A More Delightful Future

Episode 4 features Jordan Higgins, an XR designer and professor at George Mason University. You can connect with Jordan via his social media links below.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jhiggins
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanhiggins/

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/pwOtDBITVzA  

-- Show Notes --
0:00 - Intro  
1:00 - Q1) What does it mean for design to be delightful?
A1) Delightful is about building 'magic moments', when you forget about the technology and are just immersed in the experience, right there in the moment, or pleasantly surprised by the unexpected.  

2:28 - Q2) How do you design inclusive experiences?
A2) Develop an understanding for what some of the barriers to inclusion can be (such as access, affordability, accessibility, etc). Regine Gilbert (https://reginegilbert.com/) is doing great work applying accessibility principles to immersive experiences.  

5:16 - Q3) How do you think about different cultures when designing for immersive experiences?
A3) The biggest thing is finding the right use case for the technology. Why is this better in VR (or any emergent tech)? Sean McBeth (https://www.seanmcbeth.com/) is a great example of applying immersive experiences to a use case that can't be had in any other platform, where they use 360 environments to immerse people in a culture to learn new languages.  

9:35 - Q4) What can we do to be better UX professionals and teammates, especially at agile tech companies?
A4) Get to the 'good enough' solution where you can get at least *some* research insights instead of *no* research so that you can hold to the user-centered process, while still moving fast. Ex: Empathy Mapping and Proto Personas might be good compromises to quickly get the highpoints of your customers and challenge assumptions of the team.  

12:10 - Q5) How do you make those trade-offs?
A5) "Sometimes it's making a real impassioned plea." But it's easier to build credit from even quick 'hallway' usability tests to show how you identified issues even before money and time is spent building the wrong things.  "There is no better argument than measurable value." "Show results and communicate them the right way at the right time."  

14:40 - Q6) How do you design for emergent technologies?
A6) Many tools apply naturally to these new fields. But now with spatial computing, you are no longer constrained to a screen. Storyboard, do real-world prototyping (Schell Games came up with 'Brownboxing' https://www.schellgames.com/blog/the-secret-to-vr-development/, Microsoft does 'Bodystorming' https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/mixed-reality/discover/case-study-expanding-the-design-process-for-mixed-reality), then test in a headset ASAP.  

18:55 - Q7) What do you look for when hiring for (entry level) designers?
A7) Design process, strong portfolio, understanding a problem and designing a solution for it. Facilitation is especially important. "Can you take these UX methods and help a team come up with a solution to their problem?" Some experience with 3D is also a nice-to-have.   

21:08 - Q8) How do you invent magic?
A8) "If you don't have physical constraints of the real world, what would you do and how could you do it?" Look for 'where can we take something ordinary and make it do something completely unexpected?'  

22:47 - Fin) Closing remarks?
This is a really exciting time for people to explore spatial computing... it's like the fundamental shift from regular websites to mobile sites. Start exploring via free tools like A-frame, Sketchfab, Blender, etc...  "There's a lot of opportunity to identify what questions we need to be asking. It's very exciting!"

Episode 3 features Dr. Diem Mooney from Carpe Noctem, a career coaching, UX strategy, and business solutions consultant agency. You can check out their services at carpenoctemcoaching.com or connect with Diem on his LinkedIn.

YouTube video version: https://youtu.be/CHJpBAEXEOo

Show Notes:

Q1) What does it mean for design to be delightful?
A1) It means something is intuitive, easy, and pleasant for customers.  

Q2) How would you design inclusive experiences?
A2) Requires a lot of research on specific demographics. "Identify all the marginalized, underrepresented groups that will be interacting with the design. Taking the time to ask for their experience and perspective .. to truly understand their unique challenges and needs."  

Q3) Why don't many companies go further into inclusive and accessible design? What are they missing?
A3) "It can come down to bottom line and revenue,... Or ignorance, not knowing a certain group exists...or not seeing the significance of making an inclusive product"  

Q4) How can companies find these underrepresented groups they don't know about?
A4) Asking more open ended questions in the discovery phase. Putting aside assumptions and being open. Better product discovery so that you can "..tailor your products or services around their needs."  

Q5) How do you think the role of UX is viewed in tech companies, and why is that their perspective?
A5) Companies with no experience with UX get much of their information from trends on the web or what they can quickly google. While some more seasoned companies see UX as an unnecessary step that prolongs the process.  These perspective come from either a complete ignorance of what UX is, or a very siloed experience where most people don't often interact with the UX team.  

Q6) What can we do to be better UX professionals and team mates, especially at 'agile' tech companies?
A6) Standardize processes as much as possible to ensure people understand what can be expected. Have a scientific approach. "Showing that it's repeatable and measurable creates reliability and validity. That will change their perception on your deliverable."  

Q7) How do you design for emergent technology?
A7) It's very similar to designing for existing technology, but with a focus on roadmapping your assumptions and being creative to innovate. There's a lot of guess work, but you have to know that your assumptions may be wrong. The attitude may change, but your process should stay the same. One is an improvement, one is development.  

Q8) What are you looking for when hiring (entry level) designers.
A8) To me, experience doesn't matter as much, I am concerned with their ability to learn and grow. Are they always trying to learn and grow?  

Q9) Why don't more companies have this approach of hiring for coachability and learning aptitude instead of experience?
A9) Because most companies don't have the mindset of teaching and growing their assets. They want to hire people who will come in as an asset. They do not want to or are not able to teach talent, they prioritize a more transactional relationship. "Not all managers or leaders are coaches"   

Q10) How do you invent magic?
A10) If you define magic as a phenomenon that can't be easily explained, then I do so with my goals.  I create an action plan, then do a GAP analysis to see what I may be missing, then go learn those skills in order to accomplish goals that most people are amazed by.

