​Autotrader Agile Nights talks 06/09/2016

These are my notes from the talk I went to at AutoTrader’s Agile Nights event.

Talk 1: Mind the Gap: Nikki Barton from Autotrader

Visual Aid: 1925 full length film Battleship Potempkin – Sergio Einsenstien. This film was  the pioneer of montage and the main scene for this is “The Odessa Steps” a 7 minute montage that Sergio focused on the shots and the gaps to create an impactful experience.

However in UX we need to be mindful of cuts and gaps, as it disrupts the user’s experience and this isn’t beneficial. These gaps can occur from switching between platforms (mobile/PC/human interaction); the user needs a seamless experience to reduce distractions. 

Visual Aid: Martin  Vargic’s “Map of the Internet 1.0”. This image is a great expression of how our internet experiences a broken and have gaps, distractions and differences.

The way we access to areas of the internet has changed, there are many journeys and doors to get to the same page; it is no longer typing http://www.____.com.

Development of branding. Branding is not just a logo, it is also layout, access and the way the user uses the product/site/experience. Strong brands are experience-led, brand-experience, giving the user a connection to the brand. E.g the way you interact with sites like Amazon, Facebook, Google.

Ethnographic research done in Autotrader showed people prefer to do research on mobile but when it comes to action they still prefer to do it on a PC. Nikki Barton has seen these results with other products too. Based on this research they designed the web to have long scrolling screens that progressively load, this suited giving a smooth unbroken experience for fulfilling their actions. In contrast the mobile had minimal scrolling, and had a tabbed layout to allow to flick back and forth to compare and view lots of information with ease; also some features were removed to reduce clutter if it was unlikely that it was needed.

Autotrader also used google analytics to look at the drop off rates along the journey; this then means you know what stops the customer from going forward, you can see if there’s any gaps in the experience, a disruption or blocker to a user will cause these drop offs.

Designer’s can also intentionally create gaps; when 2 companies merge the experiences can clash or no align, this can create a confusing unpleasant experience for the user. The solution is often to keep both separate until the technology or design can adapt to accommodate the best of both, e.g. Nokia and Windows. Keeping the experiences separate can also allow for A B testing and QT as the two products merge.

Design should be Content and Experience focused rather than on checklists of SCRUM, Agile, Waterfall, etc. Being held to these checklists can hinder exploration which in turn will stifle creative thinking, being experience led, curiosity, to be successful you need the squad/workspace to be a haven for new ideas to be pitched.

The desirability of the product is important. Product should be human, HCI-focused, adapted to how people work, built with empathy for the  user, adapted for use in the intended context for the intended user. It’s necessary to observe your users and to use your team’s designers, as designers are experts in observation. 

We should design for the future, for future tech and future requirements, e.g. voice UI, VR.

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” there is a challenge to keep the product united across many squads but with a healthy open culture in the workplace this is easily achieved with similar ideals and trust in place.