Author: solaja1

As a graphic designer, much of my work focuses on the client. My design process entails finding out my client’s design needs and fulfilling those needs in my final deliverable. This process is comparable to the UX Design Thinking process, as my clients can be viewed as users of my graphic design services. Although I never viewed my clients as users of a service I was providing, my perspective of my clients has shifted thanks to a course I recently took in which I learned about the fundamentals of user experience design.

In just seven weeks, I completed ICM512, also known as the Principles of User Experience Design, as part of Quinnipiac University’s Interactive Media and Communications Master’s program. In this course, I “explored the ever-changing processes and methods of user experience design” through lessons and exercises surrounding problem definition, empathy, ideation methods, and more. Here’s what I learned each week.

Week 1: Design Thinking Overview

In week 1, I learned about Design Thinking, a methodology for creative problem-solving, and its relevance today. Design Thinking is encapsulated by five actionable stages: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. The Design Thinking process has one key point of focus: the user. It identifies the needs of the user and seeks to meet these needs.

Design Thinking has many benefits. Some of these benefits include helping you gain a deeper understanding of others, encouraging everyone to wear their creative hat, promoting thinking outside the box, and producing one-of-a-kind results.

Exercise: Design Thinking Crash Course

To get hands-on experience in Design Thinking, I partnered with a colleague, Chris, to go through A Virtual Crash Course in Design Thinking, by Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, also known as the d.school. This crash course “lets you experience one of the d.school’s most popular learning tools.” 

This course walked us through a collaborative project called the “Gift-Giving Cycle.” The project consisted of multiple sections that walk students through the basic principles of Design Thinking. Using the d.school’s template, I worked with Chris to redesign a gift he gave his brother for Christmas. 

I interviewed Chris about his gift and the reason he gave it, dug deeper, captured my findings, and created a problem statement: 

Chris needs a way to encourage other people because he understands that others need support while experiencing difficult life challenges. 

After defining the problem, I sketched five ways to meet Chris’s needs, shared my solutions with him, captured feedback, reflected, generated a new solution, and shared with Chris once more. In 90 minutes and 9 steps, his gift transitioned from a bread-making recipe book to utilizing Dreams, a PlayStation game universe, to build a game that Chris and his brother can enjoy playing together.

This exercise was a quick and useful way to put Design Thinking into practice. Here’s a look at some of my steps.

Week 2: User Psychology

In the second week, I learned what motivates behavior. Believe it or not, products and services evoke emotion, including mine. Emotional engagement is a key factor to consider when designing a product or service because people are emotional. Emotions are powerful. How we feel about a product or service determines how we value it.

Exercise: Feelings About a Product, Service & Device

In my first exercise, I took a look at a selection of my everyday products, devices, and services to assess the way they made me feel. I analyzed my emotional response to three things using the following phrase:

________ makes me FEEL _________ because my NEED for __________ is OR is not being met.

This resulted in three feel/need statements: 

• Herbal tea makes me feel relaxed because my needs for rest, hydration, and immune support are being met. 
• Amazon Prime makes me feel satisfied because my needs for accessibility and efficiency are being met.
• Vivint’s video doorbell camera makes me feel conscious and informed because my needs for presence and security are being met.

Through this exercise, I learned that when my needs are met I feel content and secure. Because I am content, I have a lasting relationship with each of the products, services, and devices I analyzed. Furthermore, I found that emotions affect a user’s views, interactions, and value of a product or service. Therefore, designers should seek to incorporate emotional design in their work by creating “designs that evoke emotions which result in positive user experiences.” Effective emotional design makes the user’s experience more enjoyable, memorable, and personal.

Exercise: Website Analysis

My second task in week 2 was to complete a website analysis exercise by assessing my emotional response to two websites. I chose to analyze my emotional responses to two websites I visit often, Pexels and Unsplash. 

Through the observation of each site’s overall functionality and practicality (UX) and look and feel (UI), I crafted ten feel/need statements per site. I found that I visit Pexels when I am seeking inspiration. Alternatively, Unsplash is my go-to when I want to remain productive and efficient in my workflow.

This exercise revealed that the interface and experience of the website feed directly into the feelings and evoke emotional responses of a user. It was a practical way to gain insight into user psychology and what drives users.

Here’s a look at some of my steps.

Week 3: User Empathy

Week 3 addressed empathy. Empathy is the ability to understand and share another person’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences. This is most achievable when we set aside our assumptions, labels, judgments, and preconceived notions. In user experience design, the first stage of the Design Thinking process is “Empathize.” This stage is all about engaging the user’s world, learning about them and their experiences, and finding out their needs and challenges. 

