Here's a full list of OOUX resources with the most recently published first.
Suggest a resource
In this episode of the podcast, Sophia and Amanda talk about OOUXing your portfolio and making real connections at the UX Hustle Conference, How everything in your career has its season, and how Amanda leveraged her technical background as a civil engineer with her passion for design to build a new kind of web shop.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listen
In this episode of the podcast, Sophia and Caroline discuss why Caroline calls OOUX a power tool for digital design, what it's like to have a user call your system "seamless," and the parallels between OOUX and API design.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listen
In this episode of the podcast, Sophia and Jorge discuss why the tension between top-down and bottom-up is the greatest challenge to designers, how to recognize signs that you’re working on a “greedy” product, and why social media is like a meeting that lasts forever.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listen
In this episode of the podcast, Sophia and Imogen discuss how PDFs are bad for accessibility, why OOUX is not waterfall design, and exactly how many times you have to repeat yourself for your message to sink in.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listen
In just a single sheet of paper (front and back), this guide gives you step-by-step instructions on how to create an object map.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
get itCollaborating remotely? This MURAL template will help your team come together around the first iteration of the ORCA process: Discovery. You'll gain incredible clarity by defining objects, relationships, calls-to-action, and attributes. WARNING! This template provides some help text but is not completely self-explanatory. You'll want some OOUX basic training before diving in.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
get it
If you are new to Object-Oriented UX, there's a 99% chance what you learn here will be completely new. These four mistakes are so forehead-smacking, but also so common and so easy to make. During this session, I'll expose them without mercy and we will look at examples from Netflix, Meetup, and in my own work at CNN.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
watchIn this conversation, Sophia and Jorge discuss OOUX and how it differs from other methodologies.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listenIn this episode of the podcast, Sophia, Michael, and Andy discuss why team clarity brings user clarity, how new UX writers should go about developing a company voice, and why communicating trade-offs is a killer skill.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listen
In this article, Michaela talks about how she used the ORCA process in making a little Mars weather app using NASA’s Insight Weather API.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readIn this episode, Sophia, Ahren, and Bob discuss how taxonomies differ from folksonomies, how folksonomies differ from ontologies, and how common vocabularies keep design projects on track.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listenImmersive technologies are entering the lives of more and more users in all shapes and forms. Yet designing for these new digital worlds requires a very different approach and toolset. These are the topics we will discuss with 2 leading UX experts in the design world: Sophia V. Prater and Cornel Hillman.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
watchIn this episode of the podcast, Sophia, Sarah, and Rachel discuss how to think like a library scientist, how being conventional can be a virtue, and why accessibility is good for everyone, not just the differently-abled.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listenIn this episode, Sophia and Jeremy discuss how responsive design made the truth about the Internet apparent, why the invisible is hard to prioritize, and what a bad design system means for our end users.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listenCommon misconception: OOUX is only good for large-scale redesigns or ground-up design work. In this quick and fun case study, Mary shows us how to OOUX a single page on Taco Bell's online ordering system.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readIn this episode, Sophia and Ren discuss how to build a taxonomy around cosplay, how information architecture is more like information archaeology, and why it's important to understand the context of meta metadata.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listenIn this episode, Sophia and Andrew discuss the meaning of embodied cognition, the pitfalls of being a physical creature in a digital environment, and why sometimes, creating inconsistency can help you be consistent.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listen
In this article, Sarah Barrett talks about how mapping can improve digital experiences. She also tackled the 4 steps to make our digital experiences mappable.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readIn this article, Sophia V Prater explains how you can use her object-oriented UX methodology to create intuitive digital products devoid of clutter. According to Sophia, broken objects are one of the biggest user experience fails.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readCornel Hillmann is a CG Artist, XR Designer, and Entrepreneur. He is the owner and creative director at Studio.CGArtist.com and Emerging Entertainment and has worked with brands including Panasonic, Jaguar, the Singapore International Film Festival, and other big names.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listen"Advice Giver" Sophia Prater and "Advice Seeker" Joseph Duteil discuss OOUX and how the idea is rooted in practice starting with a project for CNN in 2012, and how it has evolved into a repeatable approach, helping UXers tackle any type of app, site or software.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listenIn this article, Alicia and Andrea talk about Duo’s Object-Oriented UX (OOUX) Design Process. It also tackles the 3 steps on how OOUX works.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
