Defining & Expanding User Experience
Patrick Algrim
Lesson 11
Newton's 3rd Law says, "To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction". In my opinion this is the best way to describe an experience. Experiences ultimately define our lives. When we are young, we have no experiences thus our artifact is of little knowledge. When we are old, the opposite. If experiences can expand our cognitive knowledge then they absolutely can solve problems by embedding that knowledge into form or function.
In this lesson we'll take a look at some of the basics to creating great user experiences and some of the more complex tasks such as creating flows or simplifying and understanding user intent.
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Learning to See
Before reading the article, write on a yellow sticky note what you feel design is.
Read the article by Oliver Richenstein. After reading the article, with the same pen and a new sticky note; write what you feel design is. Contrast your old and new definitions. -
Visual Hierarchy & Weight
As new devices and resolutions are born simple visual hierarchy is the differentiator in creating frictionless and readable experiences.
Find one of your favorite Web sites and slice together a better visual hierarchy using Photoshop. -
Designing for the Next Step
We've learned about simplicity in product and designing for reduction of friction. A common complicated task is checkout flows (when you buy something online).
Using paper, a whiteboard or sticky note map out a common checkout flow. Look upon the flow and find ways for this same flow to be easier. Make it less time consuming and more communicative toward actions to take. -
Learning from "bad" UI
Scour through your mobile applications and find an interface that has delivered speed as part of its experience. Hint: I won't tell you which part but Instagram has a perfect example. Can you find it?
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6 Steps for Measuring Success on UX Projects
Integrate one way of measuring your success listed in the article. A favorite measurement tool of mine is Mixpanel and creating a variety of funnels.
Patrick Algrim
Product Designer
An entrepreneur living in San Francisco & Chicago. Created a design studio in 2007 that worked directly with the founders of Threadless, Fast Company and Boxee. In 2010 I left the studio and started MyZeus, a small consumer internet product focused on solving problems around movie viewing experiences online. MyZeus was acquired by Groupon in 2012. You can find out more about what I'm up to at algrim.co or follow me on Twitter.
