Rob Fay has over twelve years of experience supporting federal, state, and commercial information technology and product development initiatives. He has a passion for user experience topics including information architecture, interaction design, social media, information management, and usability. Mr. Fay currently works as Blackboard's User Experience Architect. In his role of being the user advocate, he leads the company's user research efforts, curates their design pattern library, and designs products that transform the experience of education. Rob holds graduate degrees in Information Management and Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Maryland, College Park. He lives in the outskirts of DC in suburban Maryland with his wife, twin 4 yo daughters, and his dog named Mattingly.
10 great alternatives to Google Wave [Betanews - Aug 06, 2010] – Real-time collaboration app Google Wave was officially added to the dead pool this week. Despite plenty of hype and excitement, it failed to attract the adoption that Google hoped for. The site itself is expected to stay up through the end of the year, but users are likely to already be wondering about where to turn next in Web-based collaborative software. Here’s our list of a few of the most promising candidates for replacing Wave in your workflow…
The Five Most Influential Papers in Usability [Measuring Usability Blog - Jul 07, 2010] – I compiled a list of papers that have had a large and lasting influence on the field of Usability and User Experience. I then asked Jim Lewis and Joe Dumas, two pioneers in this field for their top five. There was considerable overlap in both the papers and topics suggesting that while there may be some disagreement with the conclusions of the papers there is strong agreement on their impact.
CogTool [Carnegie Mellon University HCI] – CogTool is a general purpose UI prototyping tool with a difference – it automatically evaluates your design with a predictive human performance model.
PrEmo – Measuring Emotional Response – by SusaGroup – Emotional responses elicited are difficult to measure because their nature is subtle (low intensity) and often mixed (more than one emotional response at the same time). However, scientific research at the Technical University of Delft by Dr. Pieter Desmet has resulted in an instrument, PrEmo, to measure emotions. Since then, PrEmo has been further developed by SusaGroup and TUDelft, resulting in a new and improved interface and character.
What five users can tell you that 5000 cannot [Measuring Usability - Jun 16, 2010] – With usability testing it used to be that we had to make our best guess as how users actually interacted with software outside a contrived lab-setting. We didn’t have all the information we needed…Web-analytics provides us with a wealth of data about actual usage we just never had before…Where we once didn’t have enough information, now we have a new problem–too much information. Web analytics is transforming user behavior from a puzzle to a mystery. Mysteries require judgment and the assessment of uncertainty. To solve the mysteries of why users are doing what they’re doing, we still need to observe users and ask them about their intentions and expectations. This can help solve the mystery of why. A small lab based study of a small number of users can tells us things analytic data from 5000 cannot. Web analytics is transforming user behavior from a puzzle to a mystery.
What Is User Experience Design? [Montparnas User Experience Design Blog - Oct 10, 2006] – User experience design can sometimes be a slippery term. With all the other often used terms that float around in its realm in the technology and web space: interaction design, information architecture, human computer interaction, human factors engineering, usability, and user interface design. People often end up asking, “what is the difference between all these fields and which one do I need?” This article examines the term and field of user experience to plainly extrapolate its meaning and connect the dots with these other fields.
Start Drawing Your Ideas [Lifehacker - May 18, 1010] – Start drawing your ideas. Start getting it out of your head, and seeing it from a completely different perspective, and more importantly, sharing it with others.
I didn’t want to to wait too long before I got some of my initial thoughts written down about this year’s IA Summit. I could recap all of the sessions I attended, and I still may, but there are others that will likely do it better than me. I swear that in another life, Luke Wroblewski was a court reporter for how quickly he posts his recaps of events. And then, of course, there’s the tireless Jeff Parks, who is the podcast guru and already has two of the keynotes up on Boxes and Arrows. Thank you to you both.
So instead of recapping events right away, I want to share something that I’ve been thinking about for some time. But first, a quick reflection on the 2010 IA Summit…
Why 2010 Was My Favorite IA Summit to Date
Quite simply, the 2010 IA Summit was my favorite because of the breadth of content, the variety of people attending, and the positive vibe of the conference (admittedly, I purposefully steered away from certain venues). I loved the many conversations I had and the privilege I had to meet both old and new acquaintances. There were no hangups about job titles or job roles. There was no need to “define the damn thing” (at least in the sessions I attended). The sessions were diverse and attracted professionals who possessed varying levels of expertise in all kinds of UX skills. Although she closed the Summit, Whitney Hess injected a level of positivity (as she did last year) that was infectious. I know some have offered criticism about the administration and logistics of the event, but I’m pretty easy going. Quite frankly, my focus was on content and conversations, and both were excellent.
