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Complex Design: First Make It Effective, Then Wow ‘Em
In creating any kind of complex product, workflow or design it is often difficult to do everything at once, or even in a first version. This can lead to tremendous efforts failing to generate expected business value. How can this be avoided? Tony Antin, a veteran of advertising strategy, offers a useful piece of advice in his book Great Print Advertising. The advice, in the advertising context, is simple: first make an effective ad, and then try to turn it into a great ad.
The advertising advice can apply to almost any designed product. The thesis is simple but subtle. Not all effective ads are great, but no great ad gets that status without being effective. Effectiveness is a requirement, and probably a prerequisite, for greatness.
The common mistake made is the assumption that striving for greatness automatically gives you effectiveness. Not so. Effectiveness is often a matter of sound strategy, diligent research, clear objectives, detailed architecture or structure, good decision-making and validation as you go that your assumptions are correct. Where effectiveness may be a primarily left-brain pursuit, greatness is likely to have right-brain qualities. Great products become great often because of the intangible, the creative element that goes beyond the commodity aspect of the product and reaches the user in an unanticipated way.
So what is the bottom line? When designing for complexity, make sure you’ve got an effective idea or effective set of ideas first, then build them into something more.
Designing Self-Organizing Business Structures
What is self-organization? According to Wikipedia, it is “a process in which the internal organization of a system, normally an open system, increases in complexity without being guided or managed by an outside source.” IBM’s innovation website suggests such a principle may be applicable to the business world. Can it be used, though, to streamline business processes? Perhaps.
One may look at workflow design as the search for the optimal answer. Lots of inputs are tugging at a process where the goal is to get from point A to point B as efficiently as possible. The truly optimal process though may require adaptation. For example, if you are calling your bank to check a balance in an account, you are engaging the customer service process differently than if you lost your credit card. The process does not adapt, it just tries to optimally anticipate what you may need. The more complexity you have, the less optimal the “workflow tree” is likely to be. A different approach may be an adaptive process. Once the process knows your call is about a credit card, it instantly adapts its offerings to you.
To design an adaptive business process, one would likely focus on creating modules and rules for how modules may combine as opposed to rigid branches in a sequence. After that, it’s up to circumstance to dictate the actual process. The business would then need to monitor customer experiences to see if the process was actually performing as intended.
Of course, adaptation can have negative consequences. For a good read, check out Michael Crichton’s novel Prey, which also contains references to scientific papers on topics related to self-organizing systems.
Reconciling the Powers of Less and More in Product Design
In his book The Art of Innovation (a highly recommended read), Tom Kelley (of IDEO) speaks of “Feature Creep” as the enemy of innovation. We have all used products that try to be so much they become a burden instead of a helpful tool. But how as practitioners do we fight the feature creep tendency and keep products and business processes customer-focused?
Kelley advocates two approaches. First, in a version 2.0 of a product, streamline. Resist the temptation to overcrowd the product and emphasize “integration and simplicity.” Second, you should “spend the most design attention at the place where you touch the product the most.” I would hold this especially true in physical and mobile devices, but would also emphasize this principle in process design. If everyone encounters the front door of a process, make sure that part or the process is very well thought out and efficient for the users.
Topics: Design, User Experience
Research and the Physical Environment
It’s important to understand the physical environment of the user when designing any kind of a product. To do so, there are some key questions to ask and things to observe:
- Lighting – Is the user in good light, poor light, outdoors or indoors?
- Work area – How large is the workspace? A desk or counter is different than a hand-held device without a table or ledge to rest the device on
- Screen size – How large is the typical screen (for software) and what is the resolution?
- Distance – How far apart are users that may need to collaborate?
- Variability – Does the environment change, or is it consistent?
- Distractions – Are there events in the environment that may prove distracting to the user or interrupt the process?
Asking such questions should be a key part of research, but even better is to photograph or create a simple illustration of the user’s environment.
Topics: User Research
The Hand-Off Between Information Architecture and Visual Design
If form follows function, the information equivalent may be “look follows feel.” Or, in a wordier form, visual design follows IA.
Information architects must be able to clearly communicate to visual designers the requirements, expectations and creative boundaries for the visual design. I recommend a few techniques, especially when developing a commercial product:
- Make a list of all the graphic “things” needed for the product, including icons, widgets, marketing logos, buttons, controls, etc.
- Take the list and make a crude thumbnail sketch of each item on a page so the visual designer can “see” what you want
- Create wireframes that show hierarchy and where hierarchy is not clear annotate the wireframes with callouts indicating what is most important
- Note any visual restrictions; for example, type size or limitations to using color
- Include any branding guides, restrictions or preferences
- Let the designer know the evaluation criteria for a successful design; for example, “the design must be very readable, easy to see in bad light and use only standard type faces.”
