Removing barriers to access with a Conversation-first Approach

Stacey Swinehart and Rachel Power

Conversation-first is literally a conversation between you and the user.

The conversation is human, which makes the experience intuitive, simple and expected.

Accessibility is inherently baked in.

The user is the hero.

Approach

Create a robust and thoroughly examined user problem statement.

BadLet’s build a cloud based photo-management system

because users’ lives would be easier if they could

manage their digital photos through an elastic search

driven by date and location.

BetterI have so many digital photos floating around and I can’t

keep track of them. I wish there was a way to organize

them so I could better enjoy AND share them with friends

and family members more easily! I hate losing my happy

memories and not being able to easily access what I

want to see when I want it. I miss the days of photo

albums, that was so much easier

BestI take lots of photos with my phone and they go to

someplace called “the cloud” - I have no idea where that

is. I want to be able to find, share and even print my

photos whenever I want, by myself, without having to ask

my grown children to do it for me. Why can’t it be easier?

Create realistic personas based on actionable user insights.

Start the conversation.

Focus on the user and their problems, not yours.

The user’s story always includes barriers.• Temporary or permanent mobility challenges• Issues with language or reading comprehension• Visual impairments• Aging-related realities• Long-term degenerative diseases

Create a user journey map.

Whiteboard journey map.

The conversation naturally defines the UX flow, page layout, calls to action, interaction and hierarchy.

So, how does Conversation-first help my team create accessible designs?

Conversation-first reframes the mental model for UX design.

Design best practices still matter.

Real world – Blue sky vs. inherited legacy design.

This is not #fakenews #alternativefacts. It’s going to be YUGE! Questions?