- [Instructor] User centered design creates
design systems comprised of interaction models
and work flows in support of the desired experience.
These systems are frequently described
using annotated wire frames,
another written static design documentation,
to detail each interaction
and how they relate to one another.
As the complexity of both the experience
and the audience have evolved,
it's become very difficult to convey
the design's emotional and sensory impact
to research participants and stakeholders.
We find this especially true when the design system
includes several functional flows.
For example, a seemingly straightforward application
that allows people to login and create a to-do list,
in reality contains a login, password reset,
user creation, user edit, list creation,
list edit, task creation, you get the point.
This breadth can make it extremely challenging
to test, validate, and communicate the design intent.
There are several types of prototypes today
that fall into the category
of what many like to call simulations.
A simulation is an imitation of an interaction
of a real-world process over time
using the fastest and, often,
cheapest technologies and materials.
They're super useful for a variety of design activities
because they are largely unhindered
by production constraints.
So they can be used to quickly study
micro interactions and entire models or flows.
Here's how you might approach
simulating a design system for the to-do list example.
Use two robust log-in and list
management functional simulations.
This is possible because of all the small interactions,
flows, and edge cases can be simulated
by the two prototypes.
Then review the results with your team and stakeholders,
and see where you may need to make adjustments.
You'll find that you can also drastically reduce
the amount of design documentation.
While working with Honeywell on their Connected Home,
we used a simulation to validate
and communicate user work flows.
The mobile application design used
an interaction model where you swipe
across the screen to move between system modes.
We approached it by creating a mobile web prototype
that simulated each mode using screens
that the user swiped through.
This enabled us to experiment with the placement of controls
and touch interactions, down to the micro interactions.
For example, we experimented with an interaction
where someone could swipe over an edge and pull the object.
This allowed us to study how best to give feedback
to the movement of their finger.
Simulations give your team the ability
to use prototypes to study interactions
and flows holistically as a system.
They give your stakeholders an accurate depiction
of the interaction and can be used
for user studies and validations.