The second episode of A More Delightful Future features Annie Eaton from Futurus, a futures technology company, and Ameoba Labs, an immersive gaming studio. You can check out their services at Futurus.com or connect with Annie on her LinkedIn. Be sure to check out their first game coming out in 2021 @LoamGame on Twitter and Instagram.

Check out the video on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/irF4CTpTwEo

--
Show Notes (TL;DL)

1:25

Q1) What makes your company delightful or impactful?
A1) Futurus is delightful to work for because they adapt to the situation and always challenge themselves to do more than the minimum. "People aren't afraid to ask questions and bring ideas to the table"
Clients are delighted to work with them because they do their best to educate clients about the why, the process, and the technology's ability to make an impact. "The best part about this is learning about the technology along with you. When you learn something new, we learn something new."

4:42
Q2) Do you have quantitative and/or qualitative feedback metrics for your projects?
A2) They have more qualitative feedback usually, but they measure impact in context with the project. They pay attention to what ROI looks like for the customer (users, money, downloads, impact, etc).

7:30
Q3) What does your team look like? How is the design team organized? How do you think about diversity?
A3) ~70% is Art, Design or Development. Everyone does multiple roles, so there is a visual artist who also does industrial design, a designer who can code and a developer who does interaction design.
In terms of diversity, they are over 50% women and ~30% people of color. They are always trying to do better and think long term by going to under-served schools to teach/speak about this technology and show that it is an option for them.

13:35
Q4) What is your research process? How do you cut assumptions and get design critique?
A4) They have an iterative process where they test a new game every week both with non-developers on their team, as well as with customers. They focus on usability and always try to figure out why people gave that feedback.

16:57
Q5) Do you have some type of lo-fidelity stage for testing and getting feedback before developing?
A5) There is no easy way to build lo-fidelity designs in AR/VR, but they develop simple wireframes with no textures and minimal lighting to quickly get it out to customers for testing. Sometimes they do paper prototyping as well.

19:45
Q6) How do you make sure your innovations are solving the right problems?
A6) Because they are completely bootstrapped company with no investors, they can choose what projects to take and what clients to work with. So they only work with people they want to work with on projects they have expertise on. Furthermore, when starting a project, they pay attention to what the client needs (e.g. sales vs exposure) to decide what direction to go.
"We look at what isn't there in VR, and what can make an impact, and how we can bring that to the table."

24:45
Q7) How do you create a very user-centered approach at your company?
A7) They are always open to changing their design and never blame the user for not understanding the technology or design.
"We do a lot to think about how to design experiences like you would a physical experience (unlike a computer or phone-based experience)."

28:05
Q8) How do you invent magic?
A8) "There is no difference between technology and magic... In VR, its whatever our minds can come up with. Actually inventing that magic is all up to your brain and the team's brain."

The first episode of A More Delightful Future is featuring Daryl Roy from 3D Media, a training simulation company using  immersive technology to reduce the time, money, and health risks of  training for high-stakes jobs. You can check out their services at 3Dmedia.io or reach Daryl directly by email via Daryl.Roy@3Dmedia.io. 

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Too Long, Didn't Listen:

Q: Is there anything you want to say about the role of user-centered design in VR/AR and emergent technology?
A: These industries can become stronger and provide better solutions by having open conversations like this to have more communication, transparency, and trust.

Q: Defining delight as something that evokes pleasure, usability, and meaningfulness. What makes your company delightful or impactful?
A: What makes 3DMedia delightful is the fact that they listen to their customers and don't make assumptions. They spend roughly 30% of each project learning and gathering information about the job functions they are going to be building training simulations for.
"Every single engagement is an opportunity to learn the real challenges and bottlenecks the user has"

Q: What is your user research process?
A: Their process is open and always learning and growing. They start by first identifying a practical usecase. They identify the job process, break it down, and research each part. Then they dive deep into each function through interviews that identify the 'unknown unknowns'.
"What we want to find is a critical task of high value that is not complex" 

Q: How do you go about testing projects?
A: They send out versions for testing after every sprint to get feedback points from real users. Then they iterate based on that feedback over and over again until their end users are truly satisfied with the product.

Q: What does your design team look like? Do you have roles or responsibilities for your UX team?
A: Daryl currently has two UX/UI professionals at their organization, each on their own cross-functional project teams. Though they are both UI and UX, they focus on only at a time in different phases of the project. He is looking to hire 2 more UX/UI people to run a total of 4 user-centered project teams in the beginning of 2021.
"People don't remember what you say or do for them, they remember how they felt, and UI/UX is what makes people feel"

Q: What are you looking for in a (UX) design applicant?
A: Daryl is looking for leadership abilities, character, and willingness to take risks.
"The size of a person's portfolio... the number of projects they have is less important to me than their willingness to take risks"

Q: How do they find talent if they aren't looking for typical applications?
A: They don't usually do passive recruiting and post jobs, instead they build relationships months to a year in advance.
"You don't see character in a resume, you see character in conversations and time spent with an individual"

Q: What is the importance of diversity in your relationship-based application process?
A: Daryl looks for people with diverse backgrounds who have gone through unique experiences. It's incredibly important from top to bottom.
"I think diversity is power... the more diversity in thought you have, the more powerful you are as an organization"

Q: How do you invent magic?
A: Trust, confidence, and teamwork. Trust to get honest feedback. Confidence to take risks and keep going. Teamwork to bring it all together.

"Nobody wins by playing it safe. Take risks."