Educating, Mentoring and Motivating a UX Team

February 3, 2012

Michael Hawley, Chief Design Officer

@hawleymichael

Educating, Mentoring and Inspiring Your UX TeamCORE UX MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES

“Managers cannot be expected to ignore business imperatives, of course. But in working toward these imperatives, they may be inadvertently designing organizations that systematically crush creativity.”Theresa Amabile ‘How to Kill Creativity’, Harvard Business Review, September-October 1998

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Expertise

Motivation

Creative Thinking

Three Components that Drive Creativity

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Educate:Build Expertise

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Mentor:Enhance Creative Thinking

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Creative Thinking Challenges

Design Innovative SolutionsDeal With Tough ClientSee Alternative ApproachesAnalyze ResearchGet OrganizedOvercome a Creative BlockPresent Effectively

Creative Thinking Challenges

Design Innovative SolutionsDeal With Tough ClientSee Alternative ApproachesAnalyze ResearchGet OrganizedOvercome a Creative BlockPresent Effectively

Mentor Guidelines

Develop Personal ConnectionBe HumbleBalance Support and ChallengeListen, Don’t LectureDon’t Give the AnswerAsk Questions

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Motivate:Inspire Best Work

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TaskEffect of Rewards

Mechanical SkillBetter Performance

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TaskEffect of Rewards

Mechanical SkillBetter Performance

Cognitive SkillWorse Performance

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“I want to work on fulfilling projects – I want to work on things that make a difference, and I want to look back my work and be proud of it.”Everyone on our team, 2006 - 2012

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Intrinsic Motivation Extrinsic

Motivation

• Give Autonomy• Align Projects with

Interests• Enable Progress• Reinforce the Purpose• Avoid “Critical” Culture• Eliminate Distractions

• Recognize Your Audience• Avoid the “sell out”• Enough To Avoid

Distraction• Reward User-Centricity

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Intrinsic Motivation Extrinsic

Motivation

Educate

MotivateMentor

CREATIVITY & ENGAGEMENT

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MENTOR

The Mentor's Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning

Relationships

By Lois J. Zachary

Coaching Questions: A Coach's Guide to Powerful

Asking Skills

By Tony Stoltzfus

10 Who Mentor: Inspiring Insights from Creative

Legends

www.10whomentor.org

Information Architecture Institute Mentoring

Program

http://iainstitute.org/en/members/mentoring/

mentoring_program.php

Mentoring Essays from AIGA (American Institute of

Graphic Arts)

http://www.aiga.org/search.aspx?taxid=347

A Case For Mentorship

By Scott Baldwin (on UX Magazine)

http://uxmag.com/articles/a-case-for-mentorship

INSPIRE

How To Kill Creativity

By Teresa Amabile (Harvard Business Review, Sep –

Oct 1998)

www.ndinnovators.com/PDF/Amabile_Kill.pdf

Managing Creative People: Lessons in Leadership

for the Ideas Economy

By Gordon Torr

How to Motivate Creative People (Including

Yourself)

By Mark McGuinness

Available for free at

http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates

Us

By Daniel H. Pink

Check out this video based on the book:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc

The HBR List: Breakthrough Ideas for 2010 - #1.

What Really Motivates Workers

By Steven Kramer and Teresa Amabile

http://hbr.org/2010/01/the-hbr-list-breakthrough-

ideas-for-2010/ar/1

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