Designing for Serendipity

A presentation at FITC Spotlight UX in December 2022 in by Kit Oliynyk

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fi Designing for Chaos Kit Oliynyk orine

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Designing for Chaos

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The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley. Robert Burns

— often go wrong

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fi Designing for Serendipity Kit Oliynyk orine

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Merriam Webster

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chaos random unexpected experiences luck positive unexpected experiences serendipity positive unexpected discoveries

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Finds something great that he didn’t expect without much trouble in a place it was meant to happen

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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

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Leyla Acaroglu

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Leyla Acaroglu

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Design the environment instead of the experience. Carol M. Highsmith/Buyenlarge via Getty Images

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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

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Aaron Iker

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Isil Uzum

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Tsuriel

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Tsuriel

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Great UX is born in chaos— we serendipitously stumble upon it through user research.

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How we think PM works How it really works itamargilad.com

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Volatility Uncertainty Complexity Ambiguity

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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.

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fi Any sufficiently positive serendipity is indistinguishable from magic. Kit Oliynyk orine