I am excited to be attending the first Lean Day UX conference this year, held on Friday, March 1st at the Jewish Heritage Center in New York City.

Inspired by Lean and Agile development theories, Lean UX is the practice of bringing the true nature of design work to light faster, with less emphasis on deliverables and greater focus on the actual experience being designed.

I’m especially interested in Lean UX because it gets designers out of the role of magicians, who produce answers to design problems in a vacuum and relay those answers to team members via design documents. Instead, Lean UX focuses on designers’ role as facilitators of the design process, acknowledging the reality that designers don’t have all the answers.

The speaker I am most excited to hear is Bill Scott, Director of UI Engineering at Paypal. Bill is speaking about how he helped implement Lean UX at Paypal. I find this particularly interesting because in large organizations with hundreds of developers and designers spread out all over the world working on various pieces of the same product at the same time, concepts like “minimum viable product” which are great in theory, turn into “minimum viable feature” in reality, the sum total of which creates a less than ideal user experience.

For more information about Lean Day UX, check out http://www.leandayux.com

Get your ticket now, since it’s almost sold out!

“[Usability testing] blew a Buick-sized crater in my design and architecture – in the best way possible.”
– Adam Friedman and Kalman Gacs, MA Election Stats

Two years ago, Boston PHP and Above the Fold teamed up with Steve Krug to create a hands-on usability testing event: a speed-dating-style series of quick usability tests that gave attendees the chance to facilitate, participate in, and observe several tests in just a few hours. The event was a hit, and on January 16th of this year, we had our long-awaited second date. Once again, our participants – site owners, testers & observers – walked away with new insights… and possibly a phone number or two.

Insider Scoop: Meghan Reilly, Site Owner

After our first usability speed dating experience, we reflected on the unique event format and how much our participants learned from attending the event. For our second date, we decided to get an insider perspective from ATF’s project manager, Meghan Reilly. Meghan signed up to be a site owner, hoping to learn more about conducting a usability test, and to let us know how “usable” the event was for her (It pays to swallow your own medicine, right?). Here’s what she had to say:

What was your overall impression of being a test facilitator?

As a new facilitator, I had to come up with follow-up questions on the fly to probe the testers for additional information. And yet, by the second test it started to feel natural. Running a usability test is so straightforward and easy to learn.

What advice did Steve give that most resonated with you?

Steve stressed that you don’t want to use your unique terminology in the scenarios, because then it just becomes a word hunt for the participant, and I saw that play out in my testing. If I were going to test the same site again, I would definitely rewrite my scenarios to replace unique terms with synonyms.

What was your biggest revelation?

Two things: First, I was stunned at how quickly 15 minutes went by, even when the participant had finished the tasks early. I was also really shocked by the difference in time it took each participant to complete the tasks. Some really got it. Others struggled more.

Second, I was blown away by how much trouble folks had with headings and categories that I found familiar. I never realized that I had drunk of the proverbial Kool Aid: “This is the way it must be. It is known. It is written.” The headings and categories weren’t geared towards the user; they were geared towards the organization that created the site. It’s terrifying, and it causes pain for customer service people who end up writing long, detailed, help documentation to guide users around the site.

Any last impressions you want to share?

If I am this fired up about the results for a site I don’t own, I imagine everyone else is making changes to their own sites as we speak!

Fired-Up Results

From veteran testers to first timers, everyone walked away with a new fire in their belly and new (or remembered) lessons for moving forward:

“As someone who does testing frequently, it was good to be reminded that the last five minutes of the test can be for probing questions – the things you wanted to ask while the participant was going through the tasks, but couldn’t. Knowing that there is this opportunity at the end makes it easier to stay silent during the actual testing.”
– Carolyn Sullivan

“You put something on the web, and you don’t know if anyone else understands what you understand, what’s in your head – until you watch someone use it.”
– Gene Babon and Tom Pettingell

“I felt vindicated. I watched test participants stumble over designs that I had identified as trouble spots, and things I’d been wanting to fix.”
– Kalman Gacs

“Steve reminded us that the goal after testing should be to tweak quickly, not to search for perfect solutions. In the time it takes you to try to be perfect, you’re losing lots of customers because your bad design is still out there.”
– Jim O’Neill

In fifteen minutes you can learn enough about someone to decide if they’re worth a second date. As we heard again at our event, it’s also enough time to learn whether your website or application is usable, and how you can make it better.

