
Cases of disorders stemming from extreme
introversion could be:
https://www.ima.org.il/FilesUpload/IMAJ/0/46/23023.pdf

Drug Use
•Drugs like cocaine, alcohol, or
prozac, all affect an individual's
degree of extroversion.
Natalya Krimgold, Extroversion, Introversion, and the Brain, http://
serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f03/web1/nkrimgold.html
•This can artificially correct an
ineffective dopamine system and
make someone feel more sociable
or motivated to pursue a goal.
Susan S. Lang, Dopamine linked to a personality trait and happiness,
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/1996/10/dopamine-linked-
personality-trait-and-happiness

YOU’RE IN
GOOD
COMPANY

User Experience
History

Where did UX come from?

IT
DOESN’T
WORK

UX DOES
WORK!

Development/Research = Introverts?
Marketing = Extroverts?
(ok, not always)
Personal theory...

http://instagram.com/mikescarano

Why is all this important?

This is the core of who we design for
and the people we work/live with.
Most Introverts naturally understand this...
USER

How do we focus on these personality types then?

Discover
Analyze Existing
User Observations
UX Strategy Ideation &
User Validation
Detailed Design
& Development
System
Testing
User
Testing
Design Specs &
UX Pattern Library
Ideate Design & Build

Let’s do some user research!
•Personality types are important to
take into account.
•Where are they?
•Who are they?
•What is the emotional value?

Designing for someone you are not
•As an extrovert, it’s hard to design
for an introvert.
•Data is a sanity check.
•Be empathetic to the user.

Contextual Inquiries can help
•Don’t just ask what a user wants.
•What they tell you might not be true.
•Observe them in their natural habitat.

If Henry Ford had asked
customers what they wanted,
they’d said “A faster horse”.

The Creative
Work Environment

My oﬃce took a survey...

0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Open work area where I can see
& hear my co-workers.
Excluded oﬃces where I have
four walls and a door around me.
Semi-open work area where I am in a
cubical but can still hear my co-workers.
36.84%
15.79%
47.3%
Work Area Preference

0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Loud conversations
People walking around or behind me
Co-workers taking phone calls or virtual
meetings at their desks
73.68%
47.37%
52.63%
Office Distractions
18.42%
44.74%
18.42%
Co-workers gathering around someone's
desk to look at something
Nerf darts ﬂying over my head
The smell of food from the kitchen or
someone's desk

0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Meeting Invites
Mass Emails
Instant Messages
31.58%
68.42%
31.58%
Mental Distractions
52.63%
50%
Software Update Notiﬁcations
Facebook, Twitter, or other Social
Networks

How can we have a more friendly work
environment for all personality types?
•Quiet time blocks
•Check with someone over IM/email
before coming over to talk with
them.
•Huddle rooms for quick
conversations
•Phone “booths” for conference calls

Quiet Time Blocks
Allows heads-down work to be done
from 8am-lunch time:
•No large gathering in main room
•No NERF gun shooting
•No victory yells
•No distractions from getting some
serious shit done.

Check in over IM
•Tapping someone’s shoulder can
break an important thought.
•IM’s can be ignored if something is
more important.
•Not online? Don’t bother me.
Pro tip: Obviously if
there is a ﬁre you
should let me
know...

0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Email
In Person
Over the Phone
39.47%
55.26%
2.63%
Communication Preferences
2.63%
Video Conferencing
Someone was trolling me...

Huddle Rooms
•Get in a room to talk
•Don’t hover a desk
•No one likes a hovering art director

Don’t be them: HoveringArtDirectors.tumblr.com

Office phone calls
•Phone call at your desk? Might as
well be an elevator.
•It’s distracting.
...go ahead, make my day.

Managing both
Introverts & Extroverts

Extroverts be like...

Introverts be like...

“Hey! Over here!!”
Managing mixed teams
•Extroverts can overpower a
room.
•Not everyone will want to speak
at that time, especially an
introvert.
•Make some time to circle back
with the ones that didn’t give
input at the time.

Having mixed management
•Take advice from all angles.
•Use it to your advantage.
•Just because they are not the
same as your personality, they
can have some insight.

Correct Brainstorming Sessions
•Defer judgement
•Reach for quantity
•Give everyone a heads up.
•Have a moderator
•Lots of breaks!
I wrote on this
so I don’t have
to speak out loud.

0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
I feel like my voice is heard and
that I am usually given enough
time to think of an idea that is
worth presenting.
I feel like my voice is heard but I wish
I was given time before to come up
with ideas.
I don't feel like my voice is always heard,
but I am usually given enough time to
think of an idea that is worth presenting.
50%
42.11%
2.63%
Brainstorming
2.63% 2.63%
I don't feel like my voice is heard and I
wish I was given time before to come up
with ideas.
I have never done a brainstorm

NOT
EVERYONE
ANYONE
IS DATA

Networking
...not just for extroverts

Extroverts are naturals
•Small talk
•Swapping stories
•Talking about yourself
•Talking about ANYTHING
•Keeping up with your contacts
•Remembering names & aspirations

How can an introvert network?
•Use tools that make it easy
•Get help from more extroverted friends
•Practice makes perfect

Tools
•LinkedIn- duh
•Twitter
•Any way you can continue talking
I have an extremely well connected friend
@nathansmith who has many times helped
connect me to someone.

