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In this chapter, you’ll begin with the basics of data-driven UX design.
Learn the answers to key questions: What are the steps of the data-dri-
ven UX design process? How much data do you need to strike the right
balance of flexibility and risk? What types of data are required for your
needs?

“Data-Driven UX Design”

Contents

Index

The Authors

Benjamin Franz, Michaela Kauer-Franz

Usability and User Experience Design

The Comprehensive Guide to Data-Driven UX Design

673 pages | 01/2024 | $59.95 | ISBN 978-1-4932-2496-8

www.rheinwerk-computing.com/5778
 Chapter 5
Data-Driven UX Design
“There is only one boss: the customer. And he can fire everybody in the
company, from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money 5
somewhere else.”
—Sam Walton (founder of Walmart)

In the previous chapter, we introduced you to various approaches for designing solu-
tions with good usability and user experience (UX). Now, we would like to propose a
process that combines the core elements of the processes we presented in Chapter 4
that has worked well for us in many industries in recent years.
In our daily work—and thus also in work for this book—we have decided against sim-
ply adopting one of the processes since all processes contain interesting aspects for
development. However, the process we follow in the remainder of this book is firmly
based on International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9241-210 and supple-
ments the standard with elements of risk assessment from the medical standard Inter-
national Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 62366-1.
We call the process we use for structuring design methods in the course of a project
data-driven UX design (3DUX). The name emphasizes that, in our view, a product with
good usability and UX can only succeed if actual data from contact with users is inte-
grated. Design processes that dispense with user feedback in all forms at best lead to
success through luck, which is not the path we would like to show you.
So first, let’s start by presenting an overview of our objective with the data-driven UX
design process. We’ll explain which logical steps you should go through in terms of
time. The methods for each step and a more in-depth look at each step will be provided
in Chapter 8 through Chapter 13. Following the brief outline of the process, we’ll cover
what type and amount of data we would recommend for use in the process, depending
on the flexibility and risk of your application.

5.1 The Goal of the Data-Driven UX Design Process

Our goal is to provide a process that empowers you to make informed product and
business decisions based on data, not on gut instincts. We also integrate significantly
more consideration of the risks associated with product use than other processes out-
side medical technology typically do.

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In our projects, we repeatedly encounter customers who have been desperately fight- adapted, or other product decisions must be made at the very last minute based on gut
ing a war about which features are needed in their companies for years, whether a par- instinct. This phenomenon is also known as the highest paid person’s opinion (HIPPO)
ticular product would be used by the users or not. Frequently, the discussion in or effect. HIPPO is often the deciding factor. Again, the data-driven UX design process
between the departments drags on for years, paralyzing development or making it guards against HIPPO because you’ll have data to justify and defend your design deci-
slower than expected. sions.
Using the data-driven UX design process, we can regularly generate “aha” moments, as Last but not least, our process aims to get you and your team to a successful solution 5
user feedback allows us to turn opinions into a discussion about data. We want to design more quickly and more reliably. But how does data-driven UX design work?
enable these “aha” moments for you too.
The data-driven UX design process provides arguments for justifying your design deci-
sions, thus simplifying the discussion with all decision-makers involved and protect- 5.2 The Data-Driven UX Design Process
ing you from unwelcome consequences. Finally, you can show that you’ve done
An ideal sequence for the process is shown in Figure 5.2. The sequence starts at the
everything possible to ensure success, as shown in Figure 5.1.
beginning of solution development. Even if you’re still considering developing a new
system, product, or service, taking the first steps we describe before you develop a tech-
nical prototype is a good idea.

Idea
Advantages of (New product)
Further development
the Data-Driven UX
Design Process Discussions are
shortened or avoided

Context of use
analysis

Deriving and
Evaluation of design
documenting usage
solutions
requirements
Defense of chosen Validation of design
designs decisions

Developing design
solutions

Technical Summative
Higher certainty for a Easier justification to Development Evaluation Release
successful design decision makers (incl. documentation) (only medical devices)

Figure 5.2 Overview of the data-driven UX design process.

Figure 5.1 Advantages of the data-driven UX design process.
Few projects start from a "greenfield" scenario; instead, they start with existing products
In our experience, our process also saves products from unfounded changes at the last and systems. Therefore, you can, of course, enter the process at any time. From experi-
moment. If no data is available, we regularly experience how, during discussions with ence, we assure you that you can always select, combine, and apply methods in such a
management, features suddenly need to be added or removed, designs must be way that they add value to further development—regardless of your current status.

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However, these methods add the most value if you start as early as possible and do as Human-centered design—and the step-by-step discovery of new requirements—in
little other work as possible beforehand. This efficiency stems from making decisions the data-driven UX design process is iterative. In our experience, you’ll be most suc-
based on user data in data-driven UX design. If you only integrate this user data into cessful if you accept the iterative nature of the human-centered approach and plan
development later, then changes will likely be much more extensive and, therefore, for various iterations from the outset.
more expensive. Consequently, we’ll show you the process from start to finish. We haven’t had a good experience putting a lot of effort into contacting users and
Think of the data-driven UX design process as an approach that makes you a blueprint stakeholders at the beginning of a project and then feeding off it afterward. We 5
for your future solution. When you finish the process, you “only” need to implement instead recommend working fast and keeping the iterations as short as possible.
the solution (e.g., program it). But you have already defined the usability, the UX, and Then, you’ll discover missing requirements and open issues more quickly.
the user acceptance. 쐍 Decisions are made analytically and based on risk.
You can adjust the process scope depending on your situation; on the system, product, Decisions within the data-driven UX design process are made analytically and are
or service; and the competitive environment. In this chapter, we’ll explore a tool we call risk based. This description includes the rigorous derivation of features and their
the flexibility and risk matrix. This matrix enables informed decision-making about the designs based on user and stakeholder feedback and needs. This derivation should
required data scope and thus controls the scope of the process. But first, let’s briefly always be based on the data you’ve collected throughout the process. After all, test-
introduce how the work with our process should be carried out so that it brings the ing and revising a design iteratively has little value if you don’t consider user feed-
most significant value. back!
In addition, considering errors and usability problems, in particular, should be ana-
lytical. By “analytical,” we mean that the cause of the error is traced back, in terms of
5.2.1 How to Get the Most Value from the Process
information processing, to derive suitable design solutions in a targeted manner.
To help you get the most out of data-driven UX design, let’s recap some preliminary We recommend that you focus on critical errors and usability problems, then on
assumptions we’ve been making: widespread problems, and then gradually work your way up to the other problems.
쐍 Usability and UX design should be about developing solutions for people. This approach helps you focus on the most severe issues and makes it easier to pres-
The data-driven UX design process combines the approaches described in Chapter 4 ent your work in a well-structured and cleanly derived manner. Your results become
to design systems, products, and services with good usability and UX. easier to understand for everyone else, which will ensure you hold all the aces in
Thus, using this process only makes sense if you design products with user inter- heated discussions with decision-makers, thus enabling you to make solid argu-
faces (UIs). Any products, systems, or services “under the hood,” without direct con- ments. Of course, you can and should garnish all these justifications with the expe-
tact with users, will not benefit from the data-driven UX design process. For all other riences you have already gained.
products, systems, and services, however, the process helps design the technology
to adapt to the users and their needs, not the other way around.
5.2.2 Brief Overview of the Data-Driven UX Design Process
쐍 You achieve the best results in interdisciplinary teams.
Our data-driven UX design process consists of four successive, iterative steps, followed
The design of human-centered solutions requires many different expertise and per-
by further steps for implementation and development. The basic framework of this
spectives. You need expertise in process design, interviewing and testing users, the
process is based on ISO 9241-210, supplemented by risk aspects based on IEC 62366-1.
proper design of studies, and the visual design of applications. In our experience,
Whenever we speak of “risk” in this book, we mean: Risk, defined as the probability of
success is more likely if you have experts in those areas instead of expecting one
the occurrence of an event multiplied by its severity.
person to cover all the expertise needed.
The process starts with a context of use analysis, including risk assessment and docu-
쐍 Human-centered design happens iteratively.
mentation, followed by the derivation and documentation of the usage requirements.
Since we develop for people, decisions about the quality of the solution are also
Subsequently, design solutions are developed from the usage requirements, with pri-
made by people. In the case of the data-driven UX design process, decisions are made
oritization during development based on risk and frequency of use.
by users or stakeholders. Even if we have a lot of experience with the target group,
we are not members of the target group, so we must question and iteratively The iterative part concludes with the evaluation of the design solutions. The focus of
improve our solutions through conversations, feedback, and tests. the evaluation is again selected based on risk and frequency of use. Depending on the

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result, previous steps are repeated, or (technical) development is started. In the case of
medical devices, the summative evaluation still follows from a usability point of view Understanding the
What is a system, a A solution to a
People problems people involved and
before the product is placed on the market. In the following sections, we present the product, or a service? problem!
their problems
steps of the process in more detail.

Figure 5.4 To design a system, product, or service, you must understand the people involved
5.2.3 Context of Use Analysis, Including Risk Assessment and Documentation and their problems. 5
The first step in the data-driven UX design process is the context of use analysis, as
Sometimes, you solve people’s problems in a similar situation to yours. Then it feels
shown in Figure 5.3. In this activity, we join together all the processes that assume that
excessive to start the process with a detailed analysis. In many situations, however,
successful design always starts with understanding the user. Our question is “What do
you’ll find that you have little experience with the environment yourself simply
you think a system, product, or service is?” Our answer is “The solution to a problem!”
because of the application area.

Idea For example, we specialize in the business-to-business (B2B) environment with com-
(New product) plex and critical applications and the medical market. In the last two decades, we’ve cut
Further development
down trees, visited steel mills, visited neonatal intensive care units, accompanied
waste management workers, designed emergency landing systems for pilots in large
aircraft, and observed control rooms running subways, to name just a few application
Context of use
analysis areas. In every single case, we quickly saw that the expert on the environment was not
us but the user sitting opposite us.
Believe us when we say: You may feel that you know the target group well or belong to
Deriving and
Evaluation of design
documenting usage
the target group yourself, but you should take the time for a detailed context of use
solutions
requirements analysis that goes beyond a short brainstorming session in the development team.
Therefore, in this step, you’ll collect data about the context of use. This data can be
existing data (especially if you already have a predecessor product on the market), or
Developing design this data could be data you’re still generating in contact with users.
solutions
In our view, the context of use also includes a risk classification. In this context, we draw
upon the ideas of IEC 62366-1, which considers possible hazards and hazard-related
Technical Summative usage scenarios at the beginning of the usability engineering process. You don’t neces-
Development Evaluation Release
(incl. documentation) (only medical devices)
sarily have to create scenarios at this point, but you should consider how risky the
application you’re working with is. This assessment should lay the foundation for the
amount of data you generate during the process. In this context, a higher risk posed by
Figure 5.3 Data-driven UX design process: context of use analysis.
operating errors means you need more data, as shown in Figure 5.5. A low risk associ-
ated with mistaken operations implies that you need less data.
No matter what problem you look at in the world, it is always a problem that affects Even though few or even no requirements exist for the documentation of findings in
people. Now, you might say, “Wait a minute, everybody’s talking about environmental most non-regulated areas, we feel that basic documentation is a prerequisite for the
protection. That’s not a people problem.” Yes, it is. Environmental protection is only per- data-driven UX design process to show its full strength. To avoid discussions later, you
ceived as a problem when people suffer from it: because it’s too hot, food is scarce, a want to substantiate your decisions based on the data, and the documentation comes
nice vacation spot is no longer above water, and so on. Before the problem arises, these in handy. The format of the documentation is largely irrelevant; the main thing is that
issues rarely or even never come to mind. As a result, you’re constantly solving prob- you and your stakeholders still understand later what you wanted to remember.
lems for people, and to do that, you must understand people’s problems, as shown in
Figure 5.4.

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5 Data-Driven UX Design 5.2 The Data-Driven UX Design Process

Idea
(New product)
Risk
Further development

Context of use
analysis 5

Deriving and
Evaluation of design
documenting usage
solutions
requirements

Developing design
solutions

Technical Summative
Amount of user data required Development Evaluation Release
(incl. documentation) (only medical devices)
Figure 5.5 The greater the risk posed by your system, product, or service, the greater the
amount of (user) data required.
Figure 5.6 Data-driven UX design process: deriving usage requirements.
5.2.4 Deriving and Documenting Usage Requirements
In the context of use analysis, you have gotten to know your users and their environ-
ment. Hopefully, you have deeply understood the user group and their needs. Now,
you’re ready to design, right? Not quite yet.
Requirements
In the spirit of the Double Diamond model and design thinking, we ask you to focus
first. Through the context of use analysis, you have received a great deal of new infor-
mation that now needs to be structured. Structuring and focusing will help you get an
overview of the data and choose a weighting that reflects the results of the context of
use analysis. Without this structuring and focusing, you risk forgetting much of the
information within a short period or—even worse—setting the wrong priorities in
development because you weigh all the information equally.
This structuring should be performed by deriving usage requirements for the solution,
Uncertainty
as shown in Figure 5.6.
These requirements may be vague at the beginning. Still, they become sharper with
each iteration and thus enable you to design the appropriate solution step by step in a
targeted manner and test the solution approaches found, as shown in Figure 5.7. In
addition to the concreteness, the scope of the user requirements will also change Development process

during the process. Therefore, requirements not yet foreseeable at the beginning of the
development will gradually be added. Figure 5.7 The requirements are still vague at the beginning of the development process.
Through iterations, they become more precise, and new requirements are added.