What did you learn from the event? Want to attend the next one? Let us know in the comments! And for more on rapid iterative UX design, check out another event that’s coming up on March 1st: Lean Day UX in New York City. Above the Fold will be there, so check back here for our coverage of that event.

SaaS adoption is on the rise. Service revenue has been increasing for the past few years. It was forecast to increase nearly 18% last year, and we can assume the growth will continue. As a result, SaaS companies must compete to offer a little extra. I met with Metanga’s Curt Raffi to discuss the importance of user experience in SaaS companies and online businesses.

A Strategic Differentiator

Joe: Is UX a strategic differentiator for SaaS?

Curt: From a consumer perspective, having a strong application is all about usability and the user experience. If you don’t have customer engagement in your online application, you’re not going to make any money.

I look at how applications used to be built: you started with the database, and then you threw some type of UI on top of that. Today it’s really different!  You have to understand how the user’s going to interact with the tool or app you’re offering, and everything else has to follow. It’s all about usability.

Joe: Usability is a part of it, but it’s really about the whole user experience. That’s why the best practice for building great software and services starts with understanding the user.

Curt: That’s right. Understanding and embracing that user experience is going to help you get in the head of that user and help them become far more engaged in whatever you’re offering. As a strategic differentiator and almost a baseline for any modern product, you have to pay attention to the user experience – it’s a necessary ingredient. If you don’t have that necessary ingredient, people wonder, “Is this a professional software company?”

The Consumer Spin

Joe: You work at Metanga, a SaaS commerce and billing company.  Is there a big difference in how UX plays a part in SaaS businesses like Metanga versus consumer products?

Curt: Well, the consumer experience was driven out of gaming, Google, the iPhone interface and what Apple was able to put forth in 2005-2008. So the consumer world gravitated toward ultra-simple consumer apps, and expectations started to be set.

I remember the first time I encountered Google around 2000-2001. It was a box, just a simple box where you type in what you’re looking for. It sounds quaint and archaic now, but stripping everything down to the bare essentials was something consumers could relate to.

Joe: Meanwhile, the older software companies were trying to push their products to the cloud, without thinking about the consumer experience.

Curt: Right, and the challenge they have is realizing that their business model is imploding. They need to ask: “How will my application be used on a tablet? On a phone? In the office? Does the website solution responsively adjust to my user’s device?” Businesses need to conceive their products as cloud-based applications. Everything from APIs to user processes suddenly has to be rethought. Businesses are realizing that for survival they’ve got to create a user experience that’s just as cutting edge as what’s on the consumer side. It’s certainly a challenge Metanga had to tackle and overcome – and we had the benefit of being a cloud-based application from the start, which helped.

In-house or Outsourced?

Joe: Should SaaS companies rely primarily on in-house UX experts or should they outsource to a freelancer or agency?

Curt: For most companies there needs to be a little of both. The first time someone is exploring user experience, it makes sense to bring in UX agencies or freelancers. They can help train companies so that they understand what they need to do and what the best practices are.

Metanga did that with Above the Fold, and it was very successful. We were able to say: “This is the problem. We want to see if you can solve that, and we want to see how you solve that.” ATF trained us and helped us better understand our own needs. Now we have three UX people on staff, but it was Above the Fold that helped us get to that point and worked with us on projects along the way.

Joe: Any final thoughts for our readers?

Curt: We’re turning to UX as a leading process and product differentiator in our development process, not a GUI afterthought. Bottom line, if you’re not embracing the user experience, you don’t understand what it means to create an application or an online service.

Curt Raffi is the Marketing Director for Metanga, the SaaS division of MetraTech. Curt holds a Visual Studies degree from Harvard University. He has over 10 years of SaaS product and marketing experience with significant experience in awareness, user experience and pricing models.

The integration of game mechanics into an application or website, known as  “gamification” is used to increase participation and engagement. As user experience designers, we are constantly seeking new ways to engage users, so gamification is assumed to be a natural step. But gamification is more than just an added layer – there are many overlaps between pre-existing game mechanics and existing UX design principles.

Adding Appropriate Game Mechanics

Games involve risk-taking, skill, and a varying degree of challenges and actions the player must overcome. Games’ challenges have to be challenging enough to keep the player engaged. However, your web application should be like consistently winning the lottery– takes minimal effort and is easy to use, but is very rewarding and engaging.

