this was a talk given at uxlx 2011 about how you can help your team to generate more ideas using certain exercises and card sets with open or closed (user experience specific) vocabulary.
9. Project types (or phases in project) KNOW BOTH e.g. iPhone app for recording expenses KNOW GOAL e.g. product for recording expenses KNOW TECHNOLOGY e.g. iPhone app for business users KNOW NOTHINGe.g. new product for business users Eddie Obeng, All change! Project leaders’ secret handbook
10. Project types (or phases in project) KNOW BOTH e.g. iPhone app for recording expenses KNOW GOAL e.g. product for recording expenses KNOW TECHNOLOGY e.g. iPhone app for business users KNOW NOTHINGe.g. new product for business users Eddie Obeng, All change! Project leaders’ secret handbook
17. Current card categories architecture Behavioural psychology security Recognition/perception (Ergonomics) Interaction design elements Error-proofing memory Game play
18. What else… architecture Interaction features Behavioural psychology Aspects of your personas security Anti- (the dark side) Recognition/perception (Ergonomics) Interaction design elements Error-proofing Experience principles (brand values) memory Game play
20. A thorough brief: What do you want to get out of it? What challenges should be addressed? What are the limitations? Which scenarios/personas should be considered?
27. Exercise 1: 6 in 8 – gut instincts Draw 6 sketches in 8 minutes Focus on the key parts that make your solutions different This will help focusing everyone to engage with the problem on a high level. 6-up template to help set the frame
28. Exercise 2: Force-in cards Spread the cards around your team – about 5-8 each. Ask everyone to use each of their cards to create another round of sketches (limiting the time usually helps).
29. Exercise 3: Pass around Everyone to choose to of their sketches Pass them around to the next person around the table. Everyone is solutionising based on their cards on the unknown sketches and therefore coming up with different solutions.
30. Exercise 4: Share the pen(Collaborative sketching) Draw in pairs or groups – the team will be working on the solution together! It’s all about communication First person is allowed to draw one line (not lifting the pen) Then pass on and the next person adds their line before passing it on.
37. A card template Project specific vocabulary Easily extended Specific for the clients you are working for Share with the UX community – more inspiration for everyone category title Description Lorizzlephat dolor for sure you son of a bizzle, adipiscingelit. Nullamdizzle funky fresh, owned volutpizzle, suscipizzlequizzle, gravidavel, funky fresh. Pellentesquemah
Lbi– marketing and technology agency4.5 yearsSketches to illustrate possible solutions2 things that helpUsing cards to stimulate the thinkingUsing specific exercises
Persona or take your mum- usually its not just one concept because you would want to try out a few more ideas Sometimes you get stuck with what came into your head first sometimes you forget what else is out there you want to do something differentiating
Put your ipads and smartphones away for a minute
Persona or take your mum- usually its not just one concept because you would want to try out a few more ideas Sometimes you get stuck with what came into your head first sometimes you forget what else is out there you want to do something differentiating
Have had projects where its all about bringing ideas onto paper quickly as client wants to see something asapWe’ve used cards with keywords around usability, the project’s background and even features to stimulate our thinking and generate ideas more quickly
Parallel thinking is where innovation and new ideas can come from Paradigm shiftDisruptionStimuli to get to this other layeron which scale depends on the openness of the project and the people working on it and which stimuli they got
Not exhaustive
Make it more specific for your clients and projectsFocus on aspects that differentiate
Make or choose the set of cards you’d like to useclarity
Mix of disciplines?Sketchers!
Everyone involved in the exercise should know the dictionary of sketching interaction designsIe.How do buttons look likeHow to input fields or drop downs look like etc
A lot of excercises and theories likeOne view of the creative process I like:according to Dave Gray – author of Gamestorming.But also six thinking hats, innovation games, ideo process cards etc.Shows how a problem is explored – with a multitude of solutions, these go into facets and subfacets of possible solution parts in the DIVERGE stage. Followed by the exploration part where you can see how some solutions are actually connected, some solve the same problem, some are not really feasible..And in the CONVERGE stage – where from the different solutions that are still there, you look critically at all of them and decide which one to go forward with.
Design course exercise that is often used at LbiThe Red Hat signifies feelings, hunches and intuition. When using this hat you can express emotions and feelings and share fears, likes, dislikes, loves, and hates.
The Green Hat focuses on creativity; the possibilities, alternatives, and new ideas. It's an opportunity to express new concepts and new perceptions.
converging
Easier if you have to communicate it to business stakeholders (specifically in finance sector)This comes back to the briefIf you have good acceptance criteria of what should be achieved, it will be easier to use these as criteria to select ideasAlternativesUser testStakeholder insightsTechnical limitations
For everyone who likes it a bit more scientific..It should also help to find opportunities for possible improvements of the winning solution
A quick exercise to get everyone engaged – handing out example cards and run a minute exercise to see whether they based on the earlier brief can now come up with a completely different idea.
Persona or take your mum- usually its not just one concept because you would want to try out a few more ideas Sometimes you get stuck with what came into your head first sometimes you forget what else is out there you want to do something differentiating
A quick exercise to get everyone engaged – handing out example cards and run a minute exercise to see whether they based on the earlier brief can now come up with a completely different idea.