UX Debt: The Cost of Taking Short Cuts
Hira JavedMay 13, 2015
About Me
Usability Specialist
@hirajaved10
http://lnkd.in/HGSpHW
UX Instructor
What we’ll talk about:
• Defining ‘UX Debt’• How it’s incurred• How it’s measured• Identifying UX maturity of an organization
How do you experience something?
“User experience represents the perception left in someone’s mind following a series of interactions
between people, devices, and events – or any combination thereof.”
- Eric Reiss
UX = the sum of a series of interactions
Types of Interactions
• Active (in our control)• Passive (out of our control)• Secondary (things that have indirect influence)
Source: Eric Reiss http://bit.ly/1nY60XZ
Designing a User Experience
• Coordinating interactions that are controllable.• Acknowledging interactions that are beyond our
control. • Reducing negative interactions.
Source: Eric Reiss http://bit.ly/1nY60XZ
“All interactions are open to subjective interpretation.”
- Eric Reiss
How do you define debt?
Technical Debt
“Those internal things that you choose not to do now, but which will impede future development if left undone in software projects.” - Ward Cunningham
How do you know your technical debt is compounding?
Defining UX Debt
Defining UX Debt
• Joshua Kerievsky extended that metaphor to UX design.
• Increased cost of maintaining the user experience due to short cuts taking throughout the product’s lifecycle.
Defining UX Debt
• It’s less invisible to internal stakeholders than technical debt.
• UX debt is more user facing in nature and can be dangerously easy to both overlook and underestimate.
• This makes it harder to realize you’re accumulating it, let alone paying it off.
Source: Vijay Sundaram http://bit.ly/1GcgD25
Defining UX Debt
Incurring UX Debt
Incurring UX Debt
• Intentional • Unintentional
Incurring UX Debt
Intentional:• Deliberate corner-cutting due to project
constraints (budget, time, resources).
• “Don’t fix what’s not broken” mindset
• Design ideas which could simplify user interactions are considered too complex to implement within a specific time-frame, and as a result are sacrificed.
When product decisions compromise the user
experience, the result is UX debt.
Incurring UX Debt
Unintentional:• Less obvious since it results from lack of
information or misconceptions and assumptions about the end users.
• If time and resources are invested without validating assumptions or legitimate insights, the mounting UX debt could result in product failure.
What are the signals that you’re accumulating UX debt?
Measuring UX Debt
Measuring UX Debt
This is a challenging task if:• an organization has a large product ecosystem• lack of baseline UX metrics• Inconsistency in branding• No formal implementation of design standards
Measuring UX Debt
Two key pieces of information are needed:
1) What is the baseline measurement of each product’s UX?
2) What is the desired level of experience that the organization aspires to create.
Measuring UX Debt
Once a consensus has been reached on the right UX metric for the product, and what the optimal experience looks like, some sort of scoring mechanism needs to be developed.
Severity of Current UX IssuesCritical: “If we don’t fix this, users will not be able to complete the task.”
Major: “Many users will be frustrated if we don’t fix this. They may give up!”
Minor: “Users are annoyed but this does not keep from completing the task”
Measuring UX Debt
• The quality of experience can be measured across different factors such as: user engagement, adoption, retention, satisfaction etc.
• The greater the gap between current and desired experience across any factor, the higher the debt score.
Measuring UX DebtDescription of UX Issue Severity Debt Score
Unusable: Imperative to fix Unusable 4
Major Issue: Important to fix with high priority
Critical 3
Minor Issue: Should be given low priority Moderate 2
Cosmetic change Minor 1
Meets criteria No Issues 0
Source: Kimberly Dunwoody and Susan Teague Reactor http://bit.ly/1NzVONm
Measuring UX Debt
The level of severity of a UX issue can be calculated by the data collected from expert evaluations of the product, or by using prior usability testing as a baseline.
Organizational UX Maturity
UX Maturity Model
Developed by Macadamian Technologies
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ
Stage 1: Unenlightened
Stage 2: Awakening
Stage 3: Enlightened
Stage 4: Super Human
Stage 5: Celestial
UX Maturity Model
Stage 1: Unenlightened• Organization sees UX design simply as visual
design, “layered” on top of the product’s functionality.
• It’s addressed at or near the end of coding.