Because of this difference, UX designers need to go beyond slapping on any game attribute. To quote John Ferrara, “Design considerations like the context of use, efficiency of navigation, complexity of decision-making, and mental models are native concerns of UX designers.” These are the areas where appropriate game mechanics can benefit an application.

We need to understand the why behind key gamification techniques. Only then can we recognize the UX design techniques inherent in these game mechanics.

Provide users with opportunities to succeed.

1. Show users their progress.

Breaking up large goals into smaller and easier steps creates more chances to feel a sense of achievement. A large goal that takes a long time to complete is intimidating, but by using progress bars, check marks, and other indicators, users are motivated every step of the way.

Keep this in mind for sites where users must fill out many forms before accomplishing their end goal. In UX design, this is usually referred to as progress dynamic, while in game design this is called progression or levels.

Linkedin uses a simple progress bar to encourage people to complete their profiles – a process which is both inherently useful, but also more fun when tied to a visible goal.

Domino’s Pizza gives users a way to visually track the status of their pizza. The main concern (i.e. user goal) customers have is “where is my pizza?” Even though they’re told it’ll take 30 minutes, being able to see the individual steps makes it feel as though the process moves faster.

2. Add Value with collectibles.

From expensive paintings to rocks – we know people like collecting things. Whatever the collection may be, the collector has invested some emotional value, and this value accompanies virtual items as well. Virtual collectibles such as badges and points can be used as great incentives and immediate rewards for small goals.

Your users may not need to collect any badges to accomplish your app’s goal, but these virtual items encourage user engagement by adding to the value of their actions and progress.

This relates to the game mechanic of having bonuses for players, and these virtual goods gives website users more attachment to the site.

Users don’t use Codecademy for the badges– they use it to learn how to program. But learning a skill is a vague, long-term goal. What helps users retain motivation in the short-term are the colorful badges and points they earn at Codecademy. Instead of grades (where users can feel failure for not achieving high enough) these virtual goods only accumulate (i.e. users only feel success).

While badges are commonly collected items, remember that users also collect everything from friends (e.g. Facebook) to videos (e.g. YouTube).

3. Personalize the experience.

In games, players can sometimes change their interfaces, characters, style of play, or character story to create a personal experience. Whether it’s an avatar’s hair color in a game or a profile picture in a website, the ability for personalization attracts people by giving them a form of ownership and value towards the platform.

For some games, replay value is added by allowing players to make choices that affect the game’s story. Thus, the player will be inclined to play the game multiple times since the game will not provide the same experience the next time around. The same thinking applies to web applications. When a user logs into their account for an e-commerce site, for example, and sees that his recommended items are new but still related to him, he will be inclined to visit again to discover new recommendations.

Before Netflix shows users any movies, they narrow down what movies are more likely to be successfully clicked on and viewed according to users’ tastes. Instead of having the user do the work and search for content relevant to her interests, the application does the work.

4. Predict user actions.

In games, feedback refers to everything in the player’s environment. Positive feedback, such as seeing an amusing animation when pressing a certain key, reinforces player actions while negative feedback, such as dying and needing to restart a level is a signal to the player to do something different. The goal for games is to have a challenge that is not too easy or too challenging for the player.

In UX design however, it’s important to ensure that any task can be done as effortlessly as possible. This means, any negative feedback (e.g. error messages) must be as informative and as helpful as possible. In other words, any roadblocks the user may encounter should guide the user swiftly to the correct page or goal instead of frustrating him.

Twitter demonstrates form-field validation. This prevents users hunting for any errors at the end of a long form filling process if errors are pointed out in real time.

Google use live suggest for their search field to quickly react to user text input and make the task of searching more fluid and swift.

Same Concept, Different Wording

The underlying, psychological reasons why some gaming methods are engaging and rewarding are very similar to why some UX techniques work to retain users within a website. While the appeal of adding a game’s exciting elements to an otherwise plain website can be alluring, make sure the user’s journey to her goal isn’t hindered from simply adding on features. If we pay attention to why certain principles work for games, we can then reapply underlying concepts to strengthen our UX strategy.

Last week we posted this request on our blog, and the Boston business community responded. On Thursday, November 15^th Boston businesses and friends proved to us that the spirit of giving is alive and well. Many showed their support by joining us at UNO in Harvard Square. Even more impressive, many people who could not attend still made a point of donating, all of which brings us to this very exciting announcement.