In week 3, I learned of multiple practices user experience professionals utilize to empathize with their users. Empathy mapping is a common method used by UX professionals to engage and advocate for their end-users. Empathy maps are a way to gain emotional intelligence and insight from target groups like customers and users. These maps note what a user says, does, thinks, and feels, both implicitly and explicitly, while interacting with a product or service. 

Exercise: Undercover Boss Empathy Maps

To put my empathy mapping knowledge into practice, I created my own. Undercover Boss is a unique and innovative way for high-level executives who sit in an office all day to empathize with their on-ground employees. Additionally, this experience is a great opportunity for employees and executives to close the gap between their respective roles and engage one another. While watching an episode of Undercover Boss, I witnessed the paths of two Build-A-Bear Workshop employees cross, Sharon Price John, President and CEO, and Leney, Bear Builder. I created empathy maps for each of them. 

My empathy mapping exercise showed me how useful this specific tool and experience can be. It unveiled challenges Sharon’s employees were encountering on the job, simply through observing them complete their daily tasks.  

Here’s a look at my empathy maps.

Week 4: Creating Comprehensive Personas

Midway through my course, I created user personas. In user-centered design and marketing, a persona is a profile created to encapsulate user-related research. 

Nielsen Norman Group explains that “user personas are fictitious yet realistic representations of your target users. They act as a multipurpose tool used to drive many important product development tasks. Created out of complex user data, personas take on a format that is meaningful and creates user empathy among your development team, ensuring your users are always the focus of your efforts.” User personas are comprised of a user’s demographics, behaviors, goals, motivations, pain points, and everything that defines who the user is as an individual in relation to a product or service.

Exercise: Creating Comprehensive Personas

In this exercise, I returned to my website analysis exercise, choosing to create personas for Pexels users. Following a persona worksheet, I first created a persona for myself, the Driven Designer. I followed by creating a persona for one other user, the Independent Videographer. 

Completing a persona worksheet is a great way to organize user research. Personas help user experience professionals keep their users at the forefront of their minds.  

Here’s a quick look at some of the research findings pertaining to both of my Pexels user personas.

Week 5: Problem Definition

The second stage in the UX Design Thinking process is called Define. This section of my course covered problem definition. Problem definition is comprised of identifying a specific user problem that needs to be solved. This stage determines what needs to be addressed before committing time and resources to execute other Design Thinking steps, including ideation, prototyping, and testing. This stage encourages fixation on a particular challenge and setting a goal that UX professionals and designers can actively work toward realizing. The result of the define stage is a clear objective, better known as a problem statement. 

Exercise: Problem Statements

In my first exercise of week 5, I revisited the Build-A-Bear Workshop of Undercover Boss. Using Aaron Benjamin’s problem statement format, I wrote five problem statements surrounding challenges that were identified throughout the episode. 

Crafting problem statements made it clear that defining the problem is a vital step in Design Thinking. Without a solid problem statement, UX designers lack focus, direction, and purpose in meeting their user’s needs. Additionally, a well-formulated problem statement results in an effective solution.

Click here to view my Build-A-Bear problem statements

Exercise: App Point of Views

In my second exercise, I was tasked with developing Point Of View statements. In User Experience design, a Point Of View (POV) statement” is a meaningful and actionable problem statement, which will allow you to ideate in a goal-oriented manner.” POV statements help pinpoint a direct need that needs to be met. This assists UX professionals in targeting the need and developing a solution. Instead of attempting to juggle many issues at once with their attention divided, UX professionals remain direct, opting to find a solution for one specific problem at a time. 

To develop my own POV statements, I read positive, negative, and constructive reviews from users of three iPad illustration applications, Pexels, SketchBook, and ArtStudio. After taking note of the reviews, I used my research findings to generate two problem statements per app, formatted like so: 

[User . . . (descriptive)] needs [need . . . (verb)] because [insight. . . (compelling)].

Finding ratings and reviews from real users helped me understand how users of a product, service, or application can assist designers and developers by pointing out issues that need solutions. Reviews often lead to a more polished and refined app. 

Here are some of the reviews I found for each app, and the POV statements I came up with. 

Week 6: Ideation Methods

Week 6 was a crash course in the third step of the UX Design Thinking process, Ideate. In this innovative step, teams seek to generate quick and simple ideas that can be transformed into designs later on. Ideation is where you think of various ways to address your user’s needs. Viewing your problem alternatively and thinking outside the box is encouraged. In this stage, it is important to generate multiple ideas instead of focusing on the first idea you come up with. Quantity wins over quality. 

