[[000 Main Index]] Related: - [[How to think]] - [[Book - The Multiphase Optimisation Strategy MOST]] - [[Lateral Thinking by Edward De Bono]] - [[202107151404 Book Notes - Think Again]] - [[202102042048 Book Notes - Change by Design]] - [[Book - Thinking in Systems - A primer]] - [[Framework for thinking]] ---- Here are some frameworks and strategies that can be valuable. **System Thinking** - [[Book - Thinking in Systems - A primer]] 1. **Design Thinking**: [[Design Thinking]] This is a human-centered approach to innovation that integrates the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success. The main stages are: - Empathise - Define - Ideate - Prototype - Test 2. **Jobs To Be Done (JTBD)**: This framework focuses on understanding the "job" a user is "hiring" a product or service to do. It can help shift the perspective from just user needs to the underlying problems and goals users are aiming to achieve. 3. **Service Blueprint**: A visual tool that allows teams to see an entire service process in one view. It highlights pain points, physical touchpoints, and back-end interactions. 4. **SWOT Analysis**: A strategic planning tool that helps identify Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of a particular situation or product. 5. **Journey Mapping**: Charting the user's journey through various touchpoints with your service/product, identifying moments of friction and delight. 6. **Affinity Diagramming**: A method used to organize data, feedback, or ideas into themes or categories. It's particularly useful when you have a lot of disparate feedback and are trying to see patterns. 7. **Heuristic Evaluation**: A usability inspection method used to identify usability problems in a user interface, using established heuristics or best practices. 8. **Persona Development**: If you already have personas, then you should look at validating them with the current data and maybe even refining them. 9. **Storyboarding**: Visual representation of user interactions over time can be beneficial for communicating ideas and envisioning potential solutions. 10. **Prototyping**: After ideation, rapidly develop a model of a solution to test its viability. This can be anything from paper prototypes to more interactive ones using tools like Figma, InVision, etc. 11. **Lean UX**: Focuses on the actual experience being designed, rather than deliverables. It promotes iterative design and emphasizes feedback over long cycles. 12. **Prioritization Methods**: Once you've ideated potential solutions, use techniques like the MoSCoW method (Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won't have) or the RICE score (Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort) to prioritize them. 13. **Mind Mapping**: A visual representation of information that can help in organizing and analyzing data, understanding the relationship between different data points, and brainstorming. 14. **Five Whys**: A method used to explore the cause-and-effect relationships underlying a particular problem. It can help get to the root cause of an issue. - Familiarize yourself with any provided material. - Understand the user personas deeply. - Look into current statistics and identify patterns. - Familiarize yourself with the current service/product in detail. Remember, the key is not just to identify problems, but to find innovative and practical solutions. ---- # Study Plan A two-week study plan to familiarize yourself with the various methodologies. Given the time frame, this will be a high-level introduction, but it should give you a solid foundation. **Week 1: Foundations & Understanding** *Day 1 & 2: Design Thinking* - **Morning**: Read about the history and principles of Design Thinking. - **Afternoon**: Go through Stanford d.school's virtual crash course in Design Thinking. - **Case Study**: IDEO's Shopping Cart Project. *Day 3: Jobs To Be Done (JTBD)* - **Morning**: Introduction to JTBD theory. - **Afternoon**: Explore practical techniques to extract JTBD from users. - **Case Study**: How Snickers used JTBD to market itself as a solution to hunger. *Day 4: Service Blueprint & Journey Mapping* - **Morning**: Understand the Service Blueprint methodology. - **Afternoon**: Dive into Journey Mapping, focusing on touchpoints and emotions. - **Case Study**: A hotel guest's journey from booking to check-out. *Day 5: Affinity Diagramming & Heuristic Evaluation* - **Morning**: Learn about Affinity Diagramming, its applications, and tools. - **Afternoon**: Familiarize yourself with the ten heuristics for UI design. - **Case Study**: Usability evaluation of a popular e-commerce website. *Day 6: Storyboarding & Prototyping* - **Morning**: Learn the principles of storyboarding for UX. - **Afternoon**: Introduction to rapid prototyping techniques. - **Case Study**: The evolution of a product feature through storyboarding and prototyping. *Day 7: Rest & Reflection* - Review notes, identify areas of confusion, and seek clarifications. --- **Week 2: Advanced Techniques & Application** *Day 8: Lean UX & Mind Mapping* - **Morning**: Explore the Lean UX approach and principles. - **Afternoon**: Dive into Mind Mapping techniques and tools. - **Case Study**: How a startup pivoted using Lean UX methodologies. *Day 9: Five Whys & SWOT Analysis* - **Morning**: Understand the principle and technique behind Five Whys. - **Afternoon**: Study the SWOT Analysis framework. - **Case Study**: A company's strategic shift using SWOT analysis. *Day 10: Persona Development* - **Morning**: Introduction to user personas and their importance. - **Afternoon**: Dive deep into the process of creating and validating personas. - **Case Study**: How a company refined its product based on new user personas. *Day 11: Prioritization Methods* - **Morning**: Understand the MoSCoW method. - **Afternoon**: Familiarize yourself with the RICE score. - **Case Study**: Prioritizing features in a new app launch. *Day 12: Practical Application* - **Morning**: Choose a product you use regularly and apply 2-3 methodologies to analyze its user experience. - **Afternoon**: Continue your analysis and come up with potential improvements based on your findings. *Day 13: Integration & Synergy* - **Morning**: Study cases where multiple methodologies were combined for better results. - **Afternoon**: Experiment by combining methodologies yourself on a hypothetical project. *Day 14: Rest, Review & Future Planning* - Review the methodologies, identify your favorites, and plan how you'll delve deeper into them in the future. **Resources**: - Books: "The Design of Everyday Things" by Don Norman, "Lean UX" by Jeff Gothelf, "Jobs to be Done" by Anthony Ulwick. - Websites: Nielsen Norman Group (for articles and case studies), IDEO's website (for Design Thinking resources). - Tools: Miro or Lucidchart (for virtual whiteboarding and diagramming). Remember, this plan offers a foundational understanding. Mastery will come with continuous learning and practical application. Good luck!