read
Gabriela identifies strategic ways to implement OOUX in organisations in a way that’s transforming rather than exhausting.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
watchBy following the OOUX process, NHS Moorfields has been able to truly focus on what is important to users. Led by Imogen, It is now investing in a large digital transformation project. This case study explains how OOUX has been a key catalyst for getting buy-in into this.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
watchAll too often, we end up brushing complex business rules and information architecture aside in the name of “low fidelity.” In this talk, Sophia goes over four main sources of complexity and how Object-Oriented UX can help wrangle them. You’ll learn about the tough questions you should be asking early on—to make the rest of the project easier and more successful.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
watch
"The course gave me so much more confidence in my skills as a UX designer." In this article, Lindsay shares her experience with the OOUX certification program, how it helped her improve as a UX designer, and how it improved her confidence in her own professional abilities.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readEmmet Connolly (who brought OOUX training to Intercom back in 2016) write about how design systems need to be object-oriented, and how they are working toward that goal at Intercom.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readIn this episode, we are revisiting the December 2019 episode with Ben Callahan. Ben is a design system expert and the founder and president of Sparkbox. At Sparkbox, Ben has created an amazing workplace that facilitates learning, exploring, asking questions, and pet projects.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listen
A Brooklyn Cat Cafe needed a mobile app to help cat adopters find great matches and increase the number of adoptions, plus consolidate the many tools they use into one app. Follow along with this fun and comprehensive case study as Lisa wields OOUX to unite hopeful kitties with their forever homes.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readCaroline Sober-James has journeyed from database architect to UX designer to a fellow object-oriented UX evangelist. We look at how OOUX can help with client meetings as well as debate how OOUX applies to fantasy games, board games, and classic Nintendo.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listenIn this episode, Sophia and Carrie discuss what exactly a content model is, why navigation is the most volatile layer of the content stack, and IA in UX education.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listenStart here! Sophia talks through the top frustrations that she hears from UX designers and explains how OOUX can help. If you are enduring pixel-pushing sans strategy, an overwhelm of complexity, stakeholder buy-in, communicating with developers...OOUX is the answer!
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
watchIn this episode, Sophia takes us on an audio walk-through of the "calls-to-action" methodology of her ORCA process. She will guide you through how to get started designing complex systems, how to make a CTA Matrix that's based on real-world objects, and why doing so will pay dividends.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listenDan Mall is one of the leading experts in design systems. In this episode, learn how to start a design system project the right way, the pros and cons of “flexible cards” which can lead to what I call masked objects, and how OOUXers can create a ton of value on a design system team.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listenLindsay gives a step-by-step walk-through of the ORCA OOUX design process, breaking down each round from discovery and requirements, to prioritization and prototyping, all while simultaneously designing an online coffee shop experience.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readThis is a great article about how OOUX can be used from a software development perspective. Eduard also has some interesting techniques for documenting Attribute Requirements.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readThis episode is an audio WORKSHOP that’s going to teach you the basics of OOUX and the ORCA process. If you listened to the first episode, you should have a zoomed-out, big picture Idea of what OOUX is all about. But in this episode, you’ll actually get to practice OOUX!
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listenOctober 20, 2015 was when Sophia's article on OOUX debuted on A List Apart. In this episode of the podcast, Sophia shows you how her philosophy and process have changed since then and how OOUX was forged in the crucible of CNN Election Night 2012.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listen
This six-week course will take your portfolio from incomplete, hot mess, or cookie cutter, to confident, clear, and uniquely you! Learn to set yourself up for success so that you can continuously update your portfolio without having crisis moments down the road. Say buh-bye to overhauling your website every 3-6 months and hello to sustainable design! ENROLLMENT IS NOW OPEN!