Ideation techniques include brainstorming, sketching, mind mapping, storyboarding, and prototyping. Regardless of the specific method, ideation is a critical way to tackle challenging problems effectively. It fosters innovation and creativity by creating room to produce ideas beyond the normal range of thought.

Exercise: Mash-Up Method

In this exercise, I learned to use a new ideation technique, Mash-Up. Using IDEO’s Mash-Up Method Template, I found a few ways my husband and I can make remote work less dull and more pleasant. 

First, I created a “How Might We (HMW)” question to identify a current problem needing a solution: 

How might we (my husband and I) make working from home more enjoyable? 

Next, I chose to cross-pollinate elements from two categories: “Remote Work Elements” and “Vacation Activities.” Finally, I selected a handful of my element combinations to define and develop further into potential solutions. 

This exercise was a fun way to think outside the box and come up with wild ideas that would lead to one-of-a-kind solutions. To my surprise, the Mash-Up exercise created the judgment-free environment needed to be unique, inventive, and original in my ideas. 

Here’s how my mash-up turned out.

Exercise: Ideation Techniques

My next exercise required me to revisit my POV statements from week 5. After learning about numerous ideation techniques, I chose to experiment with four different techniques to come up with ideas that could lead to solutions for each of my POV statements. For each statement, I used two different ideation techniques. 

The ideation techniques I chose were Braindump, Mindmap, Sketch, and Brainwrite. All of the methods I utilized are suitable for individuals and can be effective for a one-person UX team. In my process, I found that some ideation techniques foster and promote creative thinking while others produce more practical, accessible, and concrete results. 

Through this exercise, I realized that ideation is one of the more enjoyable stages of the Design Thinking process. It’s a space to stretch thought processes and get creative juices flowing. Ideation makes solution-finding exciting and interesting by fostering an environment void of judgment and criticism and full of “weird, wacky, and wild ideas.”

Here’s a look at my individual ideation techniques in action.

Week 7: Journey Maps

In my final week of ICM512, I learned about journey maps. A journey map is a visualization of the process that a user or customer goes through to accomplish a goal. Additionally, journey maps track how the user feels about their journey along the way. This tool allows designers of a product, service, app, site, or experience to follow their user’s steps and experience their brand as their users would. Journeying alongside the user highlights pain points that designers can target to improve the user experience.

Journey maps come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, and can be created in different ways. Nevertheless, the most important content within a journey map includes a persona, timeline, emotion, touchpoints, and channels. 

Exercise: User Journey Map

After learning about the components of a journey map, I put one together myself. Using Adobe InDesign and Flat Icon, I created a journey map to follow the steps of Novice Nova, my user persona. 

Nova is a working professional in need of a way to cut back on the time she spends grocery shopping and preparing meals in order to be more productive. She is looking for a meal kit service suitable for her. 

This exercise taught me that everyone has a journey unique to them, even in UX design. No two journeys are alike. The exercise also called attention to specific pain points Nova experienced as a first-timer. At the end of the journey, I gathered insights, indicating ways meal kit services can possibly improve Nova’s journey. 

Here’s my journey map.

Final Thoughts

Throughout this course, there was one integral piece at the center of every week: the user. User experience design is all about gaining insight into the human perspective. From understanding the audience to identifying problems they may be facing, to generating ideas to solve these challenges, all the way down to the solution, the common denominator is the user. Without the user, user experience design can not be accomplished. In all its processes and stages, user experience design is achieved by remaining mindful of the user’s position and point of view, also known as their experience.

Thanks to this course, As a graphic designer, I am now more equipped to empathize with my clients, identify their needs, think creatively, generate ideas while designing, and come up with distinct, innovative, and refreshing designs that meet my clients’ needs. Even if you are not a UX professional, I’m sure your services meet the needs of a user. I challenge you to assimilate the world of your audience, client, customer, or user.

In life, everyone is on a journey with experiences unique to each individual. Distinct journeys also occur for customers and users in general business and user experience design.

What is a Journey Map?

A journey map is a visualization of the process that a user or customer goes through to accomplish a goal. Journey maps also track how the user feels about their journey along the way. This tool allows designers of a product, service, or experience to follow their user’s steps and experience their brand as their users would. Journeying alongside the user highlights pain points that designers can target to improve the user experience.

