Comments on: Designing for People http://designingforexperience.com/2008/07/11/designing-for-people/ A Holistic Approach to Design for People, Interaction, & Business Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:43:36 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: aaronh http://designingforexperience.com/2008/07/11/designing-for-people/comment-page-1/#comment-178 aaronh Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:34:54 +0000 http://designingforexperience.com/?p=54#comment-178 Good points Brandon, and I honestly would encourage smaller companies to run their own tests once they feel comfortable with it and bring in someone to help them interpret results (and to help them design the tests if they are pretty serious about it). This springs from the ideas in Steve Krug's book Don't Make Me Think. As a company grows, or as a large company grows more aware of the incredible value of designing for their customers wants and needs, and having a solid methodology and a change in mindset they will start creating UX groups or hiring UX people into their cross-disciplinary groups. Overall it is the ability to take what you get from designing with your audience and turn that into actionable items that is the real strength that most UX professionals bring to the table. Good points Brandon, and I honestly would encourage smaller companies to run their own tests once they feel comfortable with it and bring in someone to help them interpret results (and to help them design the tests if they are pretty serious about it). This springs from the ideas in Steve Krug’s book Don’t Make Me Think. As a company grows, or as a large company grows more aware of the incredible value of designing for their customers wants and needs, and having a solid methodology and a change in mindset they will start creating UX groups or hiring UX people into their cross-disciplinary groups.

Overall it is the ability to take what you get from designing with your audience and turn that into actionable items that is the real strength that most UX professionals bring to the table.

]]> By: Brandon http://designingforexperience.com/2008/07/11/designing-for-people/comment-page-1/#comment-174 Brandon Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:20:34 +0000 http://designingforexperience.com/?p=54#comment-174 I think that you should mention some information about distilling the data that you receive from the users into implementable results. The reason for this is that is where we, the designers, shine. Usability is quite simple to learn how to do. Most people can surely run a test or a card sort, but it is in the understanding the results where the difficulty appears and remains. By making it apparent to non-designers that they are looking for your help in understanding the results, I think you will gather more faith from them in your abilities. As they may think through the process, "I can do this. Why are we paying him again?" On that note, they probably could run a test, maybe not create it or catch important feedback during the test as well as we can, but finding the results will most definitely lose them. Just a few thoughts :) I think that you should mention some information about distilling the data that you receive from the users into implementable results. The reason for this is that is where we, the designers, shine. Usability is quite simple to learn how to do. Most people can surely run a test or a card sort, but it is in the understanding the results where the difficulty appears and remains.

By making it apparent to non-designers that they are looking for your help in understanding the results, I think you will gather more faith from them in your abilities. As they may think through the process, “I can do this. Why are we paying him again?” On that note, they probably could run a test, maybe not create it or catch important feedback during the test as well as we can, but finding the results will most definitely lose them.

Just a few thoughts :)

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