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Make it Clear

ByGrant Baker

The results of uncertainty are not difficult to find. Have you seen a product team circling, trying to iterate their way out of an endless spiral? Or received (or concocted!) feature requests that never discuss how they’ll make life better for anyone? In the absence of good information on the people or the problem, teams are tempted to choose quick but low quality solutions to fill the gap. Shockingly, this can work for products without serious consequences for being wrong. But when the stakes are higher, search out more information. As mentioned in Shift to Strategic Thinking, strategic design leaders deploy their user experience skills on the internal issues as well as the external. For tough questions, get as much certainty as possible. That path lies through spending time with the users and stakeholders. Don’t be tempted to skip this step. To reduce ambiguity and increase certainty, designer leaders engage in research, look for ways to retire cruft, and draw a compelling vision to rally support.

Engage in Research

Research peels back the veneer of the users’ polished description of the current experience to get to the heart of why they are using the product. Kim Goodwin points to at least four things to pay attention to during this phase.

  1. The users’ goals
  2. The users’ environment
  3. The users’ mental models
  4. The users’ data models

This may seem counterintuitive or even overkill since people are so different. Shouldn’t we prefer a lighter method that relies more on subject matter expertise? No—for the simple reason that experts look at the product differently than most users. As you move through your research plan, users will begin to segment into patterns of behavior. They operate within a particular system—the one where this new product will live. Taking time up front to understand the system enables the design team to formulate a solution that accounts for the users’ reality.

Knowing your users begins with spending time with them. Planning this time has three main steps.

  1. Decide what do you need to learn
  2. Look for people who use the product
  3. Write a set of interview questions to get at the objective in step 1 

There isn’t time to unpack these, though chapter 6 of Designing for the Digital Age and this short article and course from the Interaction Design Foundation are good starting points if you’d like to dive in deeper.

Retire Cruft

During research, the team learns what is valuable to the user population and what isn’t. The Kano Model discussed in the previous article helps the product team map where various features stack up to each other. Particularly in late stage products or services, the amount of features added along the way begin to stack up, adding complexity to the product. This is known as “cruft.” A distinguishing feature of cruft is that it sits there, unused and in the way. One way to spot cruft is through quantitative measures. Check the analytics to see which features people use and which they ignore. You can use the Kano Model to distinguish between the “cruftier” features, separating them from the gold—the excitement generators. 

The Design leader’s job is to unbury the users from this cruft. How many modernization efforts or spreadsheet replacement design projects focus solely on getting the new product out the door yet automate inefficiency? Often, the environment has changed. The spreadsheet or mainframe system were good solutions to different problems. Do not overlook the opportunity to look for cruft and eliminate it.

Draw a Compelling Vision

Once the team makes sense of the users and domain, the next step is to craft the design vision, sometimes referred to as the experience vision. Here, the team translates what they’ve learned into a clear point of view. Jared Spool compares this to planting a flag in the sand. It’s far enough off to serve for 5-10 years, yet visible enough so that the team knows whether or not they are getting closer to it or further away. Spool mentions three qualities of these experience visions.

  • The vision is research-based
  • It spotlights the users’ experience within the ecosystem
  • They are shareable

Research snowballs forward—producing personas, then journey maps, next scenarios and requirements. These artifacts are the foundation for the design vision, a rich description of the future from the personas’ point of view. One of the best known public examples of this is the Apple Knowledge Navigator created in 1986 to guide Apple’s teams well into the 21st century. Though this was a highly produced vision, they don’t have to be. Cooper Design created this example which stitched together still photos, drawings of the interface, and a voice over to communicate an app concept. Another excellent example is this experience for a proposed hyperloop train system. One more example is Near Future Laboratories’ video describing “curious rituals” to document a changing culture formed by digital devices. While not strictly an experience vision for a particular product, it does an excellent job showing the user’s real life with new technology in place. 

These “flags in the sand” function as a beacon, beckoning the product team forward in the same direction. Spool says, “Because the flag is clearly visible, the team knows if every step they take brings them closer or farther away” (2018). The experience vision enables and inspires the team forward and helps stakeholders visualize the objective. The common aim rallies everyone to bring their talents to bear on solving the problem. Clarity carries the day.

Reflect

The Design practice gives the why of a product direction and clears uncertainty. Designers lead through clear, strategic thinking. However, the articulated problem from stakeholders is not always real. Use research to dig underneath the surface and learn about the people depending on this product. Excise the cruft. Now draw out the story of how things could be based on what you know. Design is a confident practice in an ambiguous world.

References

Goodwin, K. (2009). Designing for the digital age: How to create human-centered products and services. Wiley Pub.

Spool, J. M. (2018, June 14). The 3 Steps for Creating an Experience Vision. UX Articles by Center Centre. https://articles.centercentre.com/the-3-steps-for-creating-an-experience-vision/

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