We were able to raise $2250 for the Red Cross’s Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.

Thank you so much to each and every one of you who donated. An especially large thank you to New Leaf Legal and Fresh Ground, who helped to make this fundraiser possible. Thank you also to all who made a donation:

Rose Manganello
Joanne Fantini
Ray Magliozzi
Alex Parks
Todd Van Hoosear
Eriko Tokiwa
Tara Greco
Adam Sadowski
Xin Xin
Mark Sullivan
Kelley Kassa
Leila Parks

What a wonderful way to begin the holiday season!

This Thanksgiving, we at Above the Fold are focusing our thanks on the relationships we have with people, from UX community to our clients & partners, colleagues & friends. Here are a few relationships we value greatly; we hope they inspire you to consider the people & things you’re thankful for this year!

New Leaf Legal

Heather: “Lawyers, as a profession, can conjure a fairly negative expectation of power suits, exorbitant hourly rates, money grubbing and lies. Enter New Leaf Legal, the antithesis of these lousy traits. Jess, Shannon and the rest of the team have taken time over the years to invest in our company, make recommendations to help our business, and have a fast turn around time (sometimes within an hour, with edits!) Rarely, if ever, in suits, New Leaf Legal is a team of professional experts who haven’t left their humanity behind; we are so lucky to have them supporting our business and can’t possibly recommend them enough.”

Mingl, for Web and Mobile Agencies

Joe: “I’m thankful for my peers at Mingl. We’re a small and exclusive business networking group for like-minded execs of Web/Mobile agencies. I created the group as an opportunity to get together for dinner and drinks and discuss challenges with our respective businesses. We all receive tremendous insight on how to solve our challenges. The model has worked so well that one business associate is creating a larger scale version, to encourage thought provoking discussions!”

The Boston Business Community

Marli: “The Boston business community has always been a tight-knit group, but this year we really felt their support. In the UX arena, UX Social hour has grown to nearly 500 people, and in the wake of Hurricane Sandy the business community came together to donate $2250 to the Red Cross.”

Northeastern Co-op Program

Brian: “Most internships only last a summer, but we were lucky enough to team up with Northeastern University to hire a co-op, meaning we had a Northeastern student in the design field working full-time for us for six months. From January through June our co-op, Sarah was a wonderful asset, and the six months she was with us allowed us to both invest in her growth and integrate her with the UX design team across multiple projects. We look forward to having two co-ops in 2013, adding to their training and gaining from their fresh perspectives.

Our Newest UX Designer, Brian

Jim: “Far more than any tools or resources, I am incredibly thankful that Brian Del Giudice joined our team at Above the Fold this year. His deep experience in product design and management have already taught me a lot, while he has quickly learned the ropes of the occasionally frenetic agency world. Having such an excellent senior designer, whose skills and ever-positive attitude I know I can rely on, has helped me in many ways – most notably, it has let me relax a little!”

Northeast PHP Leadership Team

Heather: “Any first-time undertaking is fraught with peril, but through the support and continued efforts of the leadership team, NEPHP was immensely successful. We not only co-hosted our first conference, but we learned even more about how to work with teams for success no matter the challenges. Read more about how to work better with your UX team by reading our blog post, Teaming with Success.”

Smart Interfaces for Staying Connected

Meghan: “I didn’t realize how codependent the iPhone and I were until I referred to it as an extension of myself. My phone is a constant inspiration – no company has done more than Apple to help UX professionals become so in demand. It is a reminder of why we are in the UX field to begin with – to provide people with applications and products they love to use.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends, families, clients, and colleagues!

My mission at the MassTLC unConference was to be a UX design megaphone.

This year’s unConference, held at Hynes Convention Center in Boston, was filled with roughly a thousand entrepreneurs and seasoned business professionals looking to network, learn and teach. My goal was to answer all the burning questions about UX Design.

