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Darian Ross
11,155 PointsLarge Project Advice
This seems like a smaller project or a smaller part of a larger design. How would you expand these principals to a larger project that could involve 100 empathy and journey maps? I can see a whole stadium filled with whiteboards and so many stickies if a wind blew in there'd be a bigger mess than white packing crinkles.
I'm working on a much larger project and need to do multiple of these at once with a very limited team member count. I haven't read all the material yet, so just throwing this out as one my first initial thoughts as a newbie...
3 Answers
Daniel Montgomery
Treehouse StaffHey Darian Ross , I get your concern about scaling up empathy mapping for a huge project. It's definitely challenging, but don't worry - you can make it work without drowning in sticky notes.
First, prioritize your user segments. Focus on the most important power users and group similar users together. This way, you're not creating 100 separate maps, but a more manageable number of key maps. In this case you would focus on these user "archetypes" that represent a group of users, instead of trying to accommodate every single user, or type of users you have.
For data collection, go digital. Use online surveys and tools that can analyze responses automatically. This saves tons of time and helps spot patterns across large datasets.
Break the project into smaller chunks. Maybe tackle a few user segments each week. Start with rough drafts and refine as you go. Remember, the goal is actionable insights, not just pretty maps. Keep asking, "What are we learning that will actually improve our product?"
With this approach, you can handle a project of this scale without getting overwhelmed.
Daniel Montgomery
Treehouse StaffAs you progress through the course, the principles and methodologies you're learning will make more sense and start to come together. These UX design concepts are designed to help you uncover valuable insights about your projects and users, providing a clear process for creating user-centered designs. In upcoming stages, you will learn more about design principles as they apply to your project's visuals and how to wireframe, mockup, and prototype an idea.
But with that said, it's important to understand that while these principles are crucial for effective design, they don't encompass all aspects of project management.
Given the complexity and scale of your projects, you might benefit from exploring project management methodologies alongside UX design principles. A course in project management could provide you with strategies for organizing multiple projects, managing resources, and integrating digital tools in a way that complements your current workflow.
Darian Ross
11,155 PointsThanks again! It's been helpful receiving your assistance.
I'm good with project management. Well... "good" is relative i guess. But, I'm lacking in the area of UX and UI. This course came at the right time as the 1st quarter of the project is coming to close I need good results. Stakeholders trust me so far with the architecture and systems, however the nitty gritty part of UX and UI is my weak area. I'm soaking it all up like a dry sponge and this is just my first video in the path. haha
Daniel Montgomery
Treehouse StaffHey Darian, No problem at all!
It's fantastic that you're working on strengthening those areas! It takes guts to tackle the areas we naturally struggle with. I love your can-do attitude—you're definitely on the right track. You'll be crushing the design side of things in no time, haha! Remember, I'm here if you hit any snags or just want to talk things through.
Keep crushing it!
Darian Ross
11,155 PointsDarian Ross
11,155 PointsFirst of all, let me thank you for sharing your insights. I am changing a paradigm of thinking by this course.
Going digital for me is a nightmare. I have so many things happening in the digital world that i need a project manager just to remember where all my data is stored. I won't say how old i am, but I graduated learning BASIC and TRS80s.. so, managing digital files is not challenging. It's just the quantity of all the other digital combined. So, I have about 20 whiteboard hung up in my office of ongoing projects and future projects, etc.. I want to learn these principals to start making better sense of all my whiteboards. However, if i start applying these principals to all i have going at the moment then i'm going to need 20 more whiteboards.
I thought there may be another approach at designing than this IDEO or whatever all this is so far....