NN/g Certification

Practice your tactics

Practice the Design Thinking process at different scales. Sample DT problems are a great way to test out new methods and bring new people into the process. Consider if hackdays, internal projects or small design briefs could be the right opportunities to hone your DT tactics.

Craft a solid anchor

Practice your tactics

Don't underestimate the value of collaborating on a good customer-focused needs statement. A good needs statement sets the framework to generate a higher quantity of new ideas, by allowing participants to explore further without losing the context of the workshop's goal.

Beware of hippos

Fear not the absurd

Avoid this common pitfall when collaborating: a group is presented with a problem space, and they start brainstorming solutions. This approach often leads to issues like group thinking and the HiPPO effect, which severely limit the creative potential of a group.

Fear not the absurd

Early in the design process, it’s important to push far past rationality into the absurd. It’s much easier to tame a wild idea into something more feasible, than to push tame idea into exciting, uncharted territory.

Keep your tools sharp

Prepare to cast a wide net

A pen and a practiced hand are the best tools for creating big ideas. Whatever tools you use, coming up with new ideas is like any skill or craft, and it takes practice to be kept in shape.

Prepare to cast a wide net

A successful ideation phase should yield a large number of diverse ideas. There are SO many ways to frame a problem to keep generating ideas. Using a structured approach and anchoring in user research will produce a larger range of ideas.

Look in weird places

Inspiration can come from seemingly irrelevant fields, so look in unexpected places. I loved the case study about NASA engineers grappling with how to transport large cargo on a spacecraft, eventually finding a solution inspired by origami.

Pausing to process

Look in weird places

I see lots of synchronous ideation sessions, but asynchronous sessions can be a better approach for some problems. If the group needs time to process a problem, taking a break (even a day or two) to consider solutions individually and regroup can be the best way forward.

People want credibility

People are (usually) illogical

Content that matches customers' expectations is the best way to establish credibility. By anticipating customers’ expectations, we can design to ease cognitive strain and promote trust.

People are (usually) illogical

Humans usually don’t behave logically. Our decision making is influenced by many emotions, cognitive biases, and heuristics. We tend to make decisions based on what seems to be the least-wrong choice with the least effort.

People can get skeptical

Persuasive tactics can easily backfire and erode trust. Many people can identify common tactics designed to influence their decision making.

Consider the motives

People can get skeptical

When asking customers to make decisions, consider their core motivations. Customers’ motivations and emotional states should determine when & how we ask them to make decisions.

Design for transitions

Keep the core consistent

People tend to use a series of devices and tools in their everyday lives. Consider the transition points between devices, and remember that digital can only solve so many customer problems.

Keep the core consistent

Customers should be able to interact with your product or service on any combination of channels, so aim to keep core functionality consistent across channels. Optimize designs for a specific channel depending on the context.

Speak the same language

Design is a collective decision

Customers deal with many issues caused by how businesses are organized, specifically how internal teams communicate with each other to create a holistic experience... (ie. separated teams responsible for marketing, support, product & design).

Design is a collective decision

Customer Experience covers many levels of how people interact with a business. It's not one person's or team's responsibility for how an experience is designed.

Set clear expectations

There are many different types of workshops. Set clear expectations within your organization about the types of workshops you can run, the role of different types of workshops, and the intended goals for each type.

Build your arsenal

Set clear expectations

Start a toolbox with the materials, props and activities you might need to facilitate. Over time, this will seriously reduce the effort it takes to run a great workshop.

Lay strong groundwork

Setting the right constraints tends to increase group productivity. Clear boundaries, rules and expectations can keep everyone on track to reach a workshop goal.

Be ready to mediate

Lay strong groundwork

Be prepared for conflict. Dominating personalities, disengaged or distracting participants, opposing viewpoints... be prepared to help the group move forward, instead of getting stuck in a conflict that can derail collaboration.

Sharif Labban • UX Portfolio

NN/g UX Certification

Generating big ideas with design Thinking

Practice your tactics

Practice your tactics

Practice your tactics

Craft a solid anchor

Practice your tactics

Practice your tactics

Beware of hippos

Fear not the absurd

Fear not the absurd

Fear not the absurd

Fear not the absurd

Fear not the absurd

Effective Ideation Techniques for UX Design

Keep your tools sharp

Prepare to cast a wide net

Prepare to cast a wide net

Prepare to cast a wide net

Prepare to cast a wide net

Prepare to cast a wide net

Look in weird places

Look in weird places

Look in weird places

Pausing to process

Look in weird places

Look in weird places

Persuasive & emotional design

People want credibility

People are (usually) illogical

People are (usually) illogical

People are (usually) illogical

People are (usually) illogical

People are (usually) illogical

People can get skeptical

People can get skeptical

People can get skeptical

Consider the motives

People can get skeptical

People can get skeptical

Omnichannel journeys & Customer experience

Design for transitions

Keep the core consistent

Keep the core consistent

Keep the core consistent

Keep the core consistent

Keep the core consistent

Speak the same language

Design is a collective decision

Design is a collective decision

Design is a collective decision

Design is a collective decision

Design is a collective decision

Facilitating UX Workshops

Set clear expectations

Set clear expectations

Set clear expectations

Build your arsenal

Set clear expectations

Set clear expectations

Lay strong groundwork

Lay strong groundwork

Lay strong groundwork

Be ready to mediate

Lay strong groundwork

Lay strong groundwork