UX conference #4 – tools
The fourth edition of the conference diverges from traditional presentations and focuses on tools used in the UX field. With the gradual expansion of the field, the scope of tools available is expanding. Still, the dominance of Axure remains and there is a lesser knowledge of other prototyping tools. Therefore, the conference’s goal is to present them as well as other tools which you can use in your work.
Date and place
The fourth edition of the UXZ conference will take place on Tuesday 19th of February in Prague in the venues of OKsystem a.s., Na Pankráci 125, 140 21 Prague 4.
Partners
Do you want to become a partner of the conference?
UXZ is an approved Educational Partner of the Interaction Design Foundation
Share your idea with me at - kontakt@uxz.cz (Jan Hlaváč) and let me know how the partnership with the conference could be beneficial for you.
Buy a ticket
Programme
What to expect from this year’s UX conference? There will be approximately 10 to 16 tools on the programme, which we will try to brief you on. From those more familiar to those less well-known. Do not expect there will be prototyping tools only. You can look forward to Sketch, Figma, Framer, TreeJack, but also ordinary pen and paper, Product Reaction cards, HotJar, OverFlow or AirTable and more.
What to not expect is a detailed introduction to tools or demonstrations for experts. The aim is to familiarise you with a wider range of tools and their appropriate use so that later you know where to go and what to do. We will not teach you to use the tools perfectly.
Product Reaction Cards
"Testing usability is like guiding people through mines and looking where it will blow up," I say sometimes half-seriously. To the less experienced, testing can bring a distorted image of the examined site or application. Product Reaction Cards is a technique that can help fix the reputation of the tested product in the eyes of observers. And to you, it will give a better view through the participant's eyes. During the presentation, we will also take a look at a part of a record of testing using reaction cards. We will find out why this technique actually came into being and how to use it for your projects.
This presentation will be held in Czech.
Figma
Nowadays, there are no significant differences in UX/UI prototyping tools. Except for Figma. It can do everything that the others can, its main advantage does not lie in details like version history or API ecosystem - but in the fact that it runs in a browser. Really, try to open figma.com and after a few clicks you have a complete tool, in the same tab. From what you create, you send a link and it will always be the latest version. You do not need to export anywhere or run plugins. I will show you the Figma interface and I will guide you through the creation of a simple web and its functions such as a component library or an interactive prototype. During the presentation, you can watch me online in your browser.
This presentation will be held in Czech.
Hotjar
Hotjar is a very nice tool both for UXers and marketers who do not want to build on nothing. Sure, there are plenty of analytical tools and feedback services on the market, but they are often rather tech-heavy. Hotjar, on the other hand, is powerful enough, but so simple that you will not need an army of analysts to interpret your data. In a few clicks, you have a quick overview of what is happening on the web or in the product, with what the users are more likely to struggle, and if they accidentally do not click somewhere where there is nothing. If heatmaps and recordings are not enough (you can filter them relatively well), you can also ask for feedback on a specific page or get suitable people for further user testing.
This presentation will be held in Czech.
Pen and paper
Sketching is an easy way for UX designers to create quick concepts. It is a creative form of looking for solutions and their visual presentation. You can design a solution with a pen and paper and everyone can see what you mean. Sketching can be used at any stage of the product design process, but it helps most in the initial phase, as it allows you to create multiple designs at the same time at minimal cost. During the presentation you will see how to effectively design concepts and explain the rules of use of space and shapes.
This presentation will be held in Czech.
Adobe Xd
Adobe Xd is probably the youngest prototyping and design tool. I like working with it very much and not only because I have worked in the ecosystem of Adobe for 20 years. Adobe Xd is an intuitive, simple, cost-effective tool that meets most needs. But above all, it is a very fast tool. It runs very well (even with large files), it has a really quick adoption (a steep learning curve, within hours), the tool itself gets developed very quickly in direct communication with the community of users. And finally, it can very quickly create realistic sample content. I would like to show you the last-mentioned functionality (right after the basic introduction to the application). In my experience, designing sites or applications over content that is close to real use is much more effective. And with Adobe Xd, you get such drafts very fast. I will look forward to a joint flight through the acrobatic special of Adobe Xd.
This presentation will be held in Czech.
TreeJack
TreeJack is one of the few tools you can use to test the functionality of the structure of your website navigation through testing with users online. Testing the navigation functionality pays off when you have more items and more levels in navigation. These are usually larger websites, information sites, or e-shops. TreeJack helps you find out how people understand headers and whether they expect what you put under them. It's a tool designed to carry out the entire testing, so you can set everything up from greeting visitors to final thank you and collecting contacts. The most interesting thing are its outputs, where it very well visualises the passages through the navigation structure during the test, allowing you to very effectively predict where are the hidden problems in the structure. In addition, the presentation will include a practical part, what has to be prepared for such testing, how to estimate the correct number of participants and how to assemble the tasks in the test.
Recording of user testing with and without OBS
There are many ways to record user testing. I will show you the two most common ones from which you can take off and adapt them to your requirements. One is simpler on one computer and the other more complicated - with multiple inputs like a mobile device, a camera, a separate recording and testing computer, and so on.
OBS (Open Broadcast Studio) is a semiprofessional streaming software that has a lot of features so a beginner can get a bit lost. I'll show you how to use these main features and set them in a way that next time you just turn them on and off in the same setup. I'll also show the basics of streaming whether you want to air to a next room or to offices around the world.
Validately.com
Validately is a tool for remote moderated and non-moderated user testing. It allows you to test a prototype or a real application - the tool records the screen, video and audio, provides sophisticated test evaluation tools and is easy to use. During the presentation, I'll show you how to set Validately Testing and link it to an InVision prototype, send invitations to your users, and evaluate the test. In addition to a simple conference call complemented by screen sharing, several specialized tools and services are available, for example Validately, Loop11, TryMyUI or Lookback. I've compared the tools some time ago and considered Validately as the most practical in terms of the specific environment of designing complex enterprise applications.