John Harthorne of Mass Challenge speaks to a packed house of entrepreneurs and business professionals. Photo credit: Dan Bricklin

During the UX session I co-hosted with Fresh Tilled Soil’s Richard Banfield, we did just that. The entrepreneur’s questions reflected their understanding of UX design, and in the end, led me to new conclusions on the Boston business community’s UX needs. Here are a few of the questions we fielded:

1. Are UX and UI the same thing?

The short answer is no. One great example to illustrate the difference is the 1-Click process, from Amazon.com. Amazon’s 1-Click process was created to provide a purchasing experience with the least amount of friction; this creation is UX [Design]. UI, or UI Design, is a specific area within UX, dealing with the visual design and surrounding interface. Simply put, UI can be seen, whereas UX can only be experienced.

2. How do you meet customer requirements across product redesigns?

Joe Baz announces his session titled “Solution Design: The Hidden Side of UX”. Photo Credit: Dan Bricklin

Product redesigns are strongest when responding directly to customer requirements, so the first answer to this is to follow the data.

If your feature exists in a prototype phase, your data may come from feedback gathered from existing customers. Alternatively, if your product is in an earlier stage (i.e. few customers, or still in the idea stage) – go with the hypothesis-driven approach. Here’s a framework you can use to drive innovation and success at your company:

1. Identify the problem
2. Clearly state the hypothesis
3. Validate the hypothesis

That said, there’s also one thing to avoid: Don’t blindly follow a competitor. You have no way of knowing why even the most successful competitor is succeeding. Instead of imitating someone else’s UX, talk to your customers. From your customers you will learn how to create the best experience for them. Everyone on your team can contribute to the UX effort, and everyone on your team should be talking to customers.

3. How do you handle team conflict?

Team conflict often comes from a lack of concrete information. To resolve issues, look at the hard data: what are your customers asking for or complaining about? When you solve the issues your customers are concerned with, you will be improving their user experience.

Now that Google and Apple are putting UX first, it’s raising the bar for software companies. You need to coach your team members who are unfamiliar with UX and educate them on the benefits, but back up your statements with data so you don’t get into a “he said/she said” situation.

4. Is it okay to design something that is way ahead of the times?

Use MAYA to find the balance on forward-thinking designs.

People have basic expectations for any product, and those need to be met in web or mobile software. You need to find out what your audience’s basic expectations are, and then you can push forward just a little bit; in the end, that’s the best way to exceed their expectations. Just be sure to test with a small segment of a customer base before a full release.

5. What prototyping tools do you use?

Tech rich topics are adhered to one of the session boards. Photo Credit: Dan Bricklin

Before we get into web-based tools, we need to take a step back and remember that we have one of the best and most immediate tools right in front of us: Marker and Paper. (One of the tangents discussed was the use of paper prototyping, which is an excellent way to validate early concept designs in a fast and cost-effective way.)

If you do have online tools at your disposal, here are some that can aid in the prototyping process:

• Balsamiq (used at Above the Fold)
• Mockup Builder
• POP App Factory
• Proto.io
• Omnigraffle (Mac only)
• Keynote with Keynotopia (Mac only)
• PowerPoint with Keynotopia

Theory: Proven

The entrepreneurs and business professionals I met at the unConference all had one thing in common: they were dedicated to learning about UX in order to improve their products. I entered the conference under the belief that many business folks have heard about UX design, but they do not fully grasp what it is, how it benefits their business, and how to design for great experiences. But, I was only half right. While some people had a clear understanding of UX, many still have a lot to learn.

If you are one of the many who have unanswered questions, now’s the time to ask! These questions don’t need to wait for the next unConference. I invite all of my readers to ask me any UX-related questions in the comments section below. Also, be sure to check out our new eBook for beginner’s tips and advanced tricks: 50 Best Practices in UX. 

1. What is usability?

To quote usability guru Steve Krug, “usability really just means making sure something works well.” Usability, in a nutshell, is the measure of how well a tool or object works – be it scissors, iPads, or Facebook.  If you can use it easily, efficiently, and intuitively, that device (or application) has good usability.  If it makes you feel stupid or like you want to smash something (example: every fax machine I’ve ever used), that’s poor usability.

2. Why is usability important?

Let’s face it: an aggravated user is not going to stick around.  If he doesn’t enjoy the experience on your app, more often than not he can find what he is looking for elsewhere.  Poor usability is usually the root of bad experiences that cause a user to leave. If leaving is not an option (for instance, if he is using a work application), an unusable, time-consuming, perplexing user experience will only lead to decreased productivity.

3. What do usability problems look like?

Anything that creates confusion for the user is a usability problem.  As such, usability problems come in all shapes and sizes. Here are some common examples; do you recognize any of them from your own products?

