Category — Projects

Thanks to everyone for their input about the UX deliverables workshop! Mike and I had a discussion yesterday (over a delicious bento lunch in the city) that we should hold off on the workshop for now. Instead, we want to focus on a more immediate need of beginning designers who need an environment where they can learn from others, encourage each other and grow their portfolios.

One idea I received via email came from someone who wants to have his portfolio critiqued as he’s building it. This in turn gave way to the idea of local designers having meetups – a mini UX show and tell, as it were. It doesn’t have to be some major event like the ones Philly CHI hosts. It can be as simple as a few designers sitting at a table at a local coffeehouse sharing their work. Having these gatherings every other week would allow for consistency as well as flexibility. It’s also a great way to get to know local designers in the area and network with each other. And perhaps it can be a soapbox for beginners to vent about their struggle to find work (kept to a minimum, of course. This is meant to be a positive environment where we can encourage and support each other!)

Would you be interested in having this kind of UX meetup in your area?

So I made an impromptu presentation of my UX presentation idea at the PhillyCHI UX Show and Tell last night. It was received positively, but from the feedback I received, I realize that there are a lot more kinks to work out than I initially thought. Among other things to be reconsidered:

Target audience – should this be for people who are looking to beef up their portfolios a bit more, or for people who don’t have any previous UX work to show?

Backgrounds of target audience – while I had initially had in mind people coming from different fields and into UX, it didn’t occur to me that this in itself could be a problem. Someone coming into UX from an artist background is going to have a different frame of reference from someone coming from a computer science background. This could make things tricky.

Semantics – should this be called a “workshop” or an “interactive session?”

I was also considering integrating a panel on how to effectively present deliverables, how to cope with tough clients, what to do when there’s an objection to your design, etc. But I think this may be best kept separate; nevertheless, it’s still something I’m interested in (just gotta make sure it hasn’t already been done…I hope it hasn’t!)

There’s much to be discussed and mused over with the PhillyCHI chair, Mike Carvin. In the meantime, if you have any ideas or suggestions on how to make this project a reality, please leave a comment or email me: mortvia at gmail dot com.

The white sheet of paper torn from a sketchbook can be just as intimidating as the blank screen. It reminds me of my creative writing class back in college. While other students could write gobs of pages that needed to be thinned out, my writing was anorexic and in need of fattening up. The internal organizer and perfectionist in me can’t stand messiness.

It is possible to have UX block? Perhaps. But just like writer’s block, we need to remind ourselves that this isn’t Rocket Surgery™. And even when it feels that way, there’s a book for that.

“Sketching wireframes by hand is like writing the shitty first drafts of a story.”

When you have an assignment or an idea for a wireframe, it’s actually not ideal to head straight for Visio, Omnigraffle, Balsamiq, or whatever tool you use. Ideas that go straight from your head to the wireframing program are less malleable, and it may make you less inclined to make needed changes due to all the time you spent sitting at the computer. Using paper and a pen or pencil is much more liberating. It may help to think of sketching along these lines: Sketching wireframes by hand is like writing the shitty first drafts of a story. (Even if you’re not a writer, Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird is an excellent book.) The sketching stage where you want to make your mistakes and get all the kinks out. The last thing you want is a major gaff to patch up at, say, the prototyping stage.

You have to keep yourself and your deliverables pliable to mold into the shape you need in any given situation. Now’s the time to step away from the comp, tear out that blank sheet – unless it’s a pricey Moleskine – and scribble away, even when your internal organizer is cringing. Doing so will make you more proficient, and your deliverables will get better.

If you’ve never been to a design slam, it can be a pretty intense experience, especially if you sign up to be a design team member. I had no idea what I was in for, but it was worth it.

The rush to create deliverables and a cohesive presentation within a scant 40 minutes is like cramming for a comprehensive exam the night before. But it trains you to think on the fly (which is often what you’ll be doing anyway as a UX designer) and how to collaborate with people you’ve only met a half hour ago. The specific challenge we were faced with made me wish that I had read Nathan Shedroff’s book beforehand – we had to focus on sustainabilty and being “green,” not as a mere trend, but as the focus of the company. Among other ideas my team came up with, we thought of placing recipes on the online site, with links to the ingredients where customers could then place an order and pick up in person.

Alas, we lost. We think it was rigged by that guy in the red shirt…he owns the place where the design slam was held, after all.

When it comes to wireframes, I’ve had the tendency to create them directly with a program such as Visio or Balsamiq. But for the review submission wireframes I’m working on for Naan Map, I did sketches on paper first. Now I see why so many do it this way – it allows ideas to flow more freely and consider adding or changing things that would be difficult to do when using a program.