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
learn moreYou name the language, human babies learn nouns easier and faster than verbs. In this article, Sophia explores research conducted by Dedre Gentner and lays out how her finding are relevant and important in the world of UX.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readNeed to convince a boss or a business stakeholder on the value of OOUX? This talk speaks directly to leadership about how OOUX can help save time and money.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
watchThe BBC has been basing their website design on domain models for over a decade. In OOUX, the design process focuses on objects, relationships, calls-to-action, and attributes. In this article, Sophia discusses how BBC Food is using OOUX to create a superb user experience on their website.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
read"OOUX and Design Systems, a match made in design heaven." Object-Oriented UX should be an organizing principle for your Design System. In this article, Sophia talks about how OOUX improves the process of creating a Design System.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readAllison is a content designer, content strategist, editor of the IBM Design Medium Publication. After COVID-19 hit, Allison started thinking about how to apply what she learned in a recent OOUX workshop to COVID-19 safety messaging.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readIn this quick interview before the Design Content Conference in 2019, Sophia Prater talks through the biggest danger of designing "actions-first", using an example from her Edtech days.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
watchOOUX has become a design power tool and it’s something you should know about if you’re interested in offering a better digital user experience for your customers. Learn how OOUX helps you build things your users can understand, simplifies and declutters your design, and fosters better projects and happier teams.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readSophia outlines the four principles of intuitive design and goes deep on the subject of messy objects. Stay tuned 'til the end, when Sophia does a live demo introducing her iterative ORCA process (Objects, Relationships, Capabilities, and Attributes)!
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
watchIn this article, Mariana talks about the software they use for UX/UI. This software is called Drooms which is a virtual data room that caters to a very niche audience: Lawyers.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readExamine how EdX accomplishes a refreshingly natural browsing experience — curious users can navigate from subject, to course, to instructor, to school, and back again without ever needing to pick through the hierarchical main navigation. This is one of the primary principles of object-oriented user experience (OOUX): contextual navigation through object relationships.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readIn this talk at the Design & Content Conference in Vancouver, Sophia explains how OOUX can help you avoid the UX fails that confuse and frustrate users. Stay tuned because in the last third of the talk, Sophia gives a sneak-peek into her OOUX process and how to use Webflow to build CMS prototypes.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
watch
This book is spot-on, teaching readers about the importance of understanding the domain and how objects connect in the context of that domain. If you want to create products that are more future-proof and intuitive, this book is a must-read. It's (almost) 100% in-line with the principles of OOUX!
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
buyIn the digital world, anything is possible. But if digital-space interfaces stray too far from our expectations, users will become unsure, confused, and unhappy. This article spells out why we should design with lizard brains in mind to create intuitive interfaces. (In OOUX, we have a new definition for a Broken Object. In this article, think of the Broken object as a mean Shapeshifter.)
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readEmmet Connolly is an advocate of the "full-stack design system", basically a design system that is rooted in a clear, shared conceptual model. "You shortcut a lot of extra thinking once you start with, “What does this object need to be?”' AGREED. In a hurry? Skip to min 9 to cut to the chase.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listenThis is a full-length, 90-minute Object-Oriented UX talk delivered in Warsaw, Poland during the MCE conference. Strap in and enjoy!