How to Create a Journey Map

Journey maps come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Whether you use sticky notes on a board, draw illustrations, or create an infographic, there are no restrictions on the design of a journey map as long as the information within the map is dissectible and formatted in a way that can be easily followed. Furthermore, every solid journey map covers specific components needed to analyze the user’s journey effectively. 

Journey Map Examples

Journey Map Components

• Persona: A character created to represent a specific user. A user persona is a believable figure with a name, face, thoughts, feelings, and characteristics that resemble real users of the product or service. 
• Timeline: Variable phases within the journey and/or a real timeline including, hours months, etc. 
• Emotion: Depictions of how the user is feeling within different phases of the journey. Emotion addresses peaks and valleys such as feeling anxious or feeling assured.
• Touchpoints: Direct user interactions and actions with the organization. This area notes the actual steps the user is taking.
• Channels: The context of use. This is how the user’s actions take place, whether via online browsing, interpersonal discussion, a mobile application, etc.

My Meal Kit Journey Map

This week, I created a journey map on choosing a meal kit service. To view the complete journey map, download the PDF below. For now, I’ll share my user persona, timeline, emotions, actions and channels, and final insights.

Background

A meal kit is a subscription service–foodservice business model where a company sends customers pre-portioned and sometimes partially-prepared food ingredients and recipes to prepare homecooked meals. In the past ten years, the demand for meal kit services has increased in the United States. 

Nova is new to the meal kit service scene. She doesn’t know what to look for or expect. In this journey map, we’ll track her steps, assessing her actions, thoughts, emotions, and more. We’ll also find opportunities for improvement.

Persona

Novice Nova

Nova is a working professional. She balances a full-time job as a director of communications and a part-time position as an entrepreneur and the CEO of her own organization. Nova commits a great deal of her time and energy to her work. When she’s not working, she’s likely networking.

Recently, Nova realized she would prefer to commit the time she spends recipe researching, grocery shopping, and preparing meals to other things. She wants to eat well-balanced meals and remain productive. In the kitchen, Nova is looking to work smarter, not harder. She would rather think of more meaningful things in place of wondering what’s for dinner.

Timeline

Here are the phases of finding a meal kit service:

• Consideration: This is Novice Nova’s starting point. In this first phase, Nova realizes that she needs a way to simplify grocery shopping and meal preparation in order to maintain her productivity. She searches for feasible meal preparation alternatives.
• Exploration: Once Nova learns about meal kit services, she decides to look into a handful of meal kit service companies. She learns about costs, servings, recipe options, etc., and compares multiple services through reviews online and observations of each service’s online presence. Through hearing about other peoples’ experiences, Nova learns how meal kit services work.
• Decision: In this phase, Nova has narrowed down her service. Through last-minute research via multiple channels, Nova’s goal is to select the service that will suit her best. This takes an additional one to two hours.
• Sign Up & Selection: Nova progresses in her journey by creating an account using the service’s website and/or mobile app. She takes time to familiarize herself with the site/app and recipes. Finally, she selects the meals she wants to cook for her first order. This step takes 40 minutes to one and a half hours.
• Delivery & Trial: Nova is excited to receive her first meal kit order. The wait time for her first delivery is about five to seven days. She tracks her package, and when it arrives, she unboxes and stores the ingredients, prepares her first meal, and eats! 
• Reflection: In this final phase, Nova has completed her week-long trial. She reflects on her first meal-kit experience by asking herself several questions to assess whether she would like to keep or cancel her subscription. 

Emotions

I used the following emotions to depict Nova’s feeling within each phase:

• Neutral: Indifference, Unbothered
• Unsure: Hesitant, Needing Clarity
• Lost: Disoriented, Overwhelmed
• Confident: Ready, Equipped
• Optimistic: Hopeful, Expectant
• Assured: Comfortable, Secure
• Pain Point: A step in the journey that highlights a specific problem the user is experiencing

Actions & Channels

Here are Nova’s four go-to actions and channels along the way:

• Interpersonal Discussion: Speaking with others to gain insight into their thoughts and experiences regarding various meal kit services
• Social Media: Using social media platforms to observe the online presence of different services and find first-hand reviews 
• Mobile App: Using the selected service’s mobile application to create an account and place orders
• Online Browsing: Searching online for research purposes including finding reviews, ratings, online forums, blog posts, and more. Nova also goes online to find, observe, and utilize the meal kit service sites 

Final Insights

To help avert some of the pain points that novice meal kit users may encounter, meal kit services can explore the following:

