Skills utilized
defining UI specs
focus groups
exploratory studies
ethnographic research
UI guidelines
UX vision & standards
interviews
user scenarios
brainstorming sessions
heuristic evaluations
iterative prototyping
interaction design
field research
expert evaluation
user-centric design process
semi-formal UI reviews
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(2005)
Note: for confidentiality reasons, parts of
the interfaces have been obfuscated.
The project was to develop a custom framework that would allow any number of
tools to be created by independent development teams. These teams might not
know about the existence of other tools, but the tools would still all need
to have a coherent look and feel, and to be fully integrated with each other.
The original framework and base toolset had gone through several
revamps by the time I was brought onto the project. At the time it
was a fairly simple Java/SWT application. Few requirements were stated
other than it had to stay as a desktop application. |
Original Interface
The first step was to find out if a desktop application was even the
right metaphor. In a focus group, the users were introduced to the
several different metaphors and ended up sticking with the desktop.
I then helped lead the users through a requirements gathering
process, which resulted in several hundred requirements. A vision document
and
a UI guidelines document were then created to help establish the redevelopment
efforts, and to ensure a coherent look and feel.
UI Guidelines: Table of Contents
Vision: ability for users to choose how to group tools
I directed the
UI team to redevelop the base architecture to ensure that the vision
and project requirements could be met, and also
developed quick paper and
computer-based
prototypes
of the main interface and supplemental interfaces. Several
iterations of the main interface were created to develop the final look and
feel.
Legal Workshop, initial prototype
The users liked portions of the initial interface, but
decided that they wanted to have some content that could be kept on
the screen at
all times, but did not need to stay there. They wanted to make sure
that the menu functionality was kept, as well as the ability to open
up multiple tools and choose where they were positioned.
Legal Workshop, final prototype
The final prototype allowed the users to get the information that
they needed from multiple interfaces at once glance, and to customize
the interface so that they could work on multiple tasks or tools simultaneously.
It also allowed them to find out about any critical information in
real time, to run multiple sessions and to have easy access to everything
that they would need. The panels on the right-hand side could be customized,
and even hidden, if they needed to capture more screen real-estate.
They also had the ability to work on several sessions at once, as is
indicated through the graphics at the bottom of the screen.
Additional work was also done to establish other parts of the interface.
For example, each and every tool had configuration options. I wanted
to establish
a consistent mechanism that would allow users to configure all tools together,
using natural mechanisms as often as possible.
The configurations for all tools were worked into a single interface.
This interface was responsible for querying all tools that the user
had access to, and providing a single interface based upon the parameters
within the tools.
Configuration: establishing folders
Configuration: setting colors
Configuration: setting up column parameters
The final interface is still in the process of being developed, and is expected
to be released in part over the next few years. A significant percentage
of it is being developed as part of the History Tool project.
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