Comments for uxstudio

Comment on Agile + User Experience Design by liam

liam — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:17:39 +0000

Bernhard: 2-4 weeks may be enough lead time provided that:

1) The designers really understand the use cases/requirements coming into the project
2) The project is of a small enough scale that a few weeks of design are sufficient to put all of the high-level pieces in place

The argument I made in my posting is that requirements and design work can still be done before coding begins using an Agile approach (i.e., fixed-length iterations). This also allows developing and understanding of the requirements BEFORE design begins. An added benefit is that alternative design options can be prototyped and validated with users.

I realize that prototypes will never be as explicit as working code, but they can definitely help to answer some of the “big picture” questions about the overall direction of the User Experience.

The reality is that software development is still an immature industrial discipline, and as such is still finding its way towards best practices in design, process, and quality control.

To paraphrase W. Churchill: Agile is the worst software development process there is–except for all the other processes that have been previously tried.

Comment on Agile + User Experience Design by Bernhard Kappe

Bernhard Kappe — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:51:20 +0000

It’s interesting to see others wrestle with this problem too. We’ve been working on integrating user experience design and agile for quite some time as well, and finding a balance between the two is not easy. They’re two different responses to the fundamental failings of traditional text documentation driven waterfall process. What they share in common is the use of a feedback loop. User Experience Design does user modeling, rapid prototyping from low-fi to hi-fi, with user feedback and modifications along the way. Agile relies on short development iterations to deliver working software that you can use to get feedback to inform further development. Both have their advantages and disadvantages: On the one hand, real software in use by real users is far superior for validation than even the most hi-fi prodotype, on the other, development without big picture design can be sub-optimal. We’ve found starting with a two to four week inception phase including high level user experience design works best for us, followed by two week development iterations. Our designers stay two weeks ahead of the developers so that designs and requirements are ready at the start of the next iteration. There’s a nice presentation on the subject over at http://www.pathf.com/ideas/presentations-and-webinars/agile-design/

Comment on User Experience Strategy by Joelle Benvenuto

Joelle Benvenuto — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:42:15 +0000

I’m an interaction designer myself and I really enjoyed reading this page.
Thank you for posting this. I guess I really would love working in a team like that.

I think the single most important activity to increase user experience group effectiveness and influence would be to demonstrate that their design’s recommendations are answering every goals identified at the beginning of the project.

They would do so by showing how simple and easy and new a user interact with a feature.
I think the more important is to show that this is a science and an art.

Comment on Vertical Gardens by liam

liam — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:27:00 +0000

Blanc’s installations feature a drip-style irrigation system beneath the felt layer. His book gets into some of the details of how it works.

Comment on Vertical Gardens by Michael C

Michael C — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:28:49 +0000

Cool work – I wonder though how adaptable it is to warmer climates, or to drier ones. Also, in areas such as San Jose, CA where I live the hanging vegetation surely must end up trapping a lot of dust / dirt. Maybe hanging gardens could be assembled from native species as well, cactuses, etc.
An other thing occurs to me – hanging gardens certainly means hanging zoos as well

Comment on User Experience & Risk Management by liam

liam — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 22:45:08 +0000

Your right. This article doesn’t discuss error reduction and elimination. I’d meant to write this as a series of articles that touched on the risk management subject–but as usual got too busy with other things.

I’m currently reading Dietrich Doerner’s book, “The Logic of Failure”. Doerner is a German cognitive psychologist who has studied decision making over time in complex, dynamic environments. It’s a fascinating read, and should be required for management, designers, and policy makers everywhere. When I get it finished, I’ll be adding more comments and thoughts to the blog.