UX Professionals Research Articles

Requirements for User Experience Management - A Tertiary Study

Today’s users expect to be able to interact with the products they own without much effort and also want to be excited about them. The development of a positive user experience must therefore be managed. We understand management in general as a combination of a goal, a strategy, and resources. When applied to UX, user experience management consists of a UX goal, a UX strategy, and UX resources. We conducted a tertiary study and examined the current state of existing literature regarding possible requirements. We want to figure out, what requirements can be derived from the literature reviews with the focus on UX and agile development. In total, we were able to identify and analyse 16 studies. After analysing the studies in detail, we identified different requirements for UX management. In summary, we identified 13 requirements. The most frequently mentioned requirements were prototypes and UX/usability evaluation. Communication between UX professionals and developers was identified as a major improvement in the software development process. In summary, we were able to identify requirements for UX management of People/Social, Technology/Artifacts, and Process/Practice. However, we could not identify requirements for UX management that enabled the development and achievement of a UX goal.

Bringing the Human Factor to DEI: Increasing Inclusion and Accessibility from Academia and Industry to our Everyday Lives

Given the definitions of such fields, Human Factors, Ergonomics (HF/E), and UX professionals and academics should aim to embed inclusion in their everyday lives. The objective of this panel is to offer tangible examples of how to use our Human Factors and Ergonomics background to be effective allies/advocates towards inclusion. The panelists aim to provide their views and experiences on how we, as HF/E and UX professionals, can translate what we learn and profess to increase accessibility for those around us. The specific theme of this discussion panel is to bring together practitioners, university leads, and consultants to focus a discussion on learning about tools and initiatives that we all, as individuals, can use to be more inclusive in our practice, at work, as well as in our everyday lives. This is an interactive session between the attendees and panelists, guided by the moderator, Mr. Anant Bhushan, co-chair of the HFES’s DCI AG.

Becoming a UX Pro

Abstract User experience (UX) is a rapidly growing specialism, essential to the design of modern technology. Vanessa Burgar DipHE MSc QTS CITP discusses what knowledge is needed for successful practice and considers how can we provide education for aspiring UX professionals that is fit-for-purpose and strengthens professional identity.

Evaluating the Effect of Academic Library users’ Experience towards Library Patronage in State Universities in Sri Lanka: Development of a Conceptual Framework

Libraries and information centers are service units held with the responsibility of providing varied information services based on a number of resources. It covers tangible assets, namely library building, equipment, furniture, information resources and staff. The intangible element has been the information services provided by the libraries. The tangible assets and intangible services of libraries are changing greatly due to the development and changes in the area of information technology. Libraries may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about great design. It’s easy to assume the user experience of a library is limited to navigating a maze of bookshelves in reality; there has been a recent push among librarians and library professionals to apply user experience best practices to the design of their services. Library UX professionals include librarians and library staff members who specialize in improving the user experience of their libraries through research and design.

Leveraging emotional intelligence (soft skills) to maximize career success for computer science students

With an industry focus on agile development practices, a premium has been put on communication and teamwork skills [21]. Software developers in the tech space will often need to interact with other developers, UX professionals, software testers, and perhaps even culturally diverse customers and clients. The capacity of professionals in this space need to meet customer expectations in a very competitive market centers around the ability of individuals to not only work collectively and as seamlessly as possible, but to also create synergies with a diverse group of professional colleagues. Individuals that have experience working in teams to accomplish goals tend to be more productive in meeting deliverables on agile software development projects [22]. Moreover, companies such as Google, Zappos, and Amazon, are using assessments of soft skills (or emotional intelligence) during the job search process to vet candidates [14]. Furthermore, Dr. Joseph Homan, former Chief Operating Officer at ZekiahTech in Maryland, tests for soft skills extensively when interviewing a new technical candidate and stated that he has noted that candidates with fewer soft skills are often perceived as having lower technical skills (personal communication, November 14, 2014). Another area where EI skills such as awareness of others and empathy is essential is in user experience. Being able to understand the user that technology is being designed for is vital to the ultimate success of the product. Based on these findings, a solid argument is made for the importance of teaching EI to Computer Science students at the undergraduate level.

