UX Fundamentals for Non-UX Professionals (eBook)

Edward Stull is a designer and researcher in Columbus, Ohio, USA. He helps teams work through user experience (UX) challenges ranging from product design to digital marketing. Over his 20-year-long career, he has assisted numerous international brands, national banks, and state healthcare exchanges. He thinks a lot about how people understand, practice, and sell UX.

Contents 5
About the Author 7
Acknowledgments 8
Introduction 9
Part I: UX Principles 13
Chapter 1: UX Is Unavoidable 15
What Is User Experience? 16
The Role of UX 17
The Focus on Users 17
Key Takeaways 19
Questions to Ask Yourself 19
Chapter 2: You Are Not the User 20
What Is a User? 21
Key Takeaways 23
Questions to Ask Yourself 23
Chapter 3: You Compete with Everything 24
One Choice Out of Many 25
Embrace, Not Accommodate 26
The Never-Ending Game 27
Key Takeaways 27
Questions to Ask Yourself 28
Chapter 4: The User Is on a Journey 29
Where the User Was… 32
Where the User Is… 33
Where the User Is Going… 34
Key Takeaways 35
Questions to Ask Yourself 35
Chapter 5: Keep It Simple 36
Absence 39
Reduction 40
Addition 41
Key Takeaways 42
Questions to Ask Yourself 42
Chapter 6: Users Collect Experiences 43
Context 45
Key Takeaways 46
Questions to Ask Yourself 46
Chapter 7: Speak the User’s Language 47
Key Takeaways 50
Questions to Ask Yourself 50
Chapter 8: Favor the Familiar 51
The Curse 52
Affordance 53
Key Takeaways 55
Questions to Ask Yourself 55
Chapter 9: Stability, Reliability, and Security 56
Reliability 57
Security 58
Key Takeaways 62
Questions to Ask Yourself 62
Chapter 10: Speed 63
The Hick-Hyman Law 66
Key Takeaways 68
Questions to Ask Yourself 68
Chapter 11: Usefulness 69
Key Takeaways 71
Questions to Ask Yourself 72
Chapter 12: The Lives in Front of Interfaces 73
Part II: Being Human 75
Chapter 13: Perception 78
Top-Down Processing 79
Mental Models 81
Just Noticeable Differences 84
Weber’s Law 84
Marketing JNDs 85
Information Design JNDs 85
Bottom-Up Processing 85
Gestalt Grouping 86
Proximity 87
Similarity 88
Pitfalls of Similarity 88
Selective Perception 90
Key Takeaways 92
Questions to Ask Yourself 93
Chapter 14: Attention 94
Inattention Blindness 95
Automatic and Controlled Processing 96
Stroop Effect 97
Attention Span 97
Key Takeaways 98
Questions to Ask Yourself 98
Chapter 15: Flow 99
Key Takeaways 103
Questions to Ask Yourself 103
Chapter 16: Laziness 104
Key Takeaways 106
Questions to Ask Yourself 106
Chapter 17: Memory 107
Recognition Trumps Free Recall 108
Explicit and Implicit Memory 108
Schemata 110
Serial Position Effects 110
Rewards, Restrictions, and Memory 111
Cryptomnesia 112
Key Takeaways 113
Questions to Ask Yourself 113
Chapter 18: Rationalization 115
Post-Hoc Fallacy 116
Key Takeaways 118
Questions to Ask Yourself 118
Chapter 19: Accessibility 119
Key Takeaways 123
Questions to Ask Yourself 123
Chapter 20: Storytelling 124
Ethos 126
Pathos 126
Logos 127
Kairos 128
A Careful Balance 128
Inductive and Deductive Arrangement 128
Key Takeaways 129
Questions to Ask Yourself 129
Part III: Persuasion 131
Chapter 21: Empathy 135
Mirroring 137
Active Listening 137
Wicked Problems 138
False Consensus Bias 140
Good Experience for All 142
Key Takeaways 144
Questions to Ask Yourself 144
Chapter 22: Authority 146
Decision Fatigue 147
Key Takeaways 149
Questions to Ask Yourself 150
Chapter 23: Motivation 151
Key Takeaways 153
Questions to Ask Yourself 153
Chapter 24: Relevancy 154
Defining Relevancy 155
Relevancy = Time + Context 156
Feature Creep 156
Humor 157
Adaptation 159
Reconsideration of a Goal 160
Key Takeaways 161
Questions to Ask Yourself 161
Chapter 25: Reciprocity 162
The Gift Exchange 165
Key Takeaways 166
Questions to Ask Yourself 166
Chapter 26: Product 167
Idea Containers 168
Filling the Container 169
Applying the Framework 170
Differentiation 171
Key Takeaways 175
Questions to Ask Yourself 175
Chapter 27: Price 176
Economy of Needs 177
Pareto UX 179
Unequal Exchanges 180
Contrasts and Anchors 181
Decoy Effects 182
Ethical Anchoring 182
Highly Destructive Operations 183
Avoid Mistrust 185