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The step-by-step addition of new requirements is neither critical nor unusual in an iter- All elements that can lead to hazards during use and where incorrect use poses a risk to
ative process; it's a normal part of development. Thus, documentation of the require- users, third parties, or the company should be designed for at the beginning, as shown
ments is also essential now so that individual aspects are not lost over time and in Figure 5.9. (In Section 5.3, we’ll go into this in more detail.) After accounting for risk,
requirements are not forgotten. you’ll deal with the frequently used elements that are elementary for the solution’s
success.

5.2.5 Developing Design Solutions Based on Risk and Usage 5

Once the initial requirements are known, now is the time to develop design solutions, Elements that pose a Frequently used Rarely used elements
risk (no matter how elements
as shown in Figure 5.8. Within the data-driven UX design process, we understand the frequently used)
1. 2. 3.
development of design solutions as a fast and prototype-centered process and not tech-
nical development. To use the available resources as sparingly as possible, we work
with quickly designed prototypes that make it easy for users to imagine how they will Figure 5.9 Order of designing in the data-driven UX design process.
interact with the solution. The main goals of this phase are to find the right path and to
provide testable prototypes early on. When we say “elements” in this context, we’re referring primarily to workflows
mapped across the solution. By designing these workflows early, you ensure that risky
Idea and frequently used workflows are tested multiple times and thus go through as many
(New product)
Further development
iterations and improvements as possible. With each iteration, you add more workflows
and parts of the solution, descending by risk and frequency of use so that the “least
important” elements are implemented only at the end and tested infrequently or per-
haps not at all. This approach works just as well for apps and software applications as it
Context of use
analysis does for physical products that need to be operated.
If you still have entirely different solutions in the room at the beginning (e.g., a service
versus an app versus an app with a combined service), we recommend that you first
Deriving and
Evaluation of design
documenting usage map and test the idea on a rough level before starting any detailed work. After all, you
solutions
requirements don’t need to define what the workflows will look like in the app if you end up with no
app.
Again, we realize that if you work in an app development company, you most likely
Developing design
solutions won’t even ask yourself if it should be an app. However, this question can be helpful to
open up your thinking, come up with alternative solutions, and better classify feedback
from users.
Technical Summative
Development Evaluation Release We recommend keeping all intermediate results for the later justification of your
(incl. documentation) (only medical devices) design solution. In this way, you can tell a coherent and exciting story about the devel-
opment of your application afterward. This story will make it much easier for you to
argue for your design solution and also save you from repeating mistakes you had cor-
Figure 5.8 Data-driven UX design process: developing design solutions. rected in advance during later revisions and iterations.

As described earlier, we assume that the entire process is iterative and that you (just
Tip: Reconcile Solutions
like us) will need several attempts to find an optimal or at least sufficiently good solu-
Before we jump into the next section, a note on the development of design solutions:
tion. As a result, you’ll conduct multiple tests of your designs and then decide which
Even if we explicitly proceed quickly and prototypically without technical development,
options to pursue and which solutions to discard. We encourage you to proceed based
the results of this step are, after all, to be implemented later. Only if the concepts in
on your risk assessment.
this process step ultimately become a real system, product, or service will your work

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Similar to the designing step, when evaluating, we prioritize riskier and more fre-
bear fruit and generate value for users. Therefore, integrating the technical implemen-
quently used workflows higher than other workflows. Depending on the scope of the
tation partners as stakeholders directly can help.
solution, you may not have the chance to test all aspects all the time. Therefore, we test
We’ve always had the best experience discussing our designs and design solutions
the risky and frequently used workflows as often as possible. In this way, even if you
with our clients (both internal and external) and our technical implementation part-
only have a small number of users each time, your most essential workflows will be
ners before user testing. Doing so prevents you from getting good user feedback on
evaluated by many people. This approach increases your confidence that you won’t
solutions that will never see the light of day due to the effort involved or other techni- 5
miss any relevant problems and then be unpleasantly surprised during live operations.
cal restrictions. Nothing is more frustrating than having designed an excellent UI that
How often you test depends again on the overall risk, complexity, prior experience,
no one ever gets to see in a final product.
and ability to make changes after release.
You’ll then evaluate the data that you gain from the evaluation. Your goal in this step
5.2.6 Evaluation of Design Solutions Prioritized by Risk and Frequency of Use should be to understand what works well and what does not. Working well refers to all
of the following aspects:
You might recall our earlier emphasis on the word “analytical” in Section 5.2.1. Now
comes another part in which analysis and learning play significant roles, as shown in 쐍 Users understand the content.
Figure 5.10. 쐍 The workflows are transparent for users to follow.
쐍 Users can go through the tasks independently.
Idea
(New product)
쐍 The design pleases users subjectively.
Further development
Now is when the iterative nature of the data-driven UX design process is most evident,
as the evaluation results determine how to proceed downstream through the following
questions, as shown in Figure 5.11:
Context of use
analysis
쐍 Has the solution been wholly rejected and deemed not to fit?
Discard this solution and look for a new approach. You may need to go as far back as
returning to the context of use analysis if the results indicate that you completely
Deriving and
Evaluation of design missed essential elements. At the very least, however, you’ll add individual require-
documenting usage
solutions
requirements
ments and revise the design.
쐍 Was the approach appropriate, but the implementation itself was still not correct?
Then, stay with the general direction but refine the implementation. In this case,
Developing design
solutions start more at the design solutions stage and work on the workflows and implemen-
tations. You must optimize the parts that provoked negative feedback without wors-
ening the good points. If user input has been comprehensively positive, then move
Technical Summative on to implementation.
Development Evaluation Release
(incl. documentation) (only medical devices)
The implementation can be performed in different ways. Either you submit the com-
plete package for implementation—more or less “throwing it at the wall and seeing
what sticks” to borrow an old phrase—or you hand over individual parts that work well
Figure 5.10 Data-driven UX design process: evaluation of design solutions. to the implementation team, even as you work with your team on the remaining
pieces. This scenario is often how collaboration works in agile development environ-
After you have developed design solutions, you evaluate the solutions. In principle, ments.
you have a variety of possible methods that can be used for this evaluation. We’ll pres-
No matter which type of implementation is chosen for your projects, be prepared that
ent the methods in detail later in Chapter 12. However, remember that you’ll need feed-
there will still be queries and agreements after submission, during which one or two
back from your users—in some form—for a meaningful evaluation of your design
things may be adjusted again. The only important thing is that you don’t make any
solution. Expert evaluations can only replace user evaluations in the rarest of cases.

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compromises when adapting for implementation that save three days of development In reality, we have deadlines and limited resources, which create the need to keep the
time, but mean 5% more call center calls down the road. The data from user tests will design process as large as necessary but as small as possible. If you’re like many of us,
help you decide which compromises you can make and which you cannot. you probably have difficulty deciding how much is “enough.” To help you with this
question, we have developed the flexibility and risk matrix shown in Figure 5.12.
The idea behind this matrix is to evaluate your system, product, or service concerning
the two dimensions of flexibility and risk and then draw conclusions about the effort 5
Fundamentally poor New
feedback approach you need to invest in data-driven UX design. This tool allows you to estimate the data
required for the rest of the process. First, let’s introduce you to the flexibility dimen-
sion.

Fundamentally good
Detail work on the
feedback, but
implementation
poor implementation

not flexible
Handover
Good feedback
to the technical
without restrictions
implementation

Figure 5.11 Further procedure after an evaluation with users based on the feedback received.

In the medical technology industry, a summative evaluation occurs at the end of the
development process. In this step, your goal is not to improve the solution but to prove
that the operation of your UI is free of unacceptable risks (see Chapter 4, Section 4.5).

flexible
In most other cases—perhaps aside from marketing in-house or externally—exten-
sively retesting a finished product has little point unless you plan to use the data to
continue learning.
low risk high risk
And now you’re done! Of course, “done” in digital products always means “done for
now.” In reality, any user feedback that comes to you during live operations is feedback
that can be used to revise the product in the next version. Thus, once you start using it, Figure 5.12 Flexibility and risk matrix for determining the required data in the data-driven
UX design process.
you’ll never get rid of the data-driven UX design process. But: How much of it do you
need?
5.3.1 The Flexibility of Your Solution
By flexibility, we don’t mean how far you can stretch or bend your product but how
5.3 The Flexibility and Risk Matrix: How Much Data Do You adaptable it is after release.
Really Need?
If you manufacture a washing machine, for example, large parts of the product are
In a perfect world, you would first conduct extensive user research, systematically fixed after development and delivery: The dimensions are defined, the control knobs
derive requirements, present initial ideas and designs, and test them until the results are fixed, and even the electronics of your device can no longer be changed without
say, “Now it’s perfect!” Unfortunately, we experience this perfect case relatively rarely great effort. Of course, you could send out a service technician and have all washing
in the real world. machines modified by hand—but the effort involved would most likely be dispropor-
tionate to the benefit.

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This product therefore has very little flexibility in our perception. In addition, the life- 쐍 Does your solution also have internet access during use, which you, as the manufac-
cycle of a washing machine is usually relatively long—about 10 years—which ensures turer, can access from the outside?
that customers who have just bought a new one will not buy another one for a while. So 쐍 If no internet access is available, does your product have the ability to have new
again, very little flexibility exists in this context. Your washing machine can only be product versions installed on-site by users?
less flexible if you also use the washing machine in a regulated market (let’s say, for
example, the medical market). Then, in addition to the technical and organizational The more often you answer “yes,” the shorter the period customers and users expect to
work with an unchanged product version, and the more flexible your product is. How- 5
hurdles to change, regulatory hurdles may even prohibit you from changing the wash-
ing machine—at least, without retesting the new design with regulatory agencies. As a ever, if you said “no” frequently, you should spend more time defining user require-
result, your product would not be flexible enough to be changed without incurring sig- ments early on and testing them, as your solution will need to be classified as less
nificant costs and effort for quite some time. flexible.

But if your washing machines were “smart,” for example, and you, as the manufacturer,
could remotely change and adjust various cleaning programs via software updates, 5.3.2 The Risk of Your Solution
your device would gain significantly in flexibility. You still could not change the hard- The risk dimension refers to how dangerous it is if errors occur while using your prod-
ware, but you could change its functionality, at least within certain limits. uct, system, or service. Risk in this context is defined according to ISO 14971 in the fol-
Hardware flexibility is also possible in principle. For example, a manufacturer of hot lowing formula:
tubs offers the option of exchanging the backrests of the individual seats with a click Risk = Probability of occurrence × Severity
system. The new backrest creates a unique experience with its different massage jets,
Therefore, the question is how often this error is likely to occur and how bad its possi-
which the customer can thus flexibly control himself.
ble consequences result. The risk can relate to different areas:
Some complete systems are based entirely on hardware flexibility and have standard-
쐍 The health or life of persons is endangered by operating errors caused by poor
ized interfaces. Examples include system cameras with exchangeable lenses or com-
design.
puters with exchangeable RAM and slots for add-on cards.
쐍 The economic basis of a company is jeopardized by poor design. This could happen,
On the other side of the flexibility scale are products that can be easily changed even
for example, if production losses occur due to faulty operation or if a lawsuit is
after market launch. For example, unregulated software products can usually be
sought because of these production losses.
adapted quickly and flexibly. Manufacturers can make small or far-reaching changes
via patches or updates, integrate or remove functions, and even completely replace the 쐍 The reputation of a company is jeopardized by poor design. How bad the loss of rep-
UI. utation is for the company must be examined individually based on the brand value
and promise.
Therefore, the higher the flexibility, the more uncertainty you can accept in develop-
ment. If it’s easy to fix bugs with one click and add features even though the product is The easiest way to understand the risk is probably if you’re developing a system, prod-
already in the field and used, securing the design with data is less relevant. Unless, of uct, or solution whose use is directly related to human health or life.
course, you’re operating in a risky environment. Perhaps you now have the feeling that this can’t happen to you. However, as UXers, we
To determine whether flexibility is more likely to be high or low in your case, ask your- have worked directly on such projects in many places! Especially in the medical sector,
self the following questions: high-risk products are commonplace: developing a heart-lung machine, a defibrillator,
or a patient monitor. But even outside the medical industry, we frequently encounter
쐍 How long do your customers and users expect to work with an unchanged version
high-risk projects, such as an aircraft emergency landing system or an airport baggage
of your solution?
scanner. In all these cases, incorrect operation and misjudgment can result in glaring
쐍 Can and may your solution be used without prior training of the users?
damage. Therefore, solutions that endanger the health or human life are automatically
쐍 Is it possible to update your solution without regulatory or organizational con- (high) risk for us.
straints that require (re)testing?
Also risky, but of course in a different way, are applications that, if misused and misin-
terpreted by users, cause damage to a company’s economic foundation. This can be

