Indi Young
Abstract
Making the leap from user research into the design process is widely regarded as the step where ‘magic’ comes into play. This full-day workshop presents one method to make the magic a little more systematic. A mental model of potential users’ behaviors and motivations, matched against potential offerings for an interactive experience, create a startlingly clear picture of how to go forward with your design. The qualitative research process coupled with a study of your organization’s goals makes this technique especially appealing profit and non-profit organizations, including government and educational institutions.
Top level navigation can be derived from the mental spaces within a model. The model gives the team a very clear picture of what the user is trying to accomplish, so the experience can be structured accordingly. This technique is not meant to replace library science, but work as the highest level. Most leaf-level content organization is derived through more traditional IA approaches. The two approaches have worked hand-in-hand quite smoothly for years.
Analysis of the gaps in the aligned diagram can lead to new perspectives on business decisions. Teams who have used this technique regularly check the diagram to validate the direction of current tool or content ideas. These diagrams have a lifespan of many years.
The workshop will cover:
- Non-directed interview techniques
- How to recognize tasks and implied tasks in transcripts
- How to let tasks build themselves into patterns of a mental model
- Content alignment with task groups
- Definition and prioritization of what to design
- Derivation of top-level product/site structure from the aligned diagram
Attendees will work in teams to practice interview techniques, analyze transcripts, build a mental model, align offerings, and derive top level information architecture. Techniques ranging from purely electronic to stacks of sticky notes will be reviewed. The objective of this workshop is to allow attendees to return home with a set of skills they can put to use immediately on their current projects. There is a site, hosted by the publisher of the mental model book, where attendees can download templates, ask questions, share examples, and stay up to date with improvements in the process.
Workshop Details
Audience / pre-requisite skills
Participants are folks who have been asked to design an online product, corporate website, intranet, or a B-to-C or B-to-B site with extensive content. Participants will have familiarity with information architecture and product design. Participants may have problems with internal politics, power over the design, or may simply want a more robust, verifiable method to design solutions. This course is also appropriate for participants at the managerial or director level who are interested in running more reliable projects.
Mental Models Workshop Schedule
- What, Why & When?
- Exercise: Warm Up
- Exercise Review Task-Based Audience Segments
- Exercise: Segment Your Audience Segmentation Review
MORNING BREAK
- Scoping Your Project
- Review an Interview
- Non-Directed Interviews
- Exercise: Conduct an Interview
- Exercise Review Analyze the Stories
LUNCH
Analyze the Stories (continued)
- Get Some Practice
- Affinities & Patterns
- Build from the Bottom Up
- Exercise: Make a Mental Model Exercise Review
AFTERNOON BREAK
- Alignment Gap Analysis
- Exercise: Analyze the Opportunities
- Exercise Review Navigation Derivation Agile Principles & UX
Speaker Details
Indi Young’s work spans a number of decades, from the mid-80s when the desktop metaphor was replacing command line, to the mid-90’s when the Web first toddled onto the scene, to now, when designers are intent on crafting things that delight and enable the end user. After 10 years of consulting, Indi founded Adaptive Path with six other partners, all hoping to spread good design around the world, making things easier for people everywhere. Indi’s mental models have helped both start-ups and large corporations discover and support customer behaviors they didn’t think to explore at first. She has written a book about the mental model method, Mental Models – Aligning Design Strategy with Human Behavior, published by Rosenfeld Media. She is now consulting independently, conducting mental model workshops, and mentoring.