developing a user experience strategy for your organisation

Workshop - jboye 2014 – 4th Nov 2014

Developing a User Experience Strategy for your Organisation

Claudia Urschbach

urschbach@gmx.de

urschbac

Introduction & Warnings

Warm Up

Change Management Mistakes

10 min break

Strategy Work

10 min break

Vote a Question

Feedback

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Today

About me

• University: Communications, Psychology, Politics @LMU

• UX Work: since 1999 – Germany, UK, China

• Organisations: media, public sector, design agency

• Products: websites & apps, B2B software, household appliances

• Today: Product Management @Süddeutsche Zeitung

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I am aware "cool" speakers don't do much text on powerpoint slides anymore.

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I do.

I am a Usability Engineer at .

My research says you don't want to stress about taking notes but still be able to read up on details.

Warning 1

Presentation = I work. You listen & learn.

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Warning 2

Tutorial = You work. I listen & support.

I'm afraid, this is a tutorial. YOUR fault.

Wake up ;-)

• UX = User Experience

• CM = Change Management

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Abbreviations

Go read some quotes on the wall.

Stick 1 dot on the quote you are most likely to use in your next presentation to colleagues in your organisation.

# individually, 5 min

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Gentle Warm Up Wake up ;-)

"UX encompasses all aspects of the end-user's interaction with the company, its services, and its products (...) In order to achieve high-quality UX in a company's offerings there must be a seamless merging of the services of multiple disciplines, including engineering, marketing, graphical and industrial design, and interface design."

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User Experience

The Definition of User Experience by Jakob Nielsen & Don Norman

“UX strategy requires a solid understanding of business goals, vision, and drivers. There will always be strategic UX initiatives and projects, but those with the greatest chance of providing long-term sustainable business value are UX solutions that stay framed in the big picture.”

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UX Strategy

http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2014/01/10-commandments-of-ux-strategy.php by Ronnie Battista

“UX strategy is part of product strategy. It is not its own thing. Calling it out as such further isolates designers from their colleagues in “the business” and does nothing to actually drive the value of a holistic user experience into the org’s mainstream conversations. Instead, designers should work to inform a product strategy conversation that considers not only the UX but the business’ and product’s success factors as well..”

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UX Strategy vs. Product Strategy

http://www.jeffgothelf.com/blog/there-is-no-such-thing-as-ux-strategy/ by Jeff Gothelf

"Change management is an approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations to a desired future state."

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Change Management I

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Change_management

"Create a sense of urgency, recruit powerful change leaders, build a vision and effectively communicate it, remove obstacles, create quick wins, and build on your momentum. If you do these things, you can help make the change part of your organizational culture. That's when you can declare a true victory. Then sit back and enjoy the change that you envisioned so long ago."

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Change Management II

The 8-Step Process for Leading Change by John P. Kotter

"Nearly 40 years of research by leadership and change guru Dr. John Kotter have shown that more than 70% of all major transformation efforts fail. Why? Because organizations do not take a consistent, holistic approach to changing themselves, nor do they engage their workforces effectively."

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Failing CM

http://www.kotterinternational.com/the-8-step-process-for-leading-change/

Your CEO asks you to come up with a plan on how to make the organisation truly customer-focussed. What CM mistakes have you experienced and want to avoid?

Name 3 mistakes.

# teams of 5-7 people, 10 min

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Imagine... Wake up ;-)

1) Getting communication wrong UX means finding out what someone needs & providing it.

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UX Strategy Mistakes

2) Ignoring cultural / psychological aspects UX is about humans. Change process is too.

3) Assuming change is free UX Strategy is an investment. The ROI are happy customers.

4) Planning unrealistic time frames & goals Like UX process: analyse, prototype, iterate.

5) Only looking at product development process UX Thinking is a company culture. Touch 'em all.

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Let's look closer at the 5 mistakes. We need one group for each mistake. You get one question to deal with as a group.

What was the question?

What answers did you come up with?

# 5 teams, 15 min

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Team work! Wake up ;-)

1) Getting communication wrong UX means finding out what someone needs & providing it.

Question: What communication mistakes can you think of?

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Team 1

2) Ignoring cultural / psychological aspects UX is about humans. Change process is too.

Question: What positive & negative emotional states might staff members go through during change?

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Team 2

3) Assuming change is free UX Strategy is an investment. The ROI are happy customers.

Question: What costs should a realistic budget for a change process take into account?

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Team 3

4) Planning unrealistic roadmap Like UX process: analyse, prototype, iterate.

Question: List all UX methods you know. Pick 3-5 that you think will be easiest and most effective to begin with.

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Team 4

5) Only looking at product development process UX Thinking is a company culture. Touch 'em all.

Question: Which divisions of the organisation should your UX strategy take into account?

