LEGO Iterations

I have a son, that in June will be 3 years old. About 5 months ago we decided it was time to introduce him to every boy’s (and girl’s) favorite past time… LEGOs. He took right to them, building, tearing down, building, tearing down, well you get the idea. After awhile I started to get sucked in and before I knew it I was a 6 year old again in LEGO world, or what we called back then a “LEGO maniac”. While working with my son, building airplanes, helicopters, cars, I started to realize something… the object you build is good until you find that next piece and then it becomes better, well that is until you find another piece that could even make it better than the last.

As I reflected on this I realized that the work we do in the field of user experience is very much the same. We can work on something for a decent amount of time, feeling that its just right and after a period of time something happens… we discover a new “piece” and in order to make the project better we decide we need to add it. There’re typically three different kinds of “pieces” that I have run into over the years.

The Technology “Piece”

The technology piece happens when you are in the middle of a project and some new technology emerges that compels you to consider it in your experience. For those working in the consultancy side of user experience, this is rare. Its rare because the time from start to finish doesn’t give enough time for new technologies to come in and sweep you off your feet (although I’m sure one could argue this is changing). For those of us working in the area of user experience for a single project or a set of fixed projects, it can be a different story. Over time technologies will influence our work and eventually we will want to introduce them in to the projects we’re working on. I would say a good example of this is the Ajax phenomena. This “new” technology has swept its way into almost everyone’s interface, for good and bad. I’m sure that most VCs that specialize in the field of web applications now have a new line in their application that says something to the tune of “Does your app have Ajax? (those that do not need not apply)” Although there are times when a new technology does need influence us and our iterations there are many times that additional technology just adds additional bloat to the project.

The Self Discovery “Piece”

The next piece that many of us typically find is the piece of self discovery. This can happen both in a team environment or a project you might be working on by yourself. Things will be moving along well and you might even be on the last lap when suddenly you will have an epiphany or a self discovery. This can be as simple as a small change to the UI or it can be as major as having to retrofit an entire block of the application or website. The danger with this piece is many times in a consulting environment you are working with a fixed budget and now suddenly you now find yourself with an ethical dilemma. Do you do what’s right and introduce the new piece or do you continue down the path you know is wrong so you can stay within the budget you quoted? Its not an easy decision but you can guess which one will make you feel better once you do it.

The Feedback “Piece”

The final piece I’d like to discuss is the one that many of us run into during any given project. Its the feedback piece. The feedback piece can take many shapes and sizes, it can be a set of responses you get during some usability testing early on or it can be the support requests you get months after you app has launched. This is a critical piece, if you choose to ignore the feedback it’s likely that your project will still function and survive, but it can be the difference between having a simple LEGO airplane or an X-Wing fighter. It’s feedback that overtime give us the best sense for how people use the experiences we build and it’s also feedback that will help us as we iterate to make that experience that much better.

Don’t build monsters

One of the things my son likes to do is take all the pieces he can and add them to the object that he’s building. This is fine (and creative) but he ends up with a monster of a thing, its a cross between a house, a car, an airplane… well, you get the picture. This works when your 2 1/2 years old and playing with LEGOS, but it doesn’t work very well in the real life of user experience. Part of our jobs is to decide which pieces will actually add value to the project we are working on and what pieces are just extra. I have been part of several projects where the requirements start off fairly simple and as things move along “pieces” start getting added. It might be a new technology that comes along that would be “cool” to add, it might be some personal idea that either a team member or I come up with, or it might be feedback from an individual or a set of individuals. I have found over time that one of the things that makes a great project is deciding which pieces we should allow to influence our iterations and which pieces we shouldn’t. So as you take on your next project or set of iterations on an experience think about LEGOs, ask yourself what your building. Are you building something that ultimately you will be happy with later, something elegant and useful, or are you picking up too many “pieces” and its starting to look like some sort of frankenstein?

What are your thoughts? Are there “pieces” that you can think of that influence how you iterate your design, code, etc?