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User Experience Mapping
User Experience Mapping
User Experience Mapping
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User Experience Mapping

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About This Book
  • Detailed guidance on the major types of User Experience Maps.
  • Learn to gain strategic insights and improve communication with stakeholders.
  • Get an idea on creating wireflows, mental model maps, ecosystem maps and solution maps
Who This Book Is For

This book is for Product Manager, Service Managers and Designers who are keen on learning the user experience mapping techniques.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 26, 2017
ISBN9781787127609
User Experience Mapping

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    User Experience Mapping - Peter W. Szabo

    Title Page

    User Experience Mapping

    Get closer to your users and create better products for them

    Peter W. Szabo

           BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI

    Copyright

    User Experience Mapping

    Copyright © 2017 Packt Publishing

    All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

    Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

    Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

    First published: May 2017

    Production reference: 1240517

    Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

    Livery Place

    35 Livery Street

    Birmingham 

    B3 2PB, UK.

    ISBN 978-1-78712-350-2

    www.packtpub.com

    Credits

    About the Author

    Peter W. Szabo is one of the world's leading user experience consultants, the principal of the farZenith.com agency. He is a frequent conference speaker, workshop host, and user centricity evangelist. His UX blog, Kaizen-UX.com, gained its popularity for UX management articles and novel user experience approach. He used to be a senior manager leading the UX team at the world's biggest online gambling corporation, Amaya Inc. (known for brands such as PokerStars, BetStars or FullTilt). As UX Director at WhatUsersDo (Europe's largest remote testing platform), he contributed to the widespread acceptance of remote research in the UX industry.

    Outside of the UX world, he is the proud father of Maya and Magor. He enjoys reading, writing, and playing games (not just computer ones). He is a cat person. Ok, that's an understatement, he is simply crazy for cats.

    About the Reviewer

    Jay Heal is a Cambridge-based UX consultant with expertise in user-centered design, service design, interaction design and user research.

    His principle belief is that design is both a collaborative and interactive process of problem solving. Great design solutions are achieved from a deeper understanding and empathy of the people they are intended for.

    As a practitioner, Jay is a vocal advocate of the test early, test often approach to UX, where numerous ideas and concepts can be quickly validated until the right solution is found.

    Having graduated from the University of East London in New Technology and Multimedia Design in the early 2000s, his passion for designing for people has led him to work with organizations that include the BBC, Ministry of Justice, Just Eat, Virgin Trains East Coast, and Transport for London.

    Away from design and research, Jay is a devoted family man to his children (Dennis, Yasmin and Max), a music enthusiast, home barista and self proclaimed foodie.

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    Dedication

    To Maya and Magor!

    Table of Contents

    Preface

    What this book covers

    What you need for this book

    Who this book is for

    Conventions

    Reader feedback

    Customer support

    Downloading the color images of this book

    Errata

    Piracy

    Questions

    How Will UX Mapping Change Your (Users) Life?

    Getting started with User Experience Mapping

    Why did the requirements document fail?

    How to jump-start mapping?

    Visualizing - what the cat wants you to know

    Creating a backlog for a cat-sitter

    Pen and paper are all you need – but adding color makes the maps great

    Drawing the diagram

    Cats of the digital age use a computer

    Summary

    User Story Map - Requirements by Collaboration and Sticky Notes

    Why should you create user story maps?

    Just tell the story

    How to tell a story?

    The audience

    Start with action

    Simplify

    Tell the story of your passion

    The grocery surplus webshop

    The opportunity to scratch your own itch

    How to create a user story

    User story templates

    The Three Rs or the Connextra format

    Five Ws

    Lean Startup

    Kaizen-UX template

    INVEST - the characteristics of a good user story

    I for independent

    N for negotiable

    V for valuable

    E for estimable

    S for small

    T for testable

    Epics

    Breaking down epics into good user stories

    3 Cs – the process to turn stories into reality

    Card

    Conversation

    The power of four amigos

    Confirmation

    The narrative flow

    Events (tasks)

    Milestones (activities)

    The user story map on the wall

    Creating user story maps digitally

    Creating a new board

    Adding cards to your board

    Summary

    Journey Map - Understand Your Users

    F2P FPS (an example from the gaming industry)

    Personas

    3i: How to create personas

    Investigating (potential) users

    Interviews

    Existing user database and analytics

    Surveys

    Social media

    Identifying behavior likelihood

    Imagining the characters

    The primary persona

    HAL 9000 will not use your app

    Creating persona documents with Smaply

    Creating a journey map with Smaply

    Task models

    Creating the task model in Adobe Illustrator

    Milestones (stages)

    The origin story

    Milestones of a task model

    Evaluations

    Creating an evaluation diagram

    The finished task model

    Designing the user journey

    Interactions

    Summary

    Wireflows - Plan Your Product

    The customer support chatbot

    Wireframes

    Wireframes and color

    Low-fidelity versus high-fidelity wireframes

    Lo-fi wireframes

    Hi-fi wireframes

    Wireframing with Balsamiq Mockups

    Beyond the first wireframe

    Creating symbols

    The after chat survey

    Creating the wireflow

    Wireflow Improvement Workshop (WIW)

    Why should you run a WIW?

