WordCamp presenter Tracy Apps talks about UX design in the wild.
One of the speakers at WordCamp 2020 was Tracy Apps. She offered a great presentation about UX design in the wild, which is often very different from UX design in theory. Tracy is a 20-year UX design veteran, and has a great deal of insight into great UX design.
In short, UX design in the wild is messy. And beautiful. Some of the key takeaways from the presentations were that we don’t design in a bubble…we design for people. This means there is a lot of room for chaos (and creativity). It’s important to keep this in mind. In order to account for this, we must be flexible.
Tracy offered some chaos strategy tips to help with this:
- Know All the Pieces
“Understand the purpose & connections between steps in the design process. Even out of context.” - Be Flexibly Creative
Instead of shutting down, be flexible. - Think Big…and Small
Focus on one piece. But remember where it hangs in the whole gallery. - Agility Through Collaboration
Bounce ideas back and forth. Kinda like cross-department Pong. #AGILEUX - Don’t Know. Try.
The easiest way to be wrong is being confident that you are right. - Immerse Yourself
Deep dive into…well…everything.
It may seem counterintuitive to use the phrase “chaos strategy,” but even in chaos there needs to be a plan in place. Always keep in mind that this is not a set strategy, but it is a strategy. This mindset will allow us to design in a way that adapts to the unexpected…like a global pandemic.
Ready for more? Check out these other WordCamp 2020 recaps:
