Extra! Extra!

At long last, just in time for the holidays, I received a review copy of Dan M. Brown’s Communicating Design: Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning and the book has more than lived up to my high expectations of it. I tore open the envelope and nearly devoured the book in one sitting. If you design or develop websites, if you do information architecture, interaction design, or content strategy, if you care about making online and digital experiences more engaging and easier to use, then this book is for you.

This is not a theoretical book. It is incredibly hands-on, walking the you through some of the most useful user-experience design “deliverables” you’ll need to create for nearly every project you work on. Brown discusses three broad categories of deliverables: user needs documents, strategy documents, and design documents. In this scheme user needs docs include personas, usability test plans, and usability reports; strategy docs include competitive analyses, concept models, and content inventories; and design documents include sitemaps, flow charts, wireframes, and screen designs.

For each deliverable, Brown introduces them with a layer metaphor, first talking about the most impotant elements in each doc, then looking at how to enhance the document, and finally addressing how to fine-tune each document for the project at hand. This layered approach helps the reader see what is essential about each type of document and how to fit the work to the scope of the project.

Brown also recognizes that these deliverables do not operate in a vacuum but rather need to complement and support each other and for each one he explains how they can best work together.

The book includes many real-world examples gathered from Brown’s own work as well as solicited from his vast and deep network of IA’s and other UX professionals. (I submitted a few sitemaps and content inventories to Brown when he was finishing up the book but none made the final cut.)

I probably learned the most from his discussion of concept models, because I have the least amount of experience preparing these types of documents and I’ve always found them to be somewhat intimidating. He explains how to build them up from granular bits and also helps clarify a number of different approaches to connecting the nodes in such documents. He also includes as an illustration a version of Bryce Glass’s after-the-fact Flickr user model, an instant classic of the form.

When talking about wireframes and sitemaps Brown tackles some of the thorniest issues, such as whether and how much to show layout and design elements in wireframes and how best to communicate site flows in an age of increasingly dynamic, application-like websites often built on user-contributed content.

Brown also conveys the complexity and challenges inherent in developing a good content inventory better than I’ve ever seen it discussed before anywhere. He doesn’t gloss over the aspect of drudgery involved in this type of work, and he makes it clear that there is no single cookie-cutter template that is appopriate for every site (nor any useful tool out there to help automate the process), but he equips the reader with the right questions to ask and the right tradeoffs to consider in assembling what is in some ways the most crucial document an IA or content strategist will deliver for any large complex site.

Just to prove I’m not gushing just because I like Brown personally and admire his tremendous contributions to the field, I will say that the weakest chapter is the last one, in which he addresses screen designs (what our visual design colleages typically call “comps”). It may be that because comps are not typically created and delivered by information architects that they perhaps don’t belong in this book. Although the title of the book speaks only of design in general, there are entire realms of visual design that are out of scope here and it may have been better to leave comps out as well. The comp examples are reasonable and inoffensive but uninspiring. The best part of this chapter covers context surrounding these deliverables.

In fact, it is another strength of the book that for each deliverable, Brown describes how best to present the documents: How to run a meeting, how to manage expectations, and - as the book’s title implies - how to communicate the value and meaning of the design documents to your clients. This advice alone justifies the inclusion of this book in any user experience professional’s library. I expect I will continue to refer to this book regularly as long as I’m involved in the planning and design of websites and web-enabled applications.

A friend forwarded an interesting discussion recently that cited the challenges that big companies are having finding talent (See: Why big high tech companies are losing the talent war). The article specifically calls out Yahoo! and other Silicon Valley giants. Initially I was inclined to jump on the bandwagon and support the framing of these companies as lost behemoths. While Yahoo! and the others clearly have their problems, it’s overly comforting as a small company to think that big companies are inherently inefficient or boring and that smaller firms are more nimble and a better bet.

But what is the real difference between working for an 800 pound gorilla and working for a scrappy start-up venture? The article stresses the advantages of a smaller environment as if to say that big companies were uniquely challenged. As compelling as that case may be, the grass is always greener on the other side. Every company, at every size faces its own set of challenges.

