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Methods across 4 design phases

Accessibility Analysis

Definition: Checking UI against Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).   When to use: Test early after UI programming has began. Then test often, regularly throughout...
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Card Sorting

Definition: A technique in which subject experts or 'users' are guided in generating a taxonomy.   When to use: Designing information architecture (site's navigation).

Heuristic Analysis

Definition: Inspection method which benchmarks a UI design against 10 design principles. These principles were designed by Jakob Nielsen in the 1990s.   When to...
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Hopes and fears

Definition: Two part workshop to create empathy with staff/employees. Part one gets everyone involved working on a project at all levels to submit 'hopes' and...
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Pattern Library

Definition: HTML, CSS and JavaScript templates/frameworks.   Three types: 1. Developer-centric pattern, focus on quick code production turnover. 2. Designer-centric pattern, emphasise problem solving through...
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Proto-personas

Definition: Proto-personas are like traditional Personas, difference is instead of using marketing data and notes from user interviews we only use Client stakeholders' experience with...
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Prototypes

Definition: A prototype is an approximation of an experience that allows you to simulate what it is like to use the product or service in...
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Sitemap

Description: A site map is a visual representation of a site's organisation and how content nodes will relate to one another. Nodes often end up...
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Sketches

Definition: Drawing user interface wireframes or storyboards.   When to use: Working in teams to quickly communicate, explore and share ideas across disciplines.

Stakeholder interview

Definition: Meeting involving Stakeholders and a UX designer. When to do Stakeholder interviews: Early on in the project when a solution needs to be chosen....
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Story board

Definition: A story board is a low fidelity hand drawn comic strip. When to use story boards: When everyone involved in your team hasn't got:...
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Task Analysis

Definition: Capturing and understanding the user's perspective of their tasks.   When to use Task Analysis: Before starting UI designs. When you want to define...
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Task model

Definition: Lean UX simplified version of Task Analysis. A visual representation of the steps users go through and the behaviour they adopt in order to...
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Taxonomies

Definition: Website's navigation, a tree structure of terms, reflecting the majority of user's assumptions of: 1. The term an item should be referred too as...
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Usability Test

Definition: Usability testing is a technique used to evaluate a product by testing it on users, it gives direct input on how real users use...
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User flow

Definition: User flow diagrams are similar to a Developers' Task flow diagram. A task flow diagram shows all the possibilities a user could follow through...
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User Stories

Definition: In multidisciplinary teams we make User Stories, these are user centred stories that detail how the users are going to use our product to...
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Wireframes

Definition: Visual representation of a user interface, stripped of any visual design or branding elements. It defines the hierarchy of items on a screen. Based...
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Workshops

Definition: Designer leads multidisciplinary teams in design activities, typically the conceptualisation of a product.   When to do Workshops: 1. Design agency/consultant wants stakeholders to...
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