Synopses & Reviews
Whether teaching or learning UX Design, activities often sink in deeper than lectures. And game-like activities with a lesson included both engage and instruct. This book contains fun and challenging activities to help participants learn core concepts in user experience, from sketching, to photo safaris that encourage field observation, to creating an experience model for your daily bus ride, etc. It is structured as 50% activity and 50% explanation.
Review
What a fun ride! Adventures in Experience Design cruises through the essentials, never slowing down for a lengthy explanation. Instead, you get memorable challenges, friendly, instructional feedback, and examples we can all relate to… or laugh at! Seriously, what other design book talks of “fat vs skinny questions” or narwhal enthusiasts?! Hands down the most playful, jargon-free way to jump into the vibrant world of user experience design. --Stephen Anderson, author of Seductive Interaction Design and Mental Notes
Identifying needs and solving them creatively will make you an invaluable designer. Adventures in Experience Design is an accessible and fun way to learn these powerful skills and apply them. The lessons in this book will advance your abilities as a designer and help you stand out like a pro. --Jason Eastman, Strategic Partner Development, Hasbro
Useful, practical, accessible and fun! --Dave Gray, author of Gamestorming and The Connected Company
Whether you are a dabbler or diver, a student or a teacher, a learner earning a degree or a DIY-er, there are plenty of ideas to pursue and exercises to attempt. I’m an educator, and when I read I cannot help but think of how to turn ideas into curriculum - which questions to pose, which activities to catalyze, which collaborations to encourage - and Carolyn and Anna have already done that. I feel as if I’m cheating on a test because the work has already been completed, and yet I’ll still earn credit for offering my students an inspiring, purpose-driven, and relevant course! --Eric Davis, Founder/Director of the Global Citizenship Experience & GCE High School
Anna and Carolyn have done a brilliant job of breaking down the design processes in a fun and interactive way. A thoroughly enjoyable and inspiring read! --Betsy Fore, CEO & Founder of Wondermento.com
About the Author
Carolyn Chandler was recently named one of Crain’s Chicago Business Tech 50. She’s been working in the field of User Experience Design for 14 years, and is Director of User Experience for Chicago agency Manifest Digital. She's also a connector for the community: she teaches UX design at Starter League, helped launch Chicago's chapter of the Interaction Design Association, and directed the Chicago edition of Hackathon for Social Good, an event in which programmers and designers donate time to work on projects that benefit nonprofit organizations.
Anna van Slee has been a player in the toy and game industry for 6 years. As a leader of the Youth Brands team at Manifest Digital, she directs the Hasbro account, innovating multi-platform solutions for such hit global brands as Transformers, My Little Pony, Tonka's Chuck & Friends, Playskool and Furby. Anna is a Committee Member for the Chicago Toy & Game Group. She directs playCHIC, the unique toy- and game-inspired fashion show. In 2012, she co-founded Otherdoor Entertainment - a unique invention company focused on native multiplatform brand and product development. In her free time, Anna practices tae kwon do and eats lots of ice cream - never at the same time.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: What this is, and why you should play (intro)Chapter 2: Get out in the field (observing others, interviewing people, immersing in the lives of others)Chapter 3: Capture the spark (forming insights from what you've seen, generating ideas, creating personas, sketching, mood boards)Chapter 4: Pick a killer concept (conceptual design, using insights to choose good ideas, picking the right channels/technologies)Chapter 5: Show and tell (creating a vision for your solution, conceptual design, task flows, site maps)Chapter 6: Make it solid (defining the details, thinking about things like fluidity in your design/responsiveness)Chapter 7: Think like a designer (last thoughts on the process)