• Simplified meal kit information including plans, delivery, etc. so that users are not overwhelmed while stepping into a new experience characterized by meal kit jargon
• A one-time introductory kit. The kit can be provided at a lower cost. This can help new users determine if the service is right for them with no strings attached
• Explainer videos that offer further insight into the meal kit service process from start to finish
• A custom welcome package when a customer orders their first kit. This would help users get acquainted with the practical side of meal kit services more easily instead of receiving a box full of ingredients and having to figure it out
• An order breakdown sheet so users know how their separate meals are packaged and how to store them
• Recipe videos accessible on the service’s website and/or app to make the cooking experience more seamless
• Interaction with the user to gain a direct understanding of what improvements they need. This can look like email surveys, in-app rating requests, customer service check-in calls, etc.

In my last blog post, I touched on Ideate, the third step in the UX Design Thinking process. Ideation is a practice that involves thinking of various ways to address a user’s needs. These potential solutions can seem wild and outrageous. However, it is encouraged to view the problem alternatively, get creative, and think outside the box. In this stage, multiple ideas are generated without judgment or criticism. Additionally, quantity wins over quality. It’s okay to come up with quick, rough, unfinished ideas because, later on, there will be room to build on these ideas. Although our instinctual go-to for formulating new ideas is likely brainstorming, there are many other ideation techniques suitable for individuals and groups.

Point Of View Exercise

Recently, I completed a Point Of View (POV) Exercise for three different iPad illustration applications: Procreate, Autodesk Sketchbook Pro, and ArtStudio Pro. Reading positive, negative, and constructive reviews from users of these apps gave me insight into the users’ experiences. Once I developed a general understanding of the users’ perspectives, I developed two Point Of View statements per app to directly pinpoint user needs. Below are the POV statements I came up with for each app.

Ideation Techniques in Practice

This week, I experimented with four ideation techniques to formulate ideas for solutions to each of my POV statements. For each statement, I used two different ideation techniques. All of the methods I utilized are suitable for individuals and can be effective for a one-person UX team.

My Four Ideation Techniques for Individuals

• Braindump: Very similar to the brainstorm technique, braindump is a silent ideation technique achieved individually. With a timer set, participants write down their ideas on sheets of paper, cards, or sticky notes. Generally, it’s important to write down one idea per note. When the time is up, all ideas are posted on one board for further assessment and development.

• Mindmap: Mindmapping is a graphical ideation technique that starts with a problem statement in the middle of the page. Participants write related ideas and solutions on the same page in the space around the problem statement. Finally, lines of connection are drawn between the various ideas on the page. This technique builds a web of relationships.

• Sketch: Creating rough sketches of possible solutions is a visual way to generate ideas. Sketching sparks creativity and innovation, things needed for a successful ideation session. The key to the sketch technique is to refrain from committing a lot of time to well-developed sketches. The sketches should be as simple and rough as possible with just enough detail to convey meaning.

• Brainwrite: Brainwriting is a silent ideation technique in which participants write down their ideas on paper. Next, the paper is passed onto another person to elaborate on the idea. After a few minutes, papers are passed on again. This process can be repeated multiple times to build on ideas. Individually, one can create an initial list of general ideas and cycle through the list, revisiting each list item a couple of times to develop their ideas further.

Ideating for Procreate

For a quick look into each of my ideation techniques, I’ll share how I crafted ideas to solve both of my Procreate problem statements. For a deeper look into how I utilized these techniques for all three apps, download the ideation technique PDF.

Procreate POV Statement 1

Users that produce detailed projects over a longer period need access to their entire edit history because work can easily be destroyed or deleted permanently with no restorative capabilities.

Braindump

I started each braindump session with a fresh sheet of paper in my sketchbook and a stack of sticky notes. I wrote my POV statement in the top left corner of the page, locating a specific need to focus on: access to the entire edit history of a project. With my timer set to 4 minutes, I wrote all of the general ideas and solutions that came to mind on individual sticky note sheets and spread them out on the page.

In my process, I found that braindumping was a great way to start ideation. Although braindumping may not result in fully developed ideas or solutions, it’s a good starting point. Braindumping helped me organize all of the thoughts floating around in my mind. This technique opened the door for me to expand my ideas using other techniques.

Mindmap

For each of my mindmapping sessions, I took to my iPad. Using a fresh canvas in Procreate (how ironic) I started with my problem statement in the center of the page and worked my way outward with general solution ideas. Once I had my solutions written down, I simplified some of them into functions and capabilities for a deeper understanding of how these features might operate. Next, I drew lines to connect my general ideas to their components and my problem statement. I also drew lines of connection between related ideas and dotted lines between similar capabilities.

