A Project Guide to UX Design: For user experience designers in the field or in the making (Voices That Matter)

"If you are a young designer entering or contemplating entering the UX field this is a canonical book. If you are an organization that really needs to start grokking UX this book is also for you. " -- Chris Bernard, User Experience Evangelist, Microsoft User experience design is the discipline of creating a useful and usable Web site or application--one that's easily navigated and meets the needs of both the site owner and its users. But there's a lot more to successful UX design than knowing the latest Web technologies or design trends: It takes diplomacy, project management skills, and business savvy. That's where this book comes in. Authors Russ Unger and Carolyn Chandler show you how to integrate UX principles into your project from start to finish. - Understand the various roles in UX design, identify stakeholders, and enlist their support - Obtain consensus from your team on project objectives - Define the scope of your project and avoid mission creep - Conduct user research and document your findings - Understand and communicate user behavior with personas - Design and prototype your application or site - Make your product findable with search engine optimization - Plan for development, product rollout, and ongoing quality assurance Cover......Page 1 CONTENTS......Page 10 INTRODUCTION......Page 16 CHAPTER 1: The Tao of UXD......Page 22 The Broad Definition......Page 24 Don’t Forget the Tangible......Page 25 Our Focus......Page 26 About UX Designers......Page 27 Where UX Designers Live......Page 28 Let’s Get Started!......Page 29 CHAPTER 2: The Project Ecosystem......Page 30 Identify the Type of Site......Page 31 Brand Presence......Page 32 Marketing Campaign......Page 35 Content Source......Page 37 Task-Based Applications......Page 39 E-Commerce Sites......Page 40 Social Networking Applications......Page 41 Choose Your Hats......Page 42 Information Architect......Page 43 User Researcher......Page 44 Other Roles You May Play or May Need......Page 47 Building a Network of User Advocacy......Page 53 Understand the Company Culture......Page 54 History......Page 55 Hierarchy......Page 57 Logistics......Page 58 Pulling It Together......Page 59 CHAPTER 3: Proposals for Consultants and Freelancers......Page 60 Proposals......Page 61 Creating the Proposal......Page 62 Title Page......Page 63 Project Overview......Page 65 Project Approach......Page 66 Assumptions......Page 68 Deliverables......Page 69 Ownership and Rights......Page 70 Additional Costs and Fees......Page 71 Project Pricing......Page 72 Payment Schedule......Page 73 Acknowledgment and Sign-Off......Page 74 Statements of Work......Page 75 CHAPTER 4: Project Objectives and Approach......Page 77 Solidify Project Objectives......Page 78 How Can a UX Designer Help?......Page 81 Understand the Project Approach......Page 83 Agile Approaches......Page 84 Modified Approaches......Page 85 How Does the Approach Affect Me?......Page 87 CHAPTER 5: Business Requirements......Page 88 Heuristic Analysis......Page 91 Gather Ideas from Stakeholders......Page 95 Outline Responsibilities......Page 96 Gather the Right Stakeholders......Page 97 Sales: Requirements-Gathering Meeting......Page 99 Run the Meetings Effectively......Page 101 Coalescing Requirements......Page 103 CHAPTER 6: User Research......Page 106 Define Your User Groups......Page 107 Create a List of Attributes......Page 108 Prioritize and Define......Page 110 Choosing Research Techniques......Page 112 How Many Research Activities Can I Include?......Page 114 User Interviews......Page 116 Contextual Inquiry......Page 119 Surveys......Page 122 Focus Groups......Page 125 Card Sorting......Page 128 Usability Testing......Page 131 After the Research......Page 132 CHAPTER 7: Personas......Page 133 Why Would I Create Personas?......Page 134 Creating Personas......Page 135 Minimum Content Requirements......Page 138 Optional Content......Page 140 Advanced Personas......Page 143 Final Thoughts on Personas......Page 146 CHAPTER 8: User Experience Design and Search Engine Optimization......Page 147 Why Is SEO Important?......Page 148 Site Technology, Design, and Infrastructure......Page 150 Flash, Ajax, JavaScript, and Other Scripted Content......Page 151 Content Management Systems......Page 154 Domains, Directory, and URL Structure All Matter......Page 155 Content: The Once (and Current) and Future King......Page 156 Metadata, Headers, and Keywords......Page 157 Split the Hairs......Page 158 Other Content Issues......Page 159 Typical Link Popularity Distribution......Page 160 Footer Links......Page 161 White Hat Versus Black Hat......Page 162 Cloning and Doorway Pages......Page 163 Some Final Thoughts......Page 164 CHAPTER 9: Transition: From Defining to Designing......Page 165 Ideate and Visualize Features......Page 167 The Basic Process of Storyboarding......Page 168 Facilitate the Prioritization Process......Page 171 Maintain a Good Tension......Page 175 The Development Advocate......Page 177 Managing Conflict During Prioritization......Page 179 Plan Your Activities and Documentation......Page 183 CHAPTER 10: Site Maps and Task Flows......Page 186 What Is a Task Flow?......Page 187 Tools of the Trade......Page 188 Page......Page 189 Decision Point......Page 190 Conditions......Page 191 Sloppy Connections......Page 192 Poorly Placed Text......Page 193 Lack of Page Numbering......Page 194 The Simple Site Map......Page 195 Advanced Site Maps......Page 196 Breaking the Site Map Mold......Page 198 Task Flows......Page 199 Process Flow......Page 202 Swimlanes......Page 203 CHAPTER 11: Wireframes and Annotations......Page 206 What Is a Wireframe?......Page 207 What Are Annotations?......Page 208 Who Uses Wireframes?......Page 209 Tools of the Trade......Page 210 Start Simply: Design a Basic Wireframe......Page 212 Getting Started......Page 213 The Wireframes and Annotations......Page 214 Requirements......Page 216 The Results: Design a Home Page Wireframe......Page 218 Visual Design: When Wireframes Grow Up and Find Their Own Way in the World......Page 221 Design Exercise Follow-up: Which Design Is Right?......Page 222 A Final Note on Presenting Wireframes......Page 223 CHAPTER 12: Prototyping......Page 225 How Much Prototype Do I Need?......Page 226 Paper Prototyping......Page 227 Wireframe vs. Realistic Prototypes......Page 228 HTML vs. WYSIWYG Editors......Page 230 Additional Tools for Prototyping......Page 235 Prototype Examples......Page 238 What Happens After Prototyping?......Page 240 CHAPTER 13: Design Testing with Users......Page 241 Concept Exploration......Page 242 Tips on Exploring Visual Design Mock-Ups......Page 245 Usability Testing......Page 246 Choosing an Approach......Page 248 Planning the Research......Page 250 Recruiting and Logistics......Page 254 Writing Discussion Guides......Page 260 Facilitating......Page 263 Analyzing and Presenting Results......Page 264 Creating Recommendations......Page 266 CHAPTER 14: Transition: From Design to Development and Beyond......Page 268 Visual Design, Development, and Quality Assurance......Page 269 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ... Launch!......Page 272 Support......Page 273 Postlaunch Activities......Page 274 Postlaunch Analytics......Page 275 Just Like Starting Over.........Page 276 B......Page 278 C......Page 279 F......Page 280 L......Page 281 P......Page 282 R......Page 284 S......Page 285 U......Page 286 W......Page 287 Y......Page 288

