Showing posts with label timebox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label timebox. Show all posts

Friday, May 13, 2016

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.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

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.