ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.
Listen "4 - A More Delightful Future, with Jordan Higgins"
Episode Synopsis
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!"
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!"
More episodes of the podcast A More Delightful Future
1 - A More Delightful Future, with Daryl Roy
02/12/2020
In God we trust