Chatbots and the new world of HCI

Added on 3 July 2017 Peter Bogaards

HCI as an academic field is waking up, too.

“A potential revolution is happening in front of our eyes. For decades, researchers and practitioners in human-computer interaction (HCI) have been improving their skills in designing for graphical user interfaces. Now things may take an unexpected turn—toward natural language user interfaces, in which interaction with digital systems happens not through scrolling, swiping, or button clicks, but rather through strings of text in natural language. This is particularly visible in recent developments in chatbots, that is, machine agents serving as natural language user interfaces to data and service providers [1], typically in the context of messaging applications.”

Asbjørn Følstad and Petter Bae Brandtzæg ~ Interactions XXIV.4 ★

Making things real: Content strategy for realistic content management

Added on 30 June 2017 Peter Bogaards

CMS, a software tool for content UX forgot. Hence, the authoring experience.

“Understanding how the CMS will handle our foundational pieces means we build a stronger site, one that’s easier to adapt. And being able to communicate how the CMS will handle things is foundational to getting past the big dream and into a more solid reality.”

Corey Vilhauer a.k.a. /mrvilhauer | @mrvilhauer ~ Eating elephant ★

Chatbox UX: Crafting a valuable conversation

Added on 26 June 2017 Peter Bogaards

Is a chatbot UX the prototypical application of UX writing?

“All chatbots are not created equal. What separates a good chatbot from a bad one? A good chatbot helps users accomplish something more efficiently. A great one makes it enjoyable. A bad bot wastes time, returns nonsense, and may annoy or frustrate users enough to drive them away.”

Jennifer Leigh Brown a.k.a. /jleighbrown | @jennleighbrown ~ UXbooth ★

DesignOps at Airbnb: How we manage effective design at scale

Added on 20 June 2017 Peter Bogaards

When things get a name.

“Working daily across so many disciplines, from Engineering to Product Management, Research, Content Strategy and an array of Design specialties, every little overhead in the transfer of information compounds. Inversely, every optimization and positive connection significantly lowers friction for everyone. This is why we’ve created DesignOps, to ease collaboration and amplify effectiveness, not only across product disciplines, but also between the increasingly complex world of Product Design.”

Adrian Cleave a.k.a. /adriancleave ~ Airbnb Design ★

Instruments of inquiry: Understanding the nature and role of tools in design

Added on 19 June 2017 Peter Bogaards

Tools make the design.

“To move from your research findings to product changes, you should set yourself two main goals. First, to effectively communicate your findings to help your audience process them and focus on next steps. Secondly, to follow through by proactively working with stakeholders to decide which issues will be addressed and by whom, injecting yourself into the design process whenever possible. This follow-through is critical to your success. Let’s look at an end-to-end process for embracing these two main goals.”

Peter Dalsgaard a.k.a. /peter-dalsgaard | @peterdalsgaard ~ International Journal of Design 11.1 ★

How to turn UX research into results

Added on 19 June 2017 Peter Bogaards

The application of research results is always up for debate.

“To move from your research findings to product changes, you should set yourself two main goals. First, to effectively communicate your findings to help your audience process them and focus on next steps. Secondly, to follow through by proactively working with stakeholders to decide which issues will be addressed and by whom, injecting yourself into the design process whenever possible. This follow-through is critical to your success. Let’s look at an end-to-end process for embracing these two main goals.”

Cindy McCracken a.k.a. /cindy-mccracken | @cmccracken ~ UX Mastery ★

Design in the era of the algorithm

Added on 13 June 2017 Peter Bogaards

Perfect text for those involved in circle three of Maeda: Computational Design.

“The design and presentation of data is just as important as the underlying algorithm. Algorithmic interfaces are a huge part of our future, and getting their design right is critical—and very, very hard to do. My work has begun to turn to the responsible and humane presentation of data-driven interfaces. And I suspect that yours will, too, in very short order. While constructing these machine learning models is indeed heavy-duty data science, using them is not. Tons of these machine learning models are available to all of us here to build upon right now.”

Josh Clark a.k.a. /joshclark | @bigmediumjosh ~ big medium ★ courtesy of @gnat

A turn of phrase: The politics of UX language

Added on 5 June 2017 Peter Bogaards

Language matters, in all fields, practices and thoughts.

“In our personal lives, words can send our hearts leaping with joy. Words can clarify a serious misunderstanding. Lyrics to favorite songs are treasured; phrases from movies are quoted; political speeches are critiqued. Words have meaning and power and are remembered long after they are uttered. In our world of UX, words can have more than one meaning and often have been borrowed from other professions. This complexity makes the selection of words to describe our work challenging. In practicing UX work, I have often made word choices to save face and placate business partners.”

Carol Smith a.k.a. /caroljsmith | @carologic ~ The Magazine of the User Experience Professionals Association ★

Lab testing beyond usability: Challenges and recommendations for assessing user experiences

Added on 2 June 2017 Peter Bogaards

Some real research provides sound results.

“In this paper, we report on a use case study involving 70 participants. They first took part in user/laboratory tests and then were asked to evaluate their experience with the two systems (perceived UX) by filling out an AttrakDiff scale and a UX needs fulfillment questionnaire. We conducted post-test interviews to better understand participants’ experiences. We analyzed how the participants’ perceived UX depends on quantitative (e.g., task completion time, task sequence, level of familiarity with the system) and qualitative aspects (think aloud, debriefing interviews) within the laboratory context.”

Carine Lallemand a.k.a. /carinelallemand | @Carilall and Vincent Koenig a.k.a. /vincent-koenig ~ Journal of Usability Studies 12.3 ★

How to turn UX research into results

Added on 1 June 2017 Peter Bogaards

Getting results out of research. No results are also results.