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your own, but more importantly, it can be your customers’ businesses. This category of However, the potential damage is lower if your company operates more in the back-
products includes, for example, process controls in production or software systems ground and presents many different brands to customers. An example of this could be
that map a company’s primary work processes in the productive area. For manufactur- Proctor & Gamble, whose in-house brands include the diaper manufacturer Pampers
ing companies, this could be production planning or machine control; for service com- and the cleaning product Swiffer or the chest rubs from Vicks. If a batch of Pampers dia-
panies, it could be the project management tool or central data storage. pers does not work as intended, it is unlikely that customers will stop buying and using
So, whenever the purpose of the business cannot be fulfilled or can only be partially ful- Swiffer.
5
filled if your system, product, or service is operated incorrectly, we would also rate the Of all the factors mentioned, damage to the brand is the hardest to measure. Neverthe-
application as risky. Compared to the risk of direct harm to people, however, it is more less, we would also rate an application as risky here if it is published by a strong brand
of a medium risk. closely linked to the product and the brand itself stands for high product quality in the
The company that runs into economic difficulties due to a poorly designed system, premium price segment.
product, or service can also be your own. For example, if you only have the capital for If you want to assess how risky your product, system, or service is, you can use the fol-
one product development, this last throw should fit and not flop. You could not lowing questions to make an assessment:
“afford” a poor design in this case. 쐍 Can people’s lives be endangered by operating your product incorrectly?
The last point—admittedly a relatively soft one, but no less important—is when poor 쐍 How many lives will be put at risk if there is a mishandling?
design threatens your company’s reputation to such an extent that short-term or last-
쐍 Can incorrect operation of your product threaten the health of people?
ing damage is to be expected, affecting the perception of the brand and its quality. How
쐍 How many people’s health is at risk if something goes wrong?
severe the damage is, of course, depends heavily on several factors. In our view, these
include: 쐍 Can incorrect operation endanger the economic basis of another company or your
company?
쐍 How established is the brand already?
쐍 Can poor design (not only in terms of usability but also UX) cause lasting damage to
쐍 What does the brand stand for?
the value of your brand?
쐍 How closely is the brand linked to the product?
The more often your answer to these questions is “yes,” and the higher the number of
In our view, the potential damage from a poorly designed solution is significantly people potentially affected, the higher the risk associated with your product, system, or
higher for established brands with outstanding quality than for unknown players. solution. If you could answer “no” to all questions, it is probably a solution with rela-
For example, buying a premium sedan and then struggling with the super-expensive tively low risk.
but stubborn-to-operate UI of the infotainment system hurts the brand. It’s not
uncommon in this case to tell friends or acquaintances that the vehicle itself is excel-
5.3.3 Working with the Flexibility and Risk Matrix
lent, but the operation is horrible. Suddenly, it’s not so “premium” anymore.
With the definition of flexibility and risk from the previous sections, working with the
If you don’t have a well-known brand yet, you can’t lose brand equity through poor
flexibility and risk matrix is now relatively easy to explain. To work with the matrix,
design. But of course, you won’t build one either. However, if you work for Apple, for
you should ask yourself the following two questions:
example, and thus even stand for usability, UX, and innovation, the whole thing looks
different: The damage caused by a problematic product would be immense. 1. How flexible is my solution once I have finished developing it and brought it to mar-
ket?
The same applies if the poorly designed product is closely linked to the customer’s
brand. Then bad design radiates strongly and clearly onto the core brand—just like 2. What would be the risk if my solution leads to mistaken operation and misinterpre-
good design. An example of products closely related to the core brand are Apple prod- tation?
ucts, such as the Apple Watch. Here, it is clear from the name alone that there is a close The point of using the matrix is not to justify your position in the matrix down to a
connection between the product and the core brand. So, if the Apple Watch is poorly tenth of an inch. Don’t fret about whether your solution scores a 58 or a 59 on the flex-
designed, it reflects directly on Apple. ibility scale. We’re just trying to get a sense of the flexibility and risk of your solution.

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5 Data-Driven UX Design 5.4 Objective versus Subjective Data

In general, the further you move your solution to the top right of the matrix, the more 쐍 If you have an inflexible but low-risk solution (top left), the worst that happens to you
data you should obtain during the development of your solution to ensure the quality is that you must live permanently with a bad solution. Ultimately, only you (and
of your designs, as shown in Figure 5.13. The further you’re at the zero point of the your customers) can decide whether you want and accept that. In most cases, a final
matrix at the bottom left, the less effort you need to invest in testing your solution in test is unnecessary, and the number of iterations can be reduced compared to risky
advance. applications. An example product in this category would be the washing machine
from a non-premium manufacturer mentioned earlier. This machine is not flexible
5
due to fixed hardware and software. However, no great (image) damage can be
not flexible

expected as long as the product works.

쐍 If you have a flexible and low-risk application (bottom left), you’re very comfortable.
You can get to market quickly and then address potential issues downstream. From
our perspective, you don’t need a final test, can test less, or maybe not test at all, and
in the best case, you can continue to work with usage data from live operations. An
ta
example product would be a to-do app without a well-known brand. The app can be
f da changed flexibly anytime and does no critical damage if errors occur.
o
nt
ou
Am You should already have understood how extensive the data-driven UX design process
should be for your concrete application. Now, let’s focus on the data you’ll need.
flexible

5.4 Objective versus Subjective Data

In the previous section, we explored if and when you need data. In this section, we’ll
now deal with the next question: What kind of data is available, and which data do you
low risk high risk
need? Put simply, two types of data can be obtained from users: objective data and sub-
jective data.
Figure 5.13 The required amount of data according to the flexibility and risk matrix.
Subjective data include statements about opinions, attitudes, likes, looks, and so on,
The position of your solution on the matrix has several consequences: which are personal assessments that may differ from person to person and that you
cannot infer in advance when viewed from the outside. On the other hand, objective
쐍 If you have a low-flex but high-risk application (top right), you must ensure every-
data is perceived in the same way by different observers. This kind of data includes, for
thing works in advance. In this area, you must invest the most effort, and in the best
example, errors in handling a particular UI or operation times. They are, therefore,
case, you even perform a final test before release (of course, for a medical device, you
observable facts.
must do this anyway, regardless of the matrix). This approach gives you multiple
safeguards and also allows you to show that you have invested time and effort to The distinction is quite simple: Data is objective if you can give the same information
ensure that your product not only looks good in the end but also works safely. An to different observers and they all—independently of each other—come to the same
example of a product in this category would be a heart-lung machine: a regulated, conclusion. Data is subjective when this corroboration is not the case. Subjective data
approved hardware product that can’t be changed once shipped. What’s more, peo- usually involves a person’s values, attitudes, frameworks, and prior experiences. Sub-
ple die if this machine is operated incorrectly. jectivity is a matter of interpreting or evaluating the facts.

쐍 If you have a very flexible but potentially risky application (bottom right), you should For example, you might objectively observe that users make a mistake when using a
also ensure that everything works so that no unnecessary damage occurs. In this product. Subjectively, the fact that the user made a mistake may subsequently be per-
area, liability issues and due diligence can suddenly come into play. Again, a final ceived as good or bad. If the product is a challenging game of skill, as shown in Figure
test before release is a good idea. An example product in this area would be Tesla, 5.14, on the left, then one mistake would often also be a great accomplishment that few
whose hardware is fixed but can be widely updated via “over the air” software can manage. If the product is an emergency landing system for pilots, as shown in
updates. Nevertheless, people can still be harmed in the event of operating errors. Figure 5.14, on the right, one mistake would probably be fatal.

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5 Data-Driven UX Design 5.4 Objective versus Subjective Data

In our experience, the type of data you can use changes significantly during develop-
ment. If you’re still at the very beginning of development, then on the one hand, you’ll
have objective data. However, this data logically does not relate to your solution since
it does not yet exist but relates to previous versions or publicly available statistics.
In many cases, when you have little or no data to draw upon, much of the available data
will be subjective, as shown in Figure 5.15. You might conduct interviews and focus 5
groups or online surveys that solicit opinions and assessments. Subjective data is often
used to understand your target audience better and validate a fundamental design
direction.
Figure 5.14 Skill game (left) versus emergency landing system for pilots (right).

As you have probably noticed from our examples and our discussion of data, subjective Importance subjective data objective data

and objective data do not necessarily have to be related. Often, data can fundamentally
diverge. We often observe the following pattern in UX tests:
1. A new tool is tested for the first time and is not yet good.
2. Users despair (objectively) about every task and cannot solve any of them success-
fully.
3. In the post-survey, the users give the tool top ratings because it’s not the product’s Development process

fault but their own that it doesn’t work.

Figure 5.15 Availability and need of subjective and objective data over time of a development.
We do not share this assessment at all. It is never the user’s fault if solutions are not
self-explanatory and easy to use. It is the fault of the solution. Thus, we urge you to col- As development progresses, objective data increasingly supplement subjective data, as
lect objective and subjective data in all tests and evaluations you perform with your shown in Figure 5.15. At the beginning—when you have very rudimentary design solu-
system, product, or service. After all, often enough, the exact opposite happens: tions—experience shows that you’ll only have some objective data, perhaps only in
1. A tool that has already been designed as a successor to an existing product with a lot individual dimensions (e.g., error frequency). Nevertheless, you’ll still gather a lot of
of prior knowledge about efficient processes is tested. additional information at these points, which will have more of a subjective character,
2. The users can solve all tasks relatively error free and operate the tool. to improve the quality of your design as quickly as possible.

3. In the post-survey, simplicity is praised, but users harbor no genuine enthusiasm for The ratio will suddenly reverse when you’re close to completion or even after launch.
the tool. You’ll collect mainly objective data in tests and live operations and selectively supple-
ment this objective data with subjective data. This approach is true until you go back to
The objective data speaks for a good tool, and the subjective data indicates something redevelopment or further development and dive more deeply into user requirements,
fundamentally wrong. For a comprehensive picture of the current state of your solu- for which you’ll need more subjective data again.
tion, you need both objective and subjective data.
As you can see, whether you need (or can get) more objective or subjective data
In some areas (e.g., medical technology), objective data is mandatory for product depends on the time in development and the objective. The more you want to test
approval. In other industries (e.g., the automotive industry), manufacturers have also whether certain parts or processes in your system, product, or service work, the more
committed themselves to comply with objective metrics (e.g., no development of sys- objective data you need. The more feedback you need on what and how to design, the
tems where the gaze aversion time from the road exceeds 2 seconds). Note that, if the more subjective data you need.
outcome can be critical, a consensus should exist that the design’s success should also
be measured objectively. After all, only objective data allows you to analyze the causes
of errors and thus systematically eliminate the causes of problems.

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5.5 Quantitative versus Qualitative Data 쐍 Subjective qualitative data, for example, full-text responses to interview questions
쐍 Subjective quantitative data, for example, scale ratings on the simplicity of specific
In addition to whether you should deal with objective or subjective data, there is often
software in an online questionnaire
the discussion of whether quantitative or qualitative data is more needed. The distinc-
tion between quantitative and qualitative data can clearly be summarized in the fol- What kind of data you need (or even have available) always depends on your situation
lowing statements: and question.
5
쐍 You usually need qualitative data to know why and how something happens. One point to note: You can also ask for scale values in a study with 5 participants. How-
쐍 If you want to know how often something happens, to what extent, or for how long, ever, “quantitative” usually means you need a certain amount of data to make mean-
quantitative data is usually the way to go. ingful statements. This data usually only makes sense to give a mean value if the data
are normally distributed, thus allowing the calculation of a mean value. Typically, hav-
Quantitative data can, therefore, typically be represented directly as numerical values. ing at least 30 data sets is sufficient to ensure a normal distribution, but of course,
To convert qualitative data into numbers, however, you must first summarize and cat- more data can be used.
egorize the data.
For more information on the distinction between objective/subjective and quantita-
Imagine you want to understand in detail your users’ problem that you want to solve. tive/qualitative data, we recommend Statistics: The Art and Science of Learning from
In this case, collecting as much qualitative data as possible makes sense. This data could Data (Agresti, Franklin, & Klingenberg, 2020). This book is also suitable for determining
be derived from interviews or observations. The important thing now is that this data how many people you need to make valid quantitative statements.
helps you understand the situation and helps you learn.
If you can already narrow down the problem, you might be interested in asking, “For
how many people is this even a problem?” Then, you could conduct a quantitative 5.6 Critically Evaluating Data
online survey to determine the percentage of people with this problem.
Now, we would like to go into more detail about how you should handle all this data
Another example of the interplay between quantitative and qualitative data could be
and how you can make the best possible use of your data. An essential element is criti-
the rating of your application on a scale of 5, for example, with the question: “On a scale
cally questioning the data you have. Depending on how you present or view data, you
from ‘1 = not at all appealing’ to ‘5 = very appealing,’ how appealing do you find the
can come to completely different conclusions with the same data. Thus, you must
application’s visual design?”
know of the typical pitfalls when working with data.
This question would reflect the quantitative part. As a supplement, we could ask, “What
Especially if you work with quantitative data, many additional pitfalls cannot be listed
made you give a [here insert the rating your counterpart gave you]? What would we
in this book. If this topic interests you, many textbooks in the field of market research
need to do to get one point better?” These responses would be the qualitative portion.
go into much more depth (e.g., Agresti, Franklin, & Klingenberg, 2020; Patten &
Similar to subjective and objective data, an often helpful approach is to consider both Newhart, 2017; Hague, 2021).
data types together. In general, however, quantitative data comes into play at different
times than qualitative data. During development, you could work well with qualitative
data in most cases, whereas the final test or data after the release of a product is often
5.6.1 Where Does the Data Come From?
quantitative. Data is valuable for designing UIs and products. However, the value of that data is
So, in general, you can always look at data in both dimensions through the following closely related to whether you have collected data from the right people. If admins
permutations: install an internal B2B application individually on users’ computers, the data will
almost inevitably come from the right people.
쐍 Objective qualitative data, for example, the type of errors made when using specific
software But when you create an online questionnaire, you usually don’t know whether the peo-
ple answering the questionnaire belong to the user group from which you want to col-
쐍 Objective quantitative data, for example, the average length of time users visit a
lect data. Whenever you don’t “see” the people and only see the data submitted, we
website
recommend integrating questions that allow you to filter out data from inappropriate
people downstream. Questions could include, for example, age, gender, occupation, or

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willingness to use in a particular area. However, exactly what questions these are This point is less critical if you’re the only person collecting data and working with it.
depends, of course, on which user group you want to reach. But even then, collecting objective data and only interpreting it later is helpful. This
approach also makes it easier to defend your conclusions if necessary.
Tip: Open Questions as a Filter
Note that participation in studies, tests, surveys, and so on is often associated with an 5.6.3 Is the Frame of Reference Correct?
expense allowance. In other words, participants receive money, vouchers, or products 5
People’s evaluation of a system, product, or service depends on their frame of reference.
for taking part. As a result, people may try to belong to the user group even if they don’t
People will still make comparisons if you don’t set a frame of reference, but they won’t
and cheat their way into your survey.
know what they are comparing. Don’t believe that? Let’s explain.
We prevent this issue by making the questions for including or excluding participants
very open-ended. Thus, for the responder, the “correct” answer to that question is At this point, we’d like to share a personal story that happened to Michaela in her
unclear. diploma thesis (equivalent to a master’s thesis). During her studies, Michaela special-
ized in the field of usability and UX, and she worked on whether an object’s aesthetics
Many online tools can provide people with one-time links or cancel a survey if the par-
influenced its perceived and actual usability. (Spoiler alert: No.) At least not as far as the
ticipation conditions are unmet. Whether this filtering out is necessary is up to you to
experiment could show. But do you know what the problem is? We still don’t even
decide. You can also use the flexibility and risk matrix as a guide: The more risky/inflex-
ible your solution is, the better the data quality you need. know if aesthetics matters. And now we come to the issue of the frame of reference.