Now’s the Time to Put the Bickering to Rest
I’ve gone to the last 4 IA Summits. In 2009 I was disappointed with the tone. It was as if 2009 was the year of bickering among UX professionals. And yes, I do proudly use the term “user experience,” because it’s not only information architects who attend this conference. Likewise, it’s not just interaction designers who attend the Interaction conferences or usability specialists who attend the UPA conferences. Why do you think different people with different job titles go to different conferences? There could be a variety of reasons. Perhaps TITLE A would like to grow his or her skills in or understanding of PRACTICE B. Maybe TITLE B likes relationships s/he has formed with the fine folks who PRACTICE A in the A CONFERENCE.
The problem I saw in 2009 was that people became so hung up on job titles and defining themselves. Why is there such a strong need to claim ownership over tools and techniques and pedigrees? If there is any fault with the conference itself, perhaps the IA Summit should be renamed using more inclusive UX terminology – perhaps the “Information Design” conference. After all, the fruits of our collective labor is to make stuff that collects, processes, and/or transmits information. That information may be 1s and 0s of a digital solution or it may be the information processing that takes place in my own head when I want to interact with a designed physical object. I liken our varied professions to the culinary arts. Here’s how I described it in response to Dave Malouf last year:
“How about this metaphor: Someone in the culinary or food services industry may refer to him/herself as a “chef” but we know this is not an accurate term. It is an easy term to use when “talking to the outside world” but it does not fully articulate his or her skills. Is this person an executive chef, a sous chef, a station chef, a pastry chef, a pantry chef? One could even argue that a pastry chef works on an entirely different “product.”
Now, do each of these roles have similar goals despite possessing different skills? Sure. Are some roles more skilled than another? Yes. Is one role more important than the other? It’s debatable. Can one person who wears one of these hats also wear another? Sure.
Now although you’ll likely pick apart my metaphor, my simple point is to say, “So what?” Yes, there are both similarities and differences. That’s why we use “UX” to describe a whole cadre of “tools” that can be used. I think it becomes confusing when we intermingle the skill (i.e., interaction design) with the identity, or how we identify ourself to others (i.e., I am an interaction designer). It’s the label we place on ourselves that is too limiting, IMHO.”
So Now What?
I think now is the time to shut up and stand up. Acknowledge that all of our skills are vital to solving problems. Instead of treating our differences like a pissing contest, let’s look at it like a wedding. I’ll make the appetizer, you make the entree, and s/he’ll make the wedding cake. It’s a party we should celebrate!
Let’s not get too caught up in basing our own self identity and our own self importance by what we do for a living. I have strengths and weaknesses as a professional in this “UX” landscape. If I don’t have one tool, I either get it or ask someone who has that skill for help. Perhaps the real discussion should focus on needed skills for the profession and knowing when it’s worthwhile to acquire them vs. asking someone for help. So, I think now is the time to lay our weapons down, stand up, and celebrate. Celebrate our differences. Celebrate how we complement one another. After all, if we can acknowledge that we cannot do it all or always get it right, then it becomes easier to ask for help and easier to offer help. Then let’s consider attending “UX” conferences such as the IA Summit, the UPA Conference, the Interaction Conference, et al. Then consider attending conferences that are outside of the UX world. Conferences that complement. Maybe even conferences that do not appear to have relevance to the practice of IA. Think about why you attend conferences and then choose wisely. Go to make or grow friendships. Go to learn new things. Go to expand your horizons. Go and present. Present using your own life knowledge. Teach the rest of us concepts that are outside of the traditional UX makeup but can add to our learning. Just go, but go with civility and humility.
I’ll leave you with a song of inspiration, a song I was listening to on the way home from work…yes, the day after I returned from the Summit, all tired and thrown off by the time zone change…it’s a song that inspired me to dust off my blog and say something to you today.
Rob, thank you so much for your kind words! It was a pleasure to finally meet you. I hope we get to spend more time together soon at an upcoming event, or at my next DC Tweetup. Ping me if you’re ever in NYC!
