Our Process

What is OOUX?

OOUX is a philosophy for designing digital systems that respects the fact that people think in objects—and need consistent, recognizable objects to understand an environment or product.
OOUX helps us (and all of our students)...

Launch more intuitive user experiences.

How? We ensure that our system is made up of the most valuable objects and that users have a clear understanding of these objects. To do this, the design team has to get clear on the objects first—what they are, how they relate, and what users can do with them.

Engage in saner, more effective team collaboration.

How? By getting on the same page about the main objects, we create a shared language. We make sure that everyone aligns on the system model—as well as the prioritization of the objects within the model.

Improve efficiency of process.

How? Allow developers to confidently get started on architecture before wireframes are even started. Designers and developers work on the Object Map together, and then simultaneously work from the Object Map. No more design bottlenecks.

And without OOUX?

Our brains have evolved to recognize solid objects that adhere to the laws of physics. But digital environments are not beholden to the laws of physics. If the objects in your product are inconsistent or unrecognizable, users will be confused.
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For example, in working with a large airline, we uncovered confusion around the difference between flights, trips, segments, and legs. Surprise! Segments and legs are not the same. Neither are flights and trips. And wait—does the waiver apply to a flight, a segment, or a leg? Or to the passenger? These concepts had not been properly untangled and mapped—and the unintuitive application reflected this lack of definition.

Here's a deeper explanation...and a bit of an OOUX demo.

The ORCA Process

Rewired’s process for turning lots of messy research and requirements into a well-structured solution is called ORCA, and yes, it has big teeth. It’ll systematically help you break down complexity by answering the following fundamental questions:

The four questions: What are the objects in the users’ mental model? What are the relationships between these objects? What calls-to-action do each object offer users? What are the attributes that make up each object?

Objects. Relationships. Calls-to-Action. Attributes. That’s why it’s called ORCA. Through iterative rounds of ORCA, we add clarity and detail, creating the strong bones of an elegant and naturally intuitive solution.

the four rounds of ORCA are Discovery, Requirements, Prioritization, and Representation.

Yup. That's 15 steps. It's a meat-grinder. Put a chaotic problem in one end, play through the framework, and get tidy, elegant architecture popping out the other. Does it seem like overkill? It's not.

The ORCA process is scalable—you can spend a few days going through all four rounds, ending the week with a testable prototype. Or you can spend 4-6 weeks diving deep into the complexity of your system.

ORCA is our specialty

We invented it. We teach it across the globe and evangelize it across the internet. But here at Rewired, we recognize that ORCA is a process within the larger context of the UX process. Often, the UX process is visualized as a “double diamond” consisting of research followed by design. ORCA provides a critical transition between these two important phases, synthesizing research into a solid foundation of user-centered information architecture.

Research diamond, design diamond, with the ORCA process at the intersection.