“To move from your research findings to product changes, you should set yourself two main goals. First, to effectively communicate your findings to help your audience process them and focus on next steps. Secondly, to follow through by proactively working with stakeholders to decide which issues will be addressed and by whom, injecting yourself into the design process whenever possible. This follow-through is critical to your success.”

Cindy McCracken a.k.a. /cindy-mccracken | @cmccracken ~ UX mastery ★

The future of UX: What’s coming next?

Added on 1 June 2017 Peter Bogaards

The future is changing all the time.

“First of all we have to say, that UX design is still a growing area, and in fact, it needs much more years that UX will be seen as a common social skill. UX Designer can work in there job for the next years. Easy use cases will be done by innovation manager or product manager on their own. For complex solutions, UX designer are a must have, also for the next 10 to 15 years. But there will be a focus on different areas which will increase! This are the six new focus areas for UX designers.”

World Usability Congress ★

WTF is UX writing?!

Added on 23 May 2017 Peter Bogaards

Writing is thinking. For humans and machines.

“In this post, the Flip Script Media team is excited to share some insight about this little-known field that is involved in much of the UX design process. You might say it’s like the body’s central nervous system: when it’s doing its job well, everything else runs smoothly, everything feels right, and everyone looks good; but if it’s neglected, it can weigh the entire team down. And, when things go awry, you become numb and blinded by the actual truth. While we’re on the subject, let me dish it out to you: language is an integral part of the UX design process. Nowadays, too many businesses consider language as an afterthought, and it’s high time we do something about it as it affects product design, communications, marketing strategies, branding and image, community management, even social media, chatbots, and conversational spaces! For such a little-known field, that’s a BIG list.”

Samantha Bilodeau a.k.a. /samanthabilodeau | @SamB418 ~ Flip Script Media ★

Why your design team should hire a writer

Added on 18 May 2017 Peter Bogaards

Text creation as experience design. Finally!

“Designing a flow is a lot like writing a story — an interactive story. And to tell a compelling story, it helps to have a writer in the room. In product design, a writer becomes the narrator of your story, guiding the main character (your user) from scene to scene, screen by screen. Whether you call yourself a writer or a designer, you’ll probably be able to spot a lot of similarities between our two disciplines.”

Jophn Saito a.k.a. /johnmsaito | @saitojohn ★

Why UX Design for machine learning matters

Added on 9 May 2017 Peter Bogaards

Digital designers moving slowly into computational design.

“Machine learning is going to radically change product design. But what is the future of machine learning? Is it the singularity, flying cars, voiceless commands, or an Alexa that can actually understand you? Before we can even get to that part–the grand futurism part – I want to offer a provocation: Machine learning won’t reach its potential–and may actually cause harm – if it doesn’t develop in tandem with user experience design.”

Caroline Sinders a.k.a. /caroline-sinders | @carolinesinders ~ FastCoDesign ★

The user experience of libraries: Serving the common good

Added on 8 May 2017 Peter Bogaards

The commons need a real lot of UX design.

“My introduction to the role of UX in libraries began during my graduate assistantship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where I worked in the UX department of the university library. When I began, I had plenty of questions: What was special about libraries? How do I apply UX methods to them? What do librarians know about UX? At the core of librarianship is public service; as non-profit educational institutions, the primary goal of libraries is to improve people’s lives. As a UX designer, I find working in libraries unique, challenging, and rewarding in its dedication to user advocacy.”

Daniel Pshock a.k.a. /danpsho ~ UX Magazine ★

User research when you can’t talk to your users

Added on 4 May 2017 Peter Bogaards

Nielsens First Law of User Research: Never listen to users, observe them.

“It’s not breaking news to say that the core of UX, in a vacuum, is talking to your users to gather insights and then applying that information to your designs. But it’s equally true that UX does not happen in a vacuum. So what happens when you don’t have the budget or the timeline to run user tests, card sorts, or stakeholder interviews? What should you do when your company doesn’t want you bothering the paying customers who use their software? In short, how do you do UX research when you can’t get direct access to your users?”

Jon Peterson a.k.a. /jonpetersonuxdesign | @jp_pete ~ A List Apart ★

Ethics in the AI Age

Added on 2 May 2017 Peter Bogaards

Important topic addressed amongst digital designers.

“Over the next two decades, connected products will demand an unprecedented amount of user trust. Technologists and designers will ask the public for yet more of their attention, more of their data, more of their lives. AIs will know users’ deepest secrets. Co-operating devices will automate security and safety. Autonomous vehicles will even make life-or-death decisions for passengers. But ours is an industry still unwilling to grapple with the ethical, social, and political angles of this future. We mistakenly believe that technology is neutral; that mere objects cannot have moral relevance. And so we make embarrassing blunders – racist chatbots, manipulative research, privacy violations – that undermine trust and harm those we should help.”

Cennydd Bowles a.k.a. /cennydd | @cennydd ~ interaction17 videos

How using Design Thinking will fix Design Thinking

Added on 1 May 2017 Peter Bogaards

Nested concept, design thinking.

“Design Thinking continues to be a hot topic (this article is one of many talking about it). Design Thinking has been hyped and even fetishized but there are also voices questioning its value, impact, and relevance. Design Thinking faces criticism for its lacking integration with business and compatibility with market reality. There are organizations that see Design Thinking as unnecessary rather than essential to driving organizational change and innovation. Does Design Thinking have to be reinvented or even replaced?”

Bert Bräutigam a.k.a. /bertbraeutigam | @bertbrautigam ~ The Next Web ★