All posts from
March 2017

Designing the user experience of machine learning systems

Added on 31 March 2017 Peter Bogaards

Innovation always happens at the edges.

“Research papers from the AAAI User Experience of Machine Learning Symposium ~ Consumer-facing predictive systems paint a seductive picture: espresso machines that start brewing just as you think it’s a good time for coffee; office lights that dim when it’s sunny and office workers don’t need them; just in time diaper delivery. The value proposition is of a better user experience, but how will that experience actually be delivered when the systems involved regularly behave in unpredictable, often inscrutable, ways? Past machine learning systems in predictive maintenance and finance were designed by and for specialists, while recommender systems suggested, but rarely acted autonomously. Semi-autonomous machine learning-driven predictive systems are now in consumer-facing domains from smart homes to self-driving vehicles. Such systems aim to do everything from keeping plants healthy and homes safe to “nudging” people to change their behavior. However, despite all the promise of a better user experience there’s been little formal discussion about how design of such learning, adaptive, predictive systems will actually deliver. This symposium aims to bridge the worlds of user experience design, service design, HCI, HRI and AI to discuss common challenges, identify key constituencies, and compare approaches to designing such systems.”

Mike Kuniavsky a.k.a. @mikekuniavsky, Elizabeth Churchill a.k.a. @xeeliz, and Molly Wright Steenson a.k.a. @maximolly

A history of Human-Computer Interaction

Added on 29 March 2017 Peter Bogaards

Know thy history.

“However, there was steady progress. It took longer than many expected, but we collectively built the world imagined by Vannevar Bush, J. C. R. Licklider, Douglas Engelbart, Ivan Sutherland, Ted Nelson, Alan Kay, and others. In the 1960s, a few engineers and computer scientists used computers. Yet a common thread in their writing was of a time when people in diverse occupations would use computers routinely. We’re there.”

Jonathan Grudin a.k.a. /jonathan-grudin ~ ACM Interactions XXIV.2 ★

2017 Information Architecture Summit closing plenary address

Added on 27 March 2017 Peter Bogaards

Making history at the summit while looking at the works of some giants.

“If as information architects we want to do human-centered design, and to be working in terms of health and wellbeing in the overall ecosystem as a consequence of our actions, even those actions that seem isolated in small sub-regions of the ecosystem, then our methods, and ways of talking with people who don’t do what we do, and the entry points into and interactions with our profession, need to go even wider than ordinary.”

Dan Klyn a.k.a. /danklyn | @danklyn ★

A visual vocabulary for concept models

Added on 25 March 2017 Peter Bogaards

Concept models reflect the target cognitive frames of a system or idea.

“Let’s start by agreeing that a concept model is a visual explanation. I want you to see things the way I do, so I draw a model made of words and pictures so you share the picture in my mind. What if I want you to understand that design tends to wander around exploring options, but don’t worry because eventually we’ll pick something.”

Christina Wodtke a.k.a. /christinawodtke | @cwodtke ★

UX maturity models: A collection

Added on 22 March 2017 Peter Bogaards

Models are great for analysis and explanation. Less for designing a future.

“For at least ten years now I have been collecting User Experience (UX) and Customer Experience (CX) Maturity Models. I keep hoping to find the perfect one to help executives understand what we do, and what good looks like. Oftentimes my conversations are about how to maximize funding for UX services. Other times the goal may be to help an executive understand just how much further we have to go before we’re really getting the benefits of engaging a UX professional.”

Natalie Hanson a.k.a. /nataliehanson | @ndhanthro ★

Want to scale design thinking? Eight tips for embracing digital design collaboration

Added on 14 March 2017 Peter Bogaards

Scalability of design thoughts.

“Design is a top priority for companies that want to innovate and continue to improve the customer experiences. While many are investing in design thinking education, the distributed nature of teams makes it difficult for teams to practice, especially together. Ultimately, big initiatives to roll out design thinking as a core competence for all ‘knowledge and imagination workers’ have seen friction for both newly minted design thinkers and experts.”

Mariano Suarez-Battan a.k.a. /batmelon | @batmelon ~ O’Reilly Radar #Design ★

Thinking outside the browse and search box: Big data as a complement to navigation design

Added on 14 March 2017 Peter Bogaards

Concepts and theories are tested through technology developments. Will show technology independent they are.

“This article will examine the opportunities for data-driven navigation design without the dependency on physical device sensors or cookies, and without building out the intricacies of an elaborate recommendation engine. Leveraging even traditional analytics and usage metrics alone can go a long way in differentiating the content locating experience on conventional websites.”

Dan Owens a.k.a. /thedanowens | @HelloDanOwens ~ UXPA magazine ★

From interactables to architectonic interaction

Added on 2 March 2017 Peter Bogaards

Architecture and interaction. And where is information?

“The fields of interaction design (IxD) and architecture are increasingly intertwined [1]. Architecture is to a large extent produced through the use of digital tools, and digital technologies are increasingly integrated with our built environment. However, these integrations themselves certainly have transformative effects. For example, as the drawing of buildings is primarily done with CAD technologies, the practice of sketching and drawing is also changed. The same can be said about computer-enhanced buildings. Through the integration of digital technologies into our built environment, one physical space can be designed to allow for easy reconfigurations of that space so as to serve many different purposes and activities. As such, digital technologies challenge a core idea in architecture—that the physical environment is hard to reconfigure—and further, that since the physical space both allows for and restricts the social space, it is important that architecture consider the design of the physical environment in relation to the social activity it is intended to support.”

Mikael Wiberg a.k.a. /mikael-wiberg ~ ACM Interactions XXXIV.2 ★

Some European contributions to Information Science

Added on 1 March 2017 Peter Bogaards

Short term focus delutes attention towards history.

“European contributions to the field of information science are often overlooked or forgotten in the popularity and prominence of the Association for Information Science and Technology, previously known as the American Society for Information Science and Technology. Areas covered include information science theory, bibliographical descriptions, documentation theory, library science, classification, information retrieval, bibliometrics and standards. One noteworthy contributor to the field of information science as a whole is Karl Marx, who is credited as a “herald of the information society. Two international conferences, the International Conference on Scientific Information in Washington D.C. in 1958 and the Royal Society Scientific Information Conference in London in 1948, are cited as recognizing the importance of the field. Another conference series highlighted here is the Conceptions of Library and Information Science, which promotes innovations from the European community and is maintained primarily by Europeans.”

Michael K. Buckland ~ Bulletin of the Association for Information Science and Technology 43.3 ★

What is Lean UX? Streamlining UX for an increasingly Agile world

Added on 1 March 2017 Peter Bogaards

Or how a software engineering approach dictates the design process.

“As the trend of software development bends inevitably toward continuous improvement, continuous learning, and agility, so too must design practice bend and change to be most effective for the digital world. The process models UX inherited from its precursors – graphic design, industrial design, and architecture – are front-loaded and heavy, meant for outputs that are physical products and objects. But these process models collapse when it is no longer possible to figure out everything in advance, as is the case with creating complex software applications. Lean UX is a call to work iteratively, to streamline design and eliminate waste, to collaborate on cross-functional teams and, most importantly, to maintain a customer-centric perspective in our decision-making.”

Jonathan Follett a.k.a. /jonfollett | @jonfollett ~ O’Reilly Radar ★