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
watchLook into how users understand and process their world, how thought, communication, understanding, and perception are all object-oriented, and how when digital design aligns with real-world objects, better UX is the result.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readIn this talk for the QCon Developer Conference, Sophia discusses all the factors that cause complexity, the three key ways to wrangle it, and how to fix it with Object-Oriented UX. She talks about how to "cheat" on our IA, reduce moving parts, and stop arguing so much about features and functionality.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
watchInteraction design helps users get things done in digital spaces. For UX designers, it's where we choreograph all the users' doing; the verbs. But what are the things being "done to"? Learn how defining your nouns (objects) first will set you up for more intuitive interaction design.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readA real world example of how object oriented UX was put in practice for the ITHAKA S+R redesign for project scoping and information design.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
watchSophia reflects on the value of pushing your content, getting it out there, and telling imposter syndrome to take a hike.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readThe original OOUX manifesto. You'll learn why designing "objects first" is pivotal and how it helps you define the core structure of your system. The process has evolved over the years into Sophia's ORCA process, but this 2015 article is still a great place to start.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readThis is a book that I wish I had written! My weathered copy of this book is packed with highlights, scribbles in the margins, and dogeared pages. It's not an easy read (some passages I had to read 3 times) but it's fascinating for anyone serious about information architecture and how laws of perception and understanding should drive our IA designs.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
buyFriends, a zombie apocalypse is upon us: an onslaught of new mobile devices, platforms, and screen sizes. Hordes of them descend on our cities every day. We're outmatched. There aren't enough designers and developers to battle every platform or editors and writers to populate every screen size. Defeating the zombies will require flexibility and stamina—in our content.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
watchMike did an excellent case study on how the BBC used Domain-Driven Design (a grandparent of OOUX) to revolutionize how the BBC creates, manages, publishes, and displays their massive trove of media. He reminds us that users "are not interested in a video, [they] are interested in what the video is about. [They] are interested in real things—real world things."
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readHave you heard the term "Object-Oriented?" Thought maybe it only applies to developers and techies? Think again. Paul makes the case that it's just about time we all started getting on board the Object-Oriented thought train as a way of viewing and deconstructing systems.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readSoftware engineer, UXer, and researcher Dr. Jensen explains Gestalt psychology and why it's relevant to the design of intuitive software. She gives great arguments that remind us to avoid shapeshifters and masked objects!
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
watch
These are MIke Atherton's slides for his 2013 "half-day introduction to content modeling and the creation and management of structured, adaptive content" workshop. Delivered at IA Summit 2013.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
see slidesIn this article, Everyl Yankee talks about ‘task’ oriented UX design techniques, and how we must then take the step up to ‘object’ oriented user interfaces and navigation systems to keep user interaction as simple and straightforward as possible.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readCare about content? As devices and channels multiply and users expect to share information quickly, we need content that can go more places, more seamlessly. "Content Everywhere" will help you start making content more future-ready, flexible, reusable, manageable, and meaningful wherever it needs to go.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
buyOOUX stands on the shoulders of giants! Lovinger was writing about content modeling back in 2012, pioneering the ideas of structured content.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readHere are the top resources to help you get started on your OOUX Journey.
Start here! Sophia talks through the top frustrations that she hears from UX designers and explains how OOUX can help. If you are enduring pixel-pushing sans strategy, an overwhelm of complexity, stakeholder buy-in, communicating with developers...OOUX is the answer!
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
watchOctober 20, 2015 was when Sophia's article on OOUX debuted on A List Apart. In this episode of the podcast, Sophia shows you how her philosophy and process have changed since then and how OOUX was forged in the crucible of CNN Election Night 2012.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listenIf you are new to Object-Oriented UX, there's a 99% chance what you learn here will be completely new. These four mistakes are so forehead-smacking, but also so common and so easy to make. During this session, I'll expose them without mercy and we will look at examples from Netflix, Meetup, and in my own work at CNN.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
watchThis episode is an audio WORKSHOP that’s going to teach you the basics of OOUX and the ORCA process. If you listened to the first episode, you should have a zoomed-out, big picture Idea of what OOUX is all about. But in this episode, you’ll actually get to practice OOUX!
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listenIn just a single sheet of paper (front and back), this guide gives you step-by-step instructions on how to create an object map.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
get itLook into how users understand and process their world, how thought, communication, understanding, and perception are all object-oriented, and how when digital design aligns with real-world objects, better UX is the result.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
readIn this episode, Sophia takes us on an audio walk-through of the "calls-to-action" methodology of her ORCA process. She will guide you through how to get started designing complex systems, how to make a CTA Matrix that's based on real-world objects, and why doing so will pay dividends.
FYI: This is an affiliate link (we earn a small kickback if you buy).
listen