01 Adaptive Design
method
01
Adaptive Design Method
What
Why
Leveraging analytics software to evaluate usage patterns after a product or service has launched to optimise design.
Allows designers to adapt design in response to actual user behaviour.
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02 Brainstorming
method
Brainstorming Method
02
What
Why
A carefully managed process of capturing the insights and experiences that exist within us all.
This is a creative technique for generating ideas to solve a problem. The main result of a brainstorming session may be a complete solution to the problem, a list of ideas for an approach to a subsequent solution, or a list of ideas resulting in a plan to find a solution.
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03
Business Requirements Capture method
03
Business Requirements Capture Method
What
Why
The process of defining the needs of the business in respect to the solution that needs to be developed.
The design of any solution should reflect the needs and objective of three principal stakeholders: the client, the user and the content.
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04 Card Sorting
method
04
Card Sorting Method
What
Why
Stakeholders are asked to write important design elements on cards and organise them spatially in ways that make sense to them.
By exposing people’s mental models of a device or system, and revealing expectations and priorities, this exercise gives an insight into user behaviour.
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06
Competitive Benchmarking method
06
Competitive Benchmarking Method
What
Why
A tool for comparing a company’s service or product with those of the competition.
Helps a company consider its position in relation to performance characteristics of key products and services and make tactical improvements.
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07
Conceptual Modelling method
07
Conceptual Modelling Method
What
Why
The creation of a conceptual model which will set the foundations of a website by outlining the driving principles which will guide the design process.
The conceptual model offers a conclusion to which approach best fits the requirements of the client, the users and the content. It will answer the questions of “What is it that we are building?”, “What type of site?” and “For whom?”.
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08 Conceptual Model
deliverable
08
Conceptual Model Deliverable
What
Why
The conceptual model sets the foundations of the website outlining the driving principles that will guide the decision making in the design.
The conceptual model offers a conclusion to which approach best fits the requirements of the client, the users and the content. It will answer the questions of “What is it that we are building?”, “What type of site?” and “For whom?”.
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09 Content Architecture
method
09
Content Architecture Method
What
Why
Defining the relevent areas of functionality for each page of the application.
The content architecture translates the user and business requirements into defined functionality on a page by page basis.
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10 Content Mapping
method
10
Content Mapping Method
What
Why
Information is turned into manageable structured, organised content objects. Mapping content enables assessment of the content.
Building a Content Map can help designers conceptualise an area and spot trends or gaps, and as a presentation method they quickly provide an overview and general impression.
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11 Content Map
deliverable
11
Content Map Deliverable
What
Why
Information is turned into manageable structured, organised content objects. Mapping content enables assessment of the content.
Building a Content Map can help designers conceptualise an area and spot trends or gaps, and as a presentation method they quickly provide an overview and general impression.
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12 Creative Brief
deliverable
12
Creative Brief Deliverable
What
Why
Document that outlines the key tasks to be solved by the creative team.
Provides a clear overview of what the creative team will undertake and what the criteria is for success.
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13 Data Analysis
method
13
Data Analysis Method
What
Why
Reading and evaluating all the documentation available that is relevant to the client or sector.
A critical element of the initial research phase. Provides valuable insight into the context of the design.
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14
Ethnographic Observation method
14
Ethnographic Observation Method
What
Why
Observing people using and interacting with products and services in the context of their typical routine and environment.
Recent research indicates that as much as 95% of human thought, emotion, and action is rooted in the subconscious mind - people don’t always do what they say they do. Only by observing users in context, can we see exactly how things are done in the real world. complete.method
15
Experience Mapping method
15
Experience Mapping Method
What
Why
Mapping each interaction a customer has with a product or service and identifying what their expectations and needs are at each ‘touchpoint’.
By clearly identifying consumer needs for each interaction, the design team can ensure that expectations are consistently exceeded throughout the user journey.
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16
Functional Prototyping method
16
Functional Prototyping Method
What
Why
Mocking up an HTML functional model of the product or service during the design process to get feedback on features before money is spent on actual implementation.
Helps stakeholders visualise possible solutions and speeds up decision-making and innovation. You simply test using your model.
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17
Functional Prototype deliverable
17
Functional Prototype Deliverable
What
Why
An HTML functional model of a product or service used during the design process to get feedback on features before actual implementation.
Helps stakeholders visualise possible solutions and speeds up decision making and innovation.
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18
Heuristic Evaluation method
18
Heuristic Evaluation Method
What
Why
An interface is evaluated against best-practice criteria.
Identifies commonly found usability pain-points, which should be adressed.
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19 Interviewing
method
19
Interviewing Method
What
Why
Talking to people who really know, or know nothing, about a product or application.
Talking to established or ‘super’ users is valuable when optimising an existing application. Talking to novice users helps assess the ‘learnability’ of an application and the definition of the tools needed to support new users.
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20
Laboratory Usability Testing method
Laboratory Usability Testing Method
20
What
Why
Evaluate the working prototype by asking users to perform a number of interactions and measuring their success.
Compiles user-feedback on important elements such as navigation, terminology and usability before final implementation.
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21 Paper Prototype
deliverable
Paper Prototype Deliverable
21
What
Why
Mocking up a paper-based model of the product or service during the design process to get feedback on the features before money is spent on actual implementation.
Helps stakeholders visualise possible solutions and speeds up decision-making and innovation. You simply test using your model.
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22
Paper Prototype Testing method
22
Paper Prototype Testing Method
What
Why
Evaluate paper illustrations of the working prototype by asking users to perform a number of interactions and measuring their success.
A rapid, low-cost method of evaluating the proposed solution before significant investment in design and development.
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23 Personas
method
23
Personas Method
What
Why
Personas are stereotypes of customers, and are given all the attributes of a real person.
An understanding of the customer is at the heart of every good business. By focusing on attitudes and behaviours rather than just demographics, reference to personas informs and validates design decisions.
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24 Digital Prototyping
method
24
Digital Prototyping Method
What
Why
Mocking up a model of the product or service during the design process to get feedback on features before money is spent on actual implementation.
Mocking up working models helps everyone visualise solutions and speeds up your decision-making and innovation. You simply test using your model.
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26 Sitemapping
method
26
Sitemapping Method
What
Why
A visual representation of a website structure. It shows how individual pages are positioned hierarchically within the site.
Gives both the designer and the client a holistic overview of the extent of the website under development. A vital point of reference throughout the course of the project.
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27
Technical Landscape Analysis method
27
Technical Landscape Analysis Method
What
Why
Defining the technical context of the solution and the expected impact on design.
Ensures the proposed solution can be integrated into the existing platform (hardware/software).
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28 User Journals
method
28
User Journals Method
What
Why
Asking users to keep journals of their activities and impressions relating to a particular product or service.
Many user interactions are conducted routinely and it is often hard for users to articulate much detail about them after the event. This technique helps to capture the context, stimuli and thoughts of the user in and around the ‘moment’ of interaction.
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29 User Journeys
method
User Journeys Method
29
What
Why
Illustrate a character-rich storyline describing the context of use for a product or service.
To understand the key touchpoints and interactions that are critical to the success of the user experience.
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30
User Requirements Capture method
30
User Requirements Capture Method
What
Why
The process of defining the needs of the user in respect to the solution that needs to be developed.
The design of any solution should reflect the needs and objectives of three principal stakeholders: the client, the user and the content.
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31
Web Analytics Review method
31
Web Analytics Review Method
What
Why
Users are tracked throughout their journey on a site. The resulting data is collected and analysed.
The analysis enables the reviewer to identify precisely under performance and bottlenecks.
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32 Wireframes
deliverable