用户体验/概念证明/第1部分 (USER EXPERIENCE / PROOF OF CONCEPT / PART 1)

This is the first article of a four-part series. Please read Part 2 and Part 3.

这是由四个部分组成的系列文章的第一篇。 请阅读 第2 部分 和 第3部分 。

How do today’s top UX designers create the best mobile experiences for apps like Lyft, Airbnb, and Mint? They start with an inspiration and then follow a clear and repeatable User Experience process. Sounds simple right? But what is this process? And how can you learn it and apply it to your projects?

当今的顶级UX设计师如何为Lyft，Airbnb和Mint等应用程序创造最佳的移动体验？ 他们从灵感开始，然后遵循清晰可重复的用户体验过程。 听起来很简单吧？ 但是这个过程是什么？ 以及如何学习并将其应用于您的项目？

UX process is a complex topic for sure, and there is no single answer. However, in my twenty-plus years of teaching, studying, and refining the UX process, it’s now crystal-clear to me that the key to creating any successful interactive experience is building an accurate and flexible Proof of Concept (a step-by-step sequence of images representing how a user moves through a particular interactive experience).

UX过程无疑是一个复杂的主题，没有一个答案。 但是，在我二十多年的教学，研究和完善UX流程的过程中，对我来说，现在已经非常清楚，创建任何成功的交互体验的关键是构建准确而灵活的概念证明(逐步代表用户如何在特定的互动体验中移动的图像的逐步步骤)。

So… You’re thinking: “Okay. I need a Proof of Concept. Simple, let’s open up Sketch and start designing screens!” Whoa! Hold on now. You can’t just go willy-nilly building screens and mock-ups without some strategic planning and core setup elements that will make your Proof of Concept a success.

所以……您在想：“好吧。 我需要概念证明。 简单，让我们打开Sketch并开始设计屏幕！” 哇！ 等一下 如果没有一些战略计划和核心设置要素，这将使您的概念证明获得成功，那么您将无法随意制作屏幕和模型。

Over the years, I’ve helped hundreds of students develop app redesigns, interactive projects, mobile applications, and interactive art installations. Based on this extensive history, I have arrived at a successful User Experience design process for building a Proof of Concept.

多年来，我已经帮助数百名学生开发了应用程序重新设计，交互式项目，移动应用程序和交互式艺术作品。 基于这段悠久的历史，我已经成功构建了用于概念验证的用户体验设计过程。

Assuming you know what your project is — a big assumption, I know — and you have basic goals in mind, setting up a successful Proof of Concept requires a rock-solid user persona, user scenario, user task, and user flow diagram. You must build these core elements first before tackling the Proof of Concept.

假设您知道您的项目是什么-我知道这是一个很大的假设-并且您已牢记基本目标，因此要成功建立概念证明，需要坚实的用户角色 ， 用户场景 ， 用户任务和用户流程图 。 在解决概念验证之前，您必须首先构建这些核心元素。

In this article we will cover:

在本文中，我们将介绍：

1. What is a Proof of Concept?

   什么是概念证明？

2. Defining design goals

   定义设计目标

3. Why you need a user persona and what it looks like

   为什么需要用户角色及其外观

4. A user story (scenario) provides context for the Proof of Concept

   用户案例(场景)为概念验证提供了上下文

5. Defining a clear user task with a measurable outcome

   定义清晰的用户任务并获得可衡量的结果

6. Creating a user flow diagram

   创建用户流程图

In this article, I detail what these core setup elements look like, how to create them and reveal time-tested tips and tricks forged over years of trial-and-error.

在本文中，我将详细介绍这些核心设置元素的外观，如何创建它们以及揭示经过数年反复试验而经过时间考验的技巧和窍门。

1.什么是概念证明？ (1. What is a Proof of Concept?)

A Proof of Concept is a Blueprint. Like buildings and cities, interactive experiences need planning and a clear process for execution. And in the same way that buildings need blueprints, mobile apps need a Proof of Concept.

