Day 92 - User Experience Problem Solving

If you want to understand a product's vision, you need to understand what problem the product is solving for, who is the product's user, what is their context, and how you plan to improve the user's experience.

1. Frame the problem by understanding your user's needs, user's anxieties, and business goals.
2. Dig deep and explore many solutions before narrowing the focus of the solution.
3. Prioritize and create a specific plan of action with timelines that address the most important needs.

Day 74 - Problem Solving Using the Five Whys

Problem solving requires getting to the root causes of the problem. To figure out the root causes you need to dig deep into the underlying sources and symptoms of a problem. But how do you clearly discover and articulate the actual problem?  Use the "Five Whys" iterative question asking technique. Each subsequent question forms the basis for the follow up question.

When asking the five whys make sure you write down the specific problem/s and answers to your questions. The real problem is likely to change or come more into focus the deeper you dig.

Classic example of the 'Five Whys'.
The problem: the car won't start.

1. Why? The battery is dead (first why)
2. Why? The alternator is not functioning (second why)
3. Why? The alternator belt has broken (third why)
4. Why? The alternator belt was well beyond its useful service life and wasn't replaced (fourth why)
5. Why? The vehicle was not maintained according to the recommended service schedule (fifth why, a root cause)

Day 18 - Heuristic Methods for Reviewing Websites and Applications

In psychology, a heuristic is a mental shortcut or rule of thumb that allows you to quickly solve a problem or make a decision.  Review a website or app and rate each of these elements from on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = poor and 5 = excellent).

1. Homepage
2. Task orientation and website functionality
3. Navigation and information architecture
4. Forms and data entry
5. Trust and credibility
6. Quality of writing and content
7. Search
8. Help, feedback and error tolerance
9. Page layout and visual/aesthetic design
10. Accessibility and technical design