A Personal Example: The Can Opener Study

5.6.2 Objective Data or Interpretation In Michaela’s thesis, the usability of several can openers was compared. For this pur-
Especially with qualitative data, a common pitfall is for data not to be recorded objec- pose, the same can opener was purchased and redesigned several times. The redesign
tively but instead to be interpreted as early as the documentation stage. For example, did not change the item’s usability, but the visual design changes were severe: There
an interview with a user might not be recorded with a camera (objective). Instead, the were some hideous things at the end and some quite fancy. To avoid making this clas-
interviewer’s interpretation of what was said might be recorded in bullet points (some- sification based on Michaela’s assessment, a pre-test was conducted in which the aes-
thetics of these can openers were compared and evaluated. Then, for the experiment,
what subjective).
we could select three can openers perceived completely differently: one neutral, one
We advise you against the subjective recording of data first. Try to make sure that you very beautiful, and one very ugly.
first collect the data objectively, perhaps live by taking notes or with recordings. Then,
In the actual study, the participants were then divided into three groups. One group
when you have completed the data collection and want to take stock, you can look for
was given the neutral can opener; one group, the beautiful can opener; and one group,
patterns in your objective data. Recording data objectively does not necessarily mean
the ugly can opener. The subjects were then asked to open several cans quickly and
that you transcribe everything that was said verbatim. We want to emphasize that you accurately and assess each can opener on usability and aesthetics. It turned out that
should note the essence of an observation and the essence of what was said, not your neither the objective usability (i.e., speed and accuracy in this case) nor the subjective
interpretation of it. usability differed between the three groups.
One great advantage is that you can view and interpret the objective data several times. So far, so good. Unfortunately, however, it also turned out that the assessments of the
If necessary, you can also re-analyze the recorded objective data later with more knowl- can openers’ aesthetics did not differ between the groups. Thus, the three groups all
edge. If you did not record the objective data in the first place, but instead interpreted rated the can openers as equally aesthetic. The problem: Since each group only saw its
it directly, then you lack this option. Because the data interpretation depends on the own can opener (and not the others’ can openers), each group had its own frame of ref-
person doing the interpreting, you lose information. The assessment could have been erence. The people from the group with the beautiful can opener concluded that even
different for different people. Thus, you might find that, if several people are involved more beautiful can openers must exist. The individuals with the ugly can openers prob-
in the data collection, they interpret the same event differently, causing you to miss ably figured even uglier can openers exist. To this day, we do not know whether beauty
patterns that should have been obvious from the objective data. plays a role in the perceived usability of can openers. Unfortunately, finding out with
the help of this chosen experimental setup was impossible. Well, you don’t make the
same mistake twice.

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You can see from this can opener story: If you do not provide the frame of reference— The second thing you should check is whether any strange response patterns appear,
for example, by offering comparative products, alternative solutions, previous ver- which is harder to check manually in the digital age. In psychology studies, when you
sions, or variants—then your participants will set their own frames of reference. There- work with paper questionnaires, you should check whether the questionnaires are
fore, many subjective assessments become less valuable as a result. filled out according to a specific pattern (e.g., in an X-shape, always option 1, or always
option 5). Digitally, this pattern matching is less obvious because you don’t see the
completed questionnaire in front of you; however, you can recognize many patterns
5.6.4 Have You Had Value Judgments or Statements Explained? 5
from the numbers. Usually, all persons who answer everything with the same answer
In interview situations, sometimes, a statement is made that is interpreted entirely dif- option should be excluded.
ferently by the interviewer than by the interviewee. For this reason, as an interviewer,
Now, you might say, “Hey, what if the person just loved everything?” Then, we would
you should ideally inquire about value judgments to record the correct interpretation.
tell you, “You have a problem with your questionnaire design.” Usually, you design
questionnaires so that, even if someone thinks everything is great, the questions
A Personal Example: The Car Mechanic’s Car require different values to be checked off. You achieve this goal by turning some ques-
In an interview on the topic of “vehicle use,” Benjamin received a statement from an tions around. (Instead of “I found it very easy to use,” it then says, “I found it very hard
interviewee that his vehicle is often defective. The interviewee said literally, “Oh, my to use.”) In this way, a checkmark in the same place becomes a contradictory statement.
car is always broken. There’s always something to be done or something to be replaced!” Additionally, in the case of essential aspects, sometimes very similar questions are
How would you interpret this statement? If you were like Benjamin, you would think to asked. Later in the questionnaire evaluation, whether those answers match can be ver-
yourself at that moment that this must be terrible. After all, a car is for driving, and no ified.
one needs a defective vehicle.
Clean questionnaire construction is an art in itself. To learn more about this topic, we
Fortunately, Benjamin followed up and asked, “And what do you think of that?” recommend literature on market research or test and questionnaire construction. But
because Benjamin’s interpretation would have been entirely wrong. It turned out the quite frankly, in most cases, you’ll be okay with a less complex survey. The most
interviewee loved that the vehicle was permanently broken. He was an enthusiastic
important thing is to ensure the questions are straightforward and that they measure
hobby mechanic who rode his bicycle to work. He had the car only to tinker with it for-
what you want.
ever. The interviewee would, therefore, not have needed a functioning vehicle without
defects.

5.7 Quick Help for Categorization

Perhaps you can recall this story the next time you hear a statement or evaluation as an
interviewer. Ask specific questions! In this section, we would like to conclude this chapter with summarized guidance on
deciding if, when, and how much data you should use in your development process.
We’ve structured this quiz so that you can either agree or disagree with each prompt.
5.6.5 Is the Data Complete and Meaningful?
Keep track of the number of “yes” and “no” answers.
When you work with quantitative data (e.g., questionnaire data), the question of data
quality is crucial. People rarely want to fill out lengthy questionnaires. The longer and
more cumbersome a survey is, the more likely you’ll lose people entirely along the way. 5.7.1 Do You Need Data during Development?
Sometime, long questionnaires are so demotivating that, although people put in Let’s summarize again the questions that will help you determine if you even need data
checkmarks, they no longer make sense. during development:
The first check you should make in your data is whether all the questions have been 1. If the solution you want to develop is a risky application (for the definition, see Sec-
answered. You may have 150 people answering the first question but only 75 getting to tion 5.3.2)?
the end. This self-filtering of respondents is not bad if you know dropping out of the
– Yes: In any case, you need data. A final quality check is also recommended for
survey happens “by chance,” not because a certain category of people drops. Otherwise,
applications with a high risk. Additionally, check the flexibility.
you may end up with only a specific type of person in the survey who will give different
– No: Check the flexibility of your application.
answers. Depending on how important this aspect is to you, you can exclude people
from the evaluation who have not completed the survey.

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2. Does the solution you develop have low flexibility (for the definition, see Section data. The later you are in the development process, the more likely you’ll have qualita-
5.3.1) so that changes after completion are impossible, difficult, or expensive to cor- tive/objective data. After development, you’ll most likely have quantitative/objective
rect? data, sometimes combined with quantitative/subjective data from surveys.
– Yes: In any case, you need data. In addition, a final quality check is recommended. On the subject of what data you need, you can use the following questions:
If you have said “yes” twice, you should try to test your development intensively
1. Do you want to clarify why and how something is done, used, or not used?
with users and thus secure it early on. 5
– Yes: You need qualitative data.
– No: Is your application not particularly risky but flexible? Then, you can keep the
– No: Go to the next question.
amount of data relatively low during development and learn in live operation. Is
your application risky but flexible? Then, you need data and a final quality 2. Would you like to know how many, how often, or how long something is done, used,
check—at least in risk-associated areas. If you have low-risk workflows, you can or not used?
hedge them with less data and gather feedback during live operations. – Yes: You need quantitative data.
– No: We are not clear what you want to find out. Write to us at handbook3DUX@
custom-interactions.com, and we’ll help you find a solution.
5.7.2 How Much Data Do You Need?
This section is only relevant if you already know that you need data and have answered
“yes” at least once in the previous section. 5.7.4 Conclusion
Now is the time to ask, “How much data do you need?” Let’s start round 2 of our test: We hope we’ve clarified why you need user data to develop great solutions. Whether
you need data during development and to what extent depends on the factors we’ve
쐍 Not one “yes”: If you didn’t say “yes” at all in the previous section, then this section
mentioned throughout this chapter. Fundamentally, we don’t believe you can develop
is not relevant to you.
entirely without data.
쐍 Once “yes”: You should test at least once during development. If this test looks good,
then you’re on the right track. You can learn a lot from the test, and if your system, If you don’t gather data at the beginning, then when the product is live, you’ll get data
product, or service does not perform well, test again. Testing after development is from your users showing where room for improvement exists. This feedback could be in
complete also makes sense because if your solution is risky or inflexible, you don’t the form of feature requests, negative reviews, user avoidance, usage behavior data,
want to find out something is bad when you get to market. poor retention rates (the portion of your existing customers who remain your custom-
ers after a certain amount of time), and support requests. Countless other data points
쐍 Two times “yes”: You probably already believe that you should test several times
are available to see if everything fits or where things are stuck in live operations. But
during development. Testing repeatedly will ensure that you’re always on the right
believe us when we tell you: The data will find you; when it does, ideally, it’s “good” data.
track. The number of test iterations increases with the risk of your solution. The
higher the risk of your solution, the more often you should test it during develop- A not-so-nice example of this feedback comes from the video game industry, where
ment. Again, the final test makes sense because you even have “twice” the chance to user tests (called alpha and beta tests) are conducted regularly. In these tests, players
look bad on the market. try out the game before its release and provide feedback. In this context, data collection
is integrated into the process. However, not all manufacturers take user feedback seri-
ously. One of the biggest publishers—Ubisoft—caused a controversy because, although
5.7.3 What Type of Data Do You Need? beta tests were conducted for one of its top games (Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Break-
The final question to ask is the question of the type of data. You can approach this ques- point) and all the players’ criticisms were available in the forums, there was not an ade-
tion in two ways: once by asking what data is likely readily available and once by asking quate response to the feedback. When the game was released, most technical bugs had
what data you need. been fixed, but feedback about the game’s mechanics and lack of gameplay did not
appear to have been considered. The consequences included worldwide backlash, bad
The earlier you are in the development process, the more you need qualitative data,
ratings in gaming reviews, and lost players. A problem for a game development in
probably subjective data in most cases. However, if available, you can use objective
which about 3,000 developers were involved and whose costs are estimated to be in
the hundreds of millions!

146 147
5 Data-Driven UX Design

So, our conclusion is this: You’ll get the feedback of your customers and users—one
way or another. Through the targeted use of a data-driven process, you can only decide
at what point you want to receive this feedback and when you want to learn from it. In
most cases, learning sooner rather than later probably makes more sense. However, if
you have learned a lot in advance (e.g., through previous versions or customer feed-
back analysis), you can rely on your existing data and see what happens.

