Process and Methods

When I agreed to teach a twelve-week course on user experience design, I did what anyone of us would do: I went to find something to copy. I trolled the articles and syllabi I could find online, and I was horrified. Sometime in the years between Jesse James Garrett’s lovely diagram and his incendiary demand…

If you can place your core offering firmly at the center of your design, then all other elements in the site help both the users and the business reach their goals.

Kalbach and Lindemann show how the Core+Paths method keeps the design focused on your goals.

Chris Baum talks with Patrick Quattlebaum at the 2012 IA Summit about his insights
on tools that designers can use to help companies develop experiences across channels.

At the heart of design are the stories that give meaning to the work. Andrew Hinton meditates on what stories have taught him about information architecture and the people inhabiting the places he’s helped design.

Many agile teams can’t develop good user experiences because UX just isn’t integrated well enough. With the UX Integration Matrix, Jon Innes helps involve UX in every possible part of the agile process.

How does Agile work effectively when redesigning a site? James Kelway uses case studies as starting points to explore how Agile and UCD can work together during wholesale redesigns.

Anthony Colfelt is not anti-Agile, but he believes strongly about how user-centered design can operate in an Agile environment. Here he explains how he came to feel this way, the major pitfalls of Agile, and how he sees Agile and UCD fitting together in harmony.

Aaron Travis explores the importance of using sketchy wireframes early in the project
cycle. He then discusses the conversion of computer-based sketches into traditional wireframes and includes an analysis of “sketchy” capabilities of popular software tools.”

Talking down a hostage-taker requires extraordinary empathy and close attention to communication patterns. Bryan McClain and Demetrius Madrigal of ActiveComm Labs show us how we can apply these skills when conducting user research.

A screenwriter has a compass that can guide him through the writing process. Cindy Chastain chronicles how we can translate this approach to help us remember the quality and value of the experience.