    Running a WIW

    Summary

    Remote and Lab Tests for Map Creation

    Samsung's 2017 redesign

    Test objectives

    The amigos run user tests

    Lab, remote, and guerrilla testing

    Lab testing

    Remote testing

    Guerrilla testing

    Why run both lab and remote testing

    Rapid Iterative Testing and Evaluation (RITE)

    How to test Samsung UK?

    How many test users?

    46 users walk into a lab

    Finding the right users

    Devices

    Target audience

    Pre-screener

    Private panel

    Moderated versus unmoderated tests

    The scenario

    Writing tasks and questions

    Asking for opinions and expectations

    Privacy concerns

    Exit questions and exit surveys

    Test script for our smartphone buying journey

    The pilot test

    Testing with WhatUsersDo.com

    Summary

    Solution Mapping Based on User Insights

    Contiki adventure

    Tagging - the science of active watching

    How to tag videos

    What to tag

    Tag title and comment

    Tag types

    Positive tags

    Suggestions

    The negatives: High, Medium and Low

    The behaviorist issue severity model

    The research summary

    The solution map

    Five steps to create the solution map

    Step 1 - put the issues on the map

    Step 2 - form the issue trees

    Step 3 - solve the root issues

    Step 4 - identify obstacles

    Step 5 - create actions to remove the obstacles

    Put the solution map to action

    Summary

    Mental Model Map - A Diagram of the Perceived Reality

    What's a mental model?

    Buying a car

    How mental models work?

    Longitudinal research

    Logging types - how to log?

    Prompts: what to Log?

    Mental model mapping

    Analyzing longitudinal research

    Find units

    Group units into towers

    Form mental spaces

    Supporting solutions

    Finishing touches

    Using the mental model map

    Summary

    Behavioral Change Map - The Action Plan of Persuasion

    The Amazon miracle

    Is it possible to change behaviors?

    Credibility

    The cue-routine-reward framework

    From external to internal cues

    Automate repetition

    Heuristic and systematic processing

    The LEVER framework

    Limitation

    Elevation

    Validation

    Ease

    Reversibility

    Drawing the behavioral change map

    How to use the behavioral change map

    Summary

    The 4D UX Map - Putting It All Together

    The restaurant without tables

    Sum of all maps

    Greater than the sum of all maps

    The MAYA map

    The first dimension - milestones

    The second dimension - events

    The third dimension - importance

    The fourth dimension - severity of the problems

    Mental model snippets

    Ratings

    Drawing the 4D UX Map

    Using the 4D UX Map

    Evolving the 4D UX Map

    Summary

    Ecosystem Maps - A Holistic Overview

    Shutter Swipe – where photographers and models meet

    The ecosystem

    How to map an ecosystem

    Creating hexagon maps

    Hexagon mapping with Inkscape

    Creating hexagon maps with Adobe Illustrator

    From hexagons to ecosystem maps

    Using ecosystem maps

    Stakeholder maps

    Summary

    Kaizen Mapping - UX Maps in Agile Product Management

    Your opportunity

    The manager and the map

    Kaizen-UX manifesto

    Agile beyond the buzzword

    The three UX roles

    The Kaizen-UX framework

    UX strategy – the beginning of all maps

    The UX strategy document

    Summary

    References

    Preface

    There is no map to writing introductions. Fortunately, there are maps to great user experience and outstanding products. This book is about those maps.

    Do you want to create better products and innovative solutions? User Experience Maps will help you understand users and communicate this understanding with others. Maps can also champion user-centricity within your organization. They will fight for your users.

    But no map can carry the sway of product design battles alone. That's why you need an army of maps. And that's why we need you to wield them like the shining sword of user-centricity.

    This book reveals two advanced mapping techniques for the first time in print, the behavioral change map and the 4D UX map. You will also explore user story maps, task models, and journey maps. You will create wireflows, mental model maps, ecosystem maps, and solution maps. In this book, we will show you how to use insights from real users to create and improve your maps and your product.

    Start mapping your products now to change your users' lives! 