Kopie.io
How to ideally set up collaboration between designers and copywriters? This is a question for which it is not easy to find an answer. Every team is dealing with it differently nowadays - from copying texts, commenting in designs to more sophisticated ways. But every way brings a lot of potholes. What if there was a tool where you simply uploaded your designs, copywriters would work on the texts, and once they publish the changes, the desings would update automatically? Sounds good? This is exactly what the new Kopie tool is aiming for, which is emerging in the Netherlands, and it's here to make it easier for the design team to coordinate with copywriters. I will show you what the current tool can do and what is its potential.
NPS, SUS and SUM metrics
Do you want to start measuring user experience? Do you know what is the relation between your customer satisfaction, the usability of your product, and the usability of the individual functionality? Do you know the metrics Net Promoter Score, System Usability Scale, and Single Usability Metric? We'll tell you which metric is appropriate and what not. I'll introduce how we measured user experience in Kentic, what worked and what we changed, and how it affected the UX of our products.
Principle
Nowadays, there are many tools available on the market that allow you to create animations and microintegration of user interfaces. Principle, however, is unique in comparison to the competition in several aspects. For example, the platform is not limited. You can use it to design a website, a mobile application, or an interface for smart TV or today's increasingly popular wearables. Principle can import static designs created for example in Sketch and export the final result in video, but its biggest advantage is the ability to upload the entire project directly to the mobile phone. Testing the created application becomes very effective because the whole very well simulates the final product and the user can literally touch it. Also, a strong community has grown rapidly around Principle, and it's there for you if you need valuable advice and effective ways to do something in the best possible way.
Typeform
When you get people into research - whether on user testing or deepdives, it makes sense to know more about them than just basic demographic data. And in this regard, Typeform offers several useful features. The logic of the follow-up questions will help to get the respondent where you need them (for example, skip questions that are not relevant to them), graphical scales will set a little lighter tone of the questionnaire (apart from traditional stars, you can choose cats or skulls) and if you need to ask something that can not be expressed in words, single/multiple choice questions through images will serve well. Simple custom design setting and shared access for team colleagues make Typeform a helpful tool for user testing. A quick preview of response statistics or scrolling per respondent will give you a quick idea of whom signs for the research. You can also automatically send responses to Google Sheets and work with them as needed.
Framer
During the presentation, I will show you a few examples of how Framer stands out compared to other prototyping tools, such as working with real data, access to geolocation, or the camera in your mobile. I will also share a few practical tips that will save you time when you start working with Framer after the conference and I will convince you that you don't have to be afraid of Framer even if you don't have programming experience :)
Testimonials
Martin Kopta
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It was a smaller event with only relevant participants. Thanks to long breaks I had enough opportunities to talk with most people who I usually don’t meet. I was pleasantly surprised that during the day I was contacted by two people who wanted my work. And then, sitting behind a table and having a plug, that was a luxury! It was great. I understand that next time can’t be exactly the same, but I still hope that UXZ will come back! :)
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Kamil Ignác
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It was probably the only conference in CZ of its kind. The presenters were from the field… and also theory was based on practice. Thanks!
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Karel Bína
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If they want to see how it’s done somewhere else and get inspired and get interesting contacts, then it’s a must-have :) I really liked it, definitely it was way more useful than listening “PR bullshit” as it happens at some of such events. I will keep recommending this conference and look forward to next year!
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Hana Šavelková
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It was very motivating, there were many inspirational ideas. Especially if I compare it with other conferences and presentations on this topic where there are always just beginner topics or speakers only show their products. No time delays, amazing catering, well-accessible and a big venue, simply well organised ;)
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Martin Hájek
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You can validate your processes, reassess them and develop based on what is done elsewhere. The conference gradually dealt with all phases, so it fits for everybody. Thank you :-)
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Eliška Špaková
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I don’t know any other conference focused on UX that would be this devoted to examples from real life. The topics were very beneficial for improvement of design based on UX as a process. Thank you! And more, please :)
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Jiří Křovák
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Perfectly organised, everything was on time, awesome venue and catering, presentations on a very high level. It was obvious that the presenters are not saying any boring rules, but they really talk about practical experience. Keep it on!
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Otakar Hypš
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I would recommend it especially to beginners. Information given at the conference can inspire them for this field. It will speed up their development because they will discover what to work on and they will see how. They will meet people from the field and gain a stable source of information in a less concentrated form.
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Jakub Skupin
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As organisers, you are from the field, because not only you know the current trends, but you also know interesting people who are not that famous and thanks to that you manage to bring good-quality and experienced people. I think that also thanks to that, you managed to better connect the topics. That’s why also the following discussion after the presentations was not superficial but it went very deep (what is an insight, own experience of a designer from deep interviews etc.). I think that that’s why you managed to boost the whole community further. If I guessed correctly, you also had a trial presentations with the speakers – I believe that because when you discussed the drafts of the presentations, together you shaped the final quality of the presentations/conference. I gained a huge quantity of valuable information.
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Jiří Korejtko
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I met many new people, experienced experts and I learned new information – design sprint, UX within a company, UX in UK and I really liked the presentation about animation. The preparation, catering, people, it was all amazing. The presentations were very versatile. I would like to see more numbers, some stats of conversions, visits, etc., simply measurable stuff.
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Records of presentations
Gallery
Contact
Organiser:
SKLV s.r.o
Klimentská 2066/19
Praha 110 00
IČO: 06520634
DIČ: CZ06520634
Contact person:
Jan Hlaváč
E-mail: kontakt@uxz.cz
Telefon: 777 129 678
