Assumptions
An assumption is something that is taken for granted. i.e., something that must be true for the project to be a success.
All projects have many assumptions. Some assumptions are more likely to be valid than others. Deadlines are assumptions. The target audience is another assumption. One of the most significant and riskiest assumptions is the amount of value your project will deliver to your audience.
Once you see assumptions for what they are, it is impossible to look at any project without realizing how much risk is involved.
Customer Interviews
Customer interviews are a form of research that allows us to discover your customers' needs while also identifying the problems your project should be trying to solve.
Experiments
An experiment is an act or operation to discover something unknown or test a proposition, assumption, or principle.
Experiments don't need to be complicated. Asking questions can be a form of experimentation. In this process, an experiment is presenting a wireframe or prototype to the target audience. We ask the participant a set of questions during the experiment and observe them complete a set of tasks.
Hypothesis
A hypothesis is a proposition for an explanation of perceived phenomena which can be falsified through investigation.
We make assumptions about specific aspects of our project. If we declare those assumptions in the form of a hypothesis, we can set up an experiment that allows us to disprove the assumption before investing in development.
Mental Model
A Mental Model is a person's understanding of how something works, built over a lifetime of experience with the outside world. It is unique to each individual because everybody's experience is different. The Mental Model doesn't necessarily match how something actually works but is usually useful to complete their task.
Uncovering a person's Mental Model helps us understand how to make a design intuitive by understanding their expectations about how something should work.
Product Strategy
The Product Strategy is ideally a subset of the overarching company strategy. Product Strategy takes into consideration the objectives of the company.
Product Strategy requires a lot of intention. You must state the vision for the product and how it also considers the company's objectives.
Product Strategy explains how the product strives to meet its target audience's needs, but it does not explain how to get there.
Target Audience
The Target Audience is a small segment of people you believe will benefit the most by the product you are developing. You can't target everyone and be effective. Identifying the target audience allows you to identify specific problems to solve, and the language they use will allow your marketing to resonate with them.
Usability Study
We conduct Usability Studies to understand how successfully a user can complete a set of tasks using a wireframe or prototype.
We observe the participant to uncover their mental models and expectations while using a system.
Usability Studies can take shape as formative, informing the discovery or design process or summative, understand the wholistic experience near the end of the design process. Summative testing can also help set a benchmark for usability performance.
Usability Study's identify any issues the participants have and categorize them in order of severity. A categorized list allows teams to prioritize which usability issues they concentrate on first.
User Experience (UX)
Many people have never heard of User Experience (UX). Nevertheless, just about everyone has felt the effect of a poor user experience. Have you ever been frustrated while using a website or mobile app? That negative feeling tells you the company that made it was either unaware of what user experience is or considered it unimportant.
User Experience is about delivering on the promises your company makes to your customers.
User Experience is the entire collection of experiences a user or customer expects before using and perceives while using your product or service. Your business is a complex system of interactions, but your customers only see a small portion. Employees are often too knowledgeable about the business to see how difficult a task is to a customer. User Experience is the act of interacting with customers to understand their expectations and needs, and then ensuring your company accommodates them.
User Interface (UI)
When discussing websites or applications, The User Interface is a set of controls (text, links, buttons, etc.) a person can manipulate on a screen (or a screen reader) to perform the desired task.
User Interface design combines several disciplines, Interaction Design (how things behave when you interact with them), and Visual Design (how things appear on a screen).
Wireframes & Prototypes
Wireframes and Prototypes are a form of visual thinking that allows you to develop a representation of a project at a small fraction of the entire project's cost.
The execution of Wireframes and Prototypes are on a spectrum of low to high fidelity for both design and interaction. The goal and timing of the Wireframes or Prototypes determine the fidelity.
Wireframes are a non-interactive snapshot of functionality. They display the core elements of UI frequently absent from aesthetic design. However, a high-fidelity wireframe is sometimes called a mockup.
Prototypes are interactive simulations of a final product. They can represent anything from a small piece of complex functionality to the entire product.