UX STRAT USA 2015 presentation by Andrew Hinton, Information Architect at The Understanding Group

1. TO SHAPE UX STRATEGY
Andrew Hinton | The Understanding Group
UX STRAT 2015
UNDERSTANDING CONTEXT

2. WE’LL LOOK AT
3 THEMES FOR
HOW CONTEXT
RELATES TO
UX STRATEGY

3. 1
ENVIRONMENTAL
COMPLEXITY
CONTEXT+STRATEGY:

4. body as interface
self-driving cars
smart homes pervasive algorithms
artificial intelligence
omni-channel
simulated affordances
semantic ambiguity
embodied cognition
digital agency
WHILE I WAS WRITING THIS BOOK, MY HEAD EXPLODED
liquidmatrix.org

5. Ecological Psychology
James J. & Eleanor Gibson
Radically empirical approach to understanding perception & behavior.

6. ENVIRONMENT
wikimedia

7. ENVIRONMENT
wikimedia

8. ENVIRONMENT
wikimedia

9. ENVIRONMENT
PRODUCT
PRODUCT PRODUCT PRODUCT
PRODUCT
PRODUCT
PRODUCT
PRODUCT
PRODUCT
PRODUCT
PRODUCT
PRODUCT
PRODUCT
PRODUCT
PRODUCT

10. APPROXIMATE INCREASE IN ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLEXITY OVER TIME*
Complexity
added to human
environment
No big whoop.
OMG PLEASE
MAKE IT STOP!!!!!!
What’s complexity?
We’re so modern!
Learn a new app? Uh. Ok.
I have no idea what my
phone is doing.
I have no idea what my
house is doing.
Time
Olden times Fin de siècle
* according to Andrew Hinton’s feelings on the subject.
Industrial
Revolution
“Information Age” 21st Century

11. WE CANNOT
ADEQUATELY ADDRESS
THIS COMPLEXITY
THROUGH INTERFACE
DESIGN ALONE

12. THE ANTIDOTE TO UI FIXATION: MODELS & MAPS

13. RESIST
PREMATURE
INSTANTIATION.
STAY AMBIGUOUS
FOR AS LONG AS
YOU CAN.

14. 2
PRINCIPLES
AND FACTS
CONTEXT+STRATEGY:

15. “STRATEGY”
“ACTUAL WORK”
VS OR
“THEORY”
“PRACTICE”
VS

17. ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD — CIRCA 2006
laptop.org via archive.org

18. “It would have been far better to begin in the villages,
spend time there and build from the bottom up. [The
OLPC project] might have discovered there was little
need for this kind of machine.”
Bruce Nussbaum - Business Week, 2007
olpc.org
ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD — CIRCA 2007

19. olpc.org
ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD — CIRCA 2009

20. Systemic principles
BUBBLE
Assumptions
Ideologies
Received methods
Momentary trends
Temporary priorities
Particular facts
Most design work
happens within a
bubble that ignores
the principles and
present realities.

21. Systemic principles
Particular facts
Strategy requires
understanding the
contextual
relationships
between the
principles & the facts.

22. MESSY TRUTH OF
REAL PEOPLE,
NOT TIDY DATA

23. 3
FRAMING &
NARRATIVE
CONTEXT+STRATEGY:

24. Tactical Frame Strategic Frame
S&P 500
24 Aug 2015

26. We all have narratives. We’re
all creating stories. Our lives
are stories in that sense.
“
”
James McGaugh
Center for the Neurobiology of Learning,
UC Irvine

27. 99percentinvisible.org - Credit: Sam Greenspan]
99percentinvisible.org - Credit: Gresham, Smith, and Partners
Floor tiles nudge foot traffic in the Atlanta International Terminal
Context controls
conduct.

28. From Understanding Context, O’Reilly Media, 2014
NARRATIVE
FRAMING
CHANGES WHAT
OUR ENVIRONMENT
MEANS TO US

29. Actual Behavior:
Using “Merchant” in
conversation, systems, and
processes, arbitrarily.
Collective Narrative:
“We know what ‘merchant’
means for our business!”
BEING STRATEGIC MEANS ESCAPING “NARRATIVE DEBT”

30. Real Facts
= Complex
Mistaken Principle
= “It’s Simple”
BEING STRATEGIC MEANS ESCAPING “NARRATIVE DEBT”

31. From Understanding Context, O’Reilly Media, 2014
THE ANSWER TO
COMPLEXITY IS
CLARITY,
NOT SIMPLICITY

32. 1. Consider the complexity of
the full environment.
2. Understand the context
between principles and facts.
3. Regularly question & reframe
contextual narratives.

33. 33
THANK YOU
ANDREW HINTON | @INKBLURT
AH@ANDREWHINTON.COM
CONTEXTBOOK.COM