workshop: embedding ux into your processes
TRANSCRIPT
Embedding UX Processes Within Your Idea8on, Design, Dev And Release Cycle
Paul Sherman ShermanUX
UX Strategies Summit 2015
The Problem
Good user experience research and design are no longer “nice to have”…they are essential.
But most organizations don’t know how to effectively integrate UX practices into existing practices and
processes.
2
They’re Looking To You For UX Leadership!
3
And if they’re not, you need to start acting like they are.
Goals Of This Workshop
We’ll be learning about and discussing these topics together:
How to identify and cultivate UX champions. How to leverage small tactical UX wins to drive toward a strategic UX approach. How to get the right UX activities embedded into the right places in your organization’s product life cycle.
4
UX
Agenda
5
Topic Format Timing Introductions - - 905 - 915 Setting context Presentation 915 - 945 Small group breakout - - 945 – 950 Assignment 1 Group work 950 - 1020 Selling UX Presentation 1020 - 1030 Stretch & bio break - - 1030 - 1040 Assignment 2 Group work 1040 - 1100 Discussion Interaction 1100 – 1150 Wrap-up & going forward Discussion 1150 – 1200
Introduc8ons
Name Role Organization (optional) UX challenge you’re facing 30 seconds max! “I’m Paul Sherman. I’m a user experience manager at BigSoft. My UX challenge is that BigSoft wants ‘Apple-like’ user experiences for our products, but won’t give me budget or headcount to achieve this.”
6
Who Am I?
PhD in Human Factors Psychology Practicing user experience for 18 years
Internal:
External: Teaching since 2001
7
+ a few defunct agencies…
Who Am I?
I’ve built small UX teams and large multi-location teams. Today, I… Provide user experience research and design consulting. Teach, mentor students and develop courses for Kent State’s UXD program.
8
Before All That…
I worked in aviation human factors.
I studied how pilots’ communication and behavior affected flight safety.
Why?
Because 2/3 of aviation accidents involved perfectly functioning aircraft.
“Pilot error” was usually the given cause.
But what did that actually mean?
9
The Human Factor
My advisor and his collaborators learned that certain behaviors were associated with safer flight:
Verbalizing one’s own actions and assumptions about flight status. Cross-checking each other’s actions. Be willing to question each other’s decisions, even the captain’s decisions, without judgment.
So they began working with airline training organizations to incorporate these “soft” skills into regular flight training.
10
Obstacles To Implemen8ng Safety Processes
They encountered resistance from all sides:
Airlines’ upper management “Check pilots” – trainee evaluators Air traffic control The FAA International agencies
11
What Was Happening?
They had bumped up against culture-based impediments:
Organizational culture
Training and evaluation processes
Cultures in different fleets (aircraft types)
Regulatory culture
12
Some Defini8ons
Culture: The set of attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors shared by a group of people, but different for each individual, communicated from one generation to the next. Organizational culture: “The way we work around here.”
13 Matsumoto, D. (1996) Culture and Psychology. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole. https://hbr.org/2013/05/what-is-organizational-culture
Cultures Overlap, Influence And Affect Each Other
14
National Culture
Organizational Culture
Professional Culture
Formal Processes
Informal Processes
Training Regional Culture
Organizational Subcultures
Organizational Subcultures
A Systems Approach
The researchers realized that in order to make progress, they needed to adopt a systems approach and act as change agents in each part of an organization.
15
Professional Culture
Teach pilots the safety value of communication,
coordination, cross-checking, and
questioning.
Formal Processes
Informal Processes
Training Organizational
Subcultures
Train the trainers. Modify the curricula.
Standardize soft skill training across
fleets.
Ensure safety behaviors are part of standard operating
procedures.
Reinforce safety behaviors through behavioral norms
and values.
Results?
It worked.
16
17
It Wasn’t Easy
It required change at many levels in each organization.
18
What’s A Product Organiza8onal Culture Like?
Here’s one model. Do you recognize your organization?