概念证明是一个蓝图。 像建筑物和城市一样，交互式体验需要规划和明确的执行流程。 就像建筑物需要蓝图一样，移动应用程序也需要概念证明。

In a general sense, a Proof of Concept is any representation that demonstrates how an interactive project will work. This can include sketches, diagrams, wireframes, prototypes, and coded experiments.

在一般意义上，概念证明是表示交互式项目将如何工作的任何表示形式。 这可以包括草图，图表，线框，原型和编码实验。

For the purpose of this article, I define a Proof of Concept as a step-by-step sequence of images that represents how a user moves through a particular interactive experience.

出于本文的目的，我将概念证明定义为逐步的图像序列，代表用户如何在特定的交互体验中移动。

The benefit of using a Proof of Concept is that it provides a blueprint for the actual development, coding, and launch of a mobile app. You wouldn’t start pouring concrete before you had a very clear idea of what you’re building.

使用概念验证的好处在于，它为移动应用程序的实际开发，编码和启动提供了一个蓝图。 在您非常清楚自己要构建的内容之前，您不会开始浇注混凝土。

Here is an example of a high-fidelity Proof of Concept designed by one of my previous students Alex Kim.

这是 我以前的一位学生 Alex Kim 设计 的高保真 概念验证 的示例 。

A Proof of Concept can be used to model a completely new app from scratch or redesign an existing app. Design firms and tech companies develop Proof of Concepts to create new apps, improve existing apps, or propose new features. Many of my students propose and create a unique app for their portfolios or redesign an existing app in order to demonstrate their understanding of UX process and design.

概念验证可用于从头开始为全新的应用程序建模或重新设计现有应用程序。 设计公司和科技公司开发概念验证以创建新应用，改进现有应用或提出新功能。 我的许多学生为自己的作品集提议并创建一个独特的应用程序，或者重新设计一个现有的应用程序，以展示他们对UX流程和设计的理解。

There is no single way to build a Proof of Concept. Over my years of teaching, I have developed a model for creating a Proof of Concept. This model represents a minimum viable product with the least amount of elements possible to achieve actionable results.

没有建立概念证明的单一方法。 在多年的教学中，我已经开发了用于创建概念证明的模型。 该模型代表了一种最小可行的产品，其元素数量最少，可以达到可行的结果。

This is a very simple model. I always stress to my students (and anyone I can convince) that starting out simple is the best way to achieve early success. These early successes will point you in the right direction. Try this process once, see how it fits. At any step, you can perform more testing, apply different types of testing, and create additional personas, scenarios, and flows.

这是一个非常简单的模型。 我总是向我的学生(以及我能说服的所有人)强调，从简单开始是取得早期成功的最好方法。 这些早期的成功将为您指明正确的方向。 尝试一次此过程，看看它如何适合。 在任何步骤，您都可以执行更多测试，应用不同类型的测试以及创建其他角色，场景和流程。

2.定义设计目标。 (2. Defining design goals.)

The first thing you need to do when creating a Proof of concept is to define your design goals. You need to know what you want to accomplish before you start designing. The design goals become a touchstone that you go back to and use to evaluate your progress.

创建概念证明时，您要做的第一件事就是定义设计目标。 在开始设计之前，您需要知道要完成的工作。 设计目标成为您重新评估进度的试金石。

Where do you get your design goals from? This starts with sitting down, reflecting, and taking notes about your goals for the project. If you’re working on a client project, your discussions with the client, your own heuristic evaluation, and experience will provide your goals. If you’re working on a personal or student project you’ll have to rely on your own research, suggestions from your instructor and peers, and your heuristic evaluation of the app.

您从哪里获得设计目标？ 首先，请坐下，进行反思，并记下项目目标。 如果您正在处理客户项目，则与客户的讨论，自己的启发式评估和经验将为您提供目标。 如果您正在从事个人或学生项目，则必须依靠自己的研究，老师和同伴的建议以及对应用程序的启发式评估。

When you start, write everything out no matter how big or small the goals are. Large goals could be something like “Increase click-through rates by 50%”. A small goal could be something like “Move the main menu from left to right”

开始时，无论目标有多大，都应将所有内容写下来。 大型目标可能类似于“将点击率提高50％”。 一个小的目标可能是“将主菜单从左移到右”

Here’s a good technique. Open up a spreadsheet and list every goal you can think of for the project large and small. Then go back through the list and make a new column and categorize each goal with either an “A”, “B”, or a “C”. Sort your “A” goals to the top and identify the top three “A” goals.