Extroverted Friends
I naturally want to “hook people up” with
someone I think they will like.
So ask the friends who like to put
themselves out there for help. They
won’t mind.
Kinda like how I want everyone to listen to the band
“The Shouting Matches”

miketownson.com • @miketownson • Slideshare.com/miketownson April 24, 2014miketownson.com • @miketownson • Slideshare.com/miketownson April 24, 2014miketownson.com • @miketownson • Slideshare.com/miketownson April 24, 2014
LISTEN
TO THEMSpotify Link: spoti.ﬁ/1dysMdX

Practice makes perfect
Like leveling up your WOW character,
talking to people takes practice.
Things to work on (for everyone):
•Remembering names
•What they do
•Basic topic of conversation
•Follow up later (Twitter or LinkedIn)
Sounds silly, but remembering these go really far.

It’s not easy...
http://theoatmeal.com/pl/brain/name

Start to Finish
Procrastination and Perfectionism

“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die
having left undone”
Pablo Picasso
Spanish Painter & Sculptor

Who procrastinates?
Chronic procrastination aﬀects 25% of
adults.
According to the book “Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do about It
Now” by Jane B. Burka, Lenora M. Yuen

Who procrastinates?
An estimated 25 to 75 percent of college
students procrastinate on academic work.
http://psychology.about.com/od/the-psychology-of/a/psychology-of-procrastination.htm

Who procrastinates?
One 2007 study found that 80 percent to
95 percent of college students
procrastinated on a regular basis
According to “The Psychology of Procrastination: Why We Keeping Putting
Things Oﬀ” by Kendra Cherry
http://psychology.about.com/od/the-psychology-of/a/psychology-of-procrastination.htm

Are Extroverts more prone to
procrastination?
Introverts have a strong disposition for
will-power.
Extroverts have a better ability to mobilize
outside inﬂuence.
Possibly even between the two.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/changepower/201103/do-introverts-have-more-willpower-extroverts

Again...I am not a doctor.

What psychologist say:
•It's not trivial. It represents a profound
problem of self-regulation.
•Procrastinators are made not born.
•Having a harsh, controlling father keeps
children from developing the ability to
regulate themselves.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200308/procrastination-ten-things-know

•Procrastinators drink more than they
intend to—a manifestation of generalized
problems in self-regulation.
•Procrastinators lie to themselves.
•Procrastinators actively look for
distractions, particularly ones that don't
take a lot of commitment on their part.

How to beat it
•Find inspiration in a part of the task from
an outside source.
•Have others hold you accountable.
•Set a schedule and organize your time.
•Limit your distractions.

“Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it.”
Salvador Dalí
Spanish Painter

Are Introverts more prone to
perfectionism?
"...extraverts tend to broaden the sphere of
their work, to present their products early
(and often) to the world, to make
themselves known to a wide circle, and to
multiply relationships and activities...
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/self-promotion-introverts/200909/introverts-manage-your-perfectionism-and-reduce-your-agita

Are Introverts more prone to
perfectionism?
...the introvert takes the opposite
approach, going more deeply into their
work, introverts are reluctant to call it
ﬁnished and publish it.”
Isabel Briggs Myers with Peter B. Myers, Gifts Diﬀering: Understanding
Personality Type, Davies-Black Publishing, a division of CPP, Inc., 1980, 1995, pp.
54-55.

•Perfecting can become the joy of the
work instead of the thought of ﬁnishing it
and moving on.
•An aﬄiction of the gifted
•Rooted in the fears of not being able to
live up to others expectations.
•Introverts are half the population at large
and well over half the gifted population.

How to beat it
•When your product is 'good enough' (but
not 'perfect'), ship it, and see what
happens." - Guy Kawasaki: Don’t worry, be crappy
•Set a depth, don’t go deeper.
•Remember the purpose. Focus on the
journey.
•Cultivate a "learning" rather than a
"performance" mindset.

I like to beat the ship out of it.

What are Introverts & Extroverts?
What are the extremes?
Why you should care.
History of UX and how I&E’s ﬁt
Work Environments
Leadership Styles
Communicating
Networking
Procrastinators and Perfectionists
That was a lot of stuff...

“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”
- Mahatma Gandhi

Questions?
Extroverts:
Yell them out really
loud while waving
your hands in the air.
Introverts:
Tweet or email me :)

Introverts & Extroverts: Extreme UX Personalities

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Introverts & Extroverts: Extreme UX Personalities