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Ask HN: How did you increase your UX skills?

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Re: Ask HN: How did you increase your UX skills?

#21

Post by windows2020 »

I believe most concepts, like UX, can be broken down into multiple pieces, each of which can be described on a spectrum.

On the right side, we may find:

  * consistency
  * metaphorical
  * discoverability
  * ease of access
  * attention to detail
On the left side, we'd find the opposite.

Where to be on the spectrum depends on context. For example, a sales page need not be as concerned with consistency as an application.

Being conscious of the existence of these concepts is key. Example: what does '...' mean in many applications? If you don't know, did you subconsciously?

And don't forget, design is partially subjective, however, a decision may be objectively inconsistent, un-metaphorical, etc.

Re: Ask HN: How did you increase your UX skills?

#22

Post by whitepoplar »

donohoe wrote: post #18

Honestly, I'd work in customer service. I learned so so so much from interacting with real people. Waaaay-back, I got my start ay The New York Times as a customer service rep (2003?) for the website. I walked people through password resets, duplicate crossword subscriptions, cancellations, and even helping them search for articles. Lots of random interactions. It opened my eyes to the ways that UX helps and hinders p…

Cool! I'd love to know the things you've learned after dealing with real people. Can you share some with us?

Re: Ask HN: How did you increase your UX skills?

#23

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

I consider usability to be a critical component of "UX."

I started by reading The Design of Everyday Things. It's a book that changed my life. There was just a thread, hereabouts, about the book[0].

I also took a few classes with the company that Don Norman co-owns (NNG)[1]. These are useful, but not a "philosopher's stone." They tend to push user group testing a lot, and I'm not a huge fan of UG testing.

I tend to lean on the platform standards, a lot. As I develop Apple software, that's easy. Apple has a very heavy-duty tradition of UI[2]. It's not perfect, but I keep on tossing out my fancy custom UI, in favor of the built-in UI.

They did a hell of a lot of work, so I don't have to. I usually regret "taking the road less traveled by."[3]

I strongly suggest getting familiar with the built-in UI for whichever platform/industry you are working with. Look at ISO icons[4].

Being "unique" is not always a good thing.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32135115

[1] https://www.nngroup.com

[2] https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guideline...

[3] https://littlegreenviper.com/miscellany/the-road-most-travel...

[4] https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#search

Re: Ask HN: How did you increase your UX skills?

#24

Post by sumtechguy »

SkyLemon wrote: post #19

I usually recommend the following to people I work with: Practice, but also in all aspects of life, UX - User experience, is not limited to only the realm of computer interface. Learn to paper prototype, by hand, no computer, no rulers, it's not meant to look pretty, at lest not at first (graphing paper is recommended). Read Norman's design principles ( https://www.educative.io/answers/what-are-normans-design-pri...…

Also keep in mind what each step is doing. Is it clear what to do? What will happen next? Why am I filling out this form (again)? Above all use your GUI. Use it yourself. Pretend you know nothing of the space and is it clear what is going on? Grab someone and have them use it, do not walk them through it. Can they get through it without help? Are they getting stuck? One that has been bugging me for a few years now. If you have something that is required. Make sure it is marked. Make sure if they hit next you do not clear out the whole form.

Re: Ask HN: How did you increase your UX skills?

#25

Post by btbuildem »

sonofhans wrote: post #20

Ooh, I’ve been doing nothing but this for 30 years. There’s other good advice in this thread, but my main advice is to pay close attention to people. UX is just applied psychology. If you understand humans well enough then you can create good solutions for them. It’s not surprising — you won’t create a good cat toy if you don’t understand cats. 1. Keep learning how humans use software. This is rooted in our physiolog…

Context and workflow, 1000x

Re: Ask HN: How did you increase your UX skills?

#26

Post by sneusse »

sonofhans wrote: post #20

Ooh, I’ve been doing nothing but this for 30 years. There’s other good advice in this thread, but my main advice is to pay close attention to people. UX is just applied psychology. If you understand humans well enough then you can create good solutions for them. It’s not surprising — you won’t create a good cat toy if you don’t understand cats. 1. Keep learning how humans use software. This is rooted in our physiolog…

This. Well, minus point 3 or include the user feedback in your goals. Also keep in mind that most people cannot articulate what they really want but most of the time they will complain about a bad solution.

Also try to mimic the other applications your clients are using regularly - even when the UX is bad. It’s easier for them to remember one broken workflow than multiple.

Re: Ask HN: How did you increase your UX skills?

#29

Post by [deleted] »

btbuildem wrote: post #25
sonofhans wrote: post #20

Ooh, I’ve been doing nothing but this for 30 years. There’s other good advice in this thread, but my main advice is to pay close attention to people. UX is just applied psychology. If you understand humans well enough then you can create good solutions for them. It’s not surprising — you won’t create a good cat toy if you don’t understand cats. 1. Keep learning how humans use software. This is rooted in our physiolog…

Context and workflow, 1000x

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How did you increase your UX skills?

#30

Post by mattferderer »

sonofhans wrote: post #20

Ooh, I’ve been doing nothing but this for 30 years. There’s other good advice in this thread, but my main advice is to pay close attention to people. UX is just applied psychology. If you understand humans well enough then you can create good solutions for them. It’s not surprising — you won’t create a good cat toy if you don’t understand cats. 1. Keep learning how humans use software. This is rooted in our physiolog…

1 & 4 go together very well. The biggest mistake I have witnessed, is a person putting work into a design until they thought it was "perfect/finished/happy with it" & were ready to show off.

They're going in expecting people to tell them how good their UX is, even if they won't admit it. As soon as someone struggles with it, you can see the original designer getting defensive or suggesting to the person testing to try it the way the designer intended.

I think a tool like Microsoft Excel is a great thought process for UX. I'm not saying it's perfect. But you have a product with such a wide audience experience range. You want it to be simple enough to get started with no experience & think of yourself as proficient enough to throw on your resume. Yet you also want advanced users to be able to improve their productivity with slightly hidden UX.

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