To learn more about the case with Yahoo! see what one SVP identifies as the problems in what he calls the ‘The Peanut Butter Manifesto’.

Any company of any size would be hard pressed to say that they have none of these issues. At the end of the day it comes down to individual choice and the battles you want to fight.

At Extractable, our battle is making the web experience work for the user and building these experiences around the business goals of the client. If you are interested in joining up with us, drop me a note—first initial and last name at Extractable.

The fear that initially pushed large brick and mortar firms to invest online was that a new dot com would come and along and eat their lunch. With weak business plans and a poor understanding of the customer experience many of these venture funded startups simply disappeared in the dot com bust.

Today the tides are turning. The largest growth rates in online spending are no longer coming from Amazon or Buy.com. Traditional brick and mortar firms are seeing that their goals for growth are increasingly being accomplished online.

For instance take a look at J.C. Penney. J.C. Penney’s change from a challenged retailer with slowing sales and a weak brand image is now being helped by the online channel. CEO Myron Ullman, presented a plan in 2005 to replace a five-year turnaround effort launched in 2000. Today Ullman, with success under his belt, is seeking growth and looking for a place to invest this new free cash flow. His new plan dubbed ‘07-Eleven includes a stronger role for the web channel.

Sales at JCP.com climbed 27% last quarter making it one of the fastest growing online stores. Investors are thrilled with the stock up over 50% from last year.

This trend is especially exciting for Extractable. The opportunity to help brick and mortar firms leverage the online channel and provide the highest growth rates within the organization is what gets us up in the morning and what makes Extractable such a great place to work.

Our friends at KenRadio Broadcasting generously offered to share this information with us. Holiday online spending is breaking records again this year and shows no signs of slowing. Understanding changes in these trends for ‘06 and setting up our clients to make the most of this opportunity in ‘07 will be a key focus at Extractable during the next 6 months.

During the first 45 days of the holiday season, total online retail spending reached $19.48 billion, marking a 25% increase versus the corresponding days in 2005, according to a recent comScore Networks. Retailers have been aggressive this year with their online marketing efforts, targeting consumers with early season promotions. And now they’re looking finish off the season strong by tempting consumers to continue shopping online later, with guarantees of on-time delivery for items purchased as late as December 18. The growth rate of online retail spending accelerated during the latter part of last week, with sales on Friday, December 15 growing 38% versus the corresponding day last year, this demonstrates consumers? willingness to rely on retailers? late-season shipping guarantees.

On Monday, December 11, consumers set a single-day record for online spending with $661 million. Two days later, that record was broken as consumers spent $667 million online. Importantly, the growth rate versus year ago accelerated toward the end of the week, demonstrating that consumers are continuing to shop online later this season. Last week, online spending rose to its highest point of the year. Several records were set, including the highest single-day of e-commerce spending ever on Wednesday, December 13 when consumers spent $667 million online, up 29% versus the corresponding day last year. Later shipping deadlines this season and the fact that many consumers received a paycheck on December 15 could keep online sales in full swing early next week.