Designing with Lenses [UX Booth - Apr 06, 2010] – A design lens allows you to view the user experience through the eyes of a single design principle. Lenses were originally created for game design but are just as powerful for user experience design.
Data collection for usability research [Userfocus - May 05, 2008] – How should you go about collecting data in usability tests? This article examines the data collection process in usability studies and describes some popular data logging solutions. Since most of these tools are expensive, I show you how you can use Microsoft Excel with Visual Basic macros to collect the data.
Log usability tests like a pro [Userfocus - Apr 01, 2010] – Observing a usability test seems simple but it’s easy to lose focus during a session and record only the dramatic or obvious usability problems. As you watch the test, you should make minute-by-minute observations of the participant’s behaviour as single letter codes. Datalogging ensures you note all behaviours, not just the ones that stand out, and provides all you need to quickly create a list of usability issues you can pass to the design team
Best User Interface Design Resources: The Round-up [Dzine Blog - Mar 15, 2010] – When in reality you should do what works best for you and your users. Below you will find a variety of excellent User Interface resources that will allow you to access, redefine, and create a well designed User Interface. You should use these resources first as inspiration, and second as somewhat of a guide as to what your users may need when they come face to face with your UI.
The KJ-Technique: A Group Process for Establishing Priorities [UIE - May 11, 2004] – In our consulting work, we’ve found that, like the military experts, our clients usually have most of the answers already in their own organization. The trick is to get all the people with the right perspectives to reach consensus quickly. For this, we’;ve turned to a group consensus technique we’ve been using for years, called a KJ-Method (also sometimes referred to as an “affinity diagram”). The KJ-Method, named for its inventor, Jiro Kawakita (the Japanese put their last names first), allows groups to quickly reach a consensus on priorities of subjective, qualitative data.
Five Types Of Cell Phone Users [MediaPost - Mar 30, 2010] – 87% of Americans have mobile phones, up from 69% in 2006. 5 classes of mobile users:
1. Mobirati (19%) – first generation to have grown up with mobile phones.
2. Social Connectors (22%) – Mobile phone is essentially a social lubricant, and for whom texting is just as important as a voice call.
3. Pragmatic Adopters (22%) – Just getting beyond using mobile phones solely for voice calls. If service quality is disappointing, they will switch to another provider. They also say once they find one they like, they will stick with it.
4. Mobile Professionals (17%) – Extra features are more important than calling, and are more likely to switch to service providers offering the latest technology.
5. Basic Planners (20%) – Interested in basic mobile packages only, and only use cell phones in emergencies, are confused by plans and don’t use other features.
What is Information Architecture? [MAYA Design- Feb 14, 2009] – When we say Information Architecture (IA) we are really talking about everything you can define about a solution without specifying the underlying system (the raw plumbing) or specifying the particular user interface that will be employed to deliver and manipulate the information. By thinking about the architecture of how information is used, how it flows, and how it fits within the user’s world (its context), you can capture the essence of how to build a system that is not only intuitive but futureproof.
On Thursday April 8th I will be headed to the 11th annual IA Summit, held in Phoenix, AZ. I’m really excited about the program, because the subject matter covers both practical and theoretical concepts related to Experience Design topics.
I also look forward to chatting with others. It’s amazing how many people I am only connected with via Twitter. I look forward forming new f2f friendships and deepening others.
If you’d like to intentionally meet up, give me a holler @robfay.
Do’s and Dont’s of Usability Testing [UXmatters - Mar 08, 2010] – Usability testing is one of the least glamorous, but most important aspects of user experience research. Over the years, it has also been one of the forms of user research we have performed most frequently. In doing so, we’ve learned quite a few best practices and encountered some potential pitfalls. We think it’s important that we share what we’ve learned with the many stakeholders, designers, and engineers who might find this information helpful.
User Experience: Our Definition [Nielsen Norman Group] – “User experience” encompasses all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with the company, its services, and its products. The first requirement for an exemplary user experience is to meet the exact needs of the customer, without fuss or bother. Next comes simplicity and elegance that produce products that are a joy to own, a joy to use. True user experience goes far beyond giving customers what they say they want, or providing checklist features. In order to achieve high-quality user experience in a company’s offerings there must be a seamless merging of the services of multiple disciplines, including engineering, marketing, graphical and industrial design, and interface design.
