In today’s website feature debates, you and your team hash out priorities based on budgets, timelines, and what one of the clients mentioned in passing, ignoring the larger context of the design problem. We focus on the current list of edits—and rallying for the user is lost in the shuffle. In this session, you’ll be introduced to a framework for approaching your Drupal project’s situational analysis from many perspectives, to create success goals that resonate with everyone on your team—including your client’s wallet-bearers.Attendees should walk away with: A method for breaking complex design problems into smaller problems without losing awareness of larger project needs A skeleton for assembling more effective, yet lightweight use-cases to audit against Ammunition to debate the validity of your decisions (and win) This session is designed for web professionals of all levels and skillsets—including design, development, and content planning. It’s not required, but a writing utensil is recommended.

1. Lean Requirements,
Without Skimping on the Meat
Cornell Drupal Camp 2016 • #DrupalCampCU • @anthonydpaul

2. Let’s start with an exercise

3. :D
much excitement

4. CAESAR
● romaine
● parmesan
● black olives
● (optional) chicken
● caesar dressing
● croutons
* extra credit for sardines

5. :
meh.

6. GREEK
● iceberg
● feta
● kalamata olives
● tomato
● cucumber
● peppers
● red onion
● (any oil & vinegar will do)

7. :[
somewhat defeated

8. COBB
● iceberg
● boiled egg
● avocado (if we’re lucky)
● cheddar
● tomato
● bacon bits
● ranch dressing

9. :(
negative brand attribution
>

10. Ruh-roh
Where’d we go wrong?

11. What to build rather than what to accomplish

12. Intake Form
How many pages? _________
Stock photography? Yes / No
Flash? Yes / No
Internet Explorer? Yes / No
Will you need a:
❏ Sign-up form
❏ Discussion board
❏ Shopping cart
❏ “Members only” area

13. Intake Form
How many bins? _________
Do you like meat? Yes / No
Do you like bacon? Yes / No
Want a meaty bacon? Yes / No
Will you need a:
❏ Bacon
❏ Meat
❏ Meat-Bacon
❏ Bacon-Meat

14. Yes, pls.

15. bacon bacon bacon bacon bacon
bacon “MEAT” bacon bacon bacon
bacon bacon bacon
“I really like
cheese”
bacon
bacon beets bacon bacon
bacon-flavored
dressing

16. Sounds great, but doesn’t solve user problems

17. CAESAR● romaine
● par
GREEK
● iceberg
● feta
● kalamata olives
● tomato
● cucumber
● peppers
COBB● iceberg
● boiled egg
● avocado
● cheddar
● tomato
● bacon bits
● ranch dressing

18. So how do we get to those requirements?

19. Anthony D Paul
Director of User Experience
@anthonydpaul

20. To start…
If you make functional recommendations,
you’re a UX designer
But, I’m not a designer.”“

21. Sometimes we can't
sell good UX, we
have to sneak it in.”
@brownorama #ias15
“

22. my perceived needs
your actual needs
client we

23. They’re not wrong
One piece of a shared understanding puzzle

24. website
(salad bar)

25. business
website
(salad bar)

26. business
user
type
user
type
user
type
competition content
admins
website
(salad bar)

27. website
(salad bar)
business
user
type
user
type
user
type
competition content
admins

28. reality hammer
not enough budget
not enough time

29. problem

30. problem
What is the solution?

31. pr ob le m

32. pr ob le m
Which parts of the
problem are biggest?
Should we know more
about this part?

33. problem
Does it become a
different problem from
another viewpoint?

34. problem
philosophy toolsperspective(s)
What and how much
should we know?
How do we get to the
answers we need?
What role does this site
play in its ecosystem?