Mindmapping turned out to be a more structured way to generate solutions. I was able to organize my ideas, simplify them, create hierarchy, and identify relationships amongst my solutions in a clear and concise manner.

Procreate POV Statement 2

Users that utilize Procreate regularly need access to external or cloud-based storage because Procreate projects require
a lot of memory and can easily max out iPad storage.

Sketch

My sketching sessions consisted of another blank sheet in my sketchbook, a pencil, and a timer set to four minutes. I wrote my second POV statement in the top left corner of the page for reference and started thinking of ways to give Procreate users access to external storage. Once I had a good set of ideas sketched out, I went back and penciled in names and/or short descriptions for each of my sketches.

Sketching was definitely a good way to get me thinking creatively as I drafted new ideas for a problem that seemed to have a straightforward solution. Creating visual representations of my ideas fostered more innovation, allowing me to view things alternatively.

Brainwrite

For my last ideation technique, brainwrite, I decided to write out my solutions in list form utilizing a new note on my iPad. I started by writing down general ideas that could potentially meet the need for external storage. Once I had a solid list of varying ideas, I cycled through my list to build upon each idea with one additional sub-detail. Finally, I cycled through each idea once more to add a little more detail.

Brainwriting assisted me in thinking practically. Adding bullet points beneath each of my general ideas pushed me to question what each solution would look like in a realistic scenario. To me, brainwriting is an ideation technique that produces more concrete and accessible solutions.

Procreate Ideation Results

Overall, I learned that each of my ideation techniques was useful, but I may turn to different ideation techniques for varied reasons. Regardless of the technique I choose, I may end up with alike ideas. However, if I want my ideation experience to be more creative and innovative, I will likely turn to the Braindump and Sketch techniques. For ideas that have more depth and practicality, I would utilize the Mindmap and Brainwrite techniques. Nevertheless, all four of my individual ideation techniques presented me with ideas worth pursuing including adding in a backup feature, history panel, edits panel, iCloud storage, or Procreate cloud storage. Comparing ideation techniques proved that, even in UX design, many roads can in fact lead to one destination.

Final Thoughts

Ideation is one of the more enjoyable stages of the Design Thinking process. It’s a space for you to stretch your thought processes and get your creative juices flowing. Seeking a solution for a user’s problem can seem challenging and intimidating. However, ideation makes it exciting and interesting by fostering an environment void of judgment and criticism and full of “weird, wacky, and wild ideas.” The next time you are stuck in a brainstorming loop, try a new ideation technique! It may be unfamiliar, but it will probably turn out to be refreshing and rewarding.

Whenever you and your team need to formulate a new idea, you probably turn to brainstorming first. Brainstorming is a collaborative experience in which individuals share spontaneous ideas as possible solutions to a specific problem. This method, fathered by Alex Osborn, is one of many techniques used to ideate. 

Design Thinking Stage 3: Ideate

In UX, Ideate is the third step in the Design Thinking process. First, UX professionals empathize by placing themself in their user’s shoes and gaining insight into the user’s experience. Next, based on the research gathered, UX professionals use their findings to define a problem the user is experiencing that needs a solution. Once this problem is clearly defined, we can move to ideation. In this innovative step, teams seek to generate quick and simple ideas that can be transformed into designs later on. Ideation is where you think of various ways to address your user’s needs. Viewing your problem alternatively and thinking outside the box is encouraged. In this stage, it is important to generate multiple ideas instead of focusing on the first idea you come up with. Quantity wins over quality. 

“Ideation is a creative process where designers generate ideas in sessions… Participants gather with open minds to produce as many ideas as they can to address a problem statement in a facilitated, judgment-free environment.”

Interaction Design Foundation

Although you may be more familiar with brainstorming, additional ideation techniques include sketching, mind mapping, storyboarding, and prototyping. Regardless of the specific method that works for you and your team, ideation is a critical way to tackle challenging problems effectively. Ideation fosters innovation and creativity by creating room to produce ideas beyond your normal range of thought.

The Mash-Up Method

A new ideation technique I learned this week is called Mash-Up. According to the Innovation Design Engineering Organization (IDEO), a Mash-up is a fun exercise that “brings odd or unexpected things together to spark fresh ideas.” After developing a “How Might We (HMW)” question to identify a current problem needing a solution, Mash-Up encourages you to list elements from two broad, unrelated categories. Next, the activity challenges you to cross-pollinate the list items to develop crazy, new ideas. Finally, you select five of your favorite ideas to name, sketch, and expand on. This method is a quick and entertaining way to think outside of the box.