    What this book covers

    Chapter 1, How Will UX Mapping Change Your (Users') Life?, gets the reader started with User Experience Mapping in a fun and engaging way. In this chapter, we will create a simple map, not worried about map types and UX mapping theory. We will use pen and paper, to give the reader the first taste in mapping and demonstrate its strength. 

    Chapter 2, User Story Map - Requirements by Collaboration and Sticky Notes, is a simple technique to visually tell the users' story. The linear map helps you create a narrative flow. Because it's quick and easy, it can be used in the early ideation phase of a product.

    Chapter 3, Journey Map - Understand Your Users, the journey maps is a tool, that helps us to understand and communicate users' behavior as they progress through a route using interactions, trying to accomplish their goals.

    Chapter 4, Wireflows - Plan Your Product, wireflows are journey maps where key interactions are represented by wireframes of the relevant views. They allow you to create, explore, communicate, and improve the interactions in detail.

    Chapter 5, Remote and Lab Tests for Map Creation, by watching users while they interact with a solution, we gain understanding. This understanding leads to better maps and better experiences. 

    Chapter 6, Solution Mapping Based on User Insights, a solution map is a tool that will help us find solutions and communicate them. They are visual representations of an actionable project plan. Ideally, solution maps should be based on user testing sessions with real users.

    Chapter 7, Mental Model Map - A Diagram of the Perceived Reality, a mental model map is a visual representation of a user group's thought process and patterns. The mental model shifts the focus from designing a solution to understanding the user's state of mind, and how we can support those states.

    Chapter 8, Behavioral Change Map - The Action Plan of Persuasion, a behavioral change map is a path to changing a user group's behavior. It should be simple and impactful, based on a real understanding of our user's mindset and thought processes.

    Chapter 9, The 4D UX Map - Putting It All Together, the 4D UX map is a compact summary of a UX project, a high-impact deliverable to visualize how the users' needs are met.

    Chapter 10, Ecosystem Maps - A Holistic Overview, the ecosystem map places our solution in the greater context of the holistic user experience. This map aids the identification and integration of complex, interdisciplinary information concerning the user experience ecosystem.

    Chapter 11, Kaizen Mapping - UX Maps in Agile Product Management, you can use the Kaizen-UX framework to structure your product design and user experience efforts. The agile framework defines the three core roles within the UX team, it has a UX strategy at its core, and it leads to better products and better communication within the team and with stakeholders.

    What you need for this book

    To draw a map, you only need a pen and a slightly larger sheet of paper. But software can help tremendously. That's why this book contains detailed, beginner-level tutorials on creating maps using different software products, including Adobe Illustrator, Balsamiq Mockups, Axure RP, or even Microsoft Word. Remember, even if you don't have access to any of those, each map type can also be drawn using a broad range of software or even freehand. 

    Who this book is for

    This book is for Product Managers, Service Managers, Designers, and anyone who is keen on learning User Experience Mapping techniques to improve how they communicate their ideas. It's for You!

    Conventions

    In this book, you will find a number of text styles that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning.

    Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: If you do, you can share your results with me on my Twitter account: @wszp.

    New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, for example, in menus or dialog boxes, appear in the text like this: If you want, you can rotate the text from the Format Shape panel (Text Options | Text direction dropdown).

    Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.

    Tips and tricks appear like this.

    Reader feedback

    Feedback from our readers is always welcome. Let us know what you think about this book-what you liked or disliked. Reader feedback is important for us as it helps us develop titles that you will really get the most out of.

    To send us general feedback, simply e-mail [email protected], and mention the book's title in the subject of your message.

    If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, see our author guide at www.packtpub.com/authors.

    Customer support

    Now that you are the proud owner of a Packt book, we have a number of things to help you to get the most from your purchase.

    Downloading the color images of this book

    We also provide you with a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. The color images will help you better understand the changes in the output. You can download this file from https://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/UserExperienceMapping_ColorImages.pdf.

    Errata

    Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you find a mistake in one of our books-maybe a mistake in the text or the code-we would be grateful if you could report this to us. By doing so, you can save other readers from frustration and help us improve subsequent versions of this book. If you find any errata, please report them by visiting http://www.packtpub.com/submit-errata, selecting your book, clicking on the Errata Submission Form link, and entering the details of your errata. Once your errata are verified, your submission will be accepted and the errata will be uploaded to our website or added to any list of existing errata under the Errata section of that title.

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    Questions

    If you have a problem with any aspect of this book, you can contact us at [email protected], and we will do our best to address the problem.

    If you want to contact the author, use [email protected].

    How Will UX Mapping Change Your (Users) Life?

    In this book, I will change your life. I will show you techniques that will help you to understand your users, gain strategic insights, and improve communication within the team and with stakeholders.