35. “lean”
philosophy

36. There is always
too much [website]
to build.”
@jeffpatton #sxsw2015
“

37. Lean
Squeeze the most value out of limited resources.
Use any means to arrive at good enough as quickly as possible—then show
it to somebody and try again.
● Define success, solve that
● Only produce needed documentation
● Seek pains and joys

38. If you think of a product you
love, you don’t love it because
it was finished on time.”
@jeffpatton #sxsw2015
“

39. situational
analysis
perspective(s)

40. Support “Minimum viable product”
Improve “Not yet addressed / Opportunities
Innovate “Beyond improvement, change industry?
Ask research questions to…

41. Our job is to change
the world…or
‘dent the universe’.
Steve Jobs

42. CONTRIBUTORS
only hearing
decision-makers
if they’re lucky
enough to be in
the room
COMPANY

43. COMPANY COMPETITORS CONSUMERS CONTRIBUTORS CLIMATE
Five C’s of a Situational Analysis

44. COMPANY
Support What does my website need to do to
maintain our existing success?
Improve How can my website further our
business, brand, and mission?
Innovate Are there opportunities to support
our business in ways not yet imagined?
decision-makers • brand • finance

45. COMPETITORS
Support What is the baseline for survival
in our market?
Improve How can my website differentiate
us from our peers?
Innovate Are there opportunities to rethink
how our market operates?
direct • aspirational • indirect (recruitment)

46. CONSUMERS
Support What do our existing consumer
groups need?
Improve What consumer groups are
we ignoring? (ex. media, bloggers)
Innovate What can we give our consumers that
doesn’t directly benefit our company?
(ex. knowledge sharing)
people • search engines • devices • APIs

47. CONTRIBUTORS
Support Who feeds the website (admins and
consumers) and what are their tasks?
Improve Which tasks are most repetitive or
cumbersome and can be optimized?
Innovate How can we change the focus of a
contributor’s work from assembly
worker to expert strategist?
internal • consumers • APIs

48. CLIMATE
Support To be successful, what is
critical for reception?
Improve If we fail, what will cause it and
how can we prevent it?
Innovate What could we do to change this
industry entirely?
today’s market • trend forecast

49. tools
surveys
interviews
internet research
task analysis
user journey maps
IA docs (sitemaps, wires)
prototypes (paper, code)
usability tests
…more

50. task analysis
tools

51. credit: @alanklement http://is.gd/6RQRwO
Tasks vs stories

52. Focus on roles (to get to tasks)
Content writer
Content editor
Subscriber
Job-seeker
Tweeter
Associate
Co-Something
or Other
I edit and sometimes
write. My kid knows
the tweets.

53. ex. Content Writer
Tasks they want to perform
Write popular posts
Accumulate quality points
Tasks we want them to perform
Promote advertiser products
Promote recruitment via personal channels

54. ex. Content Writer
Motivations Company has financial incentives for
number of ad clicks per month
Anxieties Product placement brands aren’t cool
Influenced by Content Editor, brand, incentives
Influences Job-seekers, peers, subscribers

55. ex. Content Writer
What we learned:
CW influenced by CE.
We want CW to promote advertiser products.
Recommendation:
Create dashboard for CE to see number of placements by CW.
Include in-editor tool to recommend spots for product
placement based on keyword context.

56. Full circle

57. philosophy
Lean
Focus on the most
important problems
to solve.
Define success and
work toward that.
tools
(any)
Employ any tool, but
only when you need it.
Treat tools as
disposable
decision-makers.
perspective
Five C’s
Reframe the problem to
ask the right questions.
Focus on solving real
problems from real
stakeholders.

58. CAESAR● romaine
● par
GREEK
● iceberg
● feta
● kalamata olives
● tomato
● cucumber
● peppers
COBB● iceberg
● boiled egg
● avocado
● cheddar
● tomato
● bacon bits
● ranch dressing

59. romaine iceberg parmesan feta cheddar
black olives kalamata olives chicken bacon boiled egg
tomato red onion peppers cucumber avocado
croutons La Choy sesame seeds dried cranberries dressings

60. Worksheet

61. 1. Lean requirements gathering
2. User journey mapping
3. Information architecture
4. Usability tests
Up next

62. Communicating Design: Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning
http://is.gd/Fz4PD1 (Amazon books), Dan Brown
Situational Analysis: 5C Analysis
http://is.gd/IXdYS4 Wikipedia
Designing Features Using Job Stories
http://is.gd/6RQRwO Smashing Magazine, Alan Klement
Lean UX: Getting Out of the Deliverables Business
http://is.gd/FN6b1v Smashing Magazine, Jeff Gothelf
(my talks and blog)
http://adp.rocks or http:// .ws or http:// .ws
Thank you