Defining what quality means for user stories — User story mapping is a wonderful exercise to start off the discovery of a new product. It can be used for turning user journeys into a set of user stories (ie. functional “chunks”) which can then be prioritised and populate a backlog. The problem with story mapping, is that it…

Usability testing is key to product quality. — Constant exposure to your customers is key to quality Most companies nowadays have a mature attitude to data. But I still sometimes hear objections that usability testing is not scientific. Even senior colleagues sometimes voice concerns that usability tests are not “statistically significant”. In an industry where companies live or die by their user experience, these beliefs are really…

People often struggle with the term ‘service design’. This is an attempt at describing service design to someone with a product design background. A definition The majority of products that we encounter are actually part of a larger service network. In some cases, those touchpoints have been designed. But in…

How to do B2B user research–without much user research — Business users are busy by definition, and that means they are notoriously hard to pin down for user research. This is a hack that I use to create rapid personas for business users that can be validated later. Purists may disagree with this approach. But the point is, this approach…

Nail these kinds of meeting to drive outcomes with your design — While Agile Scrum has plenty to say about development rituals and ceremonies, I have not found too much written about design rituals. As Jared Spool says, “Design is a rendering of intent”. If this is true, then design can be used to facilitate communication. Therefore, it is useful to think…

Where and how to find your users — Consumer-focused companies have it fairly easy — simply pay some people to spend some time with you! Business users are not so easy, and I have found you have to work a little harder to get their time. Here’s some ideas to build up a list of users to draw…

5 Reasons to accept a design gig — When a new client wants to work with you, you need a reason why. How do you judge if it’s worth your while? While studying design, I was taught the following rule by my university lecturer Paulus. It was a great technique to apply when deciding whether to take a…

Design is stakeholder-centered too — Pursuing a project without the buy-in of stakeholders may lay your idea to waste. At the worst, you may expend efforts delivering a great project only to find it is knocked down at the final hurdle. User-centered design is stakeholder-centered Stakeholder engagement is a key part of a UX, and shouldn’t be seen as…

How to make it profitable for everyone — I can say with confidence that in the past seven years I have never been offered a design job without some kind of “dry run” by the employer. Every single time I have done well in the interview, that alone has not been enough to secure a job. My partner…