clients don't suck (resolving common blockers that stifle ux)
TRANSCRIPT
Clients don't suck
EVGENIA (JENNY) GRINBLO / #NUX4
The client-as-a-nightmare cliché
@GRINBLO \ #NUX4INTRODUCTION / ON CLIENTS
CLIENTSFROMHELL.NET
This is serious business
@GRINBLO \ #NUX4INTRODUCTION / ON CLIENTS
The ideal scenario
Our expertise
Our clients’ expertise
@GRINBLO \ #NUX4INTRODUCTION / ON CLIENTS
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Pick one method to try for yourself
BUT FIRST, SOME HOMEWORK:
@GRINBLO \ #NUX4INTRODUCTION / ON CLIENTS
Prevention is the best medicine
@GRINBLO \ #NUX4INTRODUCTION / ON CLIENTS
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nlireland/
Condition #1
Image from page 218 of "Rider's Washington; a guide book for travelers, with 3 maps and 22 plans" (1922)
Symptoms ReasonsRepeating the same process and tool they’re used to using in another context
“I am the user”
Opinions drive design decisions
Stakeholders disagree
Surprise features
CONDITION 1 @GRINBLO \ #NUX4
Shift the conversation from ‘making decisions’ to designing for real people
Try this
CONDITION 1 @GRINBLO \ #NUX4
Guerrilla user testing
Put assumptions about users on paper
Bring users’ voices into the boardroom
Grandfather Telling a StoryAlbert Anker (1884)
Bring users’ voices into the boardroom
Guerrilla user testing
Put assumptions about users on paper
Grandfather Telling a StoryAlbert Anker (1884)
My biggest complaint coming to an event like this…
Bring users’ voices into the boardroom
Bring users’ voices into the boardroom
Guerrilla user testing
Put assumptions about users on paper
Bring them closer to the user research
CUSTOMER PROFILE VOLUNTEERS
GAINS
PAINS
Put assumptions about users on paper
Method source: Value Proposition Design by Strategyzer
Give users a seat in the boardroom
CONDITION 1 @GRINBLO \ #NUX4
Condition #2
Image from page 976 of "Dr. Evans' How to keep well;" (1917)
Symptoms ReasonsComfortable with how but not with what or why
Spending time on details right away
Big portions of budget spent on small “wow elements”
Not being able to summarize the product or who it’s for
CONDITION 2 @GRINBLO \ #NUX4
Zoom out of the detail and the interface
Try this
CONDITION 2 @GRINBLO \ #NUX4
Storyboard Ruthless prioritization
Which business goal is this for?
https://www.ted.com/talks/mick_mountz_the_hidden_world_of_box_packing#t-186129
MICK MOUNTZ (TED) / What happens inside those massive warehouses?
CONDITION 2 @GRINBLO \ #NUX4
CONDITION 2 @GRINBLO \ #NUX4
Storyboard Ruthless prioritization
Which business goal is this for?
Ruthless prioritization
Feature 78
Feature 92
Feature 3
Feature 203
Feature 78
Feature 31
Feature 3
Feature 92
Storyboard Ruthless prioritization
Which business goal is this for?
Refer to tangible things that show the vision for the product
CONDITION 2 @GRINBLO \ #NUX4
Image from page 456 of "Practical physics" (1922)https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/
Condition #3
Image taken from page 394 of 'Memoirs of Bartholomew Fair ... Fourth edition'
Symptoms ReasonsConfusion about the value of UX and what we can do to help
“Can you just spruce this up?”
Asking for a high-fidelity design to communicate an idea
Involving UX last
CONDITION 3
Empower your clients to participate, not just judge
Try this
Clients aren't there with you, so they only see the last step in a long chain of thinking
Ask difficult questions
Expose your decision-making
Scare them
Ask difficult questions
Expose your decision-making
How will you know if the project is successful?
How will this app make money?
What kind of customer is most important to your business and why?
Scare them
Ask difficult questions
Expose your decision-making
How will you know if the project is successful?
How will this app make money?
What kind of customer is most important to your business and why?
Scare them
Talk to me in benefits
CONDITION 3 / EXAMPLE
Back Article Bookmark
Can you read this? Doctor with 'world's messiest handwriting' baffles patient
Read the PDF
E-mail me the PDF
he handwriting of doctors and teachers has long since been ridiculed by the rest of the working world.
But some doctors are worse than others, as this incredible image shared on Imgur shows.
In a post entitled: " Why your prescription isn't ready in 15 minutes ", there appear to be a series of squiggles and bumps more resembling a heart monitor's output than actual written english
Benefit
Benefit
Clients aren't there with you, so they only see the last step in a long chain of thinking
Ask difficult questions
Expose your decision-making
Scare them
Explain the consequences of getting UX right in your client’s terms
CONDITION 3 / EXAMPLE
1/5 of apps are abandoned after 1 use
Re-working code = x100 the cost
15% of software projects are abandoned
The ROI of User Experience http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O94kYyzqvTc http://info.localytics.com/blog/app-retention-improves
Storyboard Ruthless prioritization Which business goal is this for?
Ask difficult questions
Scare them (educate about value / risks of UX work)
Expose your decision-making
Bring user voices into the boardroom Guerrilla user testing Put assumptions about
users on paper
Create your diagonosis and methods toolkit
CONCLUSION / LAST WORDS
Client dragging you down
My Work
Client propping you up
Client knowledge, expertise, support
Ideas we create together
My work
+
+
vs. My work’s potential in
a world with no clients
CONCLUSION / LAST WORDS
My reminder that my work isn’t just on screens >
CONCLUSION / LAST WORDS