19
20
Might never have had a UX team or a designer on staff.
Products are created from interesting technology.
Territorial about the UI.
Confident that they can anticipate what users will want in the future.
View design as a creative, not functional endeavor.
May focus on designs that other designers like and respect.
Represented by powerful people who know the loudest buyers... but who don’t know the actual users or their workflows and processes.
Collect lots of survey-based and market-level data.
Tendency to deem a product usable if it is merely possible to do the task.
Rely heavily on their own experience when designing.
Feel they are doing the right thing for the customer, even if they don’t have evidence.
Often define the user experience in terms of aesthetics rather than satisfying workflow needs.
Rely heavily on their own instincts about users.
Focus only on data that confirms their viewpoints.
Rely heavily on buyers’ feedback and random customer suggestions to drive feature prioritization.
Often overconfident in their ability to know what the customer needs.
Cha
lleng
es
Cha
ract
eris
tics
Engineer Centric Design Centric Sales & Marketing Centric
21
Might never have had a UX team or a designer on staff.
Products are created from interesting technology.
Territorial about the UI.
Confident that they can anticipate what users will want in the future.
View design as a creative, not functional endeavor.
May focus on designs that other designers like and respect.
Represented by powerful people who know the loudest buyers... but who don’t know the actual users or their workflows and processes.
Collect lots of survey-based and market-level data.
Tendency to deem a product usable if it is merely possible to do the task.
Rely heavily on their own experience when designing.
Feel they are doing the right thing for the customer, even if they don’t have evidence.
Often define the user experience in terms of aesthetics rather than satisfying workflow needs.
Rely heavily on their own instincts about users.
Focus only on data that confirms their viewpoints.
Rely heavily on buyers’ feedback and random customer suggestions to drive feature prioritization.
Often overconfident in their ability to know what the customer needs.
Cha
lleng
es
Cha
ract
eris
tics
Engineer Centric Design Centric Sales & Marketing Centric
22
Might never have had a UX team or a designer on staff.
Products are created from interesting technology.
Territorial about the UI.
Confident that they can anticipate what users will want in the future.
View design as a creative, not functional endeavor.
May focus on designs that other designers like and respect.
Represented by powerful people who know the loudest buyers... but who don’t know the actual users or their workflows and processes.
Collect lots of survey-based and market-level data.
Tendency to deem a product usable if it is merely possible to do the task.
Rely heavily on their own experience when designing.
Feel they are doing the right thing for the customer, even if they don’t have evidence.
Often define the user experience in terms of aesthetics rather than satisfying workflow needs.
Rely heavily on their own instincts about users.
Focus only on data that confirms their viewpoints.
Rely heavily on buyers’ feedback and random customer suggestions to drive feature prioritization.
Often overconfident in their ability to know what the customer needs.
Cha
lleng
es
Cha
ract
eris
tics
Engineer Centric Design Centric Sales & Marketing Centric
Hanson, K. & Castleman, W. (2006). Tracking Ease-of-Use Metrics: A Tried and True Method for Driving Adoption of UCD in Different Corporate Cultures. Usability Success Stories, Ashgate/Gower.
And That’s Only A Uni-‐Dimensional Characteriza8on!
There’s also…
Pre-existing individual relationships Traditional power bases Incentive structures
Can you think of other aspects?
23
Key Point: “Doing UX” Happens In A Mul8-‐Layered Environment
The challenges you described before the start of this workshop demonstrate this.
24
“Although the company believes in the importance of UX in our processes, it's not always easy to embed the practice in our daily activities, specially when considering tight deadlines.
“Overall misconceptions on what UX design is. Many people hear UX design and assume that it is all about the UI design instead of how technology is experienced by a user.” “Overall, our institution has not put a lot
of focus on UX. I am being charged to implement a UX strategy across our IS division and am running into various difficulties, including having multiple departments that have always managed their own development and applications. Additionally, trying to explain that UX does not equal UI!”
