Fwd: Adaptive Path Newsletter for December 19, 2007
Daphne Ogle
daphne at media.berkeley.edu
Thu Dec 20 17:29:46 UTC 2007
An interesting interview with Don Norman below...
"...And actually, the thing I really work on is asking the right
questions, so the rule I have for myself when I consult with clients
and the rule I teach my students, is: Do not solve the problem that’s
asked of you. It’s almost always the wrong problem. Almost always
when somebody comes to you with a problem, they’re really telling you
the symptoms and the first and the most difficult part of design is
to figure out what is really needed to get to the root of the issue
and solve the correct problem…"
I believe this whole heart-idly. Our jobs as designers really is to
ask the right the questions to get our users and stake holders to
think perhaps differently and deep enough about the problem space to
get to the root. Once everyone has a shared understanding of the
problem then we can create solutions together.
-Daphne
Begin forwarded message:
> From: Adaptive Path Newsletter <announce at adaptivepath.com>
> Date: December 19, 2007 1:19:23 PM PST
> To: announce at adaptivepath.com
> Subject: Adaptive Path Newsletter for December 19, 2007
> Reply-To: Adaptive Path Newsletter <announce at adaptivepath.com>
>
> Adaptive Path Newsletter for December 19, 2007
>
> +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
>
> - Hurry! First-tier Early Bird Registration for UX Week, UX
> Intensive & MX Ends 12/31/07
> - Brandon's Latest Essay -- Sketchboards: Discover Better + Faster
> UX Solutions
> - Peter in Conversation with Don Norman About UX & Innovation
> - Boxes and Arrows Interviews Dan Saffer About IxDA's Interaction 2008
> - Wishing You a Year Filled with Radiance
>
> +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
>
> Hurry! First-tier Early Bird Registration for UX Week, UX Intensive
> & MX Ends 12/31/07
>
> First-tier, early bird registration is about to end for our three
> events: UX Intensive [1], UX Week [2], and MX [3] (Managing
> Experience Through Creative Leadership). Prices go up 1/1/07 --
> register now.
>
> [1] http://www.adaptivepath.com/promo/uxisf1213
> [2] http://www.adaptivepath.com/promo/uxw1213
> [3] http://www.adaptivepath.com/promo/mxsf1213
>
> +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
>
> Brandon's Latest Essay -- Sketchboards: Discover Better + Faster UX
> Solutions
>
> The prolific Brandon Schauer [1] follows up his last well-received
> essay, "The Long Wow," [2] with "Sketchboards: Discover Better +
> Faster UX Solutions" [3]. Here's an excerpt:
>
> The sketchboard is a low-fi technique that makes it possible for
> designers to explore and evaluate a range of interaction concepts
> while involving both business and technology partners. Unlike the
> process that results from wireframe-based design, the sketchboard
> quickly performs iterations on many possible solutions and then
> singles out the best user experience to document and build upon.
>
> It’s what we do well
>
> Designers love the “breakthrough moments” in a working
> relationship. Those times when you suddenly reveal a picture of a
> solution that really nails the problem and gives everyone on the
> team a reason to cheer. Such moments bring together many of the
> most valuable capabilities of a designer, as follows:
>
> - The ability to convey a solution pictorially: Showing a solution
> is more vivid and far less abstract than talking or writing about
> it; pictures are both louder and more clear than words.
> - The ability to presuppose new solutions: Despite incomplete
> information about the problem, designers make instinctual leaps to
> offer potential solutions that would not have been arrived at
> through deductive logic alone. Designers push the boundaries beyond
> the obvious alternatives.
> - The ability to fuse together a solution from competing
> constraints: Design constraints solved one by one can create an
> unwieldy solution. Great designers arrange components of a solution
> into a whole that is more elegant than the sum of its parts.
>
> The trouble is that these moments are all too rare on normal design
> and development projects. After a designer sinks time into
> communication, requirements gathering, and documentation, there is
> precious little time to create amazing results…
>
> Read [4] the rest of Brandon's essay, "Sketchboards: Discover
> Better + Faster UX Solutions."
>
> [1] http://www.adaptivepath.com/aboutus/brandon.php
> [2] http://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/essays/archives/000858.php
> [3] http://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/essays/archives/000863.php
> [4] http://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/essays/archives/000863.php
>
> +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
>
> Peter in Conversation with Don Norman About UX & Innovation
>
> Peter Merholz [1] recently spoke to UX Week 2008 [2] keynoter Don
> Norman about his thoughts on user experience design today and what
> companies need to do to innovate. Here's an excerpt from their
> conversation:
>
> Peter Merholz [PM]: I’m really excited that you’re going to be
> speaking at our UX Week conference in 2008. One of the reasons I’m
> excited is that in 1998, I did some research on the phrase ‘user
> experience’ and the first references pointed to you. I emailed you
> about it then, and you replied, “I invented the term because I
> thought human interface and usability were too narrow. I wanted to
> cover all aspects of the person’s experience with the system
> including industrial design graphics, the interface, the physical
> interaction and the manual. Since then the term has spread widely,
> so much so that it is starting to lose it’s meaning.”
>
> So now it’s 2007, what do you think of the phrase, ‘user experience’?
>
> Don Norman [DN]: Yes, user experience, human centered design,
> usability; all those things, even affordances. They just sort of
> entered the vocabulary and no longer have any special meaning.
> People use them often without having any idea why, what the word
> means, its origin, history, or what it’s about.
>
> PM: Do you get a chance to design much any more?
>
> DN: No, actually I don’t, but I teach design so it’s kind of fun, I
> get a chance to critique design, critique in a positive sense of
> urging the students on to do better, better thoughts, deeper
> analysis, sometimes more exciting designs, more pleasurable
> designs. And actually, the thing I really work on is asking the
> right questions, so the rule I have for myself when I consult with
> clients and the rule I teach my students, is: Do not solve the
> problem that’s asked of you. It’s almost always the wrong problem.
> Almost always when somebody comes to you with a problem, they’re
> really telling you the symptoms and the first and the most
> difficult part of design is to figure out what is really needed to
> get to the root of the issue and solve the correct problem…
>
> Read [3] the rest of Peter's interview of Don Norman or listen [4]
> to the full hour-long conversation and don't forget to join us [5]
> for UX Week 2008.
>
> [1] http://www.adaptivepath.com/aboutus/peterme.php
> [2] http://www.adaptivepath.com/promo/uxw1213
> [3] http://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/essays/archives/000862.php
> [4] http://tinyurl.com/2uj94d
> [5] http://www.adaptivepath.com/promo/uxw1213
>
> +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
>
> Boxes and Arrows Interviews Dan Saffer About IxDA's Interaction 2008
>
> Boxes and Arrows recently asked our very own Dan Saffer [1],
> Conference Chair and IxDA Director, about the context of the
> organization, how Interaction 2008 emerged and formed, and what the
> conference will be like. Check out the full interview [2].
>
> [1] http://www.adaptivepath.com/aboutus/dan.php
> [2] http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/interactions-08-in
>
> +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
>
> Wishing You a Year Filled with Radiance
>
> Wishing you a year filled with radiance, from all of us at Adaptive
> Path!
>
> +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
>
> A big welcome to those of you getting this newsletter for the first
> time. As always, if you wish to unsubscribe from this list, head over
> to: http://www.adaptivepath.com/publications/unsubscribe/
Daphne Ogle
Senior Interaction Designer
University of California, Berkeley
Educational Technology Services
daphne at media.berkeley.edu
cell (510)847-0308
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