Using IDEO’s Mash-Up Method Template, I found a few ways my husband and I can make remote work less dull and more pleasant.

My Mash-Up Activity

How Might We Question

How might we (my husband and I) make working from home more enjoyable? 

My husband and I both work from home and we share the same home office. Although we are in the same room for the majority of most days, our desks face away from each other. Working remotely requires us to attend numerous virtual meetings, chat back and forth with coworkers and clients, respond to emails punctually, and be available for a phone call at any time.

To keep up with the pace, we often find ourselves skipping breaks and working overtime to ensure that the people we work with feel that we are present and maintaining our responsibilities promptly. My husband and I agree that we do not take enough breaks during the workday. Additionally, we do not take enough time off. Therefore, we need to find ways to make our work experiences less draining and more exciting. We also want to be intentional about scheduling breaks throughout the day.

Cross-Pollinating my Categories

In an attempt to combine productivity with relaxation, I chose the following two categories: “Remote Work Elements” and “Vacation Activities.” Combining elements from both categories made the activity interesting and exciting.

My five favorite cross-pollinations were “Deadline Picnic,” “Lunch Break Driving,” “Desk Massage,” “Home Office Beach,” and “To-Do List Dancing.” To view sketches for all five, download the activity PDF. I’ll go ahead and share two.

4L: CELEBRATORY DEADLINE PICNIC [DEADLINE + PICNIC]

When I or my husband meet a significant deadline at work, the other person will organize an at-home picnic in our dining area or on our deck. This activity can become a household ritual and a way to recognize one another’s accomplishments.

Our meal times often overlap with work activities, which causes us to throw quick meals together or eat one-too-many snacks. Furthermore, we tend to bring our food to our desks instead of leaving our desks to eat our food. Utilizing a specified space within our home and being more intentional about our meal choices will help us maintain the balance we need between work and other activities, even ones as simple as meals.

9O: FIVE-MINUTE MASSAGES [DESK + MASSAGE]

My husband and I can take five-minute breaks throughout the workday to alternate, giving one another quick shoulder and back massages. This activity will ease some of the mental and physical stress brought on by sitting in the same spot and working intensely for long periods.

Quick massages are another creative way to take a breather from the ongoing anxiety that working from home may foster. My husband and I both work full-time jobs. We are also in school, freelancing in design, and pursuing our own creative endeavors daily. All of this time seated at our desks, staring at our computer screens adds up. Altogether, we need to be more deliberate in finding ways to allow our bodies to relax and release tension, even if we can only spare the time in five-minute intervals.

Final Thoughts

I was not sure what to expect when completing my Mash-Up activity. Developing my HMW question, two categories, and 15 list items per category were challenging because I did not want to end up with unworkable solutions. To my surprise, the Mash-Up exercise created the judgment-free environment needed to be unique, inventive, and original in my ideas. 

“Creative spaces don’t judge. They let the ideas flow, so that people can build on each other and foster great ideas. You never know where a good idea is going to come from, the key is make everyone feel like they can say the idea on their mind and allow others to build on it.”

– OpenIDEO, 7 Tips on Better Brainstorming

In ideation, no idea is a bad idea. Ideation should foster a playful, innovative, and creative space. If you have been tossing the same two or three redundant ideas back and forth, it may be time to try a new ideation technique to get the ball rolling. Step outside of your comfort zone and you’ll learn that ideating is a fun way to stretch your mind, ignite your imagination, and craft one-of-a-kind solutions.

Before you make reservations at a restaurant, order an item from Amazon, book a room at a hotel, or download a new app, you’ll likely read reviews about it. Customer reviews and user ratings are real-life evaluations of things we access and utilize daily, including video games, applications, products, services, and more. Reviews and ratings are ever-desired and highly regarded, so much so that people search for the opinions of others via review apps and websites, online forums, Youtube videos, and more. Additionally, reviews are coveted by those who supply and modify a product or service, such as UX professionals, designers, and developers. From a potential user to a developer, everyone wants to know what works well and what needs reworking.