这是个好技术。 打开电子表格，列出您可以为该项目大大小小的每个目标。 然后返回列表，新建一个列，并用“ A”，“ B”或“ C”对每个目标进行分类。 将您的“ A”目标排序到顶部，并确定前三个“ A”目标。

It’s important to narrow down to the top three design goals so that you don’t get overwhelmed. Don’t worry, all your other goals are still there and you can go back and reprioritize them at any time. Print out your three goals and keep them close to you whenever you’re working on the project so that you can reference them.

重要的是缩小最重要的三个设计目标，以免使您不知所措。 别担心，您的所有其他目标仍然存在，您可以随时返回并重新排列它们的优先级。 打印出您的三个目标，并在您进行项目时使它们离您很近，以便您可以参考它们。

Before you can actually get started designing your Proof of Concept you need to create the following elements: a user persona, user scenario, user task, and a user flow diagram.

在真正开始设计概念验证之前，您需要创建以下元素：用户角色，用户场景，用户任务和用户流程图。

3.为什么需要用户角色及其外观。 (3. Why you need a User Persona and what it looks like.)

A user persona is an imagined representation of a primary target user. Think of the user persona as an aggregate of the most important needs and characteristics of your primary target audience. In the beginning, focus on creating up to three of these personas. Later you can move on to other personas that have different needs from your primary target audience (including some personas that have outlier characteristics).

用户角色是主要目标用户的想象表示。 将用户角色视为主要目标受众最重要的需求和特征的总和。 在开始时，重点是最多创建三个这样的角色。 稍后，您可以转到与主要目标受众有不同需求的其他角色(包括一些具有异常特征的角色)。

The persona is a fictitious character. It’s a common mistake to use a real person for your persona. This can cause confusion as this person often has specific characteristics, or needs, that fit outside of the model persona you’re trying to create.

角色是虚构的角色。 使用真实人物作为您的人物形象是一个常见的错误。 这会引起混乱，因为此人通常具有特定的特征或需求，这些特征或需求适合您要创建的模型角色的外部。

I recommend including the persona as one of the first slides in your Proof of concept. This provides the context for the user scenario and flow.

我建议将该角色作为概念证明中的第一张幻灯片之一。 这为用户方案和流程提供了上下文。

4.用户故事(场景)为概念验证提供了上下文。 (4. A user story (scenario) provides context for the Proof of Concept.)

Once you have your persona, next you want to create a user scenario for that persona. The scenario is a short story that sets up the background and the current context. The scenario should say why your user is interacting with your project.

拥有角色之后，接下来您要为该角色创建一个用户场景。 该场景是一个简短的故事，它设置了背景和当前上下文。 该方案应说明您的用户为何与您的项目进行交互。

Write 3 to 5 sentences of backstory and provide the current context — in terms of time and place, and the reason (or rationale) for using your project. Remember to keep it short, and pick your words wisely. From reading the user scenario, your audience should understand who the persona is, why they want to use the project, and what the context is for using it.

写3到5个背景故事，并提供当前的上下文-在时间和地点以及使用项目的原因(或理由)方面。 记住要简短，并明智地选择你的话。 通过阅读用户场景，您的听众应该了解角色是谁，他们为什么要使用该项目以及使用该项目的上下文。

5.定义清晰的用户任务，并得出可衡量的结果。 (5. Defining a clear user task with a measurable outcome.)

For a Proof of Concept to be effective, it must be based on a user task. For instance, a user may want to search a list of restaurants, or check a balance on an account, or update their profile information. Whatever the goal they have in mind is, that is the task. Ultimately the Proof of Concept is the visual representation of the achievement of the task. It shows a step-by-step sequence of how the user accomplishes a particular task.

