Whether you are an indie practitioner, agency design lead or internal designer at a large company, you have no doubt experienced difficulites selling UX activities or Experience Design as a whole to clients, partners or bosses. Beyond touting the wonderful and magical ROI UX brings to the table, there are concrete strategies you can use to get your point accross and they aren't what you think. Learn how to identify and overcome common barriers to achieving a unified approach to user centered design.
Text of Evangelizing User Experience Design
Evangelizing User Experience Design UX Dustin DiTommaso
[email protected]
Good Design is Good Business. - Thomas Watson, IBM 1950
(around)
The Customer Experience is the Next Competitive Battleground. -
erry Gregoire, Dell J
The Customer Experience is the Next Competitive Battleground. -
erry Gregoire, Dell J 1999
What the F UX?
Why are we still defending Experience Design?
What is User Experience Design?
A DEFINITION: User Experience is the Perceived Sum of All
interactions, both positive and negative, that a customer / user
has with a product or service (brand).
UX Happens with or without User Experience Design.
UX Happens with or without User Experience Design. To ensure a
(mostly) positive outcome, the experience must be crafted
strategically and with intent.
Who is Responsible for the User Experience?
EVERYONE User Experience Architect / Interaction Designer /
Developer / Visual Designer / Program Manager / CEO / Usability
Analyst / Information Architect / Technical Support / Copywriter /
Animator / Web Producer / Human Factors Engineer / User Experience
Specialist / Customer Support Personnel / Design Research /
Cognitive Psychologist / User Centered Designer / Executive
Management / Help Desk / Marketing / Chief Internet Ofcer / UX
Designer / Director of Technology / Regional Manager / Interface
Usability Specialist / Chief Creative Ofcer / User Experience
Planner / Digital Art Director / Interaction Specialist / Web
Designer / UI Designer / Interactive Services / Human Factors
Analyst / Interactive Developer / HCI Engineer / Marketing Manager
/ UCD Engineer / HR Manager / Usability Researcher / VP Marketing /
Accessibility Professional / Marketing Director / Web UI Designer /
Digital Producer / HCI Analyst / Director of Account Services /
Usability Engineer / Interactive Producer / User Experience
Researcher / Project Manager / GUI Designer / Director of Account
Services / User Experience Strategist / Product Innovation
Specialist / Interactive Marketer / CXO / Information Designer /
Creative Director / Software Engineer / Business Analyst / Testing
Coordinator / UX Practitioner/
Titles Dont Matter
Titles Dont Matter The UX Vision must be shared across the
Entire Organization.
What if were not there?
Strategies to Elevate and Integrate User Experience Design
within your Organization
Strategies to Elevate and Integrate User Experience Design
within your Organization (& your clients)
01 Know Your Culture Culture Matters
Until I came to IBM, I probably would have told you that
culture was just one among several important elements in any
organizations makeup and success, along with vision, strategy,
nancials, I came to see that culture isnt just one aspect of the
game it is the game. - ou Gerstner in Who says Elephants Cant
Dance? L (2oo2, p. 182)
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE DEFINED: + System of shared meaning held
by members + The way they do things - ow they make decisions &
who makes them H - ow and with whom they interact H - hat they
measure, reward and punish W - here they allocate resources W - ow
they work; their pace, standards, etc. H
LEVELS OF CULTURE Observables - hat is seen, heard, done, etc W
Values, Assumptions, Beliefs - hat we believe is important and true
W - hat we take for granted W
VALUES / ASSUMPTIONS / BELIEFS Espoused Values / Beliefs -
alues / Beliefs that the organization claims to follow V - ontained
in Annual Reports, Landing Pages, etc. C Enacted Values / Beliefs
(Values in Use) - he Values/Beliefs that can be inferred from
behavior T i.e., the values that explain the organizations actions
+ ESPOUSED VALUES ARE EXPLICIT (STATED) + ENACTED VALUES ARE
IMPLICIT (INTERPRETED)
CULTURES VARY At GM, if you see a snake, the rst thing you do
is hire a consultant on snakes. Then you get a committee on snakes,
and discuss it for a couple years At EDS, the rst guy who sees the
snake kills it. R - oss Perot on how the culture of General Motors
differed from EDS, which he founded.
