Comments on Experience Themes

jane reinberg — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:38:42 GMT

Nice job, Cindy!
I agree that having a unifying theme to the experience is critical to the process. So often we forget the core of what we’re doing during the development process and it’s key for everyone on the team to be fully immersed in the theme and to always keep it in mind.

Fritz Desir — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:07:22 GMT

Late to this but Thanks for thinking this through. I’m always interested in how to best synthesize story (usually scenario content) into design and experience theming seems to do that quite nicely. The biggest complement I can pay is that I killed a tree (or at least part of one) to file this one into the design reference library. Kudos!

Colleen Jones — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:28:28 GMT

I enjoyed your presentation at IA Summit 2009 and find this resulting article very useful. I like “experience theme” very much as a way to unify seemingly disparate roles and decisions. For instance, I think it’s one way to bring design / creative strategy and content strategy together. I also admire the way your project team came together to arrive at the theme, rather than a creative director creating the theme alone.

Nice work!

Meenakshi Sharma — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:07:36 GMT

Thank you. Your article helped me get over a designer’s block today.

dustin chambers — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:07:34 GMT

Really great read Cindy, thanks. Really useful tips when a project needs some direction or uniformity. I definately agree that an overall project theme is extremely valuable for web design projects, especially when mulitple stakeholders are involved, however I feel like if you follow a traditional UCD approach, your project will already require a (guiding) ‘clear and stated objective’. Whille I admit that a ‘site objective’ isn’t as warm and fuzzy as a ‘ux theme’ I argue they are much the same.

Tristan Naramore — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:07:42 GMT

What is it with UX people with film backgrounds? I too studied film (at UCSC) but found my career swept up by the dot.com craze. Follow the money, I guess…

Anyhoo, I thought this article was fantastic and most timely. Yesterday, I had this great “a-ha!” moment with my client (a very large bank) when a theme suddenly emerged out of some rather frustrating discussions around a poorly defined product. I kept asking stakeholders, “So, what is this product actual for and why does it need to exist?” No clear answer came until a BA working on requirements documentation said to me, “This is to make your boss’s boss’s boss happy.”

Everything fell into place. What had been an ad hoc collection of features suddenly became a clear statement of the product’s implicit value to its users. I don’t know yet if I’ll end up explicitly stating this in a strategy brief, but it’s mighty tempting.

David Fore — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:07:53 GMT

Cindy,

Your theme scheme screams! Cogent and helpful advice for an area of design that often gets short shrift. Kudos!

I’ve been using Goal-Directed methods for many years, which have helped me design in accord with a user’s fundamental needs as they apply to the site/product/service/etc.; typically this means coming up with several personae that represent the potential population of users. But I’ve often found some small something lacking in this approach: basically, a cohering slogan for the *entire* enterprise, and a way to arrive at it.

Your experience themes nail this. I particularly loved the example: “Don’t Miss Out. Discover something new. Get it first.”
~Thanks

Danny Bourgeois — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:07:56 GMT

Great posting. I am using it to confirm and add to discussions my small team is having on an ongoing basis. Looking forward to the next article about the process of “finding” and using themes.

Lance Quejada — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:08:04 GMT

As a budding ux designer, I learned a lot from this article, thanks Cindy! I’m eager to read the follow-up article :)

Cindy Chastain — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:48:57 GMT

@giles @ivan @ray @chris @pierre Thanks so much for your comments! Glad you enjoyed. :)

@ray: how interesting to think that this might be used to guide user generated content. You have to let me know whether it works.

@chris Yes personas are good for making design decisions as well. But I find them insufficient when thinking about the “whole” experience. For example, it’s difficult to write copy against a set of personas. Ideally, the “story” suits the actors (your personas) who are engaged with the site. In fact, we always consider our personas when coming up with a theme. They’re a necessary element to draw from. If you ever have any questions about process you can always reach me on twitter at @cchastain.

I’m hoping to write a follow-up to the article that goes into greater detail about the process of “finding” and using themes.

Pierre Abel — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:48:53 GMT

Thanks a lot for this article Cindy!
It reminds me that there is so much to learn from others displicines (such as storytelling) to bring UX to the next level. I’d love to read more article like yours.

Christopher Butler — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:48:49 GMT

Cindy,

You had my interest immediately when I realized that you were both a designer and screenwriter (I got my BFA in film/video at RISD, but now work in web development). I completely get the idea of making the “story” the unifying element that brings together each individual discipline represented in the development process.

We’ve been exploring the concept of personas, who, as characters in the overall “story,” represent the goals of a site as well as the challenges of succeeding at those goals. By creating specific personas for each project, we can anticipate some of the barriers to communication, as well as identify new ways to articulate messages through copy and design that are most appropriate to the end user.

I’m with @Giles- there is much to enjoy in your article. I’m going to have our Project Management team read this as part of our professional enrichment program.

- Chris

Ray DeLaPena — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:48:45 GMT

Thanks so much for this Cindy! I’m in the early stages of a project whose purpose is for users to contribute content to an ongoing story. Using a theme in this case is not only providing us with a guidepost for design decisions but it will also give our users a star to sail by in creating their stories as well as unify the digital experience with the core essence of the project.

Ivan Frantar — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 19:54:19 GMT

Excellent article! When I was last year in in @media 2008 I remember Andy Clarke also talked about the value of story telling when we create websites. The only difference is that instead of making the analogy with movies, he has doing it with the kind you see in comic books to depict the momentum of actions and pace of story graphically.

Giles Colborne — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:46:13 GMT

Great article, Cindy – I couldn’t agree more: focussing on a key idea, and returning to that key idea throughout the design process is crucial to doing great work. Love the ‘potluck’ analogy, and the screenwriting insight. Loads to enjoy in this article.