Comments on: Designing Screens Using Cores and Paths

By: Ilya

Ilya — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 16:50:06 +0000

Thanx a lot. Now I know how to find an approach in web design. But If the core is the most important part in this process so why do all designers (most of them) begin with creating the mainpage?

By: Andy Vaughn

Andy Vaughn — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 08:30:38 +0000

This is a great way to look at design. Is heatmapping found to be useful for defining these user-paths? I’d love to see how to iterate upon a design growing towards improving set user-metrics (example: defined from a startup growth model), focusing on user-paths.

Thanks. I’ll refer frequently.

By: aregh

aregh — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Thanks for the reference James. Maybe a bit dated and in need of a brush-up, but I think the essence of it is still relevant. I’m looking into a follow-up about how we use the model in our ux-consultancy (Netlife Research) today.

By: liammcmurray

liammcmurray — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I really like the concept of desire lines for a website – the difficulty for me is when a site isn’t product-orientated.

I am the designer for a massive information-based website, and it becomes quite a challenge to identify and prioritise the specific cores, I think in the end it will come down to educating stakeholders that can’t (and shouldn’t try to) be all things to all people.

By: anthonydpaul

anthonydpaul — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

@Liam The use of products is a simple example, but the methodology conveys across goals/tasks. If you look at the primary goals used—1) Buy XYZ; 2) Get information about XYZ; and 3) Compare XYZ to ZYX—you can see XYZ doesn’t have to be a physical product at all. It could be a service, or even an idea (if “buy” is changed to “accept/believe/vote”). Passing inward and outward paths through a content module doesn’t require that content to do anything other than fulfill a user request, be it for information about something, a game, a feedback method, or any other content item.

The article does a great job of explaining what goes on in my head in terms of mapping entrance and exit actions, against prioritized content. I’ll surely use a diagram like the Amazon screenshot to supplement what I’m already doing with navigation layers. I’d been doing something similar by mapping shortcuts throughout my sitemaps to show module reuse/access, but hadn’t been taking a quantitative inventory of external entrance points aside from usage scenarios and task flows.

My only addition would be to note Cores don’t have to be a compromise between business goals and user needs. I’d almost run this exercise twice—once against strict user wants/needs, then again against business wants/needs, and look for crossover. To refer back to Alexander’s quote, goals can be places IN natural points of interest. I read than as embedding business Cores INSIDE OF user Cores—i.e., driving business priorities via sticky user-demanded content. Knowing all of the possible entrance points for something nobody is interested in browsing to doesn’t accomplish much.

Thanks

By: stelco

stelco — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hi, I am currently redesigning the UI for our e-portfolio and found this article very useful. I believe that understanding the core purpose of what the website aims to achieve is important and breaking it down into core elements before starting the design.

By: kczyrk

kczyrk — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

This is a great and timely find for me as my team starts to tackle the redesign of some key pages in our buy flow. This approach helps to bring out some information that is often ignored (e.g. paths off the site when you really want to keep your customer on the site).

By: brianjdurkin

brianjdurkin — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

It is a shame the comments are littered with SPAM but here goes.

This is a great methodology in a way to work but finding the corect path by wireframing out in a lo-fi manor the landing point is a little arbitrary to me without doing some content strategy, informational architecture (hierarchy of data), and then coming up with the flows themselves (ie. user flows and process flows.) Once you know what your product is, have organized it, know how the user is going to find it, then you sketch.

Or at least thats how I work. I try not to design interactions before finding out what is needed.

…and FU to all these SPAM whores. What is up with that? I have been reading articles on this site for a while and it is just getting worse and worse.

By: kczyrk

kczyrk — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

What I find so interesting about this approach, especially working on a retail properties myself, is acknowledging all the exit points on certain pages. For example, while we want to provide our customers with relevant information in order to tell them it’s the right product to buy, we need to think critically about the way we provide that information. Too many exit paths may encourage them to do just that – exit, and not come back.

By: cwodtke

cwodtke — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Apologies for spam. We are moving to a new CMS as we can no longer fight it effectively. Hopefully it’ll soon be better and cleaner.