Eating our Own Dog Food:Using UX Methods to Build a UX Business

Lou Rosenfeld, Rosenfeld Media

CanUX: Banff, Alberta, Canada

November 26, 2007

www.rosenfeldmedia.com

Brief bio

Co-author, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web

Blog: www.louisrosenfeld.com Co-founder, IA Institute and UXnetPublisher and founder, Rosenfeld Media

(books for UX practitioners): www.rosenfeldmedia.com

My forthcoming book: Search Analytics for Your Site: Conversations with your customers

The Rodney Dangerfield Era of UX is over

Design thinking is ascendant, and UX practitioners are upwardly mobile

What happens when actually we get our hands on the keys to the car?

Design challenges in publishing

1. Designing booksCan book design be improved upon?

2. Acquiring booksWhich books should we publish?

3. Developing booksHow can we ensure quality content?

Design challenge #1: Designing books

How is it usually done?

How would you do it differently?

“…book covers do sell books, just like packaging

sells other products…”--Dan Poynter

Question: What makes a good UX book good?

Show’n’tell sessions and blog discussions

1. What UX books do you (dis)like?

2. What about them do you (dis)like?

Blog entries, summaries, and comments: http://tinyurl.com/2rjg7u http://tinyurl.com/2jvrd9 http://tinyurl.com/32ty7r

Anecdotal answers

Short enough to read on a plane trip Short chapters Small, portable profile: 6” x 9” Wide margins for annotation Color interiors and good illustrations Support readability and reference: print

and PDF

…and that favorite UX book?

Interiors

Covers

Ehh… Better

Book testing: print and PDF

Goals: validate design, uncover missed opportunities

Task analysis Foundation (e.g., What is this book about?) Navigation (e.g., re-finding) Extension (e.g., grabbing a diagram)

Post-test questionnaire Ratings (e.g. author credibility, price) Open-ended comments/feedback

What we’re learning from testing

The value of new concepts FAQ for book Closer integration with web-based content

New twists on old concepts Table of contents critically important Value of front matter, covers

Not missing the obvious Author bio establishes credibility Improving quality where critical (e.g,. Images)

Design challenge #1: Designing books

How would you do it?

Design challenge #2: Acquiring books

How is it usually done?

How would you do it differently?

Choosing proposals Metaphors help set useful boundaries Weft: “horizontal” UX methods Warp: UX “verticals”

…and then they break

…which is ok

Adding rigor to book acquisition

Qualitative methods Agile proposal development process

(between author + publisher) Peer review of proposals (by editorial

board) Reconsidering venues for input (e.g. social

networks)

Quantitative method: UX Zeitgeist

Good help is there if you ask for it

Editorial BoardLiz DanzicoAndrew DillonSteve KrugMike KuniavskyGinny RedishMarc RettigNathan ShedroffRashmi SinhaKaren Whitehouse

Another source of input: social networks (e.g., LinkedIn Answers)

Quantitative topic evaluation: UXZeitgeist.com

UXZ Person

UXZ Book

UXZ Book Index

UXZ Topic Index

Design challenge #2: Acquiring books

How would you do it?

Design challenge #3: Developing books

How is it usually done?

How would you do it differently?

The obvious Author Publisher Editorial board Editorial team

The not-so-obvious Industry/subject matter

experts Industry influencers Conference planners Software and service

vendors Potential readers

Books as dialogues: engaging with stakeholders

Book sites: grounds for engagement

Further engagement: mapping the market

Ubiquitous, viral discount codes Surveys UX Zeitgeist Bookmarks Individual PDF versions of books

Generates map of UX community

Design challenge #3: Developing books

How would you do it?

Lesson: Build platforms for engagement

Businesses that produce creative assets should be designed as platforms

Make your platform as open as possible

With platforms, opportunities originate with iteration more than innovation

Another lesson: Sweat the soft stuff

It’s easy to get carried away by the technical aspects of platforms

It’s too easy to ignore the human aspects of platforms (e.g., project managers, art directors)

And it’s way too easy to ignore the traditional aspects of an industry (e.g., book publishing is and always will be damned hard)

One last lesson:cobblers and their kids

Get used to looking like a hypocrite Don’t let that stop you And remember to eat your own dog

food

Image credits

Rodney Dangerfield: etwist.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html

Dice: www.joystiq.com/media/2006/02/rollingreddice.jpg

Weave: www.classicistranieri.com

Onion: k53.pbase.com/u25/franziskalang/upload/15197600.Onion.jpg

More information

This presentation is available at: www.slideshare.net/lrosenfeld

Louis Rosenfeld, PublisherRosenfeld Media, LLC705 Carroll Street, #2LBrooklyn, NY 11215 USA+1.718.306.9396 voice+1.734.661.1655 faxlou@rosenfeldmedia.comwww.rosenfeldmedia.com