SOME DIFFERENCES IN VALUES / BELIEFS - ur success depends on
the customer OR customers are to be tolerated. O - mployees deserve
respect OR employees are disposable. E - ll employees can make
major contributions OR ideas come from the top. A - esults matter
most OR the process matters most. R - est work comes from
individuals OR from teams. B -t is better to take risks and have
some fail OR always play it safe. I - o stay alive, we need to keep
changing OR maintain the status quo. T - nly excellence is OK OR OK
is OK O - ets do today what could be done tomorrow OR lets do
tomorrow what L could be done today.
CULTURE: SUMMARY + It Matters + It Controls + It Varies + Its
Stable + Its the Enacted Beliefs and Values
02 Create a Unied UX Vision & Take Over the World
There are many methodologies for User Experience Design yet
they all have one thing in common Users interests are at the center
of all Activities.
PIANO, PIANO + Change is Slow - rganizations are slow to change
and O methodologies are slow to get adopted / implemented. + Start
Slow - ry to t your methodology in and around T existing methods. -
ont be afraid to scale down your approach at D rst. UCD is not One
size ts All.
ENLIGHTEN WITHOUT LOSING YOUR FRIENDS 01 Know your sh!t craft
and be credible. Continually improve. Read books / blogs. Join
professional groups, Go to conferences, etc. 02 Make your (already)
read books available for colleagues to skim or borrow. Print out
valuable articles & white papers as well. 03 Make your work
visible (pen / pencil sketches, whiteboards) 04 Make allies at any
level in any department. Champion UX together. 05 Educate and
Explain. Dont dictate. 06 When giving feedback complement things
done well, in addition to making suggestions for improvement.
ENLIGHTEN WITHOUT LOSING YOUR FRIENDS 07 Set-up monthly
multidisciplinary workshops (UX, proj. mgmt., communication) Invite
all departments to host. 08 Get everyone involved in testing,
brainstorming, evaluating (IDEO) 09 Strive to get involved in
projects as soon as possible. 10 Pick projects you can have the
most impact on (if possible). 11 Just do it! Fix UX problems (at
least on paper). Offer up the the discovery as a looking for
feedback request. 12 Seize Every Opportunity AND Know when to
Quit.
Focus on the User and All Else Will Follow.
Focus on the User and All Else Will Follow. If this is true,
then whats the Problem?
03 Barriers to a Unied UX Vision & How to Break them
Down
COMMON BARRIERS & RESISTANCE 01 No Support with Top Level
Management 02 Developers See UX as an obstacle that eats into
development time 03 Visual Designers see it as a creative restraint
(& eat into design time) 04 Marketing feels threatened by
research overlap 05 No understanding of what User Experience Design
is & why it matters
SHOWING VALUE TO SENIOR MANAGEMENT -mprove In-House Tools &
Processes. I +intranets, budget tools, forms, daily workows, tasks,
etc. = increase worker productivity & satisfaction - ngage
executive level in UX activities. Ask for opinions. E (even if you
throw them away). - nderstand companies strategic logic and link UX
activities to U Business Objectives
However, trying to focus on $ alone is a risky endeavor.
SHOWING VALUE TO SENIOR MANAGEMENT -Instead, show how UX ts
into the overall Corporate value chain - isk Management: Avoids
costly errors R -mprove Stock Value: Better products lead to
greater market I share - educed support, training and maintenance
costs. R - X contributes to longer product shelf life U - eeting
user goals helps differentiate product M - X reduces testing and
quality assurance costs U
SHOWING VALUE TO DEVELOPMENT TEAM - elp to Dene Interaction
Frameworks and Patterns H + Allows for Reuse of Code + Shorter
Development Cycle - X activities and web analytic data can work
together U to tell the whole story (WA = what // UX = why)
-Increased product quality reduces maintenance and post launch bug
x work
SHOWING VALUE TO DESIGN TEAM - X Research allows for Informed
Decisions & Less Revisions U + It Rhymes!
SHOWING VALUE TO MARKETING TEAM - hare your Research Work S +
Deliverables like Personas & Use Cases can be shared and rened
to benet both marketing and UX practitioners. - arketing and UX can
work together to develop a rms Product M Offer so that the *Net
Delivered Customer Value is maximized for the rms targeted market
segments. *Net Delivered Customer Value (NDCV) = Perceived Benets
Perceived Costs = (Value of Product Use + Service + Image +
Personal Interaction) - (Financial + Time + Energy + Psychic
COSTS)
WRAP UP 01 Understand Company Business Concept and Culture 02
Develop an Experience Strategy to support it 03 Collaborate with
all departments in your organization 04 Share knowledge &
resources as a means to communicate the UX vision 05 Deliver
amazing user experiences to your customers