148
Contents

Foreword .................................................................................................................................................. 21

1 Introduction 23

1.1 Who Is This Book Written For? ........................................................................................ 23

1.2 Why Should You Read This Book? .................................................................................. 24

1.3 How Should You Read This Book? .................................................................................. 27

1.4 Your Constant Companions: Our Three Examples ................................................. 28

1.4.1 moveHUB: The Mobility App for Every Occasion ......................................... 29
1.4.2 BusinessBooster: The CRM BI Tool for Small and
Medium-Sized Enterprises .................................................................................. 30
1.4.3 Healthyfy: The Platform for Connecting Patients and Healthcare
Professionals ............................................................................................................ 32

2 The Most Important Terms and Their History 35

2.1 The (Pre-)History of Usability and UX .......................................................................... 35

2.1.1 Ancient Greece and Hippocrates of Kos ......................................................... 35
2.1.2 The Renaissance and Leonardo da Vinci ......................................................... 36
2.1.3 The Industrial Revolution .................................................................................... 36
2.1.4 Work Science ............................................................................................................ 36
2.1.5 Ergonomics ............................................................................................................... 38
2.1.6 Human Factors ........................................................................................................ 38
2.1.7 Software Ergonomics ............................................................................................ 39
2.1.8 Human-Machine Interaction .............................................................................. 39
2.1.9 Human-Computer Interaction ........................................................................... 40
2.1.10 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 40
2.2 Usability and UX Design: The Core Concepts ............................................................ 40
2.2.1 Usability ..................................................................................................................... 41
2.2.2 User Experience ...................................................................................................... 42
2.2.3 Design ......................................................................................................................... 43
2.2.4 Users ........................................................................................................................... 44
2.2.5 Context of Use ......................................................................................................... 49

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2.3 The Interplay of Ergonomics, Usability, and UX ...................................................... 50 4.2 Design Thinking ..................................................................................................................... 88
2.3.1 The Tree Metaphor ................................................................................................ 50 4.2.1 Step 1: Understand ................................................................................................ 90
2.3.2 The Kano Model ...................................................................................................... 54 4.2.2 Step 2: Observe ....................................................................................................... 91
2.3.3 Ergonomics versus Usability versus UX at moveHUB ................................ 56 4.2.3 Step 3: Define Point of View ............................................................................... 91
2.3.4 Ergonomics versus Usability versus UX at BusinessBooster .................... 58 4.2.4 Step 4: Ideate ........................................................................................................... 92
2.3.5 Ergonomics versus Usability versus UX at Healthyfy ................................. 60 4.2.5 Step 5: Prototype .................................................................................................... 98
4.2.6 Step 6: Test ............................................................................................................... 99
4.2.7 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 100

3 Usability and UX as Key Factors for 4.3 Minimum Viable Product ................................................................................................... 100
4.3.1 Step 1: Build ............................................................................................................. 102
Outstanding Products 63
4.3.2 Step 2: Measure ...................................................................................................... 102
4.3.3 Step 3: Learn ............................................................................................................. 103
3.1 What Is Return on Investment? ...................................................................................... 64 4.3.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 104
3.2 Metrics for Business Success ............................................................................................ 64 4.4 Double Diamond .................................................................................................................... 104
3.2.1 Metrics Related to Systems, Products, or Services ...................................... 65 4.4.1 Phase 1: Discover .................................................................................................... 105
3.2.2 User- and Customer-Related Measures .......................................................... 66 4.4.2 Phase 2: Define ........................................................................................................ 106
3.2.3 Service-Related Metrics ........................................................................................ 67 4.4.3 Phase 3: Develop ..................................................................................................... 106
3.2.4 Choosing the Appropriate Metrics ................................................................... 68 4.4.4 Phase 4: Deliver ....................................................................................................... 107
3.3 Planning instead of Discovering ROI ............................................................................ 69 4.4.5 Key Principles ........................................................................................................... 107
4.4.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 107
3.4 Metrics for Business Success: B2C versus B2B Sectors .......................................... 71
4.5 Usability Engineering for Medical Devices According to the
3.5 What ROI Is Achievable through Usability and UX Design? ............................... 73
IEC 62366-1 Standard .......................................................................................................... 108
3.5.1 Studies on the ROI of Usability and UX Design ............................................ 73
4.5.1 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 110
3.5.2 Feedback from Our Customers on the ROI of Usability and
UX Design .................................................................................................................. 75 4.6 Commonalities among Methods .................................................................................... 110

3.6 Case Study: Measuring ROI at moveHUB ................................................................... 76 4.6.1 Analysis of Customer Needs ............................................................................... 111
4.6.2 Iterative Optimization of the Solution ............................................................ 112
3.7 Case Study: Measuring ROI at BusinessBooster ...................................................... 77
4.6.3 Learning from Direct User/Customer Feedback .......................................... 113
3.8 Case Study: Measuring ROI at Healthyfy .................................................................... 78 4.6.4 Speed as an Objective ........................................................................................... 113
4.6.5 Success through Collaboration .......................................................................... 114
4.6.6 Visualization as a Means of Choice .................................................................. 114

4 How to “Do” Usability and UX Design 81

4.1 The ISO 9241-210 Standard: Human-Centered Design for 5 Data-Driven UX Design 117
Interactive Systems .............................................................................................................. 81
4.1.1 Step 1: Plan the Human-Centered Design Process ..................................... 83 5.1 The Goal of the Data-Driven UX Design Process ..................................................... 117
4.1.2 Step 2: Understand and Specify the Context of Use .................................. 84 5.2 The Data-Driven UX Design Process ............................................................................. 119
4.1.3 Step 3: Specify the User Requirements ........................................................... 85 5.2.1 How to Get the Most Value from the Process .............................................. 120
4.1.4 Step 4: Producing Design Solutions ................................................................. 86 5.2.2 Brief Overview of the Data-Driven UX Design Process .............................. 121
4.1.5 Step 5: Evaluating the Design ............................................................................ 87 5.2.3 Context of Use Analysis, Including Risk Assessment and
4.1.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 88 Documentation ....................................................................................................... 122

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5.2.4 Deriving and Documenting Usage Requirements ...................................... 124 6.4 Design as a Learnable Process ......................................................................................... 183
5.2.5 Developing Design Solutions Based on Risk and Usage ............................ 126 6.4.1 The Role of Creativity ............................................................................................ 183
5.2.6 Evaluation of Design Solutions Prioritized by Risk and 6.4.2 The Role of Talent, Practice, Experience, and Knowledge ......................... 183
Frequency of Use .................................................................................................... 128 6.4.3 What Do I Need to Learn to Become a Usability and UX Designer? ...... 185
5.3 The Flexibility and Risk Matrix: How Much Data Do You Really Need? ....... 130 6.5 Testing and Corporate Culture ........................................................................................ 186
5.3.1 The Flexibility of Your Solution .......................................................................... 131
5.3.2 The Risk of Your Solution ..................................................................................... 133
5.3.3 Working with the Flexibility and Risk Matrix ............................................... 135
7 Foundations 189
5.4 Objective versus Subjective Data ................................................................................... 137

5.5 Quantitative versus Qualitative Data .......................................................................... 140 7.1 Psychological Foundations: Don’t Worry, It’s about People .............................. 189
5.6 Critically Evaluating Data .................................................................................................. 141 7.2 Perception: The Human Sensory System .................................................................... 190
5.6.1 Where Does the Data Come From? .................................................................. 141 7.2.1 The Eye ....................................................................................................................... 191
5.6.2 Objective Data or Interpretation ....................................................................... 142 7.2.2 The Ear ........................................................................................................................ 203
5.6.3 Is the Frame of Reference Correct? ................................................................... 143 7.2.3 The Skin ...................................................................................................................... 211
5.6.4 Have You Had Value Judgments or Statements Explained? .................... 144 7.2.4 The Tongue ............................................................................................................... 218
5.6.5 Is the Data Complete and Meaningful? .......................................................... 144 7.2.5 The Nose .................................................................................................................... 220
5.7 Quick Help for Categorization ......................................................................................... 145 7.2.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 223
5.7.1 Do You Need Data during Development? ...................................................... 145 7.3 Human Information Processing ...................................................................................... 224
5.7.2 How Much Data Do You Need? ......................................................................... 146 7.3.1 Basics of the Model ................................................................................................ 225
5.7.3 What Type of Data Do You Need? .................................................................... 146 7.3.2 Stimulus ..................................................................................................................... 226
5.7.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 147 7.3.3 Discover ..................................................................................................................... 226
7.3.4 Recognize .................................................................................................................. 229
7.3.5 Decide ......................................................................................................................... 232
7.3.6 Act ................................................................................................................................ 235
6 A Helpful Mindset for Usability and UX Design 149
7.3.7 Reaction ..................................................................................................................... 237
7.3.8 Memory ...................................................................................................................... 237
6.1 Assumptions versus Knowledge ..................................................................................... 150
7.3.9 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 242
6.1.1 Clearly Revealing One’s Own Assumptions ................................................... 150
6.1.2 Distinguishing Assumptions from Knowledge ............................................ 151 7.4 Design Basics ........................................................................................................................... 243
6.1.3 Why Do I Need Data for This? ............................................................................ 154 7.4.1 Impact of Design ..................................................................................................... 243
6.1.4 Examples of Mostly-False-and-Seldom-True Assumptions ..................... 157 7.4.2 Basic Elements of Visual Design ........................................................................ 247
7.4.3 Gestalt Principles .................................................................................................... 269
6.2 Users Don’t Know What They Want! ............................................................................ 164
7.4.4 Interaction Principles ............................................................................................ 278
6.2.1 Task and Goal Expertise versus Design Expertise ....................................... 164
6.2.2 Bringing Together the Expertise ....................................................................... 168
6.2.3 Creating Outstanding Solutions with Users ................................................. 169
6.3 Key Skills for User Researchers: Observe, Ask Questions, and Listen ............ 170
8 Data-Driven UX Design in Detail: Preparation 305

6.3.1 Observing .................................................................................................................. 171

6.3.2 Asking Questions .................................................................................................... 175 8.1 Planning the Data-Driven UX Design Process .......................................................... 306
6.3.3 Listening .................................................................................................................... 179 8.1.1 Who Should Participate in the Stakeholder Workshop? ........................... 306
6.3.4 Your Mindset as a User Researcher .................................................................. 181 8.1.2 The Agenda of the Stakeholder Workshop .................................................... 308

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8.2 Integrating Data-Driven UX Design into Agile Development Projects ......... 314 10 Data-Driven UX Design in Detail:
8.3 Plan for the Appropriate Amount of Effort ................................................................ 317 Specifying Usage Requirements 401

10.1 Consider Your Personas or Empathy Maps ................................................................ 402

9 Data-Driven UX Design in Detail: 10.2 Use Cases and User Stories: How Not to Do It and
Context of Use Analysis 321 How to Do It Anyway ........................................................................................................... 404
10.2.1 Use Cases .................................................................................................................. 404
10.2.2 User Stories ............................................................................................................... 405
9.1 What Questions Should the Context of Use Analysis Answer? ........................ 322

9.2 What Is the Context of Use Anyway? ........................................................................... 324

10.3 From User Stories to Requirements .............................................................................. 411
10.3.1 Fixed Requirements ............................................................................................... 411
9.2.1 The Users ................................................................................................................... 324
10.3.2 Range Requirements ............................................................................................. 412
9.2.2 The Patients (Medical Devices) .......................................................................... 325
10.3.3 Requirement versus Wish .................................................................................... 416
9.2.3 The Task ..................................................................................................................... 327
10.3.4 Documenting and Formulating Requirements ............................................ 416
9.2.4 The Goals ................................................................................................................... 328
10.3.5 Where Do the Values in the Requirements Come From? ......................... 418
9.2.5 The Resources .......................................................................................................... 329
9.2.6 The Environment .................................................................................................... 331 10.4 Formulating Requirements for moveHUB .................................................................. 420
9.2.7 Risk, Frequency, and Conclusion ....................................................................... 333 10.5 Formulating Requirements for BusinessBooster .................................................... 421
9.3 Methods of Context of Use Analysis ............................................................................. 333 10.6 Formulating Requirements for Healthyfy .................................................................. 422
9.3.1 Secondary Research/Desk Research ................................................................. 334
9.3.2 Field Observation .................................................................................................... 339
9.3.3 Interview/Jobs-to-Be-Done ................................................................................. 343
9.3.4 Group Discussions/Focus Groups ..................................................................... 350 11 Data-Driven UX Design in Detail:
9.3.5 Quantitative Survey/Questionnaires .............................................................. 355 Developing Design Solutions 425
9.3.6 Contextual Inquiry ................................................................................................. 360
9.3.7 Analysis of Quantitative Usage Data ............................................................... 364
11.1 Reminder: What Is the Goal of Design, and How Do We Go About It? ......... 425
9.3.8 Web Tracking/Click Analysis ............................................................................... 366
9.3.9 Ticket and Feedback Analysis ............................................................................. 369 11.2 Design Research ..................................................................................................................... 426

9.4 Analytical Methods of the Context of Use Analysis .............................................. 373 11.3 From Coarse to Fine .............................................................................................................. 429

9.4.1 Task Analysis ............................................................................................................ 373 11.4 Developing Basic Solution Options ............................................................................... 430
9.4.2 User or Customer Journey Mapping/Touchpoint Analysis ...................... 380 11.4.1 How to Turn a 2 into a 3 ....................................................................................... 432
9.4.3 Personas and Empathy Maps ............................................................................. 384 11.4.2 How to Deal with Too Many 3-Point Ideas .................................................... 432
9.5 Practical Examples for Context Analysis ..................................................................... 391 11.4.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 433
9.5.1 Context Analysis at moveHUB ........................................................................... 391 11.5 Working with Prototypes .................................................................................................. 433
9.5.2 Context Analysis at BusinessBooster ............................................................... 393 11.5.1 Horizontal and Vertical Prototypes .................................................................. 434
9.5.3 Context Analysis at Healthyfy ............................................................................ 397 11.5.2 High- and Low-Fidelity Prototypes ................................................................... 435
11.5.3 Which Prototype Should Be Used and When? .............................................. 437
11.6 Wireframes ............................................................................................................................... 438
11.6.1 Buttons ...................................................................................................................... 445
11.6.2 Dropdowns ............................................................................................................... 447

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11.6.3 Radio Buttons .......................................................................................................... 449 12 Data-Driven UX Design in Detail:

11.6.4 Input Fields or Text Fields .................................................................................... 451
11.6.5 Combo Boxes ........................................................................................................... 454
Evaluating Design Solutions 515

11.6.6 Checkboxes ............................................................................................................... 455