Latest Stats:
E-Commerce Statistics
$111 bln worth of products was checked out through self-checkout in 2005
$24.5 bln spent online in Q1 2006
$475 bln spent with store self-checkout machines
$80.8 bln spent online in the first half of 2006
1.6% of online store revenue is credit card fraud
10.2% of all auto insurance in Korea in 2005 was bought online
12% of all e-commerce payments in 2005 went through online payments systems
2% of teens purchased alcohol online
20% of travel searchers book immediately after finding a travel deal
27.4 mln US seniors have bought something online in the last 6 months
31% of hotel site visitors would rebook from hotel site
32 mln Brits to shop online by 2011
39% of gift card buyers buy them online
44% of home improvement do-it-yourselvers are women
53% of 18-34-year-olds spend 1-2 hours on researching product before buying online
54% of US shoppers say Internet is the most trusted shopping information source
55% of retailers implemented richer imagery, 47% implemented zoom tools
57% of Australian online shoppers prefer to pay by direct bank deposit
58% of parents will use online coupons for in-store purchases
59% of gift card owners spend more than gift card value when visiting the store
62% of e-commerce traffic happens on weekdays 8am-8pm Central
64% of women and 60% of men shop online
68% of Internet users use Web for fashion trend information
76% of Americans bought gift cards in 2005 holiday season
76% of consumers believe online shopping is safe
77% of online shoppers read reviews from other users
8% of e-commerce transactions is porn
82% of visitors to newspaper Web sites have bought products online
90% of travel purchases happen 1+ weeks after search
95% of affluent Americans bought online in 2005
Apparel and accessories online sales up 41% in 2005
E-commerce generated $80.8 bln in the first half of 2006
Gays and lesbians more likely to book travel online
Internet users 18-34 are 18% more likely to buy a car this year
Online cosmetics and fragrances sales to reach $800 mln by year-end 2006
Online merchants challenge 43% of credit card chargebacks
Online retail spending to grow to $95 bln in 2006
Online sales of luxury items up 28% in 2005
Online sales to reach $211 bln in 2006
Online shoppers and in-store pickuppers end up spending 58% more
Retail e-commerce to reach $144 bln by 2010
Retail spending in China to reach $1.2 trillion in 2010
Top hotel sites in customer satisfaction: Expedia, Travelocity, Hotels.com
Top online stores on customer satisfaction: Netflix, Amazon, Newegg.com
UK e-commerce up 28.9% to $14.31 bln in 2005
UK online shoppers spend 1,744 pounds online every year
US e-commerce up 3.3% in Q4 2005, 2.4% of all sales were e-commerce
US watch sales down 4.9% in 2005

Data provided by Ken Rutkowski at KenRadio Broadcasting.

Beginning December 22nd, Wii users can download a free beta version of the Opera Web browser.

It will be interesting to see if this becomes popular. I believe it is quite possible. Other device-specific browsers have had marginal success for a variety of reasons. Browsing on cell phones is used by some, but not as common as the carriers had hoped. WebTV was briefly in use, but has faded, doomed from its attempt to mix the active (browsing) with the inactive (watching).

But having a browser on a game console may have some appeal. This will offer a mix of browsing and playing, both of which are interactive for the user. There is no mismatch between the primary activity of the Wii device, and the additional activity of browsing.

I also predict this may catch on because I’ve seen my teenage sons go to the web to get “cheat codes” then grumble that they had to print them out, and complain that finding the codes was an annoying process. (For those of you not familiar with gaming, cheat codes are unpublished controller actions that give the player some new capability, such as unlimited fuel or the ability to hover in the air.)

Why does this matter? For one thing, we may soon need to include this browser in planning and testing web sites for browser compatibility, especially when it comes to gaming web sites. The Wii browser may also eventually offer a wider range of actions than hover, click, and scroll. What if we suddenly can plan interactions in which a horizontal or vertical slash of the controller through the air has meaning? We may also have to understand gaming interactions more thoroughly in order to design sites and navigation that match the player’s (user’s) mental model of how the interaction should be structured.

Oh, and one other thing. I think that some user task testing for usability might have uncovered the issue with the controller straps.

According a study commissioned by a hosting company, websites with poor usability cause stress for users: EETimes.com - Are you suffering from ‘Mouse Rage Syndrome? (via the ixda list).

Quick hit ‘n’ run linking: Joe Lamantia’s The Challenge of Dashboards and Portals at Boxes and Arrows.

As technologies and interaction models change, we may need to invent or find new tools in order to create user experiences that take full advantage of advancing capabilities and altered behaviors.

At Extractable, we’ve recently begun using Axure RP to build wireframes, task flows, and prototypes. So far, it has shown itself to be very useful in capturing and communicating ideas about interfaces and task flows. While I find this particular application handy and effective, I can’t help but wonder if we may be rapidly reaching a point at which our vision and innovation are limited by the range of tools and techniques at our disposal.

