Poster Night submission from the 2017 IA Summit in Vancouver, BC. Poster attempts to map UX offerings using a diner-style menu approach. Same poster used for UXDC 2017 conference in Washington, DC.

1. À La Carte
When you aren’t ready for a full dinner, but want
something substantial. Stand-alone activities
requiring planning and a human touch.
CARD SORTING*
Develop/refine information architecture using
“cards” representing content into categories.
• Open: create your own categories
• Closed: sort into provided categories
• Hybrid: use provided categories + your own
TREE TESTING*
Validate by finding content within a hierarchical
folder-like structure (aka Reverse Card sorting).
• Card-Based: a multi-level card sort
• Task-Based: identify paths to complete tasks
• Hybrid: multi-level sort with path identification
INITIAL RESPONSE TESTING*
Determine how users interpret a static wireframe
or design based only on what’s visible by default.
• First Click: where would you click to... ?
• Link Affordance: what’s actually clickable?
• Impression: look... time’s up, what’d ya think?
Entrées
Protein, veg, carbs; everything you need for
a proper meal. Complete, formal, end-to-
end usability testing facilitated by the pros (no
automation). Try them in-person or remote.
• Baseline Testing*: uses tasks and probing
questions to evaluate existing content and
functionality to identify pain points and
opportunities for improvement
• Formal Testing*: same approach but with
wireframes, a prototype, or staging site;
focused on tasks plus what’s new or changed
• Time on Task Testing*: target testing to ensure
key user groups can successfully accomplish
their goals quickly and efficiently
Breakfast
The most important meal of the day. Start
your project with strong UX-focused discovery
activities (or at least consume existing UX
discovery documentation).
USABILITY HEURISTIC REVIEWS
Domain-specific manual (non-machine) reviews
of sites, applications, content, or functionality.
• Heuristics: use a specific heuristic set
• Expert Review: a domain expert’s take
• Style, Tone, & Brand: enforce consistent identity
• Compliance checks: baseline against
standards (client, industry, government)
USER & STAKEHOLDER RESEARCH
Get to know the people using your site, as well as
the people paying for it.
• Interviews: structured interviews with users and
stakeholders to gain insights
• Focus Groups: structured, yet organic,
conversations to deepen understanding
• User Tasks & Journey Maps: user goals, tasks,
and paths through your domain
• Personas & Empathy Maps: user wants, needs,
habits, and pain points easily digested
Desserts
Decadent and over-the-top treats to make
your meal memorable. Expensive or complex
specialty services that, while often unnecessary,
help punctuate your findings.
• Eye & Mouse Tracking: adds drama, flair, and
occasionally a gotcha moment to formal tests
• Emotional Response Testing: adds EEG brain
observation and evaluation (requires
specialty equipment and personnel)
• Diary Studies: users log their online activities
providing contextual insights about their
behaviors and needs.
• Charrett & Design Workshops: bring
users, customers, and stakeholders into the
requirements and design process
• Dessert du Jour: add the latest buzz-worthy
(though not necessarily investment-worthy)
novelty UX technique or activity
Beverages
Coffee, tea, milk, juice, craft sodas, or something
more grown-up? As much as I’d like to delve into
cocktails, I’ll instead introduce myself. Reach out
and we’ll share a real beverage. Cheers!
Jeffrey Ryan Pass
Booz Allen Hamilton: Strategic Innovations Group
Solution Engineer & Lead Associate
Pass_Jeffrey@bah.com | 301.807.3634
Appetizers
What you eat before you eat… to make you
more hungry! Non-UX discovery, background,
and research activities (typically industry
research and analysis) that whet the appetite.
• Domain-Specific Research: industry practices
and gold standards
• Industry Surveys: best practices, common
patterns, best-in-class examples
• Competitive Analysis: baseline against
partners and competitors; identify gaps,
strengths, weaknesses
Sides
The perfect complements for your any meal.
Add-on services that are essential to usability
studies, but often overlooked or undervalued.
• Feedback*: as important as its collection is
how you collect it and that you act on it
• Surveying*: always monitor your customer
vitals; on paper, digitally, via Social, in-person
• Feedback & Survey Design: simple, engaging
user input tools don’t happen by accident
• Formal Recruiting: ensure that you include the
right participants (requires a professional)
• Lab Rentals & Facilitation: some activities
require special facilities, equipment, and
people
Lite Fare*
Fresh, quick, and ready fast! Any menu item
identified with an asterisk (*) can be performed
online and unmoderated, allowing you to
capture lots of input quickly and at minimal
expense. Plus, try these informal testing activities:
• Guerrilla Testing: a site-specific test with a live
recruit (where the users live, work, or play)
• Hallway Testing: testing involving co-workers,
colleagues, and stakeholders
MORE ON THE KRAKEN UX DINER MENU
Designing for Humans means thinking like
humans. For our employers, clients, or customers,
that means describing UX activities in a way that
is meaningful to non-UXers.
This poster is an outgrowth of attempts to
describe and map UX services by separate
teams – one took a detailed spreadsheet
approach and the other a text outline approach.
When the teams got together to compare notes,
the idea for the poster was born. We all liked
the idea of a ‘menu’ and began playing with
representing services using a typical American
diner menu. This poster is my initial attempt.
The Kraken
A UX Diner
The Kraken Diner menu is an attempt to provide
a mapping of user research, usability, and
related activities to a classic diner menu layout.
The goal of the poster is to organize, as well as
contextualize, the various research, evaluations,
tests, and analysis efforts that contribute to
user- (or customer-) centered design in a way
that is easy to understand for employers, clients,
business drivers, and UX neophytes.