It's the start of a new project. You've got requirements, guidelines, data, research. Now what? Like an artist staring at a blank canvas, information architects often don't know where to begin. Instead of following a rigid methodology or waiting for the perfect idea to appear out of the blue, learn to continually invent new tools and techniques to foster real user experience innovation.

1. Reinvent The Wheel:
Sketching your own Design Process
Christopher Fahey
www.behaviordesign.com
graphpaper.com
@chrisfahey
#sxsw #reinvent

2. Where do Ideas Go?
May June July August September
Scope
Define
Build
Deploy

3. Where do Ideas Go?
May June July August September
Scope
Define
Build
Deploy

4. Where do Ideas Go?
May June July August September
1. Clarify the project’s ideas as soon as possible.
Scope
Define
Build
Deploy

5. Where do Ideas Go?
May June July August September
2. Start with an idea, perfect it during a structured design phase.
Scope
Define
Build
Deploy

6. Where do Ideas Go?
May June July August September
2. Start with an idea, perfect it during a structured design phase.
Scope
Define
Build
Deploy

7. Where do Ideas Go?
May June July August September
3. ABC: Always Be Creative
Scope
Define
Build
Deploy

8. Where do Ideas Go?
May June July August September
3. ABC: Always Be Creative … and open minded.
Scope
Define
Build
Deploy

9. “Design is about solving
problems – not about
creativity and personal
expression.”

10. “Design is about solving
problems – not about
creativity and personal
expression.”
Say what?

13. Dava Newman

14. How can we
create an air
pressure pocket
around the
body?

15. How can we
create an air How can we
pressure pocket pressurize
around the the skin?
body?

16. How can we How can we
create an air design a
pressure pocket slimmer,
around the nimbler, sexier
body? space suit?

26. Bad Designers!
1. Aesthetes
of
Style 2. Agents
of
Neutrality
Love the formal No room for personal
aspects of design expression in design!
Design for design’s sake Love systems, grids,
manuals, and
methodologies.
Every project is a
chance to win a design
award Technically-focused
(Nick Bell, Eye magazine)

27. Bad Designers!
1. UX designers 2. UX designers
who are too who aren’t
creative. creative enough.

28. Bad Designers!
1. UX designers 2. UX designers
who are too who aren’t
creative. creative enough.

32. Data-Driven
Design?

33. Informed
Guesswork

34. Design
Courage

35. Data-Inspired
Design

36. Mind Mapping
Mind Map by Stuart Karten Design

37. Personas

38. Persona Classification
1. The Temporary Visitor
2. The Occasional Repeat Visitor
3. The New Subscriber
4. The Long-Term Subscriber
1. The Sports Fan
2. The Political Junkie
3. The Concerned Parent
4. The Well-Rounded Person

39. Creative Research
From Designing Web Sites for Older Adults for AARP by Ginny Redish and Dana Chisnell

40. Designers as
Researchers

41. Q: Which design
techniques are the best?

42. Q: Which design
techniques are the best?
A: Yes!

43. The Reinvention Imperitive: New Technologies
Why Reinvent the Wheel?
• Touch and Gesture
Interfaces
• Voice Recognition
• Image/Facial
Recognition and Motion
Capture
• Game Mechanics

44. Methodology
May June July August September
Scope
Define
Build
Deploy

45. Choose your
weapon!

47. IDEO Method Cards

54. Stephen Anderson: Mental Notes Cards

55. www.getmentalnotes.com

56. Jesse Schell: Art of Game Design: A Deck of Lenses

57. The Mother of all Methods
• It combines site mapping, process flow logic, and
wireframming into a single entity
• It allows atomic-level interface modules to be modified
or replaced globally
• It is accessible via a web browser
• It can be printed
• It simulates the user experience via click-throughs from
page to page or feature to feature
• It permits extensive feature annotation for
programmers, bordering on functional specifications
• It is fast and fluid for the document creator