It’s pretty obvious that it’s impossible to build a Honda Civic using nothing but a stone axe. But would it have been possible to build the Model T without an assembly line? Perhaps. But without the assembly line, I doubt the Model T could have been produced at such quantity and at a price that made it affordable for a fairly broad segment of the population. It was the technique that made the difference.

Similarly, certain methods of treating diseases would have been very difficult to conceive without the invention of the microscope. The ability to view cell level organisms opened the door for new ways of thinking about the causes of various illnesses.

Clearly, availability of the right tools and techniques is a major factor in innovation.

Over time, practitioners of user experience design (read: IA, HCI, UX, Usability, etc., etc….) have developed and refined a set of tools which have served fairly well to this point. Wireframes, task flow diagrams, card sorts, heuristic evaluations, low-fidelity prototypes, task testing, and many other tools have proven useful in building better user experiences. The techniques for discovery and exploration, such as contextual inquiries and personas, have also been of great value as we chart our course through designs, redesigns, updates, and improvements.

But while these tools and techniques can be very useful, dependence on them may also prove to be a factor that limits our vision and hampers our ability to define and communicate truly innovative ideas in our areas of practice.

I think we may already be experiencing a bit of this type of limitation. For example, we can define an application through a functional spec that includes some wireframes and other information, and then pass it on for coding and implementation. Likewise, we can build site maps, page layouts and other artifacts to guide the creation of a web site and its pages. But what tools are appropriate when a page may be nothing more than a collection of independently operating content areas and feeds? What if site navigation becomes meaningless? How do we properly define applications that may morph at any point in the interaction to perform a completely different function, in a different context?

I suppose for now, we can stick with the tried and true methods. After all, one can break down a page into component areas and express each of those in some fashion. A site map that includes only one page is a possibility, even if a bit odd. And applications that change their functionality can be expressed as a semi-independent set of smaller applications.

Still, I can’t help but feel as if we sometimes may be sailing around using a spyglass to look for pirate treasure, when anyone possessing snorkeling gear could plainly see that it lies on the ocean floor beneath us. (OK, only in somewhat shallow water. Few metaphors are perfect.)

I get this feeling when I look at such sites as housingmaps.com, a mash-up of Google Maps and Craig’s List apartment listings. What if I were asked to redesign the experience of the site to increase its value to users? Certainly, I could work on the page layouts, the interaction flow, and other factors in a fairly routine way. But what if, in doing so, I completely miss something simple in the model that would have improved the site usefulness fivefold? After all, this site is already a good example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. What if my analysis failed to uncover a magnificent possible improvement in the interaction model, simply because I have no tools capable of revealing some detail, much less measuring its overall impact?

And how do sites such as Flickr get to the next level? I mean defining a good, usable way to upload and tag photos, and other ways to find photos is pretty straightforward but not all that challenging. But there is a layer beneath these simple interfaces that is of great value. How do we describe what goes on with tags? How do we diagram the idea that 5000 other people see one of your tags and adopt it, leading to a huge spike in its usage? Does it even matter? What if we try to model the behavior of a tag cloud and try to identify cause and affect relationships with user actions or external factors? What if the relationships were obvious, if only we had the right tool to see them?

So does this mean we are paralyzed until new tools can be found? Absolutely not. Presently available tools and techniques are still useful and serve well in a variety of situations. But it is certainly time to explore and develop ideas that lead to new ways to discover, analyze, plan, and communicate. Otherwise we may one day find ourselves ill-prepared to fully understand the implications of new capabilities and altered behaviors. We might, spyglasses at the ready, sail right over the gold.

Kimmy Paluch at Paradyme Solutions has a good article up that helps clarify the meaning of User Experience Design in regard to those other buzzword disciplines such as interaction design, information architecture, usability, and so on.

Check out this zoomable whiteboard image showing the Google Master Plan. I’m not really sure where the cattle mutilation fits in….