This was a presentation by Jonathan Steingiesser given to entrepreneurs at Angelhack Dubai in May 2014. It is an Introduction to UX and practical advice on how to turn research into insight and action. During the presentation two activities were given to participants regarding their startup initiative. - Persona development of the target audience - Experience mapping: creating a proto persona (short summary) of the target audience and a user journey based on a day or week in the life of this persona. Then adding the user stories/requirements/features that are needed for each step in that journey Templates and examples can be seen in this presentation. REFERENCE: Content for this presentation was sourced from various materials, predominately Leah Buley's The User Experience Team of One: A Research and Design Survival Guide which can be purchased at http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/ux-team-of-one/

1. Turning Research into
Insight and Action
User Experience
#AngelHackDubai
Spring 2014
#angelhackrules Jonathan Steingiesser | @stemaco

2. Welcome & Introduction
• Jonathan Steingiesser
• User Experience Designer

3. Welcome
• Introductions
• Your thoughts on UX?

5. We can use these lessons
to better understand our
users and how they work
in their daily lives.

6. Agenda
• “User Experience Design” - what the heck does that
mean?
• Planning and Discovery Methods
• Guerilla User Research
• Collating and Presenting your Insights
• Interactive Activity
• What’s next?

7. What is User Experience?

8. What is User Experience?
• User experience is often a difficult thing to describe.
There are many definitions which can be found but no
single definition has triumphed as a favourite.
• This is probably because “user experience” is a general
term that describes not only a professional practice, but
also a resulting outcome.

9. What is UX?
In a simple working definition:
“User experience is the overall
effect created by the interactions
and perceptions that someone
has when using a product or
service”.

10. What is User Experience?
• In today’s world we spend much of our lives interacting
through technology, how easy or difficult it is to use is
what really matters.
• That is what user experience or UX is all about!

11. The Psychology of UX
vs
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Needs of our Users

12. “Usable = Edible”

13. Planning and Discovery Methods
• In the project management or SDLC scheme of things,
where does “Collecting and digesting user feedback” fit
in?
• From a UX perspective, the common activities that take
place can be seen in the following UX Toolkit

15. Planning and Discovery Methods
• As you can see a lot of these activities involve user
research which is why collecting and digesting user
feedback is at the heart of User Experience and User
Centred Design.
• I know what some of you are thinking…

16. Guerilla User Research
• The aim of this activity is to understand your product
from a different perspective and look past what is familiar
and known in order to see the product with fresh eyes.
• What concerns are on top of users’ minds? How do they
really behave? How are people using your product
today?
• You make it a priority to talk and learn from at least a few
users first hand by whatever means necessary.

17. Guerilla User Research - Part 1
1. Think about your target users for a current project
• Who are they?
• What kinds of behaviors and interests might they have?
• Where do they live & work?
• For example, if your target audience are 20-35 year olds and
they spend a lot of time in coffee shops you might want to
spend an afternoon in a coffee shop, politely asking people
you see working on their laptops if they would be interested in
doing a short user study.

18. Guerilla User Research - Part 2
2. List your research questions
• Think about what you’re trying to learn from your users.
• Do a mind map to get your questions out of your head
and onto paper or a whiteboard
• Tips: Ask open-ended questions, ask about past
events e.g “tell me about the last time that you took a
picture on your phone”

20. Guerilla User Research - Part 3
3. Go into the field
• Ideally meet with your users in his/her own environment: work/home or
somewhere he/she spends a lot of time
• Ask your user to show you as much as they are comfortable sharing
about how they use the product and what is relevant in that
environment
• If he/she is ok with it, take picture, video, recordings to document
what you see and hear and remind you of this person and the things
you learned
• Make sure to cover all your research questions which you listed down.

21. Guerilla User Research - Part 4
4. Mine the data for insights
• After you have completed all your research interviews
spend some time reviewing your notes and looking for
the answers to the question you had listed in the
beginning.

22. Collating and Presenting your Insights
• From a project management sense, one common method of
collecting your requirements are through user stories.
Title (one line describing the story)
Narrative: As a [role], I want [feature], So that [benefit]
Acceptance Criteria: (presented as Scenarios)
Scenario 1: Title
Given [context] And [some more context]… When [event] Then [outcome]
And [another outcome]...
Scenario 2: ...

