Starting with this post, we will give you insights and tips regarding experience design and how we approach this creative field. Today we will start with one of our core methodologies to develop experience design in an agile and iterative way.
The Lean Startup
In order to develop a fantastic product or service that is relevant, emotional and connecting to your users, you should not only rely on your intuition, emotional strength and design expertise, but also on measurable facts. The Lean Startup method is a great agile development method and can also be used for the experience design process, too. It was described by Eric Ries in his blog article 2008 “The Lean Startup” as a method of user centric product development, but it can also be used to develop successful experience designs.
This method describes three steps that are repeated over and over (with no end!). It’s like a infinite game:
- In the first step Build the ideas and assumptions are defined and the product is developed in the simplest version so that the assumptions can be tested by real users. Very important: The techniques for measuring the success of your assumptions must also be implemented right from the beginning. The expected numbers should also be defined, even if first guessing them.
- In the second step Measure the product is given to real users and measured how they use it. One tries to prove with numbers whether the assumptions are correct. If possible, you should try to watch you user during their experience. Surveys and interviews can help to get a more detailed picture. It is helpful to have a comparison value (e.g. through A/B testing or numbers from the last iteration).
- In the last step Learn the numbers and user feedback are interpreted and used as a basis for the ideas and assumptions of the next level of interaction. Without measurable numbers and reliable feedback, the development remains unspecific and unclear.
Important: But here, too, you have to remember that you can’t just blindly rely on the numbers. Because there could always be errors in the measurement or measurement method or interpretation.
Key Takeaway: With such a methodical approach you ensure that you can develop a steadily better and more relevant experience for your users based on reliable facts.
