The focus of the Human-Computer MasterMind Academy is the inquiry process. It's all about The Craft - that insight process that reveals all the subtleties of how people interact with your digital systems. Those interactions are what drive your results and your success in a digital world.
What The Craft reveals must guide and inform all User Experience Design (UX Design), but I keep The Craft separate from UX Design, for two critical reasons:
- Objectivity: when I work with users, I always tell them, "I didn't design this, so you can be ruthlessly honest with me about what you love, what you hate, and what you simply don't get. You cannot hurt my feelings." Then, it's my job to objectively analyze and interpret my discoveries - even if that might hurt the designers' feelings. Separating myself from the design process ensures the objectivity necessary to get to the best, most critical insights.
- Impact: The Craft, when done well, goes way beyond UX Design. It informs and guides virtually every other creative discipline, business process, and strategic imperative, including your core purpose and reason for existing. Why is this? Because all those functions, disciplines, strategies, methods, systems, intentions, programs, and principles converge at the precise time and place that your user logs on or clicks through or opens your digital wares. That precise experience is the new driver of your success - content is no longer king, and social is no longer leading.
We are like forensic scientists at the scene of a crime. The crime is user frustration leading to business failure.
Now, within that larger context of objectivity and how broadly The Craft should impact all that you do, UX Design is a core competency. Here are key resources, tools, and learning about UX Design:
What is UX Design? 15 User Experience Experts Weigh In
What is User Experience Design? Overview, Tools, and Resources
My favorite wireframing and prototyping tool: Axure