“Spreading UX knowledge to development teams level is bringing increased effects and makes teams knowing how important in their work is to create a positive experience of our users. Unfortunately, the problem is to proceed to work with higher level managers so that UX is applied at the stage of strategy building, and value of design strategy is recognized.”
So how do you do strategic UX?
25
Strategy
“A long term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal.”
“Strategy is differentiated from tactics or immediate actions by its orientation on affecting future, not immediate conditions.”
26 <Lazy>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategy</>
Strategy vs. Tac8cs
27
Strategy vs. Tac8cs
28
Strategic plan: Go from airport to hotel Tactics: Accelerate Make some turns Slow down Stop
Tactics are good practice…
But only if you know where you’re going.
Do you?
29
How Do You Do Strategic UX?
Give yourself a new job: change agent.
30
UX UX
Change Agent
A person who leads a business initiative by:
Defining and researching the problem Planning the intervention Building business support for the intervention Enlisting others to help drive change
“Change agents must have the conviction to state the facts based on data, even if the consequences are associated with unpleasantness.”
31 Six Sigma - http://Isixsigma.com/dictionary/change-agent/ UXmatters - The User Experience Practitioner As Change Agent – http://bit.ly/a2Xwux
UX Prac88oner As Change Agent
To be a change agent, you must focus on strategic goals. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t strive for short-term wins. But they should be in the service of a long-term strategy.
32
UX
So how do you do strategic UX?
33
Strategic Planning
It sounds mysterious. It’s not.
You first need to identify:
34
Your current state Your desired state Obstacles Leverage points
Strategic Planning
35
Your current state What services do you currently provide?
What areas of UX do you currently cover?
At what stages of product processes is UX work being done?
How much of the overall product experience does UX own?
Where does UX report to now?
[Anything else to characterize UX?)
Your desired state Obstacles Leverage points
Strategic Planning
36
Your current state What services do you currently provide?
What areas of UX do you currently cover?
At what stages of product processes is UX work being done?
How much of the overall product experience does UX own?
How is UX performance measured?
Where does UX report to now?
(Anything else to characterize UX?)
Your desired state Obstacles Leverage points What services do you want to provide?
What areas of UX do you want to cover?
At what stages do you want more (or less) UX representation?
How much of the product experience do you want UX to own?
How do you want UX to be measured?
Do you want UX to stay where it is or move? To where?
(Anything else?)
Strategic Planning
37
Your current state What services do you currently provide?
What areas of UX do you currently cover?
At what stages of product processes is UX work being done?
How much of the overall product experience does UX own?
How is UX performance measured?
Where does UX report to now?
(Anything else to characterize UX?)
Your desired state Obstacles Leverage points What services do you want to provide?
What areas of UX do you want to cover?
At what stages do you want more (or less) UX representation?
How much of the product experience do you want UX to own?
How do you want UX to be measured?
Do you want UX to stay where it is or move? To where?
(Anything else?)
What obstacles do you foresee having to overcome before you get to your desired state?
• Organizational
• Budgetary
• Resource
• Interpersonal
• Etc.
Strategic Planning
38
Your current state What services do you currently provide?
What areas of UX do you currently cover?
At what stages of product processes is UX work being done?
How much of the overall product experience does UX own?
How is UX performance measured?
Where does UX report to now?
(Anything else to characterize UX?)
Your desired state Obstacles Leverage points What services do you want to provide?
What areas of UX do you want to cover?
At what stages do you want more (or less) UX representation?
How much of the product experience do you want UX to own?
How do you want UX to be measured?
Do you want UX to stay where it is or move? To where?
(Anything else?)
What obstacles do you foresee having to overcome before you get to your desired state?
• Organizational
• Budgetary
• Resource
• Interpersonal
• Etc.
What business-critical problems is UX uniquely positioned to solve?
Who can you ask for a chance to tackle these problems?
What high-level support can you cultivate?
What keeps the business leaders up at night? Can UX help in these areas?
Anything else?
