Table of Contents

Preface xi

Part I Design and Collaboration

Chapter 1 The Elements of Design: Think-Make-Check and the Four Models 3

Think, Make, Check: What Designers Do 3

Design's Four Concerns: Users, Interfaces, Interactions, and Systems 6

Chapter 2 Fidelity: Check the Right Things with the Right People 13

Fidelity Changes What's Included in the Model 13

The Model's Fidelity Affects Iteration 22

Think-Make-Check Means Design Requires Collaboration 23

Chapter 3 The Elements of Collaboration: Shared Understanding, Inclusion, and Trust 25

Share Understanding, the First Principle of Collaboration 26

Include Everyone, the Second Principle of Collaboration 29

Trust Everyone, the Most Important Principle of Collaboration 32

Collaboration Is the Key to Better Products 37

Chapter 4 Collaboration in Practice: Frame, Facilitate, and Finish 39

Collaboration Is Its Own Problem 39

Collaboration Has a Repeatable Structure 40

Collaboration Starts with a Frame 41

Finish Collaboration with a Captured Outcome 43

Facilitate Collaboration Through Four Steps 45

Formal and Informal Collaboration 52

Design and Collaboration, All Together Now 53

Part II Project Strategy

Chapter 5 The Strategic Landscape 57

Strategy Is About Change 58

Drivers Explain Why to Change 58

Barriers Explain What Blocks Change 60

Goals and Getting to the Future State 61

Innovating at the Right Altitude 65

Focus Teams on the Right Goals 66

Chapter 6 Identify Project Goals with Goal Mapping 67

How Goal Mapping Works 67

Activity 1 Generate and Share Everyone's Project Goals 70

Activity 2 Group Goals to Find Common Themes 78

Activity 3 Prioritize Project Goals 82

Identify Goals in Casual Conversations 86

Shared, Prioritized Goals Fuel Better Teams 86

Chapter 7 Identify a Concrete Vision for Success 89

How Future-State Envisioning Works 90

Activity 1 Generate Issues That Exist in the Current State 93

Activity 2 Generate Successes That Exist in the Current State 97

Activity 3 Generate Concrete Visions of What People Do in the Ideal Future 99

Activity 4 Map Metrics to Future Behaviors 104

Vision Focuses the Team on Success, not Features 108

Chapter 8 Document and Share Project Goals and Vision 109

Document Goals to Provide Important Context 109

Document Vision to Show the Big Picture 111

Check the Goals and Vision with the Team 112

Teams Need to Constantly Reference Goals and Vision 114

Part III Users

Chapter 9 Users and User Research 117

Personas vs. Profiles vs. Roles vs. Archetypes 117

Tasks, Contexts, and Influencers 118

Motivations, Goals, and Jobs-to-Be-Done 121

Project Goals Reveal the Attributes Your User Model Needs 126

Good User Models Evolve With the Product 131

Chapter 10 Identify Users with the Bull's-Eye Canvas 133

How User Identification Works 133

Activity 1 Generate Direct Users 136

Activity 2 Generate Indirect Users 139

Activity 3 Generate Extended Users 142

Build the Right Product for the Right User 145

Chapter 11 Explore User Attributes with the Profile Canvas 147

How the User Profile Canvas Works 148

Activity 1 Generate Tasks and Contexts 150

Activity 2 Analyze Tasks to Identify the User's Goal 153

Activity 3 Generate User Pain Points 157

Activity 4 Generate User Gains 161

Explore User Attributes to Build Better Products 165

Chapter 12 User Needs and Preferences with the Attribute Grid 167

How the Attribute Grid Works 167

Activity 1 Generate Attributes to Reveal the Landscape 171

Activity 2 Refine Attributes to Remove Noise 178

Activity 3 Understand Patterns and Outliers in User Behaviors 187

Activity 4 Review to Build Shared Vision with Broader Team and Stakeholders 194

The Attribute Grid Lays the Foundation for Personas 196

Chapter 15 Document and Share User Models 199

User Models Answer Four Different Questions 200

Two Types of User Models: Rationales and Guidelines 201

User Models Come in Three Formats 203

Three Ways to Communicate User Attributes 205

Five Other Things to Include in User Models 214

Show Multiple Users Side-by-Side 216

Focus on a Single User with One-Sheets 221

Share User Models in Other Ways 222

Make User Models in the Format You Will Review Them 224

User Models Are Powerful Reference Tools 224

Part IV Interactions

Chapter 14 Elements of Interactions 227

Three Types of Interaction Models 228

Touchpoints Have Four Building Blocks 230

Length, Depth, and Point of View 233

Phases and Moments of Truth 235

As-Is or To-Be, Looking Forward and Back 237

Tailor Interaction Models to Project and Team Needs 237

Chapter 15 Identify What to Build with Touchpoint Maps 239

How Touchpoint Maps Work 239

Activity 1 Clarify the Scenario 242

Activity 2 Generate Tasks 244

Activity 3 Refine Tasks and Sequence 249

Conversations Around Touchpoint Diagrams 251

Touchpoint Maps Reveal Discrete Parts of the Experience 254

Chapter 16 Understand How Products Fit Together with Journey Maps 255

How Journey and Experience Maps Work 255

Activity 1 Generate Touchpoints 258

Activity 2 Analyze the Journey's Structure 263

Activity 3 Explore Touchpoints in Detail 269

Journey Maps Reveal Secrets to Better Products 273

Part V Interfaces

Chapter 17 The Visible and Invisible Parts of an Interface 277

The Four Visible Parts of an Interface 279

The Invisible Parts of an Interface 284

The Invisible Parts of the Interface Are Most Important 286

Chapter 18 Design Interfaces with 4-Corners 287

How 4-Corners Works 288

Activity 1 Identify the Interface User 290

Activity 2 Identify the User's Task 294

Activity 3 Identify the Next Step 297

Activity 4 Identify the Previous Step 300

Activity 5 Identify Interface Content 303

Activity 6 Identify Functionality 312

4-Corners for Wireframes, Mockups, and Prototypes 316

4-Corners for More Than Just Screens 317

4-Corners Creates a Shared, Holistic Vision of the Interface 318

Chapter 19 Strategies for Sketching Interfaces 319

Activity: Group Sketching to Create a Single, Shared Vision 319

Activity: Individual Sketching to Reveal Competing Perspectives 324

Activity: 6-8-5 Sketching to Generate Multiple Directions 327

Additional Things to Think About When Sketching 330

Trust Others to Make Interfaces on Their Own 332

Chapter 20 Choose the Right Interface Model: Wireframes, Comps, or Prototypes? 335

Five Types of Interface Models (and the Actual Product) 335

Five Kinds of Interface Fidelity 341

Three Ways to Make Interface Models 348

Different Models Support Different Interface Fidelity 348

Use the Lowest Fidelity Possible to Reduce Iteration Time 350

Adjust Fidelity for Your Audience 354

Part VI Checks

Chapter 21 Checks (and Balances) 361

Checks Start with the Finish 362

Frame the Check 364

Facilitate the Check 368

Transform Feedback into Gold 372

Stick the Finish 375

Keep the Faith 375

Index 377