It’s the start of a new project. You’ve got requirements, guidelines, data, research. Now what? Like an artist staring at a blank canvas, information architects often don’t know where to begin. Instead of following a rigid methodology or waiting for the perfect idea to appear out of the blue, learn to continually invent new tools and techniques to foster real user experience innovation.

• 11:24 AM: AndreG Presenter Christopher Fahey – Behavior Design
• 11:32 AM: AndreG All about how to tweak your process to address new technology and design problems
• 11:33 AM: AndreG Traditional waterfall approach to phased development
• 11:34 AM: AndreG Big ideas are typically brought to the table early on. Same with research
• 11:35 AM: AndreG As ideas creep in later, scope creep has been a bad thing. Challenge is how do you make sure you leave the door open to be able to handle GREAT ideas later in the game.
• 11:36 AM: AndreG Design is about a whole lot of things… creativity comes from everywhere
• 11:38 AM: AndreG Challenge with design is how and when you define the problem you are trying to solve. Coming from a different angle can really change your end solution
• 11:40 AM: AndreG Sometimes inspiration has to be a little crazy and goofy so you don’t rule out opportunities for awesome solutions.
• 11:41 AM: AndreG Designers can and will forbid themselves from creativity. Process, old ideas of how things should be, etc.
• 11:42 AM: AndreG Hard to go from conservative to radical in terms of solutions. Way easier to step back from a radical thing and make it less “crazy”. Once you start at conservative it’s really hard to move the other way
• 11:42 AM: AndreG You need to balance being too creative vs not creative enough
• 11:44 AM: AndreG Nowadays it’s pretty easy to build products that technically work fine. Problem is there are lots of products that are technically fine but people hate to use, the could be way better, they are just passable.
• 11:47 AM: AndreG Research is a great idea. It’s very useful and you can get very creative with what you need to and want to research. Need to make sure your end data supports creativity and does not lock people in. Data does not create design, but it can help you provide context.
• 11:47 AM: AndreG Real design decisions are informed guess work. You take research and infer and solution. You need to be bold. This can be considered Data Inspired Design
• 11:48 AM: AndreG Merging creativity + design + data as inspiration
• 11:51 AM: AndreG You are always interpreting the data and that really can end up being a design decision
• 11:53 AM: AndreG Sometimes you need to blur the line between traditional hard research and fuzzzy research. If you can’t interview 100 people use personas or come up with ways to get information that is good enough to use and infer your way through the holes.
• 11:53 AM: AndreG You need to be savvy about what processes and portions of existing processes as you work through defining solutions
• 11:54 AM: AndreG As things change (mobile, touch, voice recognition, gestures, etc.) the traditional IA and design deliverables don’t/can’t keep up. You should be continually updating and refining your processes and methodologies
• 11:55 AM: AndreG Still need progress and checkpoints but they should not be relics. Your tool kit needs to be very broad and you need a lot of different ways to attack a problem. Pick and choose the weapons you need when you need them.
• 11:56 AM: AndreG No need to force yourself to create deliverables just to create them.
• 11:59 AM: AndreG Sometimes you don’t know the problems you have. If you have a rigid roadmap you’ll more than likely be looking for the wrong things.
• 12:00 PM: AndreG There is no such thing as the “mother of all methods”…
• 12:01 PM: AndreG Most times the best tools are the simplest. Everything from simple discussion and whiteboards -> sharpie drawings -> wireframes -> high fidelity functional prototypes. Can’t forget the sketch resolution spectrum through the design process.
• 12:02 PM: AndreG Don’t jump ahead too soon… but jump to the point you need to be at to be effective
• 12:06 PM: AndreG There really are no templates for true creative design. Might be hard to start from scratch but you need to think about what the right way to solve the problem. Jamming your solution into a template may very well limit you from finding the right direction.
• 12:06 PM: AndreG Blank canvas – at the start no one really knows where they are going. Important to talk and discuss the “what is it” of the final product
• 12:07 PM: AndreG Thumbnail quantifications – how big are we building for?
• 12:08 PM: AndreG What is the least wanted? Especially good for a redesign. Need to get this stuff out on the table to make sure everyone is on the same page
• 12:10 PM: AndreG User Personas – great way to merge all your user research, think about micro personas and then look for the patterns between them so you really start to think who they are and who you are really focusing on. Boil down to 3 -5 user groups instead of trying to cater to 50 micro personas. Easy way not to limit yourself but not go crazy.
• 12:10 PM: AndreG Give your product a personality. Think of making your software behave like a likeable human
• 12:10 PM: AndreG Voice and content strategy are really important here!
• 12:11 PM: AndreG Give your software some personality…. really important since humans are good at interacting and understanding personality
• 12:11 PM: AndreG It’s not typical but it can really help you make informed decisions
• 12:12 PM: AndreG Personality characteristics…
• 12:17 PM: AndreG Sketching is potentially the most important part of the whole process. Don’t be scared about sharing and showing sketches to clients. It can actually be a fun process that helps everyone contribute. Scribbling ideas out and getting them on the table. You can pull the patterns and best bits together later.
• 12:18 PM: AndreG Sketching for prototyping. Especially nice for mobile as you can do them at the real size.
• 12:19 PM: AndreG Listen to Critiques… you need to learn to balance all the opinions and input
• 12:20 PM: AndreG Criticism is not data. Just opinions and need to think of it as another set of eyes which might produce a better or refined design. Discussions help you get dialled in.
• 12:21 PM: AndreG Designing totally by yourself is probably a bad idea. The discussion and sharing will help provide design insights
• 12:22 PM: AndreG Prototype as if you are right but listen as if you are wrong. Let other people tear your stuff apart. Your tools may need to evolve and this is the only way you can really learn that.
• 12:22 PM: AndreG Always plan to change your plan and roll with evolution.