GoodGovUX

The mission of GoodGovUX is: “to drive the adoption of a common set of UX best practices within the government agency and government contracting communities.” The initiative is an effort between private and public sector UI/UX professionals to drive conversation, and more importantly, action, between the private and public sectors to improve the user experience of government-owned web and digital properties. The group consists of working teams focused on three key areas of improvement: terminology and definitions, the Request for Proposal (RFP) process, and standards and best practices. The Terminology and Definitions Team is primarily focused on consolidating and defining the myriad of words and phrases that are unique to the UX profession. The goal of this effort, in addition to simply getting everyone speaking the same language, is to allow for non-UX professionals to author portions of RFP’s to better request UX services. In concert, the RFP Team is working to ensure UX is a critical consideration of any RFP that contains digital properties that users will need to interact with. They are integrated into the TechFAR process, and are creating tools to help RFP authors better recognize the need for, and incorporate, UX requirements. The focus of the Standards and Best Practices Team is to provide resources to guide the improvement of UX deliverables, and to facilitate a conversation around industry best practices. Currently under development is a decision support tool to assist users in determining UX best practices for a given topic and providing links to examples. Future deliverables from this team could be aggregating and showcasing examples of excellent UX work, partnerships with other government agencies to drive standards (i.e., USDS and their digital style guide) and other initiatives geared toward the specifics of UX quality and methodology. The discussion by this panel will center on the GoodGovUX effort, and progress made to date, in the context of the changing UX landscape within the government and private sector. The panel will engage the audience for feedback and suggestions for improvement, give the audience a chance to participate in the overall effort, and facilitate a general Q&A session on the state of UX within the federal government. The panel will consist of UX professionals from both the public and private sectors, representing each of the working teams. Each of the panelists has a unique perspective on the evolution of UX and its intersection with digital government.

Transforming a Financial Institution: The Value of UX Professionals

Application of a user‐centered approach rooted in ethnographic methodologies facilitates a major European bank's transition to a business strategy based on understanding people's needs, behaviors, values and motivations. Three UX case studies conducted over three years illustrate our educator, moderator, partner framework for collaborating with large enterprises in flux.

User Experiences with Open Access Knowledge Sharing Platforms

In this paper, we present a preliminary study to seek to find user experience implications for encouraging collaborative research cultures in complex data-intensive research fields by placing more design focus on user experience and context of use. One hundred thirty-one participants responded to a number of self-reporting measures. We characterize current user experience in open access knowledge sharing platforms, perceived usefulness and ease of use. We then address areas to further expend in applying user experience design to support complex data-intensive domains. Finally, we discuss opportunities to enhance user experiences and address practical issues faced by UX professionals.

Perspectives on the Training of Human Factors Students for the User Experience Industry

We surveyed 140 HFES student members and found that nearly 80% of students were considering a future career in UX. In contrast, only 12% felt that their training has prepared them extremely well for a UX career. An analysis of 40 UX job postings revealed that while these positions required some human factors related skills, 37% of their job requirements emphasized design familiarity and programming skills. Students indicated that gaps in their education and preparation represent the largest challenge they face in entering the UX field. They further identified the broad definition of UX and lack of access to industry positions as other challenges in transitioning to UX professionals. It is recommended to focus on increasing HFES’s relevance to students interested in future UX careers.

User-Centered Agile Methods

With the introduction and popularization of Agile methods of software development, existing relationships and working agreements between user experience groups and developers are being disrupted. Agile methods introduce new concepts: the Product Owner, the Customer (but not the user), short iterations, User Stories. Where do UX professionals fit in this new world? Agile methods also bring a new mindset -- no big design, no specifications, minimal planning -- which conflict with the needs of UX design. This lecture discusses the key elements of Agile for the UX community and describes strategies UX people can use to contribute effectively in an Agile team, overcome key weaknesses in Agile methods as typically implemented, and produce a more robust process and more successful designs. We present a process combining the best practices of Contextual Design, a leading approach to user-centered design, with those of Agile development. Table of Contents: Introduction / Common Agile Methods / Agile Culture / Best Practices for Integrating UX with Agile / Structure of a User-Centered Agile Process / Structuring Projects / Conclusion