Mobile First [Functioning Form - Nov 03, 2009] – More often than not, the mobile experience for a Web application or site is designed and built after the PC version is complete. Here’s three reasons why Web applications should be designed for mobile first instead.
Designing OmniGraphSketcher for the iPad [Omni Group - Feb 25, 2010] – Anyway, I thought some of you might be interested in seeing how some of our iPad development work is happening for OmniGraphSketcher. Now obviously we do a lot of mockups in what is surely the world’s best program for creating IA/UX designs, OmniGraffle. But when it comes to envisioning how something works on a piece of hardware no one can actually use yet, a lot of people here are going low-tech to try and figure it out.
On January 23, 2010 I attended UX Barcamp DC and presented on the topic of measuring desirability.
[UX Barcamp DC, Measuring Desirability | Runtime: ~45:00 | Please make sure you have the latest version of Adobe Flash installed on your computer to watch this video. To download it, please visit: http://www.adobe.com/]
The Essence of a Successful Persona Project [UIE - Feb 17, 2010] – Personas are a flexible and powerful tool for user researchers. They’re also one of the most misunderstood. When done well, they ensure the team focuses on the needs and delights of their users. Like other effective user research techniques, personas deliver confidence and insights to the team. Personas help the team make important design decisions with a thorough understanding of who the users are, what they need, and when they need it. For the last few years, we’ve studied how a variety of design teams have tried to harvest the benefits of persona projects. We’ve explored several wildly successful persona projects and many that fell far short of their goals. We now better understand where the magic lies with personas — what the essence of a successful project is.
Telling Your Website’s Story with Sketchboarding [UX Booth - Feb 09, 2010] – The metaphor of storytelling, when applied to experience design, allows teams to understand narrative; to obtain an idea of who they are telling the story to, as well as what textual elements we can use to shape that story.
“Analog Dreams:” Paper-based sketching – Michael DiTullo, the industrial designer currently serving as Converse’s Creative Director, has self-published a 120-page book filled with ten years’ worth of his sketches.
25 User Experience Videos That Are Worth Your Time [Smashing Magazine - Jan 05, 2010] – We’re all mostly accustomed to educating ourselves by reading articles. Rare are the opportunities to attend conferences or watch live shows on subjects that we’re interested in. That’s why we are presenting here phenomenal videos and related resources on the topic of user experience (UX) by different presenters at different events. We have focused on current content but have included some older videos that are still relevant. It will take you more than 16 hours to watch all of these videos. So, make some popcorn, turn off the lights and enjoy.
50 Free UI and Web Design Wireframing Kits, Resources and Source Files [Smashing Magazine - Feb 05, 2010] – Planning and communication are two key elements in the development of any successful website or application. And that is exactly what the wireframing process offers: a quick and simple method to plan the layout and a cost-effective, time-saving tool to easily communicate your ideas to others. A wireframe typically has the basic elements of a Web page: header, footer, sidebar, maybe even some generated content, which gives you, your clients and colleagues a simple visually oriented layout that illustrates what the structure of the website will be by the end of the project and that serves as the foundation for any future alterations.
Hierarchical Task Analysis [UXmatters - Feb 08, 2010] – A structured, objective approach to describing users’ performance of tasks, hierarchical task analysis originated in human factors. In its most basic form, a hierarchical task analysis provides an understanding of the tasks users need to perform to achieve certain goals. You can break down these tasks into multiple levels of subtasks. In user experience, you can use hierarchical task analysis to describe the interactions between a user and a software system. When designing a new system, hierarchical task analysis lets you explore various possible approaches to completing the same task. When analyzing an existing system, it can help you to optimize particular interactions.
User Experience Programme [Forum Nokia] – Nokia has put together a rich and informative website covering the key elements of user experience. Remarkably helpful, no matter what kind of gadget you’re working on.
Removing Features [ignore the code - Feb 02, 2010] – Eventually, you will find yourself in a position where your application contains features it should not. Even if you’;ve been vigilant, this will happen.
Learning in Second Life: Virtual Education [VizWorld - Jan 23, 2010] – Several universities have begun to embrace “online courses”, coupling traditional education tools with web-based systems like Blackboard to increase revenue with a minimum of expense. It allows teachers to very easily re-use class materials (doesn’t get much easier than cut-n-paste, or simply clicking a “publish” button from their library of assets), and enables the university to open classes to students around the world. Virtual Worlds are becoming the “next generation” of these online courses, and Second Life is on the forefront of the wave.
