The AYCL Blog

Lean UX reframes a typical design process from one driven by deliverables to one driven by data. Josh Seiden has been there, done that—and he's going to show us how to change our thinking, too.

If you want a learning-focused process that rallies your entire team around continuous research—and more effective design outcomes—then watch this seminar.

Before 2007, designers battled for prime pixel real estate on ever-expanding screens. With the release of the first iPhone, everything changed. These powerful devices with their tiny, 2x3 inch screens came with a promise, that you could do anything, anywhere anytime.

But how well have we kept that promise? Yes, people can deposit checks, make reservations, play games, and buy things right from their phone. But those tasks are often accompanied by frustration. And even responsive design hasn’t been able to solve all of those frustrating moments.

Responsive design was supposed to give users access to the same kind of content across a range of devices. But it’s really about flow, to give users the same experience across all those devices.

adapted from “Mobile Flowidity,” a Virtual Seminar by Dana Chisell.

Learn what behaviors the EightShapes team has adopted to make their work transparent and effective. Watch how Dan Brown has distilled these behaviors into a framework called the "4 Virtues of Collaboration."

If you want to improve the way you—and your team—interpret and respond to everyday design challenges, then watch Dan's seminar now.

When you start thinking about web content, it’s helpful to start with the right metaphor.

Take a three-legged stool, for instance:

• Leg 1: visual design
• Leg 2: information design
• Leg 3: technology/functionality.

Each of these legs is necessary, but not sufficient. ​To be useful, it needs its seat. In this metaphor, that last essential component is your content.

Content is what brings your users to your site. And here’s where more metaphors can be helpful. Do you want your site to be an open file content for your users to rummage through? Do you want it to be a newspaper, feeding them the information you think they need to know? Or is it simply a digital catalog for them to browse, perchance to buy?

No, no, and no. You want your web site to be a conversation with your users. They come to you with questions. You want to give them answers. Quickly, easily, and conveniently. Once you answer their questions, you can start to ask them a few of your own. You can keep the conversation going.

Ergonomic considerations and demands are inherent to tablets and phones, but now we're seeing touch-friendly laptops and desktop screens. With all the different kinds of inputs available—mouse, keyboard, camera, microphone, screen—there just isn't One True Input for the Web.

Josh Clark will show you how to you design intuitive controls and layouts for varying devices, inputs, and screen sizes.

The most dangerous phrase in a language is we've always done it that way.
–Grace Hopper

For over 20 years, websites have followed the same general pattern. Headers, footers, sidebars, all laid out in an orderly rectangle. When screen sizes grew from 640-800 pixels, designers filled the extra space with sidebar content.

This content was, according to Jen Simmons, “the original way to find things.” But over the past two decades, the sidebar has become something to be ignored. Does that mean that designers stopped including them in their designs? Nope. Because we’re stuck in a rut.

We don’t have to be, says Jen. We have the power to float text, wrap it around images, or pour it into text “boxes” that aren’t boxes at all. They can be ovals, circles, diamonds, and more. The power to do this exists today. If we’re not using it, we’re missing out.

adapted from “Innovation and the Power of the Web,”  a virtual seminar by Jen Simmons.

Startups come and startups go. But have you ever stopped to think about why they go, why they weren’t successful enough to stick around? “The vast majority of projects fail not because people couldn't build a great product using the latest technology. They failed because we built something nobody wanted,” says Will Evans, Executive Producer of Lean UX Day in NYC.

Lean UX is the perfect disaster-avoidance technique.

• You start with one customer—your end user.
• You do your research and figure out the number one problem they have with your product or service.
• You take a guess at what you could do to solve that problem.
• You run your “hypothesis” through the “think, make, check” cycle to see if your guess was right.

If it was, congratulate yourself. If it wasn’t, go back and start over.

In this seminar, Ahava expands upon traditional content strategy—both external (branding, messaging, tone) and internal (governance, workflows)—by folding UX into the conversation.

Learn how to explain content marketing to stakeholders, set up a pilot program in your organization, and collaborate on content that can be measured.

The typical response to content sprawl is to make room for it — a cure that’s often worse than the disease. You end up with web pages that look like Times Square and a CMS full of inaccessible and unusable content.

Navigation and taxonomy are both effective tools for tackling unruly content, but understanding the fundamental differences between the two is key.

Taxonomy is a system of classifications that allows you to organize content. It’s the logical layer between your content and the physical structure in the back end. Taxonomy is an abstract, semantic layer of meaning, rigid by nature, and driven by rules. For it to work, categories must be clearly defined, and labeling has to follow the right structure.

Navigation is the physical organization of content, and how you’re presenting it to the user.  It is influenced by taxonomy, and can be changed any time without changing the taxonomy. Faceted navigation is a classic example of taxonomy-driven navigation.

adapted from “Managing Content Sprawl,” a Virtual Seminar by Stephanie Lemieux.

Wireframes come in tons of shapes, sizes, and fidelities. But knowing how much effort to invest in making them can be challenging.

In this seminar, Chris Farnum will give you techniques and strategies to help you find the right amount of communication for your team.

Life’s too short to spend a single second working at a job that you don’t love. So the next time you’re in the market for a new position, take Amy Jackson’s advice and treat your job search like just another UX project.

“The job search process is like the user experience process. You’re the user. And the end product is the job you’re trying to get,” says Amy. Your first task is to figure out what you (the user) need and want. What’s missing in your current job? What do you hope will be different in your next one? What kind of team do you want to work with?

Next, think of your job interview as a vital information-gathering session. Remember, you’re interviewing them as much as they’re interviewing you. Don’t be afraid to push a little to get the answers you need. What problems are they looking to solve? Are those problems that you’re interested in solving? If not, keep looking.

Stephanie Lemieux knows that information architecture is more than just navigation or structure. It's how your users find you, understand you, and continue interacting with your company over time. If flexibility in content publishing is a key goal for your team, then it's time to try taxonomy-driven design.

Watch this seminar of you are ready to make your content more meaningful, helpful, and flexible.