- List any technical constraints that impact the visual design, such as limits to file sizes
Once you have your specification, take one or two (no more) representative screens and have the visual designer do a couple very rapid comps. Do a quick check of the comps to make sure you and the designer are thinking the same way and evaluating the designs along the same criteria.
Topics: Information Architecture
“Webisodes” – Storytelling, Interaction and Business Strategy Converge
If you haven’t heard the term, it’s probably just what you would think. A webisode is simply a short video or cartoon clip delivered on the web. Generally there is a sequence of webisodes purposed to encourage return visits (an example of the Zeigarnik effect – see our prior blog article).
Because the content is delivered on the web, it’s easy to integrate interactivity to encourage consumers to stick around .
Take Unilever’s on-line soap opera pitch for its “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!” product. The series of animated on-line “webisodes” challenged the viewer to put together clues and solve a mystery to have a chance to win a prize. Though the contest is over, you can still visit the content.
Topics: Story Telling, Zeigarnik
A User Experience Worth Visiting
I used to get frustrated by Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature as it often was sluggish or simply did not work. I’m happy to notice they have innovated a new “Amazon Online Reader” that provides a much better experience, thanks no doubt to some Web 2.0 technologies and a user interface that has been improved in many small ways.
I could detail the virtues of the new experience, but it would be quicker and more meaningful for you to just give it a try. Simply go to Amazon and look up a book of interest and click the "Search Inside" graphic and you will be taken into the reader.
Topics: Web 2.0
One of the Hottest Design Tools…
Believe it or not, it’s paper. It’s not often regarded as a power tool, but when it comes to complex thinking and problem solving, paper is often as ubiquitous as water and air.
Edward Tufte points out in a posting on his site that “in the last 10 years, every country in the western world has increased its per capita use of paper.” I know I’m doing my part, and my co-workers as well.
For more reading on paper and its uses in thinking and cognition, check out the posting by Tufte on his web site.
Visualization in Project Planning
Visualization is a powerful tool when trying to take a large amount of data and communicate it in a form that is more immediately digestible. We’ve been experimenting with applying visualization to project planning.
Traditional project plans face two challenges. First, the typical list of tasks or Gant chart can be a confusing communication vehicle. Usually such artifacts are printed in microscopic fonts on a relatively small sheet of paper and it’s hard to see the forest among the trees. The second challenge of traditional project plans is they don’t really build a cognizance among team members of what the other team members are doing. In the end, the project has to succeed as a whole, so it’s crucial that team members work well together.
One method of visualizing the project plan is to create a visual timeline. The timeline shows thumbnail sketches of deliverables and environments used to create the deliverables. Example environments could include a location for user research or a meeting room for a brainstorming session. Participants can be represented by simple stick figures. Depicting a plan in this fashion can enable a lucid walk through and vetting with team members.
Another way of visualizing the project plan is to use a storyboard technique. Each panel shows an element of action, a deliverable or a progress measure. When panels are juxtaposed, the entire story of the project plan can be told clearly and effectively.
Visualization of project plans does not demand a lot of artistic skill, just a new approach. Give these techniques a try if you are looking for a way to make your projects plans more communicative and get your team working more closely.
Topics: Best Practices
Innovation Through “Crowdsourcing”
Companies are leveraging a new technique called “crowdsourcing” to bring customers into the design process. A recent Businessweek article describes crowdsourcing as “the unofficial (but catchy) name of an IT-enabled business trend in which companies get unpaid or low-paid amateurs to design products, create content, even tackle corporate R&D problems in their spare time.”
The article goes on to describe different flavors of crowdsourcing. For example, a T-shirt company called Threadless relies on the results of a contest to define its new products. Here the customer is the designer. Another example is a furniture company called Muji (Muji.net). Muji relies on its consumer network for generating and ranking ideas, but then turns the highly ranked ideas to professional designers for creation of new products.
While crowdsourcing may work well for consumer products, can it work for more complex products? The article asks this question and the answer is perhaps not a simple one. The more complex something is, the smaller the “crowd” will be that has the interest and knowledge to give input. Nonetheless, the ability to easily network people together provides a reason to believe bringing customers into the innovation process will happen more and more as companies look to create a competitive edge through innovation.
Topics: Domain Knowledge, Ideation
Usability of Processes in Service Businesses
Why are service processes often frustrating? My theory is that most of the time they are created, but not crafted. They are often not subjected to the Deming philosophy of constant measure and improve, or even the more casual evaluation of “is this a process I would feel good about recommending to a friend?”
For example, I recently had an interesting experience trying to get a refund for an airline ticket. I waited in a customer service line, only to get a phone number to call. Then I called the number, and the office wasn’t open. Thankfully, the agent had written the refund number on a brochure that had another number for reservations. I called that number (they were open) and got my refund.