How Reviews Benefit Developers

In UX, user reviews of an application can be useful for developers. Users often find bugs and other issues that developers may not have spotted. Through reviews, these problems are brought to developers’ attention and are likely to be addressed in the next app update. Furthermore, some users of a particular app may have experience with, or exposure to, similar competitor applications. In this case, users have a good idea of whether the user interface is well designed, functional, intuitive, and makes sense for today’s users. Reviews give insight into a user’s personal experience with the application. This helps developers understand the current needs of their users and adjust the app accordingly. Lastly, some review platforms provide an active line of communication between the user and the developer. Users can leave a review about a specific problem they are experiencing with the expectation that they will receive a response from the developers. Once their questions are answered, issues are addressed, and needs are met, they can update their review to reflect their most recent thoughts and experience concerning the application.

Point of View Statements

Gaining insight into a user’s experience is all about understanding their vantage point. In User Experience design, a Point Of View (POV) statement” is a meaningful and actionable problem statement, which will allow you to ideate in a goal-oriented manner.” POV statements help pinpoint a direct need that needs to be met. This assists UX professionals in targeting the need and developing a solution. Instead of attempting to juggle many issues at once with their attention divided, UX professionals remain direct, opting to find a solution for one specific problem at a time. 

POV statements combine three components – the user, the need, and the insight. A Point Of View statement is formatted in the following manner:  

[User . . . (descriptive)] needs [need . . . (verb)] because [insight. . . (compelling)].

POV Statements in Practice 

This week, I reviewed three iPad illustration applications and completed a Point Of View statement exercise for each app. Utilizing Apple’s app store, I looked up three positive, negative, and constructive (also known as suggestive) reviews left by real-life Procreate, Autodesk SketchBook Pro, and ArtStudio Pro users. Positive reviews are left by users that are generally pleased with the app. They likely enjoy the app and are still making use of it. Negative reviews are left by users who are dissatisfied. Maybe they do not agree with the cost of the app, the app does not meet their expectations, or they found something better. Constructive reviews could have positive, negative, or so-so undertones. These reviews offer up meaningful suggestions and ideas of things they would like to see improved. After reading multiple reviews of each kind, I used my findings to create two POV statements per app. 

If you would like to view the entire exercise, feel free to download the PDF here.

For now, here’s what I did for Procreate, my favorite of the three. 

Procreate: Overview

Stats

• Overall Rating: 4.5 stars
• Rating Total: 22K
• Cost: $9.99 one time
• Awards: Editor’s Choice App
• Chart: #1 Graphics & Design

Descriptions

• Wikipedia: “Procreate is a raster graphics editor app for digital painting developed and published by Savage Interactive for iOS and iPadOS. Designed in response to the artistic possibilities of the iPad, it was launched on the App Store in 2011.”

• App Store Excerpt: “Loved by creative professionals and aspiring artists alike, Procreate us the leading creative application made for iPad. Offering hundreds of handmade brushes, a suite of innovative artistic tools, an advanced layer system, and the lightning fast Valkyrie graphics engine, Procreate gives you everything you need to create expressive sketches, rich paintings, gorgeous illustrations and beautiful animations. Work on the couch, on the train, at the beach, or while waiting in line for coffee. It’s a complete art studio you can take anywhere; packed with powerful features.”

Positive Reviews

Negative Reviews

Constructive Reviews

Procreate Point of View Statements

• Users that produce detailed projects over a longer period need access to their entire edit history because work can easily be lost, destroyed, or deleted permanently with no restorative capabilities. Some of the constructive reviews addressed something I have experienced before – losing work. If you make edits to a project and exit the project to return to Procreate’s project gallery, the next time you open your project you will not be able to utilize the undo button to restore past work. The undo and redo buttons are only applicable during the user’s current working session. This is an easy way to make irrecoverable mistakes. Similarly, if you accidentally delete the entire project there is no way to recover it from the trash.

• Users that utilize Procreate regularly need access to external or cloud-based storage because Procreate projects require a lot of memory and can easily max out iPad storage. Since procreate requires a lot of space, the only way to create space on your iPad and maintain your working files is to export the layered file and send it to yourself to store elsewhere (like your computer or external hard drive). This is tedious because transferring the files over to your storage destination is not a smooth process. It requires time and resources. Considering that Procreate is created for the iPad, if procreate was integrated with iCloud like other apps, users would be able to transfer their work over to the cloud and access it effortlessly.

Final Thoughts

Leave your own ratings and reviews! Publishing your thoughts and opinion helps other users determine if the product, service, or app will be suitable for them. Furthermore, reviews highlight problem areas for designers and developers to evaluate. Your review may lead to a more polished and refined app. Your two cents add up! After all, the customer is always right.