Strategic Planning
Armed with this information, you can direct your actions toward strategic goals… Rack up some tactical wins… And embed UX practices and process more deeply into your organization.
39
Assignment 1
Break into groups of 4. Using the paper provided (or your own digital resource), start discussing and documenting:
Your current state Your desired state Obstacles you face Leverage points
You will find yourself cycling back between the areas as you listen to your group members.
30 minutes
40
Assignment 1 -‐ Strategic Planning Ques8ons
41
Your current state What services do you currently provide?
What areas of UX do you currently cover?
At what stages of product processes is UX work being done?
How much of the overall product experience does UX own?
How is UX performance measured?
Where does UX report to now?
(Anything else to characterize UX?)
Your desired state Obstacles Leverage points What services do you want to provide?
What areas of UX do you want to cover?
At what stages do you want more (or less) UX representation?
How much of the product experience do you want UX to own?
How do you want UX to be measured?
Do you want UX to stay where it is or move? To where?
(Anything else?)
What obstacles do you foresee having to overcome before you get to your desired state?
• Organizational
• Budgetary
• Resource
• Interpersonal
• Etc.
What business-critical problems is UX uniquely positioned to solve?
Who can you ask for a chance to tackle these problems?
What high-level support can you cultivate?
What keeps the business leaders up at night? Can UX help in these areas?
Anything else?
Assignment 1
Time’s up!
42
Agenda
43
Topic Format Timing Introductions - - 905 - 915 Setting context Presentation 915 - 945 Small group breakout - - 945 – 950 Assignment 1 Group work 950 - 1020 Selling UX Presentation 1020 - 1030 Stretch & bio break - - 1030 - 1040 Assignment 2 Group work 1040 - 1100 Discussion Interaction 1100 – 1150 Wrap-up & going forward Discussion 1150 – 1200
“Selling” UX
Selling UX in your organization means aligning with the true needs of the business. Ask yourself these questions:
What are the critical needs of the business? How does UX solve the problems of the business? How does UX impact the bottom line?
44
Marke8ng 101 for UX’ers
AIDA - Attention, Interest, Desire, Action
Capture their attention. Appeal to emotion, not logic.
Hold their attention. Maintain their interest!
Understand what they desire. Show the benefits.
Move them to take the intended action.
45
Tac8cs For Selling UX
Just a few tactics:
Show your work. Leave it up! Conduct lessons learned sessions after projects. Point to the intranet UX page in your signature. Assist the help desk and customer service department. Run free training sessions and brown bag luncheons.
What else has worked for you?
46
What Doesn’t Sell
Being inflexible Being too academic Jargon: UCD, IXD, HCI ROI-based justifications
47
A Word On Jargon
At a former company, we referred to contextual inquiry by two acronyms…
FMO
FMH
Any guesses?
48
A Word On Jargon
“Follow Me to the Office” “Follow Me Home” Use words that resonate with your organization.
49
This is just an adorable picture. It’s not jargon-related.
10 Minute Break
50
Agenda
51
Topic Format Timing Introductions - - 905 - 915 Setting context Presentation 915 - 945 Small group breakout - - 945 – 950 Assignment 1 Group work 950 - 1020 Selling UX Presentation 1020 - 1030 Stretch & bio break - - 1030 - 1040 Assignment 2 Group work 1040 - 1100 Discussion Interaction 1100 – 1150 Wrap-up & going forward Discussion 1150 – 1200
Assignment 2
Break into groups of 4. Review your work from assignment 1. Based on this information, make some reasonable assumptions about where you want to be in 1 year. Make a 30-60-90 day plan that moves you toward your 1 year goals (and your desired state).
20 minutes
52
Assignment 2
Time’s up!
53
Discussion and Feedback
You’ve made your 1-30-60-90 plans. One person from each group volunteer to share:
Current state Desired state Obstacles Leverage points 1-30-60-90 plan
Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
54
Wrap-‐Up
Let’s continue the conversation. I’ll send you invites to strategicux.slack.com Any other questions?
55
