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 59 - Time Estimate Formula

Try the PERT formula to help you guesstimate how long those project tasks are going to take. It's a three-point estimate which you can use for estimating costs or time durations.

So you'll take your best guess at filling out the formula

Fill out the "a" - Optimistic time in # of hours
Fill our the "b" - Pessimistic time in # of hours
Fill out the "m" -Most Likely time in # of hours

The 'm' (Most Likely time) is then multiplied by 4.
4m is the weighted average.

Next add those three numbers together:  a + 4m + b
Once you have that result divide that number by 6.

'E' is the result.

You now have your best guess at a time estimate as to how long something is going to take!

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Example.  Lets say you want to calculate how long it's going to take you to complete a wireframe for a simple search bar you're designing.  How long will it take?

E = (a + 4m + b) / 6

8 hours is your optimistic guess
20 hours is your pessimistic guess
12 hours is most likely guess based on your experience

E = ( 8 + 4*12 + 20 ) / 6
So the result is 12.6 hours

12.6 = ( 8 + 48 + 20 ) / 6

Day 19 - Timeboxing, Simplification, and Constraints

Here are 3 strategies for getting things done - timeboxing, simplification, and constraints.

In time management, timeboxing allocates a fixed time period called a timebox to work on a task.  Sharpen your focus and overcome procrastination by putting it in a scheduled time box that you must complete. Time boxes can help you focus on the task at hand, so don't work on anything else (or surf the web) while completing your scheduled task.  When you make your to-do list for the day, make sure you schedule blocks of time for each item on the list.  With out the time component a list is just a list and not a plan.  Parkinson's law states that work expands so as to fill time available for it's completion. So try timeboxing it!

Simplify the tasks of the day and keep the list short. This will help you focus on the present too. Better to have a few things done well and complete them rather than work on a bunch of things and get nothing done. Simplify where you can. So many of us waste time lost in email.  Need to speak to someone about a task your working on? Turn off the email program and pick up the phone instead.  If you need to spend time in email for a written record schedule it as a task. Don't use email as an excuse not to complete your task at hand.

Constraints force you to be more creative and focus on solutions. Some may see constraints as a bad thing, but limiting choices in design enables you to concentrate on the purpose and design mission. Imposed restrictions will help you eliminate distractions, not waste time on things that don't apply, and help you think more creatively about how to push the design confines.