23. Collating and Presenting your Insights
Other methods of presenting user research insights include the following:
• Insights Blogs
• Insights Boards
• Client Workshops
• User Journeys (example: comparing AS-IS to the TO-BE state)
• Personas or Proto Personas
• Heuristic Markup
• Task Flows

24. Personality
Personas help guide the design process,
keeping the focus on user needs

27. 27
User%Journey%+%A%Day%in%the%life%of%an%Undergraduate%Student
Key
Services
Tasks
STEPS
It's.Sunday.Morning.in.
Abu.Dhabi.and.I'm.
woken.up.by.the.alarm.
on.my.smartphone..I.
missed.the.bus.I.was.
intending.on.catching.so.
I.check.GH.on.my.
smartphone.for.the.next.
departure.Cme.
ADer.dinner.I.have.a.
look.at.the.syllabi.for.
the.courses.I.am.going.
to.study.in.New.York.
I.have.some.free.Cme.
following.that.class.so.I.
go.to.the.library.to.do.
some.research.on.that.
assignment.and.take.out.
some.books..I.use.the.
search.filters.to.narrow.
down.my.results.
Towards.the.end.of.my.
first.class.for.the.day.I.
logon.my.laptop.to.
check.the.lunch.menu..I.
share.the.menu.with.my.
friend.who.is.in.a.
different.class.and.invite.
her.to.join.me.for.lunch.
Close.to.the.end.of.my.
lunch.period.I.double.
check.where.and.when.
my.next.class.is.on.my.
smartphone.
At.my.next.class.I.am.
given.a.new.assignment.
due.in.4.weeks.Cme..I.
want.to.add.this.to.my.
calendar.with.a.number.
of.reminders.
I.head.back.to.my.dorm.
in.Sama.and.do.some.
planning.for.studying.in.
New.York.next.
semester..I.start.this.by.
creaCng.a.new.custom.
view.of.New.York.and.
add.content.that.
interests.me.
Later.that.aDernoon.
following.a.chat.with.my.
friend.about.an.
upcoming.SIG.event.we.
are.planning,.I.go.back.
to.GH.to.book.the.
equipment,.room.and.
refreshments.necessary.
for.that.event.
During.dinner.I.am.
alerted.of.a.noCficaCon.
on.my.smartphone.of.an.
upcoming.jogging.event.
that.was.triggered.by.
my.profile.interests..I.
add.this.event.to.my.
calendar.
Notes
Using.smartphone.
connected.over.WIFI.
whilst.in.the.dorm.room.
Single.Sign.On.(SSO).
through.Global.Home
ARCHGH.FU.3.1.0.0
User.Log.into.Global.
Home.through.
smartphone
IdenCfy.user.Profile.
and.home.page.
seVngs
ARCHGH.FU.1.7.1.0
ARCHGH.FU.1.2.0.0
ARCHGH.FU.1.7.7.0
Note:%
The.user.has.previously.
indicated.that.they.want.dining.
services.shown.as.part.of.their.
core.services.through.their.
home.page.
Technology%Familiarity
I.am.confident.with.technology,.but.I.get.nervous.
when.there.is.a.lot.on.the.screen..
I.want.something.simple.and.straighWorward.
Goals
Complete.all.the.prerequisites.and.get.accepted.
into.Medical.School..
Make.the.most.out.of.my.Cme.here.taking.part.in.
coXcurricular.and.social.acCviCes.
Challenges
Difficulty.finding.what.I.need.because.it’s.in.so.
many.different.places.
Lack.of.informaCon.for.planning.post.academic.
studies.
Faceted.Search
User.uses.faceted.
search.available.
through.Global.Home.
to.search.against.
library.resources
LocaCon.Based.Content.–.
User.Specified
User.creates.an.
addiConal.Global.
Home.for.a.future.
locaCon
Determine.the.default.
informaCon.for.the.
chosen.future.locaCon
Event.Management
User.accesses.the.
Event.AdministraCon.
Service.
User.creates.event
Profile.Based.
NoCficaCons
Determine.that.new.
content.has.been.
created.that.relates.to.
the.users.GH.
preferences.and.
interests
Present.noCficaCon.to.
the.user.through.their.
homepage
User.Controlled.content.X.
available.services
The.user.navigates.to.
the.available.services.
through.the.addiConal.
locaCon.GH.page
Determine.services.
available.to.the.user.
for.addiConal.locaCon
Undergraduate