59. Sketch “Resolution Spectrum”
Lo-Fidelity
• Gestures
• Words
• Whiteboard
• Pencil
• Sharpie
• Collage
• Low-Fidelity Schematics or Wireframe
• Hi-Fidelity Schematics or Wireframe
• Model, Comp, or Mock-up
• Functional Prototype
High-Fidelity

60. Sketch “Resolution Spectrum”
Lo-Fidelity
• Gestures
• Words
• Whiteboard
• Pencil
• Sharpie
• Collage
• Low-Fidelity Schematics or Wireframe
• Hi-Fidelity Schematics or Wireframe
• Model, Comp, or Mock-up
• Functional Prototype
High-Fidelity • The ACTUAL PRODUCT !

61. Roll your own
design process.

62. Information Visualization

63. Information Visualization

64. Information Visualization

66. There Are No
Templates

67. Tricks

68. The Blank Canvas

69. Exercise: “What is it?”

70. Thumbnail
Quantifications

71. Least Wanted

72. User Persona
Flash Mob

73. User Persona Flash Mob
• Gather user research (user interviews, market research,
stakeholder interviews)

74. User Persona Flash Mob
• Gather user research (user interviews, market research,
stakeholder interviews)
• Brainstorm user types. Don’t censor. Capture each user
type you come up with in a spreadsheet.

75. User Persona Flash Mob
• Gather user research (user interviews, market research,
stakeholder interviews)
• Brainstorm user types. Don’t censor. Capture each user
type you come up with in a spreadsheet.
• Create a “micro-persona” card for each user type, and
put them up on the wall.

78. User Persona Flash Mob
• Gather user research (user interviews, market research,
stakeholder interviews)
• Brainstorm user types. Don’t censor. Capture each user
type you come up with in a spreadsheet.
• Create a “micro-persona” card for each user type, and
put them up on the wall.
• Find patterns and larger groups among the user types.
Card-sort the personas.

79. User Persona Flash Mob
• Gather user research (user interviews, market research,
stakeholder interviews)
• Brainstorm user types. Don’t censor. Capture each user
type you come up with in a spreadsheet.
• Create a “micro-persona” card for each user type, and
put them up on the wall.
• Find patterns and larger groups among the user types.
Card-sort the personas.
• Define a smaller, more managable number of groups
based on the emergent patterns.

80. Product Personality
(voice)

81. “If we want users to like our
software, we should design it to
behave like a likeable person.”
- Alan Cooper

82. Voice = Content Strategy

85. Personality
Characteristics

86. Interpersonal Circumplex

87. Interpersonal Circumplex
Agreeableness
(Communion)
Dominance
(Agency)

88. Design
Themes

90. “Editorial” “Dashboard”
“Cinematic” “Flow”

91. Metaphors

92. Metaphors
Keyword Experience Focus Metaphor
1. Content Content-Centric Auditorium
2. Social People-Centric Networking Event
3. Tools Data-Centric Trading Floor

93. Metaphors

94. Metaphors

95. Metaphors

96. Make up your
own words.

97. Ignazio Moresco, Creative Director at Frog

98. Ignazio Moresco, Creative Director at Frog

99. Ignazio Moresco, Creative Director at Frog

100. Sketching

111. Kevin Cheng

112. Listening:
The Critique

113. UNDER OVER

114. UNDER OVER
Brian Mathis at directedge.us and Chris Rugen at currentconfiguration.com

115. Drawing Conclusions
Prototype as if you are right.
Listen as if you are wrong.
- Diego Rodriguez

116. Things to try
• Designers, get involved in research. Researcher, get
involved in design.
• Plan to change your plan
• Think of your process as a story, one that you are
writing.
• Deliverables are for the design team, not for your client.
So invite the client into the design team.
• Throw away the templates!

117. Thanks!
Christopher Fahey
@chrisfahey
#sxsw #reinvent
graphpaper.com