Receive and Respond 186
Key Takeaways 187
Questions to Ask Yourself 188
Chapter 28: Promotion 189
Growing Without Pulling 190
Scarcity 192
Scarcity by Amount 193
Scarcity by Time 194
Scarcity by Exclusivity 194
Key Takeaways 195
Questions to Ask Yourself 195
Chapter 29: Place 196
Placement in User Experience 197
Key Takeaways 198
Questions to Ask Yourself 198
Part IV: Process 199
Chapter 30: Waterfall, Agile, and Lean 201
Your Project: The Mountain 202
Agile 205
A Tale of Two Ideas 207
Lean 208
A Bit of This, a Bit of That 209
Key Takeaways 210
Questions to Ask Yourself 211
Chapter 31: Problem Statements 212
Defining What 214
Defining Why 214
Defining How 215
Putting It All Together 215
Key Takeaways 216
Questions to Ask Yourself 216
Chapter 32: The Three Searches 217
Key Takeaways 221
Questions to Ask Yourself 221
Chapter 33: Quantitative Research 222
Correlation and Causality 227
Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy 228
Procrustean Bed 229
Hobson’s Choice 230
Key Takeaways 231
Questions to Ask Yourself 231
Chapter 34: Calculator Research 232
Key Takeaways 234
Questions to Ask Yourself 234
Chapter 35: Qualitative Research 235
Discovering Questions 237
Contextual Inquiry 238
Interviews 240
Open-Ended Questions 240
Leading Questions 241
Loaded Questions 242
Silence 242
False Data 243
Group Interviews 244
The Five Whys 244
Key Takeaways 245
Questions to Ask Yourself 245
Chapter 36: Reconciliation 247
Do It Now or Do It Later 249
Key Takeaways 251
Questions to Ask Yourself 251
Chapter 37: Documentation 252
Naming 255
The Need for a Unique Name 255
What Makes a Good Name? 256
Fidelity 257
Necessary and Distracting Fidelity 259
Maps 259
Mock-Ups 260
Prototypes 260
Showing Fire 261
Key Takeaways 262
Questions to Ask Yourself 262
Chapter 38: Personas 263
Historical versus Aspirational Personas 265
Exaggeration and Accuracy 267
Key Takeaways 268
Questions to Ask Yourself 268
Chapter 39: Journey Mapping 269
Journey Mapping 270
How to Create a Journey Map 272
Key Takeaways 277
Questions to Ask Yourself 277
Chapter 40: Knowledge Mapping 278
Knowledge Mapping 279
Key Takeaways 282
Questions to Ask Yourself 282
Chapter 41: Kano Modeling 283
Struggle or Pleasure 284
Delightful Becomes Expected Over Time 289
Key Takeaways 290
Questions to Ask Yourself 290
Chapter 42: Heuristic Review 291
Key Takeaways 294
Questions to Ask Yourself 294
Chapter 43: User Testing 295
Qualitative and Quantitative Testing 297
Remote Testing 298
User Testing: The Final Frontier 300
Key Takeaways 300
Questions to Ask Yourself 300
Chapter 44: Evaluation 302
What Is “Good” UX? 304
Key Takeaways 305
Questions to Ask Yourself 305
Chapter 45: Conclusion 306
Appendix A: Resources for Further Reading 307
Introduction 307
Part I: UX Principles 307
Chapter 1: UX Is Unavoidable 308
Chapter 2: You Are Not the User 308
Chapter 3: You Compete with Everything 308
Chapter 4: The User Is on a Journey 308
Chapter 5: Keep It Simple 308
Chapter 6: Users Collect Experiences 309
Chapter 7: Speak the User’s Language 309
Chapter 8: Favor the Familiar 309
Chapter 9: Stability, Reliability, and Security 309
Chapter 10: Speed 310
Chapter 11: Usefulness 310
Part II: Being Human 310
Chapter 13: Perception 311
Chapter 14: Attention 312
Chapter 15: Flow 312
Chapter 16: Laziness 313
Chapter 17: Memory 313
Chapter 18: Rationalization 314
Chapter 19: Accessibility 314
Chapter 20: Storytelling 314
Part III: Persuasion 314
Chapter 21: Empathy 315
Chapter 22: Authority 315
Chapter 23: Motivation 316
Chapter 24: Relevancy 316
Chapter 25: Reciprocity 316
Chapter 26: Product 317
Chapter 27: Price 317
Chapter 28: Promotion 318
Chapter 29: Place 318
Part IV: Process 319
Chapter 30: Waterfall, Agile, and Lean 319
Chapter 31: Problem Statements 319
Chapter 33: Quantitative Research 320
Chapter 34: Calculator Research 320
Chapter 35: Qualitative Research 320
Chapter 36: Reconciliation 321
Chapter 37: Documentation 321
Chapter 38: Personas 321
Chapter 39: Journey Mapping 322
Chapter 41: Kano Modeling 322
Chapter 42: Heuristic Review 322
Chapter 43: User Testing 322
Chapter 44: Evaluation 322
Index 323