<first>A<first>nyone who has ever tried to hire UX designers knows that this is not an easy task. Companies are increasingly focused on the digital environment, seeking people with experience in the area. However, there is a shortage of professionals in Brazil. This is an obstacle to the growth of businesses and teams. Even with the popularization of the UX discipline in recent years, the demand for designers still seems to be greater than the supply.

On the other hand, for those who already work in the market, one of the main challenges is to defend a user-centric vision within organizations. Strategic and creative processes often disregard important steps to achieve this understanding. The good news is that this is a unique moment to influence the development of the area. There is no single way to do UX. We are simultaneously learning and contributing.

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UX Bootcamp

Students from Belas Artes University, 2019

São Paulo, Brazil

In this work, we took on the challenge of creating a UX Design workshop that could fit into a single day. The idea was to present the work of designers within digital product startups, for students with little or no familiarity with the area. Unlike a medium-term course like the one at the Miami Ad School (more details at the bottom of this page), this would be a lean program.

One of the objectives of the work was to contextualize the autonomous Squads model, with designers working horizontally and with different scopes.

At the beginning of the program, we divided students into 4 groups and distributed specific briefs within a hypothetical telecom company. Each group – or Squad – acted in a stage of the experience: acquisition, use, sharing of the service and customer service. The workshop was divided into 5 parts: understanding the problem, exploring ideas, prioritizing initiatives, developing solutions and testing interfaces.

The first and last parts of the meeting were intended to develop user-centered thinking through research. In these steps we explored interviewing methods and usability testing techniques. We sought to put the customer at the center of discussions, developing an outward look – both at the beginning of the work and in the screen validation stages.

In the middle parts of ideation and prioritization we sought to approach agile thinking, yielding continuous value delivery through small design iterations. To do so, we connected the creative process within a broader understanding of business objectives and execution effort. Working with hypotheses, the group was able to understand which ideas would directly affect the company’s macro strategy and how they could be quickly validated.

Another important argument of the workshop was the systemic vision for execution in Design – through patterns, tokens and a Design System. With practical cases from other companies, we explained the importance of visual harmony between different Squads. The search for consistency was a determining factor in the design of the interfaces. Through sketches, students were able to explore ideas using a common reference.

These were the main insights raised after the program was completed:

Area knowledge

The exercise reinforced the impression that UX is still a topic covered in a low-key way in the academic environment. A significant part of the participants had little or no knowledge about the material covered.

Division by Squads

This format brought the group closer to the routine of a professional, an important value of the workshop. In general, students performed well in team activities and division of tasks according to individual abilities.

Duration

The main opportunity for improvement was the duration of the practical exercises. As the volume of content was extensive, some activities ended up being too short. A suggestion for the future would be to expand the workshop to 2 days.

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Creating a UX design course

Miami Ad School, 2012-2015

São Paulo, Brazil

A few years ago, Miami Ad School proposed a challenge: to create the first UX design course for its curriculum. A blank sheet of paper, starting from scratch. The school trains professionals to work in advertising agencies and creative teams. It offers several courses, such as graphic design, creative leadership and strategic planning. With the growing participation of UX in companies, Miami concluded that it was essential to prepare students for this transformation.

The objective of the course was to present the UX discipline and its practical applications.

Research methodologies, design strategy, ideation for digital products, information architecture, interaction design. These were the main topics covered in the classes. Over the course of 4 months, students explored these concepts and worked on a project in small groups. We wanted to have an ideal combination of theory and practice.

The first part of the course touched on the strategic side of UX. Before thinking about the idea that would win a trophy in the south of France, we presented methods for getting to know users – such as interviews and questionnaires – and ways of representing their context – such as personas and user journeys. We also provoked reflection on the business challenge in a broader sense, considering multiple channels and points of contact with the user.

In the next step, we explored ideation dynamics. Brainstorming activities can be done with or without a method – as long as good things come out of it. For this course, we tried to show the importance of different perspectives in a team. We invited professionals from other areas, such as technology and planning, to evaluate the students’ ideas. This mixed feedback served to enrich the best ideas.

Finally, we concluded the classes with the more practical side of UX. We did card sorting exercises to categorize content in digital spaces. We also presented the specifics of designing interfaces for websites, apps, and other applications. Concepts such as affordances, constraints, and feedback were covered. By the end of the course, each group had gone through the different phases of the design process – from strategic vision to materializing ideas.

Research through collaboration

Interaction South America 2013

Recife, Brazil

UX professionals understand the importance of strategic vision in product creation. However, design research activities are often ignored . Why does this happen? One of the common causes is limited resources and time in projects. The natural path is to define schedules directly in the execution and development stages. Decisions are made based on intuition, experience with previous projects, or analysis of the competition.

This presentation proposed an alternative to make research viable within projects.

In this approach, internal teams are involved and responsibilities are shared by the team. The UX professional acts not as a centralizer , but as a conductor; a moderator of resources. The work, in turn, is diluted among multiple teams.

In any project, behavior and usage metrics are essential. They can guide design decisions if used correctly. However, this data is often protected in reports, in the hands of specific teams – such as analytics. Therefore, it loses its practical value. The role of UX can be to orchestrate the sharing of this material. It is a natural skill shared by designers: bringing the parties together and facilitating collaboration.

Another important example: presentation of deliverables. To be useful, results must be presented in a simple and pleasant way. Even knowing the care and ethics involved in conducting research, few people have the patience to read a complicated PDF. No problem. Writers and visual designers can be involved in building a story . The UX is responsible for synthesizing the information and creating a brief to direct the work.

In addition to making research feasible, this approach has positive side effects. It includes more people in the discovery and understanding process . It also reduces the distance between the strategy and execution phases. Thus, the quality of learning increases significantly.

Access Research slides via collaboration on Slideshare

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There is no traditional method of doing UX that works in every context. Sharing knowledge is a way to recognize this naturalness and shape the future of the discipline.

Making faster decisions

Interaction South America 2016

Santiago, Chile

Brands like Uber, Everlane, and Atom Bank have changed the way services work. They have challenged long-established business models. Traditional companies, in turn, are seeking to reinvent themselves and think differently. Keeping up with this transformation has become a matter of necessity and survival. For designers and smart creatives, this is an excellent time.

However, many companies are still stuck in outdated product design processes. This includes the exchange of information between different areas, the way departments are organized, and the time it takes to approve design artifacts. A long and winding road. In this context, how can we make faster and more efficient decisions?

This presentation discussed a method for accelerating decisions in large companies.

On the one hand, designers can broaden their tactical vision and gain a better understanding of the business . Relevant topics for reflection include how the company generates profit and what are the pieces that move this gear. Frequent contact with executives can help clarify this. This way, it is easier to ask questions. Using War Rooms installed on the client's campus at specific moments of the project is an alternative for this approach.

Similarly, stakeholders with little experience discussing design need support. They will not be able to evaluate solutions on their own. Design principles are very useful in this case. They establish parameters to guide the creative process . This allows the group to have a shared vision of what makes a good interface solution, in fact.

For brilliant ideas to come to fruition, tools that streamline decision-making are needed. This is even more important within large corporations. A common language between the parties involved is essential for more complex and comprehensive projects. This shared vocabulary allows dozens, hundreds of stakeholders to look in the same direction.

Access Making Faster Decisions on Slideshare.

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