Parents who have children are often told by their kids that they want to be a princess, a police officer or even an animal trainer. As adults, some of us are still trying to figure that out for ourselves. Either we are changing careers or thinking about which direction to take in life. We search for a new connection to how we can make that leap into something new or seek a new path that will lead us to another way of living.
We do various soul searches to find out what we can discover. In the end, the best way is to get out there and throw yourself into a field of the unknown. Yes, the unknown.
My first conference in Seattle called the UX Convey, led me to discover that there is so much to learn and even more to observe. I found that there was a flood of new information beyond my wildest comprehension. The event felt like I was attending kindergarten again without my mother holding my hand, even though I called her to let her know that I had arrived in Seattle in one piece.
Heading to a new venue is often scary for most people. Everyone is at the event to learn something new and gain additional knowledge from others. The most significant kick I got out of this experience was learning something new about myself. What did I learn?
I went to Pamela Pavliscak talk where she focused on the concept of “happiness.” She had concluded that happiness is more than just a single emotion. Happiness comes with a cycle of emotions in that there is not just the “happy” path in our flows when we design. We also include edge cases in our thought processes. Each of these edge cases can have a straight stream or a curvy flow of user steps. We must remind ourselves that each user will have a unique path for each journey if they are trying a new product.
As designers, we must determine which designs are optimal for human interaction. After all of our hard work is done, it is time to break the path. By trying to break the interaction, we are trying to find where the holes are in our designs. When she first made this statement, I was a bit confused as Pamela continually expressed that if you break the path, you will find discoveries that you might think. Of course, she is right. Anything we design is followed by questioning each way the user is taking.
If you are asked to work on a design project with a lot of content, you must always approach information presented with the question, “How is the user going to read this?”. It is not likely you will want to cram 500 words on a single page. Breaking up the information into cohesive chunks would be the best way to organize data. The use of the tabs design pattern helps to ensure that the information is digestible and more easily readable by the user. Initially, we build it, then evaluate the path and who will interact with it. Once we have a usable model to work with, we break the path by reorganizing the information using the tabs design pattern. This methodology will help us to be better designers and push us to build better products for all users.
Going to the conference revealed some self-actualizations in how I design and how going to conferences helps me to grow and think outside the box. I realized that when I walked into that building, I did not know anyone, but I came out with a wealth of knowledge and made lifetime friends. So yeah, Pamela Pavliscak knows what she is talking about, and I think we all have to vote on that!
Listen and learn, and everything else will come when it supposed to happen.
