Category Archives: User Experience

User Experience in Business Language: The Lean Startup

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Should design speak the language of business or should business speak the language of design? It doesn’t matter, The Lean Startup, written by Eric Ries, translates design into business language and help designers evangelize UX across companies.

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

The Lean Startup is putting together (not inventing) well-known UX design practices like:

  • User observation,
  • More ethnography,
  • User tests,
  • User Interviews,
  • Rapid iteration and
  • Prototyping

Eric Ries put all those concepts into a book full of business buzz words to bring the UX practice to managers. You will find “eliminate uncertainty”, “work smarter”, “validate” and “minimum viable product.” This is what managers need to read, not mystic words like “ethnography.”

Some designers have been complaining on Twitter, saying that Mr. Ries is “stealing” our concepts to sell them as a new movement. Well, let me tell you, he is actually doing us a favor.

The wording doesn’t matter, just go buy the book and give it to top managers. Eric explains in a very appealing way why every company, an specially startups, should use all those techniques user experience designers have being taking into practice for years.

The Lean Startup will help you spread the UX message.

Unconventional User Research Methods to Know Your Users Better

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It is important to know your web site’s users really well to create great user experiences. Some well-known user research methods and some alternative ones have been used to increase our understanding of websites users.

User tests can provide insights on the website you want to improve or about a new product prototype. Surveys, on the other side, usually focus on knowing more about the demographics, usage behaviors, and opinions while analytics will give you numbers.

Robot Researching by ocularinvision

Research in the field

User interviews are a very interesting way to know and understand your users. Interviews give you the opportunity to talk to them, see where they work, how they think, and how they organize their daily tasks.

Techniques to know users even better

You can use various techniques to get closer to the users and consumers of your service. To create positive user experiences, you really have to understand your clients’ businesses, things that are important for them and the methods they use to achieve their goals.

For example, at amiando.com we provide a participant management and ticketing service for organizers of events like conferences. To understand event organizers, I need to:

- Read books about the event organizing business
- Listen to podcasts about meeting and event organizing
- Subscribe to blogs about conferences and events
- Read forums on the topic, for example on Linkedin
- Participate in meet-ups for organizers

Although all these activities are time consuming, you can create a good user experience and service only if you know how your users think, plan, and work.

Great illustration by ocularinvasion

Chocolate, Interaction and Design

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User experience and interaction designers need to understand how users think as well as be aware of business goals and needs described by managers and colleagues from other departments. Chocolate… delicious chocolate… can help you get the information you need to do a great job.


Candy in real life

My grandfather used to be famous in our neighborhood. Why? Was he rich or handsome, or a music star? No, he carried candy in his pockets and he gave candy to every kid he could find; soon he became the girls and boys local super hero.

Ritter Sport Quadrate

Actually, in some countries, it’s common that old men give candy to children. The uncommon behavior was that my grandfather would also give candy to adults. Hence, he became the local super hero of children and adults as he surprised neighbors and got many smiles in return. I’m sure many adults thought that it was ridiculous to get candy from an old man and be treated like a child, but they did, in any case, smile.


Why chocolate?

Chocolate, the food produced from cacao (as described on Wikipedia,) is one of the top gifts, worldwide. It’s also one of the most popular ways of saying thank you, I love you, I appreciate you, and make someone smile. Most of us love chocolate.


Chocolate for users

I always take two small chocolates with me when I go to user tests. I give the first one to the user at the beginning of the meeting and I leave the second chocolate on the table next to me. I say that the first one is a small present for joining the test; users usually smile and know that there is more to come.

The goal is to create a funny situation, a reason to smile and relax. It is also a way to thank the user, just one more detail (aside from the monetary incentive). I am convinced that tests run better when we use chocolate because it makes users happier and more open to talk and share information.


Chocolate in meetings

Use chocolate in brainstorming sessions as a reward every time a colleague adds something interesting to the discussed topic. Rewards provide initiative, and could result in a courageous colleague who shares something crazy that paves the path to a cutting edge solution.

Again, the goal is to create a playful environment, to brake the ice, make people smile and, above everything, to reward participation.

Ritter Sport Schokowürfel Box

I use small pieces of chocolates that are easy to throw in the air and that people can eat immediately. My favorite brand is Ritter Sport: Small colorful pieces of delicious chocolate.


Communicate the benefits

We don’t want people to think that they are being rewarded the same way dolphins at SeaWorld are. So, make sure that everybody gets the idea that it is a game and make it clear that this technique is used to make the test or brainstorming session a success. With chocolate it will probably be!

Chocolate pictures from Ritter Sport