iUX: Guidelines for UX Designers — 2 of 2
Welcome to the next edition of iUX: Guidelines for present and future UX Designers.
If you have not already, please read the introduction and the first part of the iUX guidelines. In a nutshell, the goal of the iUX series is to guide established and future UX/UI designers by connecting best practices of UX design from our virtual and physical worlds.
So… without further ado, let us continue to sip down some more of this UX potion and explore the possibilities of creating better experiences for our world(s).
6) Learn to think and design beyond the screen
According to WorkingNation a study by Oxford University predicts that within 20 years, 47% of all jobs are at risk of getting replaced by technology. People are living longer than before and in our future we will be forced to change our job more than any people in history (try out their futureProof Quiz to see how secure your career will be in future). We can already see the impact of this taking place in Asia, where a Chinese factory has replaced 90% of human workers with robots. As a result, production rose by 250% and defects dropped by 80%.
The point: it will be imperative to learn new and multiple skill-sets throughout our careers to avoid getting left behind in future. Thus, it will be valuable to evolve into a jack of many trades, and a master of some.
One way to build these skill-sets is to start thinking beyond traditional screens like desktops/mobile and think about design of new and potential interfaces. These interfaces can be related to various industries. For example: smart appliances, navigational UI for cars, smart furniture for homes, in-flight entertainment experience, event experience design and new AI based assistants. Therefore, as stated in the previous post, it will become increasingly important to learn the fundamentals of other design disciplines, e.g. industrial design and interior design.
In the video below, sharing a rich set of examples, Josh Clark explores the new experiences that are possible when ANYTHING can be an interface.
7) Learn to boost your visualization skills
In his autobiography, Nikola Tesla described how he worked: “I do not rush into actual work. When I get an idea I start at once building it up in my imagination. I change the construction, make improvements and operate the device in my mind. It is absolutely immaterial to me whether I run my turbine in thought or test it in my shop. I even note if it is out of balance. There is no difference whatsoever, the results are the same. In this way I am able to rapidly develop and perfect a conception without touching anything.”
According to Operation-Meditation, visualization is an important part of increasing imagination. Visualization is often perceived as one’s ability to create a clear and vivid picture in the mind. Yet this concept entails various senses as well. It enables you to imagine the story being told or the object being described. The more imaginative and creative the mind becomes, the more elaborate one’s visualizations can be.
If we can condition our minds to visualize diverse user-scenarios, journeys and usability questions before actually starting to work on them with teams, we will not only save time but also reduce errors in whatever components and features we design for an interface. Eventually, this practice will help you transfer your design based visualizations from the conscious mind to your subconscious mind and allow them to manifest in a more effective way on an interface.
Example: In many ways, this is not only true for the field of design but also for martial arts. Below is a clip from Sherlock Holmes, that illustrates effective use of foresight and visualization (using WingTsun Kung-Fu). It might seem a bit exaggerated but definitely helps get the point across!
8) Learn to observe and use patterns in your world(s)
Patterns and relationships are everywhere, all around (and within) us. Think about the sunrise and sunset, earth rotation and seasons, orbits and galaxies, cells and organs, atoms and molecules. They all work in patterns and relationships, which in return, keep our lives and our ecosystem, in balance. One slight change in these natural patterns can cause disasters and catastrophes.
Similarly, using patterns and relationships in UX design are quintessential. It is through patterns that our minds are programmed to perceive and retain information; with ease and simplicity. In other words, we are natural pattern-seekers.
In 1985, Irving Biederman came up with the idea of geometric icons (geons). It is thought that there are 24 basic shapes that we recognize. They form the building blocks of all the objects we see and identify.
Application: Learn to implement efficient ways of creating and using pattern libraries in creating new product experiences (e.g with Pattern Lab). This will help your design become more easier to manage and much more consistent, factoring in limitations of mind and perception of users. For example, using patterns will help your users to predict the behaviour of an interface, as well recognize predefined patterns. Ultimately, it will make their interaction journey, smoother and enjoyable.
9) Learn to practice your storytelling skills
One of the central principles of cognitive psychology is the relevance of storytelling, both descriptive and visual. According to UX researcher, Lija Hogan, “Story is one of the most powerful tools that humans use to understand and communicate with the outside world. Part evolutionary feature, part survival mechanism, harking back to Paleolithic times — story powers the human brain. Whether you plan for it or not, your customers use their story-driven brains to understand your product, what it’s like to use your product as well tell others about your product. The better the story, the better the experience, the better the word of mouth.”
We as humans are wired to listen to stories and each of us has a story to tell, regardless of where we come from. We can enhance our creative design thinking by telling (also watching/listening) as many stories as we can. Therefore, let your stories in daily lives be as descriptive as possible so that they may reflect in your product design too.
Application: One ways to practice your storytelling skills is to start reading and practice writing short stories and screenplays. Taking a masterclass in screenplay writing or short-story writing can help User Experience designers learn effective storytelling skills, both for applications and products. Think about how you can use these skills for an AI product — an intelligent AI system’s interface could narrate its tasks in a story form to its users, in order to demonstrate learning of their actions, parameters, intent as well contexts of their surroundings.
10) Learn to understand the source… of everything.
As I type away this article using my keypad, admiring the fancy WYSIWYG editor of Medium and multi-tasking with the luminous icons on my computer screen - it becomes somewhat natural to perceive the interface as the entirety of my computer. It is easy to overlook that what I see is merely a projection of the operating system’s source (e.g iOS and Intel processor). The source (or code) is what helps project the luminous visual interface for us so we may interact with it. By this, I also mean the source that is behind any website, app, computer software or AI assistant. In other words, without the source, we will have no fancy interface to dynamically interact with.
“There is no dark side of the moon really. As a matter of fact, it’s all dark. The only thing that makes it light, is the Sun.”
— Gerry O’Driscol
For someone without any dev or programming background, source code can at times give headaches merely by glancing at it (we all know of people who have no idea what the “view source” option is for in your browser). However, it is vital to understand for UX designers that without some knowledge of code, UX/UI design is not scalable and cannot thrive in its own ecosystem.
Therefore, taking basic tutorials in programming can help increase our working knowledge of a system’s source, as well equip us with discovering the learning constraints and scalability of the end product. Moreover, it can shape your UX design and strategy into a more holistic approach and also provide an edge over other non-technical designers.
In time, this will allow your recommendations to be admired and respected by both technical (developers/engineers) and non-technical stakeholders, as well allowing you to design holistically and responsibly for hundreds or millions of users.
Bonus:
UX is not about what you think the design should look like, it’s about understanding of who your users really are and designing experiences according to their needs. So, whatever you do, ‘listen’ to your users and avoid turning into an Askhole.
This concludes the guidelines episode. Stay tuned for the next episode of the iUX series.
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Thank You.
Noman Siddiqui is a Canadian UX/UI/Interaction Design Consultant.