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Team 5

Classic collection of mistakes:

• Making a big fuzz at the start - then nothing follows

• Ignoring that people think change = redundancies

• Wrong communicators (new arrivals, external consultants)

• One-way mass communication isn't enough

• Managers don't address change in individual conversations

• Not communicating to everyone involved

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1) Getting communication wrong

• People only support change, if they understand the problem

& the urgency of addressing it.

• CM is more than methods, structure, roadmaps, costs.

• Individuals & Teams – skills, motivation & anxieties

• Specific company culture - every organisation is different

(e. g. successful or failed changes in the past)

• Excited, motivated people are most likely to get disappointed

• Resistence is foreseeable

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2) Ignoring cultural aspects

Source: http://www.torbenrick.eu/blog/change-management/organizations-dont-change/

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Resistance is foreseeable

A realistic budget includes costs for:

• communication activities & project management of CM

(some of it most likely to be external costs)

• time needed in teams to discuss changes, adjust process

• developing staff (training UX methods, processes, soft skills)

• recruitment of staff with UX skills

• change related incentives / bonuses for staff or teams

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3) Assuming change is free

Costs per phase depend on:

• I recommed: 1 phase = 12 months

• How many individuals are "supposed to be part of change"?

• How many teams are "supposed to be part of change"?

• How many geographical locations do you need to involve?

• How many staff do you need to re-train intensively/recruit?

• Do you need external support for running the CM process?

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3) Assuming change is free

UX Strategy brings Return-of-Investment soon:

• When you understand customer needs, you can address them

• Know exactly what people love about competitor products

• Fewer development cycles till "a product is right"

• Save production costs on features customers don't value

(fridge drawer example)

• Faster decision-making when facts not opinions tell you what

solution customers prefer

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3) Assuming change is free

Start right - with the most powerful UX methods:

• Personas low cost, easy to communicate,

turns "customers" into different types

• Scenarios low costs, uses personas, goes deeper

• Prototyping medium costs at first, saves time/costs

later during implementation

• Usability Testing medium costs; uses personas, scenarios,

(incl. competition) protoytping; best done externally;

goal = staff see real users 29

4) Unrealistic roadmap

Start right – built a roadmap with patience:

• Change takes 2-10 years (depening on a lot of aspects)

• Start with a max. 1 year plan

• Plan iteration 1-2 iteration loops into the first year.

• Start with no more than 20% of your staff (10% if possible)

- choose them wisely.

• Start with those activities that will be easiest & fastest to

implement successfully. Don't start with the heavy stuff.

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4) Unrealistic roadmap

Start right – pick people who thrive on change:

• Identify motivated & strong leaders as „change champions“

• Pick 2-5 „change teams“ (must work together already; successful,

open minded, motivated, pro-active; no major team conflicts)

these individuals will become your "multiplicators of change"

• Make sure teams understand problem, urgency & vision.

• Enable exchange between the "change teams"

• Support the teams with HR and external expertise / contacts

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4) Unrealistic roadmap

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4) Unrealistc roadmap

http://blog.usabilla.com/the-top-5-user-testing-methods-of-ux-professionals/

• Let teams define their own SMART goals for year 1

( iterations - accroding to User Centered Design Process, Lean

Management, Agile)

• Successful UX Strategy touches everyone around the organisation

– Group 1: staff and external partners in touch with customers or

providing a product, service or communication to customers

– Group 2: staff or external partners supporting staff of level 1

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5) Only product development process

Group 1:

• Sales / CRM

• Marketing

• Design

• Product Management

• Project Management

• Engineering

• PR / Comms / Social Media

• Research / Innovation

• Service Staff

• Call Centre

• Technical Documentation

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5) Only product development process

• Reception staff

• Ext: Advertising Agency

• Ext: Suppliers of technology

• Ext: Suplliers of services

Types:

• Permanent staff

• Temporary staff

• Trainees

• Freelancers / Contractors

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5) Only product development process

Group 2:

• HR

• Finance

• Controlling

• Quality Management

• Buying

• Ext: Training providers

Types:

• Permanent staff

• Temporary staff

• Trainees

• Freelancers / Contractors

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What question should we talk about in the remaining time? A – How do you implement a UX Strategy in an Agile environment?

B – How do I start a UX Strategy bottom-up?

C – I have a much better question.

# everyone together, 5 min

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Vote a Question Wake up ;-)

Post-its on the wall:

What did you like?

What did you not like / miss?

How happy are you? - Scale 1 to 10.

# individually, 15 min

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Feedback Wake up ;-)

John P. Kotter – Professor @Harvard Business School

•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh2xc6vXQgk

•Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions. ISBN-10: 031236198X

•The Heart of Change: Real Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations. ISBN-10: 1578