为了使概念证明有效，它必须基于用户任务。 例如，用户可能想要搜索餐馆列表，或检查帐户余额，或更新其个人资料信息。 他们想到的目标是任务。 最终，概念证明是任务完成情况的视觉表示。 它显示了用户如何完成特定任务的分步序列。

It is important to connect the scenario to the tasks. Therefore your scenario should set up the context of the tasks, and the tasks should reflect the scenario.

将方案连接到任务上很重要。 因此，您的方案应设置任务的上下文，并且任务应反映方案。

When starting a new Proof of Concept, it helps to define a small number of core tasks. I start students off by having them define only three tasks. I ask them to focus on identifying the most important three tasks based on the user’s goals.

在开始新的概念验证时，它有助于定义少量核心任务。 首先，让学生定义三个任务。 我要求他们专注于根据用户目标确定最重要的三个任务。

One of the best ways to capture tasks is to write them down in the form of a flowchart, or write each step in sharpie marker on a separate sticky note and then combine them to create a sequence of steps.

捕获任务的最佳方法之一是将它们以流程图的形式记录下来，或者将每个步骤写在单独的便笺上的沙皮纸标记中，然后将它们组合起来以创建一系列步骤。

Defining “The Task”Now that you have defined your three core user tasks, you want to write them down in simple statements. For instance, you might write out the first task as “Task 1: search internships in my city,” the second task as “Task 2: select design internship, $25 dollars an hour,” and the third task as “Task 3: tap the more info button.” Notice that the wording of these tasks is very clear.

定义“任务”现在，您已经定义了三个核心用户任务，您想用简单的语句将它们写下来。 例如，您可以将第一个任务写为“任务1：在我所在的城市搜索实习”，将第二个任务写为“任务2：选择设计实习，每小时25美元”，而将第三个任务写为“任务3：点击更多信息按钮。” 请注意，这些任务的措辞非常清楚。

Avoid any vague task statements, as these will confuse your audience, or send them down complex paths without a clear goal in mind. Examples of unclear task statements include “Login and complete the first level,” or “Search for restaurants close to you.” While these statements seem reasonable at first glance if you think deeply you’ll notice that they leave a lot of information unexplained.

避免使用任何含糊的任务陈述，因为这会使您的听众感到困惑，或者使他们沿着复杂的道路前进，而没有明确的目标。 任务说明不明确的示例包括“登录并完成第一级”或“搜索您附近的餐馆”。 尽管乍一看这些陈述似乎很合理，但您会注意到它们留下了许多无法解释的信息。

A Proof of Concept is a primary tool for user testing, so clear tasks will help your user testers understand exactly what you want them to do. The more clear you are about the tasks the easier it is for you to define, and visually represent, the step-by-step screens in your Proof of Concept.

概念验证是用户测试的主要工具，因此清晰的任务将帮助您的用户测试人员准确了解您希望他们做的事情。 您对任务越清楚，就越容易定义和直观地表示概念证明中的逐步屏幕。

Every user task needs a “Measurable Outcome”I use the term “measurable outcome” to mean a clear form of completion criteria. You can also call this the result of the task. It must be something that can be unequivocally proven to have either been met or not through testing. For instance, the measurable outcome could be “closes confirmation pop-up window.” This example is testable because we can observe the user actually tapping on the close icon. Something that’s not measurable is generally passive and/or open-ended.

每个用户任务都需要一个“可衡量的结果” 我用“可衡量的结果”一词来表示完成标准的明确形式。 您也可以将其称为任务的结果。 它一定是可以通过测试明确证明已经达到或未达到要求的东西。 例如，可测量的结果可能是“关闭确认弹出窗口”。 此示例是可测试的，因为我们可以观察到用户实际上点击了关闭图标。 不可测量的东西通常是被动的和/或开放的。

There has to be a specific result for each user task. While it might seem like overkill, I require students to write a sentence underneath the task statement that defines the result of each task. This reinforces the clarity of the task and allows your audience to understand what exact results are desired for a particular task.

