All posts from
December 2019

Facilitating structures: Toward a new way of working and learning together

Added on 20 December 2019 Peter Bogaards

All together now…

“​What does it mean to be a designer at this time in history? Think about that for a second. Or several days. At the risk of speaking for all designers, I’ll say we’ve moved beyond just surface and tactical concerns, at least in our discourse. I still see religious debates over design tools, and excitement over the latest visual design trends. But, if five years ago we were debating round corners on buttons, we’re now debating whether these things should even exist, and the effect on our society and the world at large. We’re designing from a more thoughtful perspective. (…) In recent years, I’ve come to recognize that the biggest influence I can have, as a designer and design leader, is to become more of a facilitator.”

Stephen Anderson a.k.a. /stephenpa | @stephenanderson ★

There is no design system

Added on 20 December 2019 Peter Bogaards

Tagged as ‘There is no such thing as’ a.k.a. #tinsta.

“​So in the design systems work we do, you often think of a style guide. Or a component library. Or a Sketch UI Kit. And there are arguments on whether either of those things can be called a design system if it doesn’t include this other thing or that other thing. We even talk about whether design systems are products or are more of a service. My take? The word “design” and “system” used in combination together literally just means to systemize your design (and in my world view that is more about the overall experience). And so if for you that means a Sketch UI Library, then you do you! My point is I think there is too much focus on the deliverables in the first place.”

Jina Anne ~ /sushiandrobots | @jina ~ 24 ways ★

The State of UX Research

Added on 18 December 2019 Peter Bogaards

UX Research is definitely different from UX Design.

“​I have been a UX researcher for 25 years. I did not come up through the usual degree programs available at the time, such as cognitive psychology and human factors. Rather, I came to the field from technical communication, seeing that there was a role for technical communicators to play in advocating for the user and promoting usability testing to understand the user experience, even if it meant conducting stealth testing on the documentation at the end of the product development cycle.”

Carol Barnum ~ Journal of Usability Studies 15.1 ★

Designing for Social Technologies: Responsible Privacy Design

Added on 16 December 2019 Peter Bogaards

Designing more and more for human values, like autonomy, security and privacy.

“​We argue that, as UX designers, we have the opportunity and the ethical responsibility to design for overcoming social privacy barriers. In this article, we draw on our research and experience to illustrate how social privacy concerns affect users or even push them away from using online platforms. We conclude by suggesting ways forward to more responsible UX design.”

Xinru Page, Pamela Wisniewski, Bart Knijnenburg, and Julie Schiller ~ UXPA Magazine ★

The future of patient experience: Five thoughts on where we must go from here

Added on 13 December 2019 Peter Bogaards

This one will be evenly distributed.

“​In looking to the future, we must never forget it is grounded in today and the steps that brought us to this point. Those efforts and actions that led to where we stand now set the foundation for all we can do and what we will accomplish as we look to the future. This idea of not looking too far ahead without knowing where you stand is fundamental in human nature. Far too often we have let our gaze to the future miss the people right in front of us or overlook the significance of the moment in which we stand. As we look to the future of experience in healthcare, we must start identifying and acknowledging the bigger issues facing healthcare overall. When we look at experience as the strategic heart of healthcare where quality, safety, service, cost and access come together to ensure the best outcomes overall, we can then build a path forward that serves all in healthcare. To do so we must consider where we go from here and how we take the critical next steps. This article offers five thoughts on how experience will change in moving towards its future. Yet with all we know is possible in healthcare, if we remain committed to one another, to what is possible and to what we believe our fellow human beings want and deserve, then we will also know the right thing to do and the next steps to take. That is where the future of experience awaits.”

Jason A. Wolf PhD ~ The Beryl Institute | Patient Experience Journal ★

Introduction to speculative design practice

Added on 9 December 2019 Peter Bogaards

Always good to know the relevant backgrounders.

“​The relation between design and art (and other related disciplines) can be observed in several stages, i.e. from the high modernist synthesis of applied arts, visual arts and design in the 1950s, to the scientification of design throughout the 1960s and the emphasis on its rationality and the postmodernist position in which it is once again positioned at the centre of the interrelations of various disciplines, no longer through a complete synthesis, but, above all, through their interaction.”

Ivica Mitrović ★

Reflection on business, design and value

Added on 5 December 2019 Peter Bogaards

Fits into the trend of Value Sensitive Design and more.

“​What’s been important about the emergence of design thinking aside from the capacities it creates is that it points to the activities of design as a source of value, instead of focusing solely on the products of design. To me this is an important distinction and increases the relevance of design to business exponentially. It also means that design activities, when made visible as a source of value, have the potential to be learned and used across the entire organization.”

Andrea Mignolo a.k.a. /mignolo | @pnts ★ courtesy of @odannyboy

A day in the life of a UX manager

Added on 3 December 2019 Peter Bogaards

Sounds like an old Beatles song.

“​Informed by interviews with ten UX managers, this article presents a hypothetical day-in-the-life of a first-level, non-executive UX manager. This article is meant for senior ICs who wish to learn more about UX management. (…) The UX manager’s role is to enable their team and the people on it to be successful. This purpose drives many diverse activities, from the tactical to the strategic and from the empowering to the directed. Senior ICs who wish to try UX management can start by looking beyond their deliverables and begin to help their peers, team, and products grow.”

Jerrod Larson a.k.a. /jerrod-larson ~ UXPA Magazine ★

Human-to-Human Interaction Style in Voice User Interface Design

Added on 2 December 2019 Peter Bogaards

Talk to me and experience how much ambiguity there is in spoken language.

“​Advancements in natural language processing, voice recognition technology, and speech synthesis allow voice-enabled devices to mimic human-to-human interactions fairly well. The levels of capabilities that devices and machines have to simulate human voices and generate natural(-like) language in a conversation vary across platforms, and since it is a relatively new technological innovation, users often do not have consistent expectations of their conversation with a conversational user interface (CUI). These inconsistent expectations are often exacerbated by the differences between verbal and written language when the CUI modality is voice; this is a subset of conversational UIs called voice user interfaces.”

Esther Horowitz a.k.a. /esther-horowitz | @estherhorowitz5 ~ UXPA Magazine ★

The Magic That Makes Customer Experiences Stick

Added on 2 December 2019 Peter Bogaards

Magic? It’s just thoughtful design.

“​Today’s customer journey is not just a matter of a few touch points as the consumer systematically narrows choices. Instead, most consumers take an iterative and expansive journey. They consider multiple perspectives, often through the use of social media. They interact with other people and other products and services. The journey between visiting a company’s website, say, and making an actual purchase is an emotional, cognitive, and motivational process. It’s the mix of those forces that creates feelings, memories, and stories about an organization, whether positive, negative, or ambivalent. It’s this variability that creates opportunities for companies to deliver memorable experiences. (…)”

Stefan Thomke a.k.a. /stefan-thomke-innovation ~ MIT Sloan Management Review ★ courtesy of @2BFrank