Sophomore
Arts%&%HumaniEes
Luciana.Diaz
“Every.day.someone.tells.me.something.about.
their.life.and.their.culture..I.would.like.to.make.
the.most.of.this.experience.and.become.as.
globally.openXminded.as.possible.both.socially.
and.academically.”
Demographics
From.Spain
Speak.Spanish.(mother.tongue),.English.(advanced)
Majoring.in.Human.Biology;.PreXmed.
The.eldest.of.three.with.two.younger.brothers
Abended.private.school.in.Madrid
LocaCon.Based.Content
Determine.user’s.
locaCon
Present.locaCon.based.
content.to.user
User.selects.dining.
services.for.current.
locaCon
Present.user.with.
dining.opCons
Social.Networking
User.shares.locaCon.
based.content.with.
others
ARCHGH.FU.1.9.1.0
Calendars
ARCHGH.FU.7.0.0.0
Present.default.
Calendar.view.through.
Global.home
User.select.to.view.
Class.related.calendar
Scheduling
ARCHGH.FU.7.4.0.0
User.schedules.
calendar.event.and.
add.reminders
ARCHGH.FU.4.2.0.0 ARCHGH.FU.1.7.3.0
Determine.the.users.
preferences.and.
seVngs.on.any.exisCng.
profile
ARCHGH.FU.1.8.0.0
Apply.the.users.
preferences.and.
seVngs.to.future.
locaCon.where.
appropriate
Present.the.future.
locaCon.Global.Home.
in.addiCon.to.default.
Global.Home.LocaCon
The.user.modify.the.
future.locaCon.Global.
Home.based.on.any.
addiConal.preferences.
they.have.relevant.to.
the.new.locaCon
ARCHGH.FU.1.9.0.0
Note:%
The.user.has.previously.created.
interest.and.preferences.on.
their.profile.and.these.are.
carried.forward.onto.any.new.
profile.they.create,.if.
appropriate.
ARCHGH.FU.1.8.1.0
ARCHGH.FU.6.2.0.0
ARCHGH.FU.1.14.1.0
ARCHGH.FU.1.14.1.0
Present.available.
resources.to.the.user
Note:%
Need.to.understand.from.Web.
Services.Team.(Thomas.
GarbeloV).what.they.are.doing.
for.Event.Management..This.
may.turn.out.to.be.a.service.
provided.through.Global.Home..
Any.Reminders,.Scheduling.and.
possibly.response.gathering.
however,.need.to.be.integrated.
into.Global.Home.
ARCHGH.FU.6.0.0.0
ARCHGH.FU.1.11.0.0
The.user.adds.the.
event.to.their.calendar.
automaCcally
ARCHGH.FU.6.3.0.0
ARCHGH.FU.1.9.4.0
ARCHGH.FU.1.7.3.0
Present.Services.
available.to.user.at.
addiConal.locaCon.
based.on.role
ARCHGH.FU.1.10.1.0
Note:%
The.user.has.previously.created.
the.Global.Home.page.for.
another.locaCon.and.set.
preferences.and.interests..The.
system.understands.the.role.of.
the.person.and.the.services.
available.to.them.
Resource.availbility
User.checks.available.
resources.required.to.
facilitate.the.event
The.user.reserves.the..
locaCon.and.any.
resources.that.should.
be.available.within.the.
locaCon
ARCHGH.FU.1.14.4.0
MVP.Flag
.Must
Should
Nice.to.Have.X.NTH
SERVICES%&%TASKS

29. Activity
1. Create a detailed persona based on your target
audience for your product
OR
2. Create a proto persona (short summary) of your target
audience and a user journey based on a day or week in
the life of this persona. Then add the user stories or
requirements/features that you need for each step in
that journey

30. What’s next?
• Design - sketching, prototypes and wireframes.
• Applying everything you have learned to improve the user
experience and eliminate pain points and frustrations.
• Final note: user research and feedback never stops. It is
something that should be done throughout the project life
cycle and continued after project completion. Usability
studies for example should be scheduled periodically and
along with analytics and other user feedback can be
used to continuously improve the product.

31. The future: An Ecosystem approach to Design
31

32. 32

33. 33

34. Think big even if you
start small
34

35. Questions?