Designing Globally, Thinking Locally: An Argument for Design Workflow Virtualization

Guiseppe Get toget tog@ecu.edu

Ki rk St .Amants tamantk@ecu.edu

East Caro l ina Un ivers i ty

DESIGNING GLOBALLY, THINKING

LOCALLY: AN ARGUMENT FOR

DESIGN WORKFLOW VIRTUALIZATION

The State of Global UX Research

What Is “Design Workflow Virtualization?”

From Global Users to Local Stakeholders

Implications

WHAT WE’LL COVER

User-Centered Design (UCD)

“To maximize the usability of a product, the user should be involved

from the product’s inception.” – Courage and Baxter

Design as requirements gathering followed by iteration

UCD paradigm does not go far enough towards including

users within actual design processes – Sharon, Buley, Getto

User Experience Design (UX) as contextual, participatory design

Persona (or archetypal user) development

Design process is built from “user’s own goals and measures” –

http://uxdesign.com

STATE OF GLOBAL UX RESEARCH

Problems when addressing internat ional users

The problem of “factoid-based” design – Axtel

The issue of context of use and adaptive technology – van Reijswold

Not localization but transcreation – Schaeler

Designing with internat ional users

Requires a new set of considerations – Ghemawat; Quesenbery & Szu; Sun; Rau,

Plocher, & Choong

Many (most?) large-scale product deployments in the West rely on solely Western

user bases

Designers should thus “localize” their research methodologies – Sun

Response of UX designers in the West to localization is persona development

But does this process rely on a Westernized notion of individuality (an individual

represents the whole)? When does persona development stop?

STATE OF GLOBAL UX RESEARCH, 2

“Workflow virtualization”: distr ibuted work of any kind in a virtual

environment (e.g. outsourcing)

Tax prep work

Medical records processing

Basic legal brief processing

“Design workflow virtualization”: distr ibuted design work in a

virtual environment (e.g. code, interface design, user research,

user testing, etc.)

Examples

Github

Usertesting.com

Treejack

“DESIGN WORKFLOW VIRTUALIZATION?”

“DESIGN WORKFLOW VIRTUALIZATION?”, 2

http://www.optimalworkshop.com/treejack.htm

What is the need?

International online access

Global deregulation of professions/services

Offshoring markets (cheaper, faster, and better?)

International online markets and storefronts

On-site transcreation and more . . .

“DESIGN WORKFLOW VIRTUALIZATION?”, 2

“Design locally, think globally” becomes “design globally,

think locally”

Cultural issues: what are the assumptions, values, and practices

that international users bring with them into online environments?

Technological issues: what tools, skills, resources, and preferences

do users bring with them?

Global issues: what large-scale contexts, environments, and

architectures are users accustomed to operating in?

Local issues: what micro-level contexts, environments, and

interfaces are users accustomed to?

FROM GLOBAL USERS TO LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS

IMPLICATIONS

(Getto 2014)

Question from before: when does persona development stop?

Qi, the busy international student enrol led in an accelerated summer

wri t ing course, version 1

Cultural issues: truly valued and wanted to learn digital technologies; unafraid of

trying them out; from a province in China that had successfully blocked access to

most social media platforms

Technological issues: very proficient in Standard Edited American English; also

proficient in several digital technologies (e.g. QQ, HTML, etc.); preferred to

communicate in SEAE in school settings

Global issues: used to dealing with multiple digital platforms at once; multi-tasker

Local issues: very outspoken student in class; seemed trusted by other students;

was often the first to present problems others were having; taking multiple

accelerated classes at once

FROM GLOBAL USERS TO LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS, 2

Question from before: when does persona development stop?

Qi, the team leader, version X

Cultural issues: was an early adopter of all technologies I introduced;

very critical of attempts to block citizen access to technology

Technological issues: introduced QQ as a way for student teams in the

class to collaborate in a bi-lingual and networked space

Global issues: helpful with improving overall class workflow

Local issues: became a kind of student representative for technological

and linguistic issues his peers were having

FROM GLOBAL USERS TO LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS, 3

Answer: persona development should never stop

Fold international users into UX processes when they are potential

end-users

UX methods are messy, but that’s okay – Sharon

Personas as “archetypal users” (i.e. subject positions) – Turner,

Quesenbery, Foucault

UX strategy vs. simple iteration

Discussion guide (collection of personas) OR other deliverables as

living documents/containers of an ongoing investigation

FROM GLOBAL USERS TO LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS. 4

Achieving cheaper, faster, and better with UX methods (airfare

vs. using an ICT)

Accessing international co-workers and cl ients successfully

Increasing global participation in markets

Expanding education on an international (and bi-directional) level

Avoiding (hopefully) international legal issues

IMPLICATIONS

Topics for future research

Opportunities in education

Roles of different fields/professions

Skills for addressing situations

THINGS FOR DISCUSSION