The two things I wish to improve on are making sketches as quickly as possible (since it’s good to have something to work with ASAP, and more than likely things are going to be changed anyway) and improving the quality of detail. Personally I am not satisfied with these, but we’ll see what the higher-ups think.

This is the first version of the review submission wireframe.

This may prove to be a little too bland, since it doesn’t give the reviewer much leeway as to what information they could add that may be useful to others.

Hence, version number two.

It has more details, but it may not cover all the bases.

The seventh session of Whit Hour this past Sunday was the absolute best so far (I’ll post a link as soon as she uploads the text and video.) It was inspiring and gave me much hope. As an introverted and shy person, it’s hard integrating into something new. I’ve been in libraries all my working years, but it’s no longer something I feel passion and enthusiasm for. When I discovered IA and in turn UX, I was unaware that there were people responsible for making websites – among other things – easy to use. I’ve certainly had my share of bad user experiences, so what’s not to love about an entire field dedicated to weeding these out?

In my efforts of taking very, very scary first steps, you may notice that this site can now be Googled. Whitney makes a good point that there’s no point in keeping things under wraps if you want to be a part of the UX community. Hence I have also made my tweets public.

For fellow introverts and shy people, check out Whitney’s slideshow. Listen to the audio for extra tips and ideas.

As I’m working on self-designed IA projects, I was mulling a bit over the overall process. While ultimately it’s better to have these in my portfolio than nothing at all, it bothers me since they’re really no substitute for real life experience. You’re not working with actual clients or with other IAs in person. I feel like I’m just shadow-fencing at the moment – I may be learning how to parry and thrust, but my full potential as a fighter is not being realized since I’m not learning from and testing myself against seasoned fencers.

Thinking at random, I’m not sure if this already exists, but if it does there aren’t any in my area:

Perhaps there could be full-day workshops for those who are new to IA/UX design and want to get started in the field. It would randomly assign 2 or 3 students with an experienced professional to collaborate and produce deliverables on a fictional project. This is something I would gladly pay for. It would give a new person experience with working with others, get a feel for the general process, and have something to put in their portfolio and on their resume. I think this would be much better than just creating wireframes and sitemaps in a vacuum.

It’s official – project NaanMap is underway!

Right now we’re in phase 1, deciding on search terms (what we’re calling a “verb list”) and developing wireframes for the home page, search results pages and details pages. Hopefully we can wrap this up around three weeks. I met up with my IA mentor for lunch today and he gave me great feedback and advice, bringing up things I previously hadn’t considered or had even overlooked. Among the things I want to remember:

The latter really hit home with me. After lunch, I had mentioned in passing that I’m considering getting a CrackBlackberry, and that I preferred it over an iPhone. He asked why; I said it’s because I don’t like touch screens (they’re too reminiscent of ATMs to me, and you can only imagine how much germs and what not are on those….) And he rightfully pointed out that that is not a valid reason. What is it specifically about touch screens that I don’t like? Personally, I have a hard time typing with them – for me the feel of actual keys is better, and I often make mistakes with touch screens (another reason why I don’t like to use ATMs unless absolutely necessary.)

This also had me thinking about other things when it comes to my personal preferences. I chose the PS3 over the 360 and Wii because I can handle the controller better. I like Stuart Weitzman shoes because he’s one of the few designers who realizes that women with wide width feet want pretty shoes to wear as well (I cannot fit into Jimmy Choos or Ferragamos, among others, and I’ve only encountered one pair of Manolo Blahniks that fit me…I own those, of course.)

Articulating why it’s best to place something here and not there, or using this instead of that…. These are things an IA needs to convey to clients to justify the decisions and subsequent changes they make. This is something I want to extend beyond IA. Doing this kind of gruntwork – almost like having a Socrates Café session – will not only help get the bills paid when it comes to one’s profession, but it’s a good thing to do in one’s life overall.

It would be awesome to have a hand in redesigning the website for my local library. I was speaking with the reference librarian recently, and she mentioned that it’s in need of an overhaul (and it really does – it looks like it was made with MS Frontpage circa 1995.) For now I’m suggesting ideas such as adding a navigation bar and a search box, and I hope to at least be able to produce a sitemap and wireframe. No word yet on who’ll be officially hired for the project.

Even if nothing of mine is used, this’ll be a worthwhile addition to my portfolio, which I am still piecing together.  I’ll be juggling this along with improving the CCPL site and creating a completely new practice site (the “if I had my own IA company, what would the site be like?” project.)