    In this introductory chapter, we will perform the following things:

    Create our first User Experience Map.

    Similar to the other chapters of this book, we will solve a real-world problem, but for this one, we will start with a rather fun and unusual one.

    After setting the scene, we will take a look into the shortcomings of the old requirements document from the waterfall product management model.

    This naturally leads to the solution that states that most problems can and will be solved with improved communication.

    We will see how mapping can be the ideal tool to facilitate communication.

    We will have to discuss some basic mapping terms, output, outcome, and opportunity.

    The next sections of this chapter are about visualizing and creating a backlog.

    All this should equip the reader to create their first UX map on paper.

    Then, they should be able to do it digitally. (You should use the software you are most comfortable with to map. In the following chapters, we will use a wide array of software tools, but for this chapter, I have chosen Microsoft Word.)

    Getting started with User Experience Mapping

    Now, let's talk about cats, and improving their lives. After all, cats always come first, when you need to improve someone's life. Later in this book, we will create maps for complex apps, websites and other digital projects, but in this introductory chapter, we will get started with a low-tech problem.

    Imagine having a cat. You can imagine any other pet, but the example will be a bit different with longhorn or other cattle. You are planning an extended holiday with limited phone and no Internet access, and you need to leave your cat at home. (Not because of the lack of Internet access. Unlike UX designers, cats can survive prolonged periods of time without the Internet.) Fortunately, you have found a cat-sitter. Now, for the plot twist--although the cat-sitter has watched thousands of cat videos, she never had a cat.

    You could tell her what to do. Chances are you would forget something obvious to you, but surprising for her. On top of that, you would have to rely on her memory and understanding.

    Why did the requirements document fail?

    Why shouldn't you give a 100 page document to your cat-sitter? Writing a documentation and sharing that with your cat-sitter might seem like a better idea. In the information stone-age of the early 90's, software delivery was based on a requirements document created as the first phase of the waterfall model. It seemed like a good idea back then. In this analysis phase, a long document was written. This document contained many details about what's being built, ahead of time, as well as an executive summary and product description and possibly many other sections. The requirements document was then approved and signed, and it represented a commitment. Requirements documents assumed that it's possible to know every eventuality up front and that priorities would not change. Obviously, they were not cast in stone. They were often revised, and sometimes even drastically changed. 

    Now, imagine our cat-sitter getting a 100-page requirements document with many sections. What are the chances that she misses or misunderstands something? Software developers cursed with a massive documentation feel the same.

    In my experience, companies who still work based on burdensome requirements documents have more firefighting jobs, as in very urgent jobs for consultants. On a Sunday afternoon, my mobile rang. The IT director of a well-known Hungarian eCommerce site was calling, seemingly in distress. The summary of the call was that they created a new responsive website with new design and information architecture. Now, it’s been live for two weeks, and our sales plummeted, especially on mobile. That was odd because the site was not responsive before. Why the call on Sunday? It was because the solution he presented on Monday was to review the documentation, especially the user experience bits, to find out which parts were not followed. For this, he needed an unbiased third party.

    I got the documentation and opened the site. There was a sitemap in it, a bit hard to read, as it continued across many pages, but suggested a fairly well thought out information architecture. Some subcategories appeared under multiple categories, and individual products could be found in one or more categories or subcategories. In the footer of the website, there was a link titled Sitemap. Although the other link titles were in Hungarian, this one was in English. This link led me to the sitemap.xml file. The file contained everything from the documentation’s relevant chapter, nicely prepared for Googlebot, but  far from ideal for humans, it just looked gibberish.

    The desktop navigation contained unique icons for the categories with the category name next to it. On the other hand, the mobile menu was just nine big icons, visible after tapping the burger icon (three parallel lines, often found in the top left or right corner of a mobile site or app), with small hard-to-read labels under them. Category names were long, and the designer made sure that they would not ruin his nice design. The documentation was followed to the letter, but the developers and whoever created the information architecture had a different idea on what to do with the sitemap chapter.

    According to Paul Vii and most other experts, waterfall was the most popular product management model in software development. In the first phase of waterfall, usually named analysis, the business analyst and the product owner will put together a set of requirements. Why has this approach failed? 

    The waterfall model's requirements document can lead to dysfunctional communication, lack of collaboration, and understanding. The emphasis is often put on negotiation. Cat-sitting and software development share the hate for contract negotiations, and walls of text are usually a source of a few misunderstandings. I hope that you appreciate the irony of arguing against writing long texts, while my arguments are part of a long text in a printed book.

    The requirements documents are intimidating, not just for cat-sitters, but anyone involved in a project. When you get a requirements document, the first thing that might cross your mind is whether

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