

The UX Level-Up
Sophia V. Prater
Join Sophia V. Prater on a dive into the weeds on UX systems, information architecture, human psychology, and simplifying complexity.
Episodes
Mentioned books

19 snips
Feb 29, 2024 • 24min
055 - (ORCA Series #8) - Attribute Requirement Fractals
Delve into attribute requirements and unique identifiers, explore core content versus metadata in Object-Oriented UX design, and understand the significance of structured requirements. Learn about user settings, states, conditional logic, and metrics in design, plus receive an invitation to an advanced training session for OUx Masterclass students.

165 snips
Feb 15, 2024 • 51min
054 - The Full ORCA Process Overview plus 15 Pro Tips
A solo episode providing an overview of the ORCA process, its four rounds, and the benefits of Object-Oriented UX in simplifying design decisions. Topics include object discovery, modeling users in an interval training app, nested object matrices, role understanding, relationship requirements, and advanced training opportunities.

Jan 26, 2024 • 1h 10min
053 - OOUXing Government with Kristin Ouellette Muskat
Exploring the challenges of UX design in government, yak shaving, and differences in government vs. private work. Also, discussions on OOUXing the law, sustainable work pace, and the importance of strategic pause in the design process.

Jan 4, 2024 • 1h 21min
052 - OOUXing Thoughts, Feelings, and Your Life with Karen Hewell
Greetings OOUXers! In this New Years episode of the podcast, we welcome Content Designer, Information Architect, and Certified OOUX Consultant, Karen Hewell. Sophia and Karen discuss the power of naming your feelings and thoughts, the difference between feelings and thoughts, mapping your polarizing traits can make you more confident, & how to get started OOUXing your life. This is a fantastic discussion. We hope you enjoy.
LINKS:
New year, new you. Level up your career with The Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass.
OOUX Happy Hour: Extending the Nested Object Matrix
YouTube Video: NOMing My Joys
Read the article that started it all: OOUX: A Foundation for Interaction Design
Continue the conversation over on The OOUX Forum!

Dec 21, 2023 • 27min
051 - (ORCA Series #7) - Object-Oriented User Stories from Santa's Workshop
In this episode, the host discusses upgrading traditional user stories into object-oriented user stories in the Orca process. They explore the difference between toy design and gift objects and highlight the key attributes and relationships between the two. The chapter also delves into the process of updating gift stages in Santa's workshop and the concept of decommissioning toy designs. Finally, they discuss the advantages of signing up for the oux.com masterclass and how it prepares you for the certification process.

Nov 30, 2023 • 39min
050 - (ORCA Series #6) - My Cat Saving Fire Department with Holiday Vibes
In this festive episode of the podcast, Sophia delivers episode #6 in the ORCA Series: Relationship Requirements. Sophia summarizes & expands on "My Cat Saving Fire Department," the power tool for analyzing object relationships. Using the example of Santa delivering presents, she illustrates how to apply this tool to understand relationships between objects like buildings, kids, and gifts. Sophia also discusses the importance of recognizing tree systems and provides a rule of thumb for identifying them effectively.
LINKS:
Need to catch up on the rest of The ORCA Series? Check out those episodes here.
Read: Wrangling Complexity with Tree Systems
Level up your career with OOUX by enrolling in The Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass
Talk about this episode on The OOUX Forum!

Nov 16, 2023 • 29min
049 - (ORCA Series #5) - Object Guide Strategies for Ridiculous Clarity
In this fifth installment of the ORCA Series, Sophia discusses Object Requirements, how to skip ORCA steps & loop back to them as needed, as well as ways to customize the ORCA sprint, plus the potential use of artificial intelligence in generating object guides.
LINKS:
The ORCA Series Collection on OOUX.com.
The ORCA Sprints Collection on OOUX.com.
Prioritizing Prioritization for Product Designers article.
Take The Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass and supercharge your UX Design (or Development) career!
Discuss this episode on The OOUX Forum!

Oct 29, 2023 • 37min
048 - (ORCA Series #4) - Top Attributes to Consider for Every Object
The podcast discusses the 15 attributes to consider for every object in your system, including names, unique IDs, timestamps, and visual representations. It emphasizes the importance of order IDs for food orders and the concept of roll-ups from nested objects. The hosts also mention the overlap with the OUX masterclass and recap previous episodes on noun foraging, system modeling, and CTA discovery.

Oct 5, 2023 • 31min
047 - Nine Traits of a High-Value UX Designer
The podcast discusses the nine traits of a high-value UX designer, including the importance of understanding and grounding UX design, the role of tools and constraints in solving puzzles, designing for revenue generation, and empowering UI and visual designers.

Sep 14, 2023 • 45min
046 - (ORCA Series #3) - CTA Disco
In this podcast, the host discusses the importance of objects in understanding a system and provides 8 tips for CTA discovery. They emphasize the need for clear object definitions and highlight how it impacts the design process. The podcast also explores the role of research and interaction design, the importance of defining concepts, and the process of CTA discovery.