Edge Documentation

The experienced AppBoard designer should follow a user-centered design methodology, such as one based off of Alan Cooper’s Interaction Design process. This process breaks the design process into three steps: Defining persona, establishing user scenarios, and storyboarding.

The first step is about defining the audience. Users often have different requirements from a user interface. Some users need to be able to access detailed information quickly, while others just want high-level summary information. Identifying those groups of users, and understanding what their goals are, is the foundation of everything else we do. A Persona Document reflects our understanding of who the users are.

After defining persona, we establish scenarios. Scenarios are based off of persona user goals, which are captured in the persona document, and describe what each persona needs to accomplish. Scenarios strive to optimize task flows for each individual persona so their goals can be met efficiently. For example, if the persona is performing root cause analysis, they will need to access a variety of detailed metrics across a range of products, within the context of a specific incident. If a user is responsible for higher-level decision-making, they won’t want excessive detail, they will be interested in “bigger picture” views that show an overall situational awareness of their environment. A Scenarios Document fleshes out what each persona’s tasks are and provides a framework from which to build storyboards.

The last step is where most people want to start. However, it’s vital to establish a solid framework of persona and scenarios before starting on storyboards. Storyboarding is an iterative process where you establish the best presentation of the available data, for a defined scenario. This is the most time-consuming part of the process, but it’s where AppBoard really shines.

Storyboarding typically starts out with some form of high-level wireframe mock up. These initial wireframes map data visualizations to the underlying data that will drive them. There is usually substantial back and forth at this step because certain visualizations can place new requirements against back end data, and vice-versa. The question is, do you start with available data and build up a presentation from that, or do you start with an ideal presentation and drive requirements against back-end data? It’s an age-old question that cripples many designs.

With AppBoard, we remove the conceptual abstraction here. Our User Experience storyboarding involves creating CSV data to drive actual widgets. Because of this, we can represent what is available in real world environments, or we can show what would have to exist at the data layer for a desired visualization. What is nice is that this conceptual work is what the product will actually look like. There is no guesswork. Storyboarding in AppBoard is really more of a rapid prototyping exercise. It allows us to quickly show visual progress to stake holders, and provide the technical details that development requires.

In summary, User Experience design in Appboard is user-centered, scenario based, and results in tangible working prototypes. Our storyboards are effectively rapid prototypes of the end product. This makes the design process itself extremely fluid and helps us adapt to the changes in agile environments quickly and efficiently.