Unmoderated, Remote Usability Testing: Good or Evil? [UXmatters - Jan 18, 2010] – Recently, there has been a surge in the number of tools that are available for conducting unmoderated, remote usability testing—and this surge is changing the usability industry. Whether we want to or not, it forces us to take a closer look at the benefits and drawbacks of unmoderated testing and decide whether we should incorporate it into our usability toolbox.
How Do Users Really Feel About Your Design? [UXmatters - Sep 24, 2007] – The user experience field has been trying to move beyond mere usability and utility for years. So far, no one seems to have developed easy-to-implement, non-retrospective, valid, and reliable measures for gauging users’ emotional reactions to a system, application, or Web site. In this column, I’ll introduce you to a promising method that just might solve this problem. While this method has not yet been subjected to rigorous peer review or experimental testing, it offers an intriguing solution and is endlessly fascinating to me. And it just might prove to be the kind of powerful technique we’ve been looking for to illuminate users’ emotional reactions to our designs.
Fantastic Information Architecture and Data Visualization Resources [Noupe - Jan 15, 2010] – Below are a collection of resources to get you going down the information architecture and data visualization path. Whether you just want to become more familiar with infographics and data visualizations for occasional use or are thinking of making it a career, the resources below will surely come in handy. There are also some beautiful examples and more roundups to see even more fantastic graphics.
Iconizer Catalogs Icons for Customization [Lifehacker - Jan 15, 2010] – At Iconizer you can not only browse through categories like icons for actions, communication, hardware & devices, and other types of customization but you can browse for icons by operating system. Love the way a certain icon is used on the Mac? Like the way Aero displays things on Vista and Windows 7? You can dip into the icon sets for each operating system and customize icons from it for personal use. Not only are stock icons included but each category has around a dozen additional icons sets independent of entries like Aero, Vista, or Tiger.
Drawter.com – DrawAble Markup Language – Drawter Beta 2 is a tool written in JavaScript and based on jQuery library. It provides you the possibility to literally draw your website's code. It runs on every single web-browser which makes it really useful and helpful. Each tag is presented as a layer you have drawn.
EverydayLives: An iPhone app for ethnography [Core77 - Dec 22, 2009] – EverydayLives is a UK-based research agency that focuses their attention on ethnographic research. This week they released “a sophisticated research tool designed by ethnographic researchers for ethnographic researchers, field anthropologists, agency planners, marketers and research respondents” and it comes in the form of a convenient iPhone app. We think designers could benefit from this tool, as it would complement our research activities perfectly. And it reduces all that cumbersome equipment often required for in depth inquiry. Using this tool, you can capture video, photos, text and audio and then immediately share any outcomes with clients, colleagues or participants while in the field. We stumbled across a preview video that shows the app in action. And if you aren’t an iPhone user, word on the street is that a Blackberry version is in the works.
Protokit 0.1- Protokit is an emerging experiment of Michael targeted at those who like creating HTML prototypes. Protokit is a toolkit composed of existing Javascript libraries which work are combined to together to make the process easier. Hats off to open source prototyping.
FlockDraw – FlockDraw is an online collaborative drawing tool. It looks like it has some interesting potential for those times when you need to sketch something out together in real time and it’s just not possible to meet face to face. This flash based tool allows to create separate rooms for each sketch which are bound to unique and sharable URLs. The software is very light weight with the first version being released just last month and there is still room for improvement. The slight bothersome usability issue lies around the fact that the toolbar does not indicate the selected tool, nor the selected state of each tool (ex: brush size or color). Other than that, I’m looking forward to eyeing this little app into the future.
Web accessibility no longer an afterthought [CNN - Dec 15, 2009] – Web designers are starting to take accessibility as seriously as button placement or heading layout when they develop their products, improving the Web experience not only for people like Tsaran — who lost his sight at the age of five — but for Web users in general.
Whitney Hess 2:46 pm on 5/10/2010 Permalink
Rob, thank you so much for your kind words! It was a pleasure to finally meet you. I hope we get to spend more time together soon at an upcoming event, or at my next DC Tweetup. Ping me if you’re ever in NYC!