“if You Are A Young Designer Entering Or Contemplating Entering The Ux Field This Is A Canonical Book. If You Are An Organization That Really Needs To Start Grokking Ux This Book Is Also For You. — Chris Bernard, User Experience Evangelist, Microsoft

user Experience Design Is The Discipline Of Creating A Useful And Usable Web Site Or Application—one That’s Easily Navigated And Meets The Needs Of Both The Site Owner And Its Users. But There’s A Lot More To Successful Ux Design Than Knowing The Latest Web Technologies Or Design Trends: It Takes Diplomacy, Project Management Skills, And Business Savvy. That’s Where This Book Comes In. Authors Russ Unger And Carolyn Chandler Show You How To Integrate Ux Principles Into Your Project From Start To Finish.

• Understand The Various Roles In Ux Design, Identify Stakeholders, And Enlist Their Support
• Obtain Consensus From Your Team On Project Objectives
• Define The Scope Of Your Project And Avoid Mission Creep
• Conduct User Research And Document Your Findings
• Understand And Communicate User Behavior With Personas
• Design And Prototype Your Application Or Site
• Make Your Product Findable With Search Engine Optimization
• Plan For Development, Product Rollout, And Ongoing Quality Assurance

User experience design is the discipline of creating a useful and usable Web site or application that's easily navigated and meets the needs of the site owner and its users. There's a lot more to successful UX design than knowing the latest Web technologies or design trends: It takes diplomacy, management skills, and business savvy. That's where the updated edition of this important book comes in. With new information on design principles, mobile and gestural interactions, content strategy, remote research tools and more, you'll learn to: Recognize the various roles in UX design, identify stakeholders, and enlist their support Obtain consensus from your team on project objectives Understand approaches such as Waterfall, Agile, and Lean UX Define the scope of your project and avoid mission creep Conduct user research in person or remotely, and document your findings Understand and communicate user behavior with personas Design and prototype your application or site Plan for development, product rollout, and ongoing quality assurance User experience design is the discipline of creating a useful and usable Web site or application--one that's easily navigated and meets the needs of both the site owner and its users. But there's a lot more to successful UX design than knowing the latest Web technologies or design trends: It takes diplomacy, project management skills, and business savvy. That's where this book comes in. Authors Russ Unger and Carolyn Chandler show you how to integrate UX principles into your project from start to finish. This updated and expanded edition contains information on contracts, content strategy, sketching, prototyping with HTML5/CSS3, research, facilitating and workshops, as well as mobile and gestural applications. "This book presents a chapter-by-chapter guide through an appropriate User Experience process, as well as provides additional information on the creating SOWs and Proposals, Project Ecosystem, best practices for meetings, and understanding business requirements. User Experience neophytes and professionals alike should be able to find information relevant to any phase of a project in this book"--Resource description page