• Numerous competing calls to action on a single page.  Trying to fit everything onto a single page – especially your home page – means that nothing stands out, and you end up with confusing clutter.  Determine one primary action, with two or three additional secondary actions, and highlight those.
• Confusing terminology.  If you use the same word in two different contexts, or use unfamiliar vocabulary, your user will be confused.  Assign a terminology tsar (or bring in a content strategist) to maintain consistency of voice and tone across your app.
• Inconsistent mental models.  If your app doesn’t conform to the user’s expectations, you are inviting (at best) confusion or (at worst) frustration.  There are certainly unavoidable growing pains that a user will experience the first time they use your app.  Try to minimize this by validating your personas, performing usability tests throughout, and keeping things simple.

4. How do I start to improve the usability of my website?

Live by this mantra: you are not your user.*

A design based on your personal preferences will leave your users frustrated.  Instead, learn to think like your user. To put yourself in the user’s shoes, here are some questions to ask as you review your site or app:

• As a first time user, how easy is it for me to determine the purpose of this app?
• As a first time user, how quickly can I perform the intended task?  How steep is the learning curve?
• As an infrequent user, how memorable is this app?  Will I be inclined to return?  Will I recall how to use it?
• As a frequent user, can I perform my tasks quickly?  Are the tools I need easily accessible?

Though this is not an exhaustive list of questions, it’s a good starting point for helping you think from a user’s perspective.  However, there is no substitute for observing real users in action, through a process called usability testing.

5. What is usability testing and how do I do it?

Usability testing is getting users to use your site (or app) while you watch and take notes. At its most basic, usability testing can be done with a few friends, a laptop, a notebook, and a pen.  All you need to do is:

Step 1:

Define a few tasks for your app that you would like to test.Gather a group of 3 – 5 users** to complete these tasks.

Example: You received a coupon for 50% off a new toaster at site x. Use your coupon to purchase the toaster.

Step 2:

Observe your users as they complete the tasks.  Request that they vocalize their thoughts as they go, prompting them with reminders and questions along the way (Pro Tip: avoid yes or no questions when ever possible.)

Example: Let’s assume the user clicked on the toaster’s “Add to Wish List” button but didn’t say anything. You could prompt the user with this question: Why did you click on that button?

Step 3:

Document your user’s verbal feedback, but more importantly, watch the actions that the user took and the expressions on their face.  Remember: actions speak louder than words.  If possible, record the session for review later.

Some items to look out for include:

• What was the user’s emotional response to the web page when they first viewed it? (i.e. excited, confused, angry, ambivalent, etc.)
• Is the user getting lost or distracted in the site?
• Is the user able to accomplish the tasks set before them?
• Did the user’s actions match your expectations?

Step 4:

Collect your findings in a single document, and discuss them with the rest of the project team (including other designers, developers, marketers and anyone else involved) to determine how best to implement the feedback.

Some items to include:

• Actual application errors the user encountered.
• Areas of the app that confused the user.
• The time it took for the user to complete each task.

Usability testing can be simple and inexpensive, and the more you do it, the better – every six weeks is a good rule of thumb, especially while building new features. Usability testing is the best way to determine what course corrections you should make before getting too far off track.

In Conclusion

Whether you are a UX designer or a mom, you now have the tools to recognize poor usability and make it better: Talk to users, learn to think like them, and test, test, test to continuously improve usability over time. Once you get going, you won’t want to stop – you’ll be well on your way to creating a remarkable user experience. Think about what you can do today to get started, and take that first step.

RSVP Required!

Join us at Pizzeria UNO in Harvard Square next Thursday, November 15th at 7pm, to enjoy some appetizers and a drink sponsored by Above the Fold, Fresh Ground, and New Leaf Legal. Donations required at the door – cash or check are welcome. All donations will go to directly to the Red Cross and all donors will be mentioned on the Above the Fold blog.

Join Us

Hurricane Sandy caused widespread destruction across the Northeast; while we in Boston suffered only a few power outages, hundreds of people in NY, NJ and the rest of the northeast lost their homes or even their lives because of this hurricane. Help us show our support. Our goal is to raise at least $2,000 through the goodwill of our Boston communities; we’re confident we can do it with your help.

We hope you join us this Thursday, November 15th as we do our part to support the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Please spread the word!

