A presentation at Information Architecture Conference 2024 in in Seattle, WA, USA by Kit Oliynyk
fi Designing for Chaos Kit Oliynyk orine
Designing for Chaos
The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley. Robert Burns
fi Designing for Serendipity Kit Oliynyk orine
Merriam Webster
chaos random unexpected experiences luck positive unexpected experiences serendipity positive unexpected discoveries
Finds something great that he didn’t expect without much trouble in a place it was meant to happen
Serendipity Positive something great for the user Unexpected something they don’t expect Effortless something they didn’t try hard for Discovery something that could be found
Leyla Acaroglu
Leyla Acaroglu
Design the environment instead of the experience. Carol M. Highsmith/Buyenlarge via Getty Images
Create structure Deep research to nd what sparks joy. Identify and map the elements of a system to host serendipity. Lower expectations Simplify Progressively disclose, show less, save more for the serendipity. Eliminate the effort to get to serendipity. fi Define positive
Aaron Iker
Isil Uzum
Tsuriel
Tsuriel
Great UX is born in chaos— we serendipitously stumble upon it through user research.
How we think PM works How it really works itamargilad.com
Volatility Uncertainty Complexity Ambiguity
How to design for serendipity Design the environment, not just the experience. Use research to know what’s good for the user. Be very flexible, expect the unexpected. Prototype and test in low-fidelity first. Make small bets and always learn.
fi Any sufficiently positive serendipity is indistinguishable from magic. Kit Oliynyk orine
Creating serendipitous digital experiences is a holy grail for a lot of UX designers. How might we foster that magical feeling of giving people precisely what they need at the right time—even if they didn’t expect it?
It takes a lot of research, preparation, good information architecture and sometimes a good machine learning model—but it’s possible. I’ll talk about a framework to make that happen and use a few examples to illustrate how digital serendipity comes to life!
The following resources were mentioned during the presentation or are useful additional information.
for free. You
can too.