Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 9
Define, Design, Redefine, Redesign
An idea doesn't instantly transform into a perfect product, or even a usable one. We've seen
the steps of ideation, sketching, prototyping and initial testing. What do they produce? In-
formation. The earliest tests often show what might go right or wrong in a user's first ex-
perience with a product. They could turn up problems with colors, shapes, or positioning, or
they might show the value of a designer's experiments and variations. Whether the feedback
is positive or negative, the results of these early processes are design revisions driven by the
testing data.
This is when UX becomes more than a simple acronym or slogan. In this phase, user in-
put becomes crucial. User decisions, actions and errors show the designer whether compon-
ents work the way they were designed to work. Anything that doesn't do the job is subject
to rethinking, redefinition and redesign. This might involve anything from resizing a button
to remaking the entire
experience architecture
of the site.
Revision—whether it's redesign, realign or just some simple tweaking—must be based
on some kind of changing or evolving information. In UX, the changing information is about
the functions of the product, either in a controlled group or in a live iteration on the web,
and the subsequent feedback from these users. This has always been true of marketing, but
in the digital world it's faster—much faster.
One of the most visible designs of life in the developed world is the car. We drive them,
dodge them, insure them and maintain them. Their manufacturing, operation and upkeep
combine into one of the largest sectors of the global economy. Some cars draw our atten-
tion; some spark our imaginations; while others barely register on our consciousness. All are
products of a complex design process. Just building a single automobile prototype can take
months, and lab and road tests add to that. Often these tests lead the car's designers straight
back to the drawing board. A car that accelerates from zero to 60 in a few seconds on the
open road requires years of design and development before a driver could even start the en-
gine.
Speed may be the biggest difference between traditional and digital design. When design
is a direct process aimed at large physical items, user experience must wait for physical pro-
totypes. In digital design, user testing often begins with the simplest images. Attracting an
