TodayTix – Max Talbot-Minkin
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About the Episode
Today’s guest talks all about design and how to immerse yourself in the user’s shoes to really solve her problem. Also, listen to the part of the show when he shares what NOT to ask someone when you’re conducting a usability survey and the types of questions you should ask instead.
Max Talbot-Minkin at VP of Product and Design at TodayTix.
Show Notes
Immersing Yourself in the User’s Shoes
Max shares that design teaches you empathy and that empathy is a muscle that you can develop. Everyone sees the world their own way but you need to get outside of your own head and all that you believe to be true. You need to get into the mind of another person and understand what it is like for them. Everyone can have sympathy (feeling sorry for someone else) but empathy is the hard part. A lot of it is just embedding yourself in their culture and all the things around them and doing your best to understand.
What NOT to Ask When Conducting a Usability Survey
Avoid asking opinions, such as “Do you like this?” when you are conducting a usability survey. Most people will choose not to be rude and respond positively, so you will end up not getting any useful data. Just leave your questions in free form as you can usually detect when people do not like things. Focus on the sub contexts of what they are saying rather than putting them on the spot.
In prototyping, when you are trying to pitch a design or a concept and testing it, it is better to do low fidelity stuff. Make it as sketchy as possible because people will be much more honest with you if they felt it just took you a couple of minutes to arrive with the design. If they saw that you obviously spent a lot of time and effort on that work, they would not want to tear down all the work that you done.
Show Mentions
– 101 Design Methods: A Structured Approach for Driving Innovation in Your Organization
– Fav app: iTrans NYC: (iTunes)