11.6.7 Accordions ................................................................................................................ 457 12.1 Formative versus Summative Testing .......................................................................... 515
11.6.8 Toggle Buttons ........................................................................................................ 458 12.2 Identifying Knowledge Gaps ............................................................................................ 519
11.6.9 Sliders ......................................................................................................................... 460
12.3 User Evaluation versus Expert Evaluation .................................................................. 521
11.6.10 Calendars .................................................................................................................. 461
11.6.11 Time Pickers .............................................................................................................. 464 12.4 Remote versus On-Site ........................................................................................................ 522
11.6.12 Color Selection ......................................................................................................... 466 12.4.1 Dependence on Technical Infrastructure ....................................................... 522
11.6.13 Information Buttons, Info Buttons, and Tool Tips ....................................... 468 12.4.2 Loss of Important Information .......................................................................... 523
11.6.14 Popups ........................................................................................................................ 469 12.4.3 Less Control over Confidentiality ...................................................................... 523
11.6.15 Menu Bars ................................................................................................................. 472 12.4.4 Non-Digital Products Cannot Be Tested without Bias ............................... 524
11.6.16 Carousels ................................................................................................................... 474 12.4.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 525
11.6.17 Webpage Sliders ..................................................................................................... 477 12.5 Designing Test Cases ............................................................................................................ 525
11.6.18 Labels and Text Blocks .......................................................................................... 478 12.5.1 Preconditions ........................................................................................................... 526
11.6.19 Images, Icons, and Placeholders ........................................................................ 478 12.5.2 Instructions for the User ...................................................................................... 527
11.6.20 Special Case: Warnings ........................................................................................ 480 12.5.3 Correct Execution of the Task ............................................................................ 528
11.6.21 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 481 12.5.4 Postcondition after Correct Execution ............................................................ 529
11.7 User Interface Quality Check: The Design Grid ........................................................ 481 12.5.5 Determine the Number of Test Cases ............................................................. 529

11.8 Screen Flows ............................................................................................................................ 485 12.6 The Methods Presented ...................................................................................................... 529

11.9 Click Dummies ........................................................................................................................ 487 12.7 The Usability and UX Test .................................................................................................. 530
11.9.1 Tools for Creating Click Dummies .................................................................... 488 12.7.1 How Does It Work? ................................................................................................ 531
11.9.2 Making the Design Testable ............................................................................... 491 12.7.2 When Is It Used? ..................................................................................................... 536
12.7.3 What Do You Need? ............................................................................................... 537
11.10 Desktop, Mobile, or Smartwatch First? ....................................................................... 492
12.7.4 What Are the Advantages? ................................................................................. 538
11.11 Responsive Design ................................................................................................................ 495 12.7.5 What Are the Disadvantages? ........................................................................... 538
11.12 Visual Design ........................................................................................................................... 497 12.7.6 What Are the Alternatives? ................................................................................. 539
11.12.1 Visual Design Research ......................................................................................... 497 12.8 Usability and UX Sprint ....................................................................................................... 540
11.12.2 The Association Space .......................................................................................... 500 12.8.1 How Does It Work? ................................................................................................ 540
11.12.3 Proto-Mood Boards ................................................................................................ 503 12.8.2 When Is It Used? ..................................................................................................... 542
11.12.4 Closing Gaps in the Proto-Mood Board ........................................................... 504 12.8.3 What Do You Need? ............................................................................................... 542
11.12.5 From Proto-Mood Boards to Mood Boards .................................................... 505 12.8.4 What Are the Advantages? ................................................................................. 543
11.12.6 The Visual Design Concept .................................................................................. 506 12.8.5 What Are the Disadvantages? ........................................................................... 543
11.12.7 Creating Visual Prototypes (Click Dummies) ................................................ 506 12.8.6 What Are the Alternatives? ................................................................................. 544
11.12.8 The Style Guide ....................................................................................................... 507
12.9 Rapid User Tests ..................................................................................................................... 544
11.13 Excursion: Low-Code and No-Code ............................................................................... 508 12.9.1 How Does It Work? ................................................................................................ 545
11.14 Example: Possible Design Steps for moveHUB ........................................................ 509 12.9.2 When Is It Used? ..................................................................................................... 545
12.9.3 What Do You Need? ............................................................................................... 546
11.15 Example: Possible Design Steps for BusinessBooster ........................................... 511
12.9.4 What Are the Advantages? ................................................................................. 546
11.16 Example: Possible Design Steps for Healthyfy ......................................................... 512

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12.9.5 What Are the Disadvantages? ........................................................................... 546 12.16.2 When Is It Used? ..................................................................................................... 580
12.9.6 What Are the Alternatives? ................................................................................. 547 12.16.3 What Do You Need? ............................................................................................... 580
12.10 A/B Testing ............................................................................................................................... 548 12.16.4 What Are the Advantages? ................................................................................. 581
12.16.5 What Are the Disadvantages? ........................................................................... 581
12.10.1 How Does It Work? ................................................................................................ 548
12.16.6 What Are the Alternatives? ................................................................................. 581
12.10.2 When Is It Used? ..................................................................................................... 550
12.10.3 What Do You Need? .............................................................................................. 550 12.17 Card Sorting ............................................................................................................................. 582
12.10.4 What Are the Advantages? ................................................................................. 551 12.17.1 How Does It Work? ................................................................................................ 582
12.10.5 What Are the Disadvantages? ........................................................................... 551 12.17.2 When Is It Used? ..................................................................................................... 585
12.10.6 What Are the Alternatives? ................................................................................. 552 12.17.3 What Do You Need? ............................................................................................... 585
12.11 UX Benchmarking .................................................................................................................. 552 12.17.4 What Are the Advantages? ................................................................................. 586
12.17.5 What Are the Disadvantages? ........................................................................... 586
12.11.1 How Does It Work? ................................................................................................ 552
12.17.6 What Are the Alternatives? ................................................................................. 586
12.11.2 When Is It Used? ..................................................................................................... 554
12.11.3 What Do You Need? .............................................................................................. 554 12.18 Expert Review ......................................................................................................................... 587
12.11.4 What Are the Advantages? ................................................................................. 556 12.18.1 How Does It Work? ................................................................................................ 587
12.11.5 What Are the Disadvantages? ........................................................................... 556 12.18.2 When Is It Used? ..................................................................................................... 589
12.11.6 What Are the Alternatives? ................................................................................. 556 12.18.3 What Do You Need? ............................................................................................... 589
12.12 5-Second Test .......................................................................................................................... 557 12.18.4 What Are the Advantages? ................................................................................. 589
12.18.5 What Are the Disadvantages? ........................................................................... 590
12.12.1 How Does It Work? ................................................................................................ 557
12.18.6 What Are the Alternatives? ................................................................................. 590
12.12.2 When Is It Used? ..................................................................................................... 558
12.12.3 What Do You Need? .............................................................................................. 559 12.19 Association Space Test ........................................................................................................ 591
12.12.4 What Are the Advantages? ................................................................................. 559 12.19.1 How Does It Work? ................................................................................................ 591
12.12.5 What Are the Disadvantages? ........................................................................... 560 12.19.2 When Is It Used? ..................................................................................................... 592
12.12.6 What Are the Alternatives? ................................................................................. 560 12.19.3 What Do You Need? ............................................................................................... 593
12.13 Standardized Questionnaires .......................................................................................... 561 12.19.4 What Are the Advantages? ................................................................................. 593
12.19.5 What Are the Disadvantages? ........................................................................... 593
12.13.1 How Does It Work? ................................................................................................ 561
12.19.6 What Are the Alternatives? ................................................................................. 593
12.13.2 When Is It Used? ..................................................................................................... 570
12.13.3 What Do You Need? .............................................................................................. 571 12.20 Eye Tracking ............................................................................................................................. 594
12.13.4 What Are the Advantages? ................................................................................. 571 12.20.1 How Does It Work? ................................................................................................ 594
12.13.5 What Are the Disadvantages? ........................................................................... 571 12.20.2 When Is It Used? ..................................................................................................... 597
12.13.6 What Are the Alternatives? ................................................................................. 572 12.20.3 What Do You Need? ............................................................................................... 597
12.14 Analysis of Quantitative Usage Data ........................................................................... 573 12.20.4 What Are the Advantages? ................................................................................. 597
12.20.5 What Are the Disadvantages? ........................................................................... 598
12.14.1 How Does It Work? ................................................................................................ 573
12.20.6 What Are the Alternatives? ................................................................................. 598
12.14.2 When Is It Used? ..................................................................................................... 573
12.14.3 What Do You Need? .............................................................................................. 574 12.21 Physiological Measurement Methods .......................................................................... 599
12.14.4 What Are the Advantages? ................................................................................. 574 12.21.1 How Does It Work? ................................................................................................ 600
12.14.5 What Are the Disadvantages? ........................................................................... 575 12.21.2 When Is It Used? ..................................................................................................... 600
12.14.6 What Are the Alternatives? ................................................................................. 575 12.21.3 What Do You Need? ............................................................................................... 601
12.15 Web Tracking/Click Analysis ............................................................................................ 576 12.21.4 What Are the Advantages? ................................................................................. 601
12.21.5 What Are the Disadvantages? ........................................................................... 601
12.16 Diary Study ............................................................................................................................... 577
12.21.6 What Are the Alternatives? ................................................................................. 601
12.16.1 How Does It Work? ................................................................................................ 577

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12.22 Analyzing Errors Using Root Cause Analysis ............................................................. 602 Appendices 633
12.23 Learning from the Data and Making Informed Decisions ................................... 608
12.23.1 Implementing Feedback ...................................................................................... 608 A Glossary ..................................................................................................................................... 639
12.23.2 Documenting Decisions ....................................................................................... 610
B Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 653
12.24 Evaluations in Medical Device Development ........................................................... 610
C The Authors .............................................................................................................................. 663
12.25 Example: Evaluation Methods for moveHUB ........................................................... 611

12.26 Example: Evaluation Methods for BusinessBooster .............................................. 612

12.27 Example: Evaluation Methods for Healthyfy ........................................................... 614 Index .......................................................................................................................................................... 665

13 Design, Get Data, Repeat: When Is It Enough? 617

13.1 Determining the Transition Based on Quality .......................................................... 618

13.2 Determining the Transition Based on Time ............................................................... 619

13.3 Should You Readjust? The Flexibility and Risk Matrix as an Aid ..................... 620

13.4 Choosing the Right Approach .......................................................................................... 622

13.5 What’s Next for moveHUB ................................................................................................ 623

13.6 What’s Next for BusinessBooster .................................................................................. 623

13.7 What’s Next for Healthyfy ................................................................................................ 624

14 Decision Matrix for Method Selection 625

15 Wrap-Up and Conclusion 633

15.1 It’s All about the Users ........................................................................................................ 633

15.2 Usability and UX Design Is Interdisciplinary ............................................................. 634

15.3 UX Is Not Designed, It Is Experienced ........................................................................... 634

15.4 The Path to an Outstanding Product Is Iterative ..................................................... 634

15.5 Once You Start with Usability and UX Design, You Never Stop ....................... 635

15.6 Design Based on Data .......................................................................................................... 635

15.7 Closing Words and Call for Participation .................................................................... 636

18 19
Index

2-point idea ............................................................. 432 Attention ................................................................. 226

2-point threshold .................................................. 214 AttrakDiff ........................................................ 566, 593
3-point idea ............................................................. 432 Axure RP ......................................................... 440, 488
5-second test ........................................................... 557
profile .................................................................... 560 B
A Balsamiq .................................................................. 440
Behavioral design ................................................. 245
A/B testing ............................................ 368, 548, 625 Benchmarking .............................................. 536, 552
profile .................................................................... 552 profile ................................................................... 557
Abstraction .............................................................. 379 Beta features ........................................................... 317
Accommodation ................................ 191, 196, 202 Biased data .............................................................. 523
Accordion ................................................................. 457 Binocular depth cues .......................................... 200
Action problem ...................................................... 609 Binocular disparity .............................................. 200
Active listening ............................................ 179, 347 Braille ........................................................................ 213
Actual operating time ......................................... 535 Brainstorming .................................. 92, 93, 95, 429
Additive color mixture ....................................... 256 Brainwriting .................................... 94, 95, 429, 509
Address data ........................................................... 453 Breadcrumbs .......................................................... 281
Adobe XD ....................................................... 440, 490 British Design Council ........................................ 104
Affective elements ............................................... 298 Build-measure-learn cycle ................................ 519
Agile development ............................................... 314 BusinessBooster .......... 30, 58, 169, 247, 266, 339
Analysis ........................................................... 322, 573 context analysis ............................................... 393
advertising .......................................................... 559 design steps ........................................................ 511
context of use ....................................................... 49 evaluation .......................................................... 612
customer needs ................................................. 111 measure ROI ......................................................... 77
eye movements ................................................. 594 requirements ..................................................... 421
facial expressions ................................................ 42 what's next ......................................................... 623
Android Material Design ................................... 465 Business success ............................................... 64, 71
Answer options ...................................................... 449 Business-to-business (B2B) .............. 24, 123, 360
Areas of interest .................................................... 595 BusinessBooster .................................................. 30
Asking questions ................................................... 175 customers .............................................................. 47
closed questions ............................................... 177 Healthyfy ............................................................... 32
open-ended questions .................................... 175 metrics .................................................................... 71
Assessments ........................................................... 630 Business-to-consumer (B2C) ............. 24, 71, 360
Associations ............................................................ 190 customers .............................................................. 47
colors ..................................................................... 248 Healthyfy ............................................................... 32
primary and secondary ................................. 592 metrics .................................................................... 71
surveys .................................................................. 247 Button ....................................................................... 445
Association space ............................... 244, 246, 500 information button ........................................ 468
Association space test (ARTTest) .......... 247, 591 radio button ...................................................... 449
profile .................................................................... 594 toggle button .................................................... 458
Assumptions .............................. 150, 151, 164, 322 Buyer ............................................................................ 46
check ............................................................... 91, 182
confirm .................................................................... 91 C
revealing .............................................................. 150
typically unchecked ........................................ 157 Calendar ................................................................... 461
versus knowledge ................ 151, 154, 157, 309 Call-to-action (CTA) ............................................. 250
Assumptions-knowledge matrix .......... 151, 309