• No professional UX professionals in the house - either employees or consultants.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ
UX Maturity Model
Stage 1: Unenlightened
Implications:• High risk of displacement if competitors are able
to provide the same value and a better UX.
Indicators:• No discussion of UX or only in terms of graphics• End users are not consulted• No UX goals tied to business goals
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ
UX Maturity Model
Stage 1: Unenlightened
What’s required to move forward:• Ensure that relevant business issues are correctly
identified as being UX design related.
• UX education needs to happen.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ
UX Maturity Model
Stage 2: Awakening• Organization genuinely considering to improving
UX, but still has no formal structure.
• UX may be misunderstood and any changes may be implemented in bits and pieces.
• No UX professionals within in the organization, but an outside expert may be consulted.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ
UX Maturity Model
Stage 2: Awakening
Implications:• Experience does not play a major role in
differentiating the product from competitors.
• Organizations must decide level of investment in UX processes and practices to stay competitive.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ
UX Maturity Model
Stage 2: Awakening
Indicators:• UX design is a hot topic, at least for some
projects.• Design decisions are made based on some newly
acquired UX knowledge.• Limited user feedback (opinions on design or
functionality).• General or hard to measure UX goals.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ
UX Maturity Model
Stage 2: Awakening
What’s required to move forward:• Launch a pilot project, overseen by experts, with
a clear connection between UX design goals and a business objective.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ
UX Maturity Model
Stage 3: Enlightened
• Organization is doing UX right or at least significantly better on some projects.
• Leadership team understands the value of design and investments are being made in professional hires or contracts.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ
UX Maturity Model
Stage 3: Enlightened
Implications:• Products can be distinguished from competitors’
based on UX design.
• Success is still inconsistent across the product portfolio and users may not associate the company with excellence in UX design.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ
UX Maturity Model
Stage 3: Enlightened
Indicators:• Evidence that UX design has clearly had a
positive business impact. • UX goals are clear and measurable.• Users involved but not always in the right way or
in time to inform design decisions.• No senior leadership in UX. No standards.• Executives are noticing and have opinions.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ
UX Maturity Model
Stage 3: Enlightened
What’s required to move forward:• Clear UX goals for teams on projects and
providing accountability and empowerment to UX experts.
• Roles need to be defined so everyone on a project feels they can contribute to the UX outcomes in some way.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ
UX Maturity Model
Stage 3: Enlightened
What’s required to move forward:• UX experts willing to take initiative, collaborate
and integrate with other functions.
• Senior leadership and expertise is required to help align and coordinate UX resources and other functions.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ
UX Maturity Model
Stage 4: Super Human• Organization has moved beyond the basic “why
and hows” of UX design in their products.
• They are more concerned with the nuances of particulars of improvement in UX.
• UX goals are clearly embedded with the organization's mindset and people understand their roles in the process.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ
UX Maturity Model
Stage 4: Super Human
Implications:• The company has a reputation for UX excellence
in their products and often wins on this basis.
Indicators:• UX is no longer a hot topic. Discussion is more
likely to be about the latest techniques, process improvements, etc.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ
UX Maturity Model
Stage 4: Super Human
Indicators:• A strong set of practices, processes and
guidelines exist that are actually utilized by project teams.
• Users are regularly consulted for projects. And it’s done consistently with correct techniques.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ
UX Maturity Model
Stage 4: Super Human
What’s required to move forward:• The next step beyond excellence is when the
organization realizes that the product experience is just one part of a larger experience delivered to customers.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ
UX Maturity Model
Stage 5: Celestial• Strategic implementation of UX design principles.
• UX design is firmly integrated into all aspects of customer experience. This includes all the touch points that happen around the product.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ
UX Maturity ModelStage 5: Celestial
Implications:• The company has a reputation for excellence in
all aspects of customer experience.
Indicators:• UX goals are linked to business objectives with
total customer experience in mind.• Research in UX is strongly coordinated with
other customer experience feedback processes.Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ
Key Take-ways
Characteristics of organizations that do UX well and are conscious of their UX debt:
• The leadership and culture in the company appreciates the value and necessity of UX design from a business point of view.
• Access to UX expertise (in-house or out-source)• They use appropriate technique to obtain and
understand user input.
Key Take-ways
• There are connected and integrated processes that enable individuals to work together to create the user experience of the product.
• The principles of UX design are applied to the product ecosystem to drive consistent customer experience.
Questions ?