每个用户任务必须有一个特定的结果。 尽管这看起来有些过分，但我还是要求学生在任务说明下写一个句子，以定义每个任务的结果。 这增强了任务的清晰度，并使您的听众了解特定任务所需的确切结果。

6.创建用户流程图 (6. Creating a user flow diagram)

A user flow diagram is a sequential diagram or series of illustrations that describe how a user moves step-by-step through an interactive project (app, website, installation) to achieve a goal.

用户流程图是描述用户如何逐步移动交互式项目(应用程序，网站，安装)以实现目标的顺序图或一系列插图。

Other words for user flow include task flow, user task, wire flow, flowchart, decision trees, and more. All of these have the same goal of describing the path of the user.

用户流程的其他词语包括询问流程，用户任务，电汇流程，流程图，决策树等。 所有这些都具有描述用户路径的相同目标。

A user flow is often illustrated as a flowchart with each step defined as a box with an arrow to the next step. The last step has to be the achievement of the measurable outcome of the task. A great way to present this is to create a single slide with clear labeling that includes the task number, task title, persona image, basic persona demographics, the flow chart of the steps, and a highlighted final step/measurable outcome.

用户流程通常被图示为流程图，每个步骤定义为带有指向下一步的箭头的框。 最后一步必须是完成任务的可衡量结果。 呈现此问题的一种好方法是创建一张带有清晰标签的幻灯片，其中包括任务编号，任务标题，角色形象，基本角色人口统计信息，步骤流程图以及突出显示的最终步骤/可衡量的结果。

An effective method for creating the user flow is to write out the task and then quickly write down the steps using sticky notes until you have completed the flow. If you have over 7–10 steps, that’s a good sign that you need to either improve the user experience by eliminating steps or subdivide it into multiple user flows. Now that you have your user flows you’re ready to start designing screens in low-fidelity.

创建用户流的一种有效方法是写出任务，然后使用便笺快速记下步骤，直到完成该流。 如果您的步骤超过7–10，则表明您需要通过消除步骤或将其细分为多个用户流程来改善用户体验。 有了用户流之后，您就可以开始设计低保真屏幕了。

The “Proof” in the Proof of Concept

概念证明中的“证明”

In a sense, the degree to which your user task statements and results match up is the “proof” part of the Proof of Concept. When a particular task achieves the desired result it proves that the Proof of Concept is accurate.

从某种意义上说，用户任务陈述和结果的匹配程度是概念证明的“ 证明 ”部分。 当特定任务达到期望的结果时，它证明概念证明是准确的。

User testing your Proof of Concept will reveal if your user testers can actually achieve the results you have defined for each task. It is almost never the case that your tasks achieve the correct results the first time, or the second, or the third! And of course, it should be like this. You create a Proof of Concept for this exact reason: so that you can test the tasks and results over and over until they prove your concept.

对概念验证的用户测试将揭示您的用户测试员是否可以真正实现您为每个任务定义的结果。 几乎永远不会在您的任务第一次，第二次或第三次获得正确结果的情况下 ！ 当然，应该是这样。 出于这个确切的原因，您创建了概念证明：以便您可以反复测试任务和结果，直到它们证明您的概念为止。

摘要 (Summary)

We defined the Proof of Concept as a blueprint for your interactive project. It starts with defining your design goals. Then you create an example person (or user persona) in your primary target audience. This persona needs a user scenario that sets up the background story and the current context. And every Proof of Concept needs a series of user tasks defining the desired outcomes for the user. The path a user takes to complete a task is illustrated with a user flow diagram.

我们将概念验证定义为您的交互式项目的蓝图。 首先要定义您的设计目标。 然后，在主要目标受众中创建一个示例人物(或用户角色)。 该角色需要一个设置背景故事和当前上下文的用户场景。 每个概念证明都需要一系列用户任务，这些任务定义了用户所需的结果。 用户流程图说明了用户完成任务所采用的路径。

In the next article, we will cover starting your Proof of Concept design in low-fidelity, clearly labeling and formatting the Proof of Concept, conducting a paper prototype test, and documenting the results.

在下一篇文章中 ，我们将介绍以低保真度开始您的概念证明设计，清楚地标记和格式化概念证明，进行纸质原型测试并记录结果。