665
Index Index

Card sorting ................................................... 474, 582 Contextual inquiry ............................................... 360 Date picker ............................................................... 464 Double opt-in ......................................................... 419
profile .................................................................... 586 profile .................................................................... 363 Date selection ......................................................... 463 Dropdown ...................................................... 447, 465
Carousel .................................................................... 474 Contextual interview ........................................... 360 Decision-maker veto ........................................... 432
Categorization ........................................................ 145 Contrast ..................................................................... 254 Decision matrix for method selection ......... 625 E
Checkbox .................................................................. 455 Controllability ........................................................ 290 Decision problem ................................................. 609
Chunks ...................................................................... 239 Controls to navigate ............................................. 282 Default ....................................................................... 448 Ear ............................................................................... 203
Ciliary muscle ......................................................... 191 Convergence ........................................................... 199 Depth effect ............................................................. 258 Eardrum ................................................................... 204
Circles ........................................................................ 260 Convergent thinking ........................................... 104 Depth perception ........................................ 199, 203 Echoic memory ..................................................... 238
Circumvallate papillae ........................................ 219 Conversion rate ..................................... 74, 366, 550 Derive requirements .............................................. 85 Effectiveness ........................................ 41, 51, 58–60
Classic requirements ........................................... 411 Corpus size ............................................................... 264 Dermis ....................................................................... 212 Efficiency ............................................... 41, 51, 58, 59
Click analysis ................................................ 366, 576 Cover flow ................................................................ 474 Design ........................................................................... 43 Emotional level ..................................................... 329
profile .................................................................... 369 Covert observation ............................................... 171 basic visual elements ...................................... 247 Empathy map ..................................... 384, 388, 402
Click dummy ................................ 75, 485, 487, 611 Creativity .................................................................. 183 Design compass ..................................................... 504 profile ................................................................... 391
testability ............................................................ 491 Criticality .................................................................. 254 Design expertise ......................................... 164, 167 Environment .......................................................... 331
tools ....................................................................... 488 workflow .............................................................. 318 Design grid .................................................... 481, 496 Epidermis ................................................................ 212
Cochlea ...................................................................... 205 Cross ........................................................................... 260 Design impact ........................................................ 630 Episodic memory ................................................. 241
Cochlear partition ................................................ 205 Customer .......................................................... 46, 380 Design research ........................................... 426, 429 Ergonomics ............................. 36, 38, 50, 56, 58, 60
Cognitive task ......................................................... 328 Customer experience ............................................ 47 visual ..................................................................... 497 human-system-interaction ......................... 278
Color coding .................................................. 198, 254 Customer journey mapping ............................. 380 Design solutions ............................................ 86, 425 Evaluation ............................................... 87, 128, 515
Colorizer ................................................................... 251 profile .................................................................... 384 develop ................................................................. 126 by experts ........................................................... 521
Color palette ........................................................... 467 Customer lifetime value ....................................... 66 evaluate ............................................................... 128 by users ................................................................ 521
Color picker ............................................................. 466 Customizability ...................................................... 293 Design thinking .................................... 88, 389, 430 ideas ...................................................................... 431
Colors ......................................................................... 248 define point of view ............................................ 91 matrix ........................................................... 95, 567
Color space .............................................................. 256 D ideate ....................................................................... 92 medical devices ................................................ 610
CYMK .................................................................... 257 observe .................................................................... 91 methods ............................................................... 529
RGB ........................................................................ 256 Dark mode ................................................................ 201 prototype ................................................................ 98 table ...................................................................... 348
Color vision ............................................................. 193 Data test ............................................................................ 99 Excitement attribute ............................................. 55
deficiency ......................................... 196, 197, 256 availability .......................................................... 365 Desk research ............................................................ 82 Expectation management ....................... 308, 311
Combo box .................................................... 447, 454 evaluation ........................................................... 141 Desktop versus mobile ....................................... 496 Experience .............................................................. 183
Competitive solutions ........................................ 427 interpretation .................................................... 142 Detection problem ............................................... 609 Expert evaluation ................................................. 521
Complementary colors ....................................... 251 meaningful .......................................................... 144 Detection threshold ............................................. 222 Expertise .................................................................. 164
Comprehensibility ............................................... 524 objective ..................................................... 137, 142 Deuteranopia .......................................................... 197 Expert review ......................................................... 587
Concept engineer .................................................. 444 qualitative ........................................................... 140 Dial .............................................................................. 460 profile ................................................................... 590
Conditioning .......................................................... 241 quantitative ........................................................ 140 Dialog ......................................................................... 446 Explicit memory ................................................... 241
Cones ......................................................................... 194 subjective ............................................................. 137 Diary study .............................................................. 577 Extended Color Gamut (ECG) .......................... 257
Confidentiality ....................................................... 523 Data-driven UX design ............... 49, 82, 117, 602, profile .................................................................... 582 External auditory canal ..................................... 204
Confirmation dialog ............................................ 470 617, 635 Digital product design ........................................ 425 Eye .............................................................................. 191
Conformity with user expectations .............. 284 choose the right approach ............................ 622 Direct observation ................................................ 171 Eyedropper .............................................................. 467
Consistency (internal and external) ............. 285 context of use analysis ................................... 324 Discover .................................................................... 105 Eye tracking ................................................... 594, 599
Constructivism ...................................................... 242 design .................................................................... 494 controls ................................................................ 287 profile ................................................................... 599
Consumer Reports ............................................... 517 developing design solutions ......................... 425 requirements ...................................................... 121
Content consideration ....................................... 442 effort ...................................................................... 317 Display format ....................................................... 479 F
Context of use ....................... 41, 84, 321, 627, 631 evaluation ........................................................... 515 Divergent thinking ............................................... 104
analysis ................ 122, 153, 322, 333, 519, 580 goal ........................................................................ 117 Documentation ........................ 312, 429, 588, 610 Familiar size ............................................................ 199
analytical methods ......................................... 373 in agile projects ................................................. 314 Dots ............................................................................ 260 FAQ section ............................................................. 457
components ........................................................ 324 phases ................................................................... 617 Double Diamond .................................................. 104 Feature requests ................................... 67, 370, 573
contextual inquiry ........................................... 360 planning ..................................................... 305, 306 define .................................................................... 106 Feedback ...................................... 113, 301, 317, 519
definition ...................................................... 49, 321 process .................................................................. 119 deliver ................................................................... 107 analysis ................................................................ 369
description ............................................................. 85 secondary research .......................................... 334 develop ................................................................. 106 objective versus subjective .......................... 608
practical examples .......................................... 391 user requirements ............................................ 401 discover ................................................................ 105 Field observation ............................... 339, 341, 392
usage requirements ......................................... 124 working with prototypes ............................... 433 profile ................................................................... 342
user requirements ............................................ 401 Figma ................................................................ 440, 490

666 667
Index Index

Filiform papillae .................................................... 219 Hardware .................................................................. 330 Interview (Cont.) Low-code .................................................................. 508
First impression .......................................... 232, 629 Healthyfy ....................... 32, 60, 169, 243, 266, 339 on-site ................................................................... 392 Low-fidelity prototype ....................................... 435
First-mover advantage ....................................... 386 context analysis ................................................ 397 possible questions ............................................ 345
Fixation ........................................................... 191, 193 design steps ......................................................... 512 profile .................................................................... 350 M
Fixed mindset .............................................. 149, 186 evaluation ........................................................... 614 qualitative ........................................................... 343
Fixed requirements ............................................. 411 measure ROI ......................................................... 78 semistructured .................................................. 178 Macrosmatics ......................................................... 220
Flexibility ....................................................... 131, 621 requirements ...................................................... 422 INTUI .......................................................................... 568 Macula ...................................................................... 191
Flexibility and risk matrix ............ 130, 135, 142, visual design ....................................................... 506 Magical experience .............................................. 569
316, 620 what's next .......................................................... 624 J Malleus ..................................................................... 205
Fly-on-the-wall method ..................................... 340 wireframe ............................................................ 439 Maluma .................................................................... 243
Focus group .......................................... 351, 352, 397 Hearing ...................................................................... 207 Jobs theory ..................................................... 166, 328 Material ........................................................... 262, 330
profile .................................................................... 354 Heat map .................................................................. 595 Joy of use ..................................................................... 43 Material Design Guidelines .............................. 442
Foliate papillae ....................................................... 219 Hedonic quality ..................................................... 562 MAUDE database .................................................. 372
Follow-up surveys ................................................ 534 Heuristics ................................................................. 588 K Maximum requirements ......................... 415, 416
Font size .................................................................... 264 Hierarchy of needs ................................................ 165 Measurable value ................................................. 418
Font type .................................................................. 265 Highest paid person’s opinion Kano model ................................................................ 54 Mechanoreceptors ............................................... 212
Formative evaluation ....................... 515, 519, 520 (HIPPO) ....................................................... 119, 307 Key performance indicator (KPI) .......... 364, 618 Medical devices .................................. 108, 325, 610
Formative testing ................................................. 515 High-fidelity prototype ............................ 436, 440 Kick-off workshop ................................................ 158 evaluation .......................................................... 610
Fovea centralis ....................................................... 192 Horizontal prototype .......................................... 434 Knowledge ............................................ 150, 183, 334 requirements ..................................................... 610
Frame of reference ............................................... 143 How-might-we question ............................ 92, 308 about processes ................................................ 628 Memory ........................................................... 229, 237
Free evaluation ...................................................... 588 Human-centered design ...................................... 83 gaps ....................................................................... 519 chunks .................................................................. 239
Free response .......................................................... 357 Human-computer interaction ........................... 40 users ...................................................................... 627 echoic memory ................................................. 238
Frequency ................................................................ 333 Human factors .................................................. 38, 82 versus assumptions ............ 151, 154, 157, 309 episodic ................................................................ 241
Frequency of use ............. 128, 364, 573, 579, 631 Human Interface Guidelines ............................ 441 explicit ................................................................. 241
Friendly user ........................................................... 162 Human-machine interaction ............................. 39 L implicit ................................................................. 241
Functional level ..................................................... 329 rehearsal ............................................................. 239
Functional scope ............................................ 75, 101 I Label ........................................................................... 478 semantic .............................................................. 241
Fungiform papillae ............................................... 219 Law of closure ......................................................... 271 sensory register ................................................ 238
Icon ................................................................... 268, 478 Law of common fate ............................................ 276 short-term memory ........................................ 238
G IEC 62366-1 (Standard) ........................................ 108 Law of continuity .................................................. 273 ultra-short-term memory ............................. 238
Images .............................................................. 266, 478 Law of figure/ground .......................................... 275 Menu bar ................................................................. 472
Gain point ...................................................... 385, 389 Immersion ............................................................... 216 Law of proximity ................................................... 269 Method selection .................................................. 625
Gestalt principles ........................................ 269, 277 Implicit memory ................................................... 241 Law of similarity .................................................... 270 Metrics ......................................................................... 65
Glomerulus ............................................................. 222 Increments ............................................................... 314 Law of symmetry .................................................. 274 B2B versus B2C ..................................................... 71
Goal .................................................................. 327, 376 Incus ........................................................................... 205 Law of the point of view ..................................... 274 customer-related ................................................ 66
business success ................................................... 64 Independent testing institutions ................... 517 Law of visual hierarchy ....................................... 277 selection ................................................................. 68
design .................................................................... 425 Indirect observation ............................................ 171 L-cones ...................................................................... 194 service-related ...................................................... 67
levels ...................................................................... 328 Influencers ............................................................... 518 Learnability ............................................................. 287 user-related ........................................................... 66
user ........................................................................ 322 Information ............................................................. 331 Learning .................................................................... 186 Microsmatics ......................................................... 220
Goal expertise .............................................. 164, 165 Information processing ...................................... 225 design .................................................................... 183 Microsoft PowerPoint ........................................ 440
Google Search ......................................................... 454 stimulus-response-model .............................. 225 Legal framework .................................................... 574 Middle ear ............................................................... 205
Graphics .................................................................... 266 Input field ................................................................. 451 Legibility ................................................................... 263 Mind map ................................................................ 336
Group discussions ................................................ 350 Interaction principles ................................ 278, 302 Lens ............................................................................ 191 Mindset ........................................................... 149, 181
profile .................................................................... 354 Interactive prototype .......................................... 487 Light-dark adaptation ......................................... 196 fixed mindset ............................................ 149, 186
Growth mindset .......................................... 149, 186 Interdisciplinary .................................................... 634 Light receptors ....................................................... 194 growth mindset ....................................... 149, 186
Gut feeling ............................................................... 569 Interference in the perception ......................... 254 Light sensitivity ..................................................... 196 scientific ..................................................... 156, 181
Internal communication ................................... 157 Light stimuli ............................................................ 191 Minimum requirements ................................... 414
H Interval requirements ......................................... 413 Likert scale ............................................................... 355 Minimum viable product (MVP) .................... 100,
Interview ...................................... 175, 180, 343, 625 Limbic system ........................................................ 240 317, 519
Hair cells ................................................................... 206 evaluation table ................................................ 348 Lines ........................................................................... 261 build ...................................................................... 102
Halo effect ................................................................ 162 guide ............................................................ 178, 344 Listening ................................................................... 179 learn ...................................................................... 103
Hard facts ................................................................. 166 observations versus ......................................... 177 active ..................................................................... 179 measure ............................................................... 102

668 669
Index Index

Mobile first .................................................... 492, 493 P Q Risk (Cont.)