It is not difficult to create a business process. To craft one, however, takes an approach. That approach should incorporate a few insights. First, things that look easy often are not easy because of the exceptions. A good process is made robust by pitting it up against the possible exception paths to see if it still holds up. A refund system should take into account I may call it at 10:00 pm, not during normal hours. Second, a good process should be comfortable. I don’t feel comfortable waiting in line to get a phone number. It feels like I’m doing all the work. Third, the process should be efficient. Don’t send me to customer service to get a phone number, just give me the number.
Usability guru Jakob Nielsen points out the importance of “designing workflow” as opposed to merely “automating processes.” Yet we can all cite examples where workflow was clearly not designed. There is a great strategic potential here for companies to gain a competitive edge and grow customer satisfaction.
User Experience in Configuration Tools
The digital age has lead us to the age of customization. Whether it be your computer desktop, your portal home page, your music device or even your clothing, there is an aspect of “My” in almost everything now. But how does “My” happen? How do we customize things?
In general, we can consider two approaches: passive configuration and goal-driven configuration. A familiar example of passive configuration would be Amazon.com, which will suggest purchases of possible interest based on a history of interaction. In goal-driven configuration, the user is actively pursuing a specific goal, such as configuring a complex piece of equipment by using a configuration tool in a purposeful way.
In goal-driven configuration, the user experience of the configuration tool is crucial along several dimensions. First, the tool must enable the user to achieve the configuration goals. Failure to configure successfully can render the underlying product useless. Second, the tool should provide a sense of progress so the user is not overwhelmed. Feelings of small successes can be crucial to tolerating a long complex procedure. Third, the tool almost always has to be intuitive to a user with far less knowledge about the underlying product than the engineers who created it.
Any product that relies on configuration can benefit from a well-designed configuration tool. In some cases, the quality of the tool will have a direct impact on the sales and acceptance of the product, and the loyalty and satisfaction of the customer.
Rethinking the Help System in an Ajax World
In desktop applications and the new genre of Ajax applications it's possible to provide contextual information to the user. This is typically done one of two ways. Either real estate is devoted up front to the display of this information, or a pop-up (or slide-in) of some kind emerges.
The ability to contextualize information physically suggests the necessity to rethink the creation of the help system. Not only must we consider what the information must be, but also when and where it will likely be accessed. The help system truly must be a system, not just an encyclopedia of the features of the tool (that is still a good thing to have, nonetheless).
The down side of a highly contextual help system is cost. Someone has to design it, not just write it (you have to do that too). There may be a good middle ground, though. Consider providing specific help access points contextually in your application for the things users are most likely to get stuck on. Provide opportunities for assistance, advice or suggestions in context where the benefits are significant to the task at hand. Let the user easily get the information, and get rid of it when their needs have been met. This approach can deliver value to your users, while keeping the creation and maintenance costs reasonable.
Scenarios – Recording a Day in the Life
One of the simplest and most effective scenarios you can create for an application user (someone who uses an application as part of his or her daily work) is the Day in the Life scenario. It is effective at capturing both tasks and context for using the application.
A series of interview questions can be used to extract the Day in the Life. Some possible questions are:
1. When do you arrive at work?
2. What is the first thing you do?
3. What kind of interruptions do you have?
4. Do you multitask, or finish one thing at a time?
5. How frequently do you use the application during the day?
6. What tasks does the application help you perform?
7. How critical to your job are these tasks?
8. How does the application help you do your job?
9. What does the application not help you with?
10. How much time do you spend during the day using the application?
11. What work is left unfinished at the end of the day?
12. When do you leave?
You can add to this list and modify it as needed. Once you finish your interview, transform the responses into a narrative for an effective Day in the Life scenario.
Topics: Best Practices, Methodology, Personas, Scenarios
A Short List for Contextual Inquiry
In its unscientific form, contextual inquiry is simply observing people do what they do. As professionals, however, we can be more effective by applying some science to the approach.
In a nutshell, the following items are recommended for a good contextual inquiry.
1. Understand your audience - do some research on what they do, what their tasks and goals are, and the unique characteristics of the environment in which you will observe them.
2. Make a list of what you want to observe - time with users is usually a precious commodity, so make a wish list of what you would like to get out of the session.
3. Plan a technique for getting rapport - Beyer and Holtzblatt (see reference below) identify several approaches such as the Master/Apprentice. In this approach, you are the apprentice observing the master at work.
4. Define all of your measuring and recording techniques in advance - you may wish to use audio, photography, video, etc., but even for simple note taking you may wish to prepare note sheets in advance to make the best records possible. For example, a "swim lanes" note sheet can be used to record the interactions between what the user is doing vs. what the system or tool is doing.
For more in depth information, you can look to two very good books. The first is Beyer and Holtzblatt's Contextual Design: Defining Customer-Centered Systems. The second is Mike Kuniavsky's Observing the User Experience.
Topics: Best Practices, Ethnographic Research, User Research
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