Ghost in the Pixel

We recently held a #CitrixDesign summit on mobile design, featuring Hugh Dubberly as our guest speaker to kick things off, with his talk on Service Design Principles. Hugh’s talk superbly and profoundly laid the ground work for our day-long discussion around what exactly constitutes “Mobile” ecosystems of software and service…as well as the future of interaction, going deeper into multitouch and gestural interaction. Here are some of the key points raised:

• What is Mobility? Not a precise definition (which inflames silly arguments) but shaping out the contours of what it means to “be mobile” and to “design for mobile”. Is there is a shift from device-centric attitudes towards lifestyle-based approaches, where “Mobile” refers to an evolving set of behaviors, expectations, cultural norms? So how does this impact interface design across device types and screen forms? Is there an emerging “mobile vernacular” surrounding the flow of information, delivery of services and lifestyle patterns? Hmm!
  
• Mobile “cross of pain”. Riffing on the popular cross diagrams from Richard Buchanan at CMU back in the day, we discussed the intersection of four particular touchpoints for mobile design: a) People (their expectations, attitudes, and generational factors too) b) Activity & Contexts (which shape what is relevant, salient, useful, etc.) c) Interfaces & Devices (what are the modes and means of interaction at the pixel/sensor/material level of mobile) and finally d) Systems & Services (the overarching connections to form the ecosystem, how they support human purposes in an integrated, holistic manner)
• Mobile as extension of natural self/abilities. A profound yet basic viewpoint emerged, that of the device and “mobile” in general as being something that amplifies our daily normal actions. Think of the sensors, apps, camera, voice inputs and so forth as ways to extend whatever we are trying to do (contact someone, get directions, record a moment, remind yourself, etc.). The mobile condition is ongoing, per our bodies being on the go in different spaces/places. The mobile device/software/ecosystem should reflect that dynamic, and is a personalized way to achieve our self-directed goals accordingly.
• Continuous, seamless, fluid experience. Many have seen this slick NFL Network commercial, with a football player enjoying a single game across changing contexts, with a single mutating device. It’s all one single seamless experience, regardless of device or scene and feels fluid, not disconnected or episodic. That’s one of the ultimate aspirations for a mobile experience to achieve and deliver. Lofty goal but doable!

It’s been a rather hectic & intense year with travel, summits, workshops, etc. Many achievements “unlocked”, so to speak. However, it’s also good to sit back and itemize the critical lessons learned in the course of all the madness of the past year. Here are my top lessons which I will try to carry forward into the new year…

• Don’t go actively seeking to mentor someone; just let it happen naturally. People should seek you out, not the other way around. (yet, gently let folks know you are available!)
• Not everyone responds to your instinctive passion for design excellence the same way. Gotta be sensitive to others’ personal and professional motivators and calibrate yourself accordingly, particularly in difficult situations.
• Always verify someone’s assumptions before suggesting a design idea. You might be wrong, and be unnecessarily intruding into a space not your own.
• Know when to be efficient, and when to be messy. It’s a balancing act that takes care and sensitivity.
• Always clarify who’s exactly the driver/owner/contributor (DACI) first, don’t just jump in. Suss out the situation first (and verify with key folks), even if it takes more time. A variant of “measure twice, cut once” when it comes to organizational issues.
• Especially in firedrill mode, try your very best to be calm, constructive, and optimistic in offering peer design feedback, or even general design strategy advice.
• Assume constant regular communication / education / repetition because everyone is swamped and rapidly context-shifting from project to project. People often forget what you advised or delivered, so don’t get worked up over it. Just gently remind.

As I look back upon 2011, all I can really say is WOW. It’s truly been quite a blessing, a very fortunate year with all the valuable projects, fabulous people, delightful travels, and other activities that transpired this past year. Here are a few highlights listed below, in no particular order:

• Planned, coordinated, and led a 2-day innovation workshop with Citrix Labs at our new Product Design Collaboration Studio.
• Co-planned and led discussions for a couple internal Mobile Summits, with a deeper analysis of what exactly is "mobile UX" and how to fold that thinking into our practice.
• Concepted, designed, and delivered the visual and interaction designs for a new feature of Citrix Receiver / XenApp that allows you to interact directly with Windows 7 as a re-skinned iOS "app" using iOS UI conventions to feel more native, natural for iPad users.
• Contributed to the beautiful evolution of Citrix Receiver achieving greater levels of multi-device and cross-platform cohesiveness. More on this will be discussed at my SxSW 2012…stay tuned! ;-)
• Participated in various "design thinking" workshops, from Stanford d.school, Luma Institute, Kaiser Innovation, and Lime Design. I described some of the common shared qualities here.
• Lots of UX Community outreach: Spoke at Citrix Online in Santa Barbara on "beauty as a quality of UX", submitted a paper to HCI International on "design + engineering relationships", presented at Hacker Dojo on "how to work with a designer", also spoke at Silicon Valley Codecamp on a couple topics (UI design fundamentals, partnering with a designer).
• Tons of travel as usual… Boulder for IxDA’11, beaches at Maui, urban dining in WashDC/NYC, finally toured Hollywood/SoCal, office visit in Bangalore (re-visit), Las Vegas (back after 4 yrs), and Barcelona + Zurich for Thanksgiving. Whew!

I’ve been very fortunate this year to have experienced several different “design thinking” workshops, variously sponsored by Stanford d.school, Kaiser Innovation, Luma Institute, and Lime Design. Looking back, it’s fun to identify some of the trademark characteristics, which suggest it truly is a “design thinking” workshop…

• Sticky notes and sharpies galore! With LOTS of different colors…plastered everywhere: walls, whiteboards, even on yourself!
• Lots and lots of sketching by everyone (not just designers) on the teams. Lots of different styles, from stick-man to “artistic” renderings.
• Rough, quick and dirty prototyping is FUN! Roll-up your sleeves and jump right into it. Having many bins of stuff: pipe cleaners, colored paper, styrofoam, play-doh, etc. Playing with materials sparks creativity like you wouldn’t believe!
• Improv activities to wake everyone up! There’s always something fun and quick to get the adrenaline flowing, especially after lunch. Rochambeau (paper/rock/scissors) is a particular fave.
• Optimistic and speedy approaches. Keeping a positive spirit, amid the craziness, and keep moving forward. A strong “bias to action”, rather than snoozy tedious slideshows and spreadsheets. Just try it!
• Thrown into situations: The problem is not fully presented or vetted beforehand; instead, you’re expected to dive in and react with awareness, team rapport, etc.
• Adapt on the fly! As a natural outcome of changing design problems and shifting teams throughout the workshop, you gotta be nimble and flexible. Keeping an open mind is vital to enjoy the workshop learning…
• Folks are exhausted at the end, but super charged up! At every single workshop I participated in, everyone was energized and ready to seize the bull of innovation by the horns. And participants always surprised themselves with how creative they can be. Always a fun sight to behold. Just gotta bring that spirit back to the office…

Again thanks to my awesome fans in Denmark, Mads Soegaard of the interaction-design.org site has offered the readers of this blog a pre-release preview of a book chapter which shows how to use philosophical theories concretely when designing interactive products.

The chapter text and related HD videos are completely free and available here:
http://www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/philosophy_of_interaction.html?p=3a39

If you want to be the designer of the next iPhone, the chapter advises you to carefully design the product’s “feel”. The “feel” of a product requires an understanding of what we mean by “action” as meaning and action are interwoven concepts. This may sound abstract and theoretical but Dag Svanaes of interaction-design.org makes it concrete and easy to understand…