Mobile systems ...................................................... 595 effort ..................................................................... 318
Monocular depth cues ........................................ 199 Pain point ....................................................... 385, 389 Qualitative data ........................................... 140, 142 evaluation .......................................................... 128
Mood board ................................................... 503–506 Panels ......................................................................... 358 Quality .................................................... 481, 618, 622 Rods ........................................................................... 194
Motion-induced depth cues ............................. 199 Password field ......................................................... 469 Quality gate ............................................................. 619 Rolling wave planning ........................................ 313
Motion parallax ..................................................... 200 Patient .................................................... 108, 151, 322 Quantitative data .................................................. 140 Root cause analysis ..................................... 602, 603
moveHUB ................................ 29, 56, 168, 172, 339 medical devices ................................................. 325 Quantitative survey ............................................. 355
context analysis ............................................... 391 Peer-reviewed journals ....................................... 338 Questionnaire ..................................... 144, 355, 616 S
design steps ........................................................ 509 Perception ...................................................... 190, 634 design .................................................................... 145
evaluation ........................................................... 611 images versus text ........................................... 266 profile .......................................................... 359, 572 Saccule ...................................................................... 207
measure ROI .......................................................... 76 influencing factors ........................................... 247 standardized ...................................................... 561 Sample size ............................................................. 532
requirements ...................................................... 420 Perceptual capability (absolute and Sans-serif fonts ...................................................... 265
user versus customer ......................................... 48 relative) ....................................................... 197, 210 R Satisfaction ......................................................... 41, 42
what's next ......................................................... 623 Perceptual task ....................................................... 328 Scale ratings ............................................................ 141
Multiple-choice questions ................................ 356 Performance attribute .......................................... 55 Range requirements ............................................ 412 Schedule ................................................................... 351
Persona ............ 359, 384, 392, 395, 398, 402, 420 Rapid user test ........................................................ 544 S-cones ...................................................................... 194
N creation ................................................................ 386 profile .................................................................... 547 Score poll ................................................................. 432
profile .................................................................... 390 Rapport .................................................. 176, 180, 182 Screener ................................................. 347, 531, 553
Net Promoter Score (NPS) .................................... 66 Physical environment ......................................... 332 Reactance ................................................................. 175 Screen flow .................................. 416, 436, 485, 608
Neutral display ....................................................... 448 Physical product design ..................................... 425 Recognition problem .......................................... 609 Screen recording ................................................... 545
Nociceptors ................................................... 212, 217 Physical reactions ................................................. 599 Recognition threshold ........................................ 222 Screen sizes ............................................................. 493
No-code ..................................................................... 508 Physiological measurements ........................... 599 Rectangles ................................................................ 259 Scrum method ....................................................... 313
Nose ............................................................................ 220 profile .................................................................... 602 Reflective design ................................................... 245 Search fields ............................................................ 453
Pivot ............................................................................ 623 Regulatory environment ................................... 332 Secondary research ............................. 82, 334, 338
O Placeholders ............................................................ 478 Rejection attribute .................................................. 55 profile ................................................................... 338
Planning .................................................................... 305 Relative size ............................................................. 199 Self-descriptiveness ............................................. 281
Objective data .............................................. 137, 142 Plausibility check .................................................. 358 Remote testing ....................................................... 522 Semantic differential ................................. 355, 565
Objective feedback ............................................... 608 Point of no return ................................................. 306 Requirements ................................. 72, 85, 124, 401 Semantic memory ............................................... 241
Observations .......................................................... 171 Popups ....................................................................... 469 absence of contradictions ............................... 86 Semi-structured planning ................................ 305
advantages and limitations ........................ 174 Postcondition ......................................................... 529 classic .................................................................... 411 Sense of touch ....................................................... 213
documentation ................................................. 172 Pragmatic quality .................................................. 562 collect ........................................................ 85, 87, 95 Sensory cells ........................................................... 212
field observation .............................................. 339 Precondition ........................................................... 526 documentation ....................................... 404, 416 Sensory organs ...................................................... 190
good ....................................................................... 174 Primacy-recency effect ....................................... 156 fixed ....................................................................... 411 ear .......................................................................... 203
outline .................................................................. 173 Priming ...................................................................... 242 general .................................................................. 626 eye .......................................................................... 191
types ...................................................................... 171 Prioritization ........................................................... 315 iteration ............................................................... 634 nose ....................................................................... 220
versus interviews .............................................. 177 Problem-solution fit ............................................ 535 list .......................................................... 85, 416, 421 skin ........................................................................ 211
Observe ........................................................................ 91 Problem space .......................................................... 89 maximum ........................................................... 415 tongue .................................................................. 218
Odor profile ............................................................. 222 Procedural knowledge ......................................... 241 minimum ............................................................ 414 Sensory register .................................................... 238
Olfactory mucosa ................................................. 220 Productivity ............................................................... 73 range ..................................................................... 412 Serifs .......................................................................... 265
Onboarding ............................................................. 577 Proof of concept ...................................................... 32 specifications ........................................... 416, 421 Shadowing ............................................ 339, 340, 392
Open-ended questions ....................................... 175 Protanopia ............................................................... 197 Resonance range ................................................... 204 Shadows ................................................................... 199
Open observation ................................................. 171 Proto-mood board ...................................... 503–505 Resources ................................................................. 329 Shape coding .......................................................... 198
Operating error ............................................ 108, 430 Proto-persona ......................................................... 387 Responsive design ...................................... 494, 495 Shapes ....................................................................... 258
Opportunity costs ................................................ 410 Prototype .............................. 98, 126, 433, 534, 536 Retina ......................................................................... 191 Short-term memory ............................................ 238
Organizational fine-tuning ............................... 311 click dummy ....................................................... 487 Return on investment (ROI) ..... 64, 75, 364, 618 Simulation ....................................................... 86, 289
Organ of equilibrium .......................................... 206 decision matrix ................................................. 438 plan instead of discover ................................... 69 Simultaneous sense ............................................ 193
Outer ear .................................................................. 204 high-fidelity .............................................. 436, 440 studies ...................................................................... 73 Skin ............................................................................ 211
Overlay ...................................................................... 471 horizontal versus vertical .............................. 434 Risk ................................................... 71, 133, 316, 621 Slider ................................................................. 460, 477
low-fidelity .......................................................... 435 assessment .......................................................... 117 Smartphones .......................................................... 493
testing ..................... 99, 548, 558, 578, 591, 597 classification ...................................................... 123 Smartwatches ........................................................ 493
Psychology ............................................................... 189 consideration ..................................................... 333 Social level ............................................................... 329
Pupil ............................................................................ 191 design .................................................................... 127 Software ................................................................... 330

670 671
Index Index

Solution neutral .................................................... 403 Task analysis .................................................. 341, 373 Use case .................................................. 404, 494, 541 with prototypes ................................................... 99
Solution space ........................................................... 89 profile .................................................................... 379 Use error ................................................................... 295 Utricle ....................................................................... 206
Sound pressure level ........................................... 207 Task expertise ............................................... 164, 165 Use error robustness ........................................... 294 UXer .................................................................. 617, 634
Specifications ......................................................... 401 Taste perception .................................................... 219 User ..................................................................... 63, 633
Speed .......................................................................... 113 Taste receptors ....................................................... 218 context of use analysis .................................. 322 V
Sprint ............................................................... 313, 540 Test case .................................................................... 525 definition ............................................... 44, 71, 324
cycles ..................................................................... 540 Test guide ......................... 532, 537, 542, 553, 555, engagement ....................................................... 298 Validity ..................................................................... 572
second ................................................................... 315 558, 559, 562 evaluation ........................................................... 521 Value range ............................................................. 460
Squares ...................................................................... 259 Testing ............................................................. 515, 629 feedback ............................................................... 519 Verbalizability ....................................................... 569
Stakeholder ...................................................... 72, 501 company culture ............................................... 186 feedback data .................................................... 371 Vertical guide ......................................................... 482
workshop .......................................... 306, 308, 504 medical devices ................................................. 610 flows ...................................................................... 485 Vertical prototype ................................................ 434
Standardized test procedures .......................... 553 methods ................................................................ 529 groups .................................................. 45, 553, 626 Vestibular perception ......................................... 206
Standard symbols ................................................. 230 Text block ................................................................. 478 instructions ........................................................ 527 Vibration .................................................................. 215
Stapes ......................................................................... 205 Text field ................................................................... 451 journey ................................................................. 443 Visceral design ....................................................... 244
State-of-the-art design ........................................ 426 Texture ...................................................................... 262 journey mapping .............................................. 380 Visual design ................................................. 430, 497
Stationary solutions ............................................ 594 Texture gradient .................................................... 199 participation ...................................................... 301 concept ................................................................ 506
Stimulus-response model ....................... 225, 603 Threshold attribute ................................................ 55 requirements ......................................................... 82 Visualization .......................................................... 114
act ........................................................................... 235 Ticket analysis ........................................................ 370 User expectations .................................................... 42
decide .................................................................... 232 profile .................................................................... 373 User experience (UX) ............................... 24, 35, 50 W
discover ................................................................ 226 Time approach .............................................. 619, 622 benchmarking ................................ 536, 552, 557
memory ................................................................ 237 Time picker .............................................................. 464 metrics ..................................................................... 66 Warning ........................................................... 201, 480
reaction ................................................................ 237 Tongue ....................................................................... 218 rapid user test .................................................... 544 symbols ................................................................ 412
recognize ............................................................. 229 Tool tip ....................................................................... 468 sprint ........................................................... 540, 544 tones ..................................................................... 210
stimulus ............................................................... 226 Touch-based operation ....................................... 474 test ............................................ 530, 539, 612, 629 Waterfall model .................................................... 314
Style guide ..................................... 75, 412, 416, 507 Touchpoint analysis ................................... 380, 383 User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ) ......... 564 Web Content Accessibility
Subcutis .................................................................... 212 profile .................................................................... 384 User interface (UI) ................................ 39, 248, 430 Guidelines (WCAG) ......................................... 254
Subjective data ....................................................... 137 Trends ........................................................................ 499 affective elements ............................................ 298 Webpage slider ...................................................... 477
Subjective feedback ............................................. 608 Triangles ................................................................... 260 interaction principles ..................................... 278 Web tracking ................................................. 366, 576
Subtractive color mixing ................................... 257 Tritanopia ................................................................. 197 requirements ...................................................... 416 profile ................................................................... 369
Successive sense .................................................... 203 Trustworthiness ..................................................... 300 switch versions .................................................. 301 Wholeness ............................................................... 261
Suitability for the user’s task ........................... 279 Typography .................................................... 263, 501 visual design ...................................................... 497 WH questions ........................................................ 175
Summative evaluation .................... 130, 515, 519 User manual ............................................................ 159 Wicked problem ....................................................... 89
Summative testing ............................................... 515 U User needs .................................................................. 42 Wireframe ................ 254, 436, 438, 487, 506, 536
Supported evaluation ......................................... 588 User research .......................... 44, 74, 91, 170, 315, BusinessBooster example ............................. 511
Support ticket ............................ 370, 573, 575, 635 Ultra-short-term memory ................................. 238 325, 425, 515 Wish ........................................................................... 416
Survey ........................................................................ 355 Undo function ........................................................ 293 User researcher ............................................ 170, 181 Workflow .............................................. 127, 129, 442
follow-up surveys ............................................. 534 Unified Modeling Language (UML) User stories .............................................................. 405 criticality ............................................................. 318
online .................................................................... 547 flowchart .............................................................. 375 conventional ...................................................... 406 develop ................................................................. 430
period .................................................................... 581 Usability ........................ 24, 35, 41, 45, 50, 72, 161, extensions ........................................................... 408 main ...................................................................... 319
profile .................................................................... 359 535, 556, 593 reformulated ...................................................... 407 Work science ...................................................... 36, 37
Survey guide ........................................................... 580 assess ................................................. 566, 588, 590 User tests .................................................................. 541
Swimlanes ................................................................ 380 definition ............................................................... 41 assumptions ....................................................... 163 Y
System Usability Scale (SUS) ............................ 562 issue ....................................................................... 364 Double Diamond model ................................ 107
medical devices ................................................. 108 User tests (Cont.) Year picker ............................................................... 463
T sprint ........................................................... 540, 544 evaluation of design solutions ................... 130
test ............................................. 530, 539, 612, 629
Takete ........................................................................ 243 usability engineering ...................................... 108
Talent ......................................................................... 183 Usage behavior ....................................................... 630
Target groups ......................................................... 405 Usage data ................................... 364, 368, 372, 573
Task ................................................................... 327, 376 patterns ................................................................ 365
abstracted version ........................................... 377 profile .......................................................... 366, 575
Usage environment .......................... 326, 526, 627

672 673
Build and deepen your coding knowledge
from the top programming experts!

Benjamin Franz received his doctorate in engineering; his UXrelat-

ed dissertation on highly automated driving was awarded the Wal-
ter Rohmert Research Prize. In his jointly founded and managed
company, Custom Interactions, he focuses on user interface design.
He also works as a lecturer and a keynote speaker.

Michaela Kauer-Franz has a doctorate in psychology with a focus

on product design and user experience. Together with Benjamin
Franz, she founded the data-driven UX agency Custom Interactions,
which they manage together. She also contributes her extensive ex-
perience as a trainer, a lecturer at Technische Universität Darmstadt,
a speaker, and on an International Organization for Standardiza-
tion (ISO) committee.

Benjamin Franz, Michaela Kauer-Franz

Usability and User Experience Design

The Comprehensive Guide to Data-Driven UX Design We hope you have enjoyed this reading sample. You may recommend or pass it on to
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