Special thanks as well to our co-sponsors!

If you’re involved in the PHP development community (or if you pay attention to Jared Spool‘s calendar of speaking events), you may have heard of a first-time conference held in August called Northeast PHP (NEPHP). You may have heard that it wasn’t very costly ($99.99 to attend); it offered more than just PHP (the UX track was my favorite); and on day one there was a huge catering snafu (lunch was an hour and a half late). Hopefully, you’ve heard how hugely successful it was, despite being pulled together by volunteers with full-time jobs and no conference experience.

As one of the organizers, I saw the conference come together. The organizing team included diverse backgrounds and personalities, not one of us with any experience running a conference. But, just as I’ve seen in the world of UX and product development, the most unlikely of backgrounds came together to create a successful end result.

The key factors that made NEPHP 2012 a success are also critical when approaching a UX design project. With that in mind, here are five tips to consider when planning your next project – whether you’re dealing with a few dozen stakeholders, a few hundred conference attendees, or both.

Success Tip #1: Create a Shared Vision

In a UX consultant’s kick-off meeting, the primary goal is always the same: articulate the vision and achieve team buy-in. Once the overall objective becomes a shared vision, individuals can trust one another not only to work together but also to work independently, completing their tasks in a timely manner and reporting back to the group.

For the NEPHP leadership crew, Michael, the team leader, articulated the vision: an affordable conference for PHP developers, from beginner to advanced, to increase their skill set and expand their knowledge of topics ranging from PHP to Git to UX and more. By the end of our first meeting, we were all on board with this shared goal. Michael led us confidently, so that we shared the same clear articulation of what we were doing and how we wanted to get there. This improved our teamwork and chances of success in many ways:

• We didn’t need reminders to stay on task. The clarity of the goal gave us focus and a sense of ownership, also reinforcing that we were all in it together and each person needed to do his part.
• Michael was able to delegate with confidence, having others take on coordination of the venue, sponsors, speakers, and catering while he focused on communications, site creation, and participant registration.
• We were equally aware of what we were not trying to do: make money, throw together an event haphazardly, or promote any one specific group, organization or software.

Rather than a disparate group of individuals each with her own agenda, we became a coordinated team united by a common purpose.

Success Tip #2: Think Big Picture

Once you have a shared vision, you need to keep tying everything back to it, balancing the details with the high-level goals.

In Above the Fold’s recent eBook of 50 UX best practices, practice #1 highlights the importance of the big picture for UX teams. Every project has a lot of details to get right. Delegating tasks and creating a shared vision provide a good starting point, but there is always the possibility that a team can fall apart by becoming overwhelmed by details, and neglecting the overall objectives.

For the NEPHP conference, the details were delegated early on. Matt focused on obtaining the venue and coordinating the space, using his connection with the folks at the Microsoft NERD center. Brad culled sponsorships and developed relationship with key companies. I spent significant time working out the schedule of speakers and editing talk descriptions. Everyone had an area (or several) that they were managing, but we didn’t want to be caught in our own silos of work. Instead, we tried to keep one eye on the overall goal as we completed the tasks at hand. So we took a page out of Above the Fold’s eBook: “Document the short- and long-term goals early on in the process, and review them daily or weekly to keep them on the team’s mind.”

Michael, as leader and visionary, spent a significant portion of his time documenting our goals and being available to the team, organizing check-ins, and double-checking that every delegated task was aligned with our shared vision. He ensured that every detail fit together to move forward with the overall goal: a successful conference.

Success Tip #3: Communicate (Productively)

Meetings are often considered a waste of time. Even when there is a defined agenda, unless the meeting is relevant and engaging, most people spend meetings waiting for their turn to speak, waiting for the meeting to end, or doing other work. It takes intentional effort to hold a productive meeting, and doing so – for both large kick-offs and daily check-ins – is a skill that UX teams need to master.

Three months before the conference, Michael recommended that we start holding weekly team meetings. We all agreed, but I’m sure many of us had trepidations about giving up a lunch hour each week. However, using the same agenda every week, and prioritizing tasks and to-dos, we were able to use the weekly meeting per its design: as a way to keep the team updated, discuss areas of contention, and make group decisions. Each person gave a brief update of their tasks, brought up points of discussion, and asked for help as needed. After all updates were given, we discussed any outstanding items, and assigned & prioritized them.

We also did not limit our communication to these weekly meetings. To share information between meetings we used Google docs and email, and tabled big discussions until the weekly check-in. This made the meetings themselves more productive and focused, while keeping everyone on the same page throughout the week. With the combination of meetings, email and Google docs, we were able to cover every detail, and involve the whole team. For a team of volunteers ranging from Toronto to Boston, the weekly check-ins prevented us from getting bogged down with flurries of emails or missing critical details.

Success Tip #4: Connect to the Community

Connecting with users is the bread and butter of every UX team. During the conference planning, our “users” were our participants. Connecting with that audience—the PHP community—allowed us to gain value from their insight and support.

Northeast PHP brought together three PHP communities: BostonPHP, Atlantic Canada PHP, and Vermont PHP. Since our team was comprised of the leaders of these groups, we were able to tap into all three communities, to create a conference that truly met the needs of the attendees. When it came time to select speakers, we benefited twofold from our community: many community members volunteered to speak, and others were able to connect us with speakers beyond the PHP community. All the speakers were lauded for being pertinent, helpful, and engaging. Moreover, every speaker volunteered his or her time, which added to the overall sense of community at the conference.

Another tremendous outgrowth of our relationship with the PHP community was the NEPHP website. The framework was originally created by BostonPHP member Andrew Curioso for a previous event that didn’t pan out; Andrew then offered it to the NEPHP team. Built using CakePHP, the project is open-sourced on Github. Michael and Andrew were able to take Andrew’s initial project and turn it into the current conference platform in a matter of weeks. We were even able to enlist help from the community to create both the conference logo (initially designed by Amy Grogan) and a mobile version of the site (developed in PHP by Jonathan Baronville).

As much as we did to make the conference happen, we definitely could not have done it without the help and support of our communities.

Success Tip #5: Anticipate Errors

Even with the best forethought, it’s impossible to anticipate every problem, whether planning an event or designing a software application. Nevertheless, careful planning and consideration ahead of time can minimize potential problems, and decrease the severity of problems that do arise.

To minimize the challenges at NEPHP, we started by listing all the key components we needed for the event: registration, speakers, catering, venue, volunteer help, paper goods, sponsors, giveaways, and so on. For each of these, we then compiled the details involved: costs, benefits, who was responsible, what help was needed, etc. By planning up front, we were able to keep on top of the tasks to be done and things to consider.

Then we asked “What if?” What if we don’t get many sponsors? What if a speaker cancels? Using our lists as guides, we spent time planning for less-than-perfect situations. From putting out a call for volunteers early on to setting up a back up plan for unavailable speakers, we tried to prepare for all possible outcomes.

The final key piece of our effort to anticipate and minimize problems was to keep things simple. For any event, just as for any software application, there are myriad features you can add. We knew that the more we tried to do, the more likely we were to run into trouble, so we always kept in mind the possibility of saying no. Ultimately, our goal was to create a well-run, educational conference, and if an idea was proposed that stretched us too thin, we turned it down.

All this effort didn’t make everything perfect, but it did prepare us for the challenges we might encounter. Case in point: on the first day of the conference, although lunch arrived 90 minutes late, the leadership team kept their cool. We were able to react calmly and efficiently:

• We frequently updated the participants on the situation
• We immediately and repeatedly apologized for the inconvenience
• We let the participants know we had a back up plan: we ordered pizza

The participants were frustrated, but let us know (in person and via Twitter) that they appreciated how we handled the situation.

Obviously we wish the conference had gone off without a hitch, but there’s something very satisfying in knowing that a small team, some of whom met face-to-face for the first time the day before, were able to come together and save a potentially devastating situation. (Have you ever been in a room filled with hungry developers?!)

Bringing it all together

Working with others to accomplish a goal is a challenge in any scenario. For UX consultants, it’s especially prudent to have a solid leadership and planning framework in place. Establishing a shared vision, thinking about the big picture and communicating effectively are the glue that holds teams together. Connecting with the community allows consultants to harness the power of the crowd, and thinking through what-if scenarios ensures that a team plans for the many possible use cases that can make or break a product.

The NEPHP conference planning process has impacted on the way I lead our consulting efforts at Above the Fold; these five tips remain at the front of my mind when we kick off a new engagement. Take the time to consider your own leadership and planning framework; how do you lead your team to success?