1. The User Experience Design Sprint
How a User Experience Designer and a Librarian Reimagined and
Prototyped Three Websites in Three Months

2. How we met and how this project was born…
About Us
How we met and how this project was born…

3. Aurelia Engstrom
Completed her MI
Looking for work in User Experience Design
Graham Lavender
Recently started at the Michener Institute
Wanted a more user-centred website

4. Agenda Developing a Project Plan The Discovery Phase Engaging Users
Stakeholder engagement and relationship building
Concluding remarks

5. A quick survey of your own experiences…
BUT FIRST…
A quick survey of your own experiences…

6. How many of you are in the middle of a project to redesign their website?
How many want to redesign their website?
How many of you think your website has some room for improvement?
How of you think your website is 100% optimal just as it is?

7. DEVELOPING A PROJECT PLAN

8. WHY DEVELOP A PROJECT PLAN?
Organization! Timelines and project deliverables are all in the same place
Transparency! Essential for project deliverables and outcomes
Accountability! Easy to see who is responsible for which deliverable

9. Project plan example

10. THE DISCOVERY PHASE

11. IF YOU’RE REDESIGNING A WEBSITE...
Chances are someone has already done it!
There is no need to “re-invent the wheel”
This is your chance to learn from others strengths and weaknesses!
Credit: Jake Fleming,

12. LEARN FROM YOUR PEER INSTITUTIONS
Opportunity to engage stakeholders
Who do they see as a peer institution?
Opportunity to see what is working and what isn’t
What do you love about your competitors’ sites? What do you hate?
Opportunity to research information architecture best practices
Find out what the experts are saying to help inform your redesign decisions

13. USE YOUR COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS TO INFORM YOUR DESIGN
This report helps you think about the experience you want your users to have

14. What are we missing?

15. Our Users!
Why ask them?

16. Source: MMK, http://www. architecturendesign
Source: MMK, , 2015; photo uncredited

17. HOW DID WE GET USER FEEDBACK AND INSIGHT?

18. WE ASKED THEM!

19. Has anyone here done any card sorting?

20. Source: http://www. doctordisruption

21. We learned what language Michener students were using
We learned how they understood terms on the library website

22. CARDSORTING HIGHLIGHTS
Library Catalogue
Library Resources vs. Library Services
Resource Guide vs. Subject Guide

23. WHY CARD SORTING? Inexpensive
Easy to do when you and your users are pressed for time!
It tells you a lot about how your users see information

24. INTERVIEWS: ALL THEY COST IS TIME
Know the purpose of your interview
What are you trying to learn?
Design your Questions Carefully
Don’t ask leading questions
Talk less!
Let your users lead you through the interview

25. HOW DID WE USE THIS INFORMATION?
Analyzed it to better understand user needs
Incorporated it into the design direction
Created Personas to help stakeholders understand the users

26. Demographic Information
A list of more detailed demographics and basic information (job, married, etc)
Image of Persona
Sketch the persona and name them
(stick figures are fine!)
Their Behaviours
Identify the persona’s behaviours and beliefs
Their Goals/Needs
Identify the needs and goals of personas.

27. Personas helped us remind stakeholders who we were designing for.

28. STAKEHOLDER
ENGAGEMENT

29. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
The Spirit of Agile UX
Involve your stakeholders in the design process
Get everyone on the same page
Determine your Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

30. Aurelia’s Wall for capturing stakeholder feedback
Incorporate feedback and iterate again!

32. RESOURCES WEBSITES BOOKS
Nielsen-Norman Group,
Smashing Magazine,
UX Matters,
BOOKS
Steve Krug, Don’t Make Me Think.
Don Norman, The Design of Everyday Things: revised and expanded edition
Carol Barnum, Usability Testing Essentials: Ready, Set, Test!

33. TOOLS WE LOVE Low Tech: Pencils and Paper for sketching
Cue cards for card sorting
White boards for thinking and drawing
Sticky notes for capturing feedback, affinity diagraming, etc.
Wireframing:
Balsamiq: an inexpensive wireframing tool that is extremely easy to use
InVision: upload your sketches/wires and share links with stakeholders. It is free for one project

34. MORE TOOLS WE LOVE Persona Creation
Xtensio: a free tool for creating in-depth personas
Research:
Google Trends: see what language people are using online
A few extra tools worth noting:
Axure: great program for creating prototypes; can be pricey
Sketch: Mac only tool; easy to learn and inexpensive
JIRA for Cloud: if you want to make your project plan digital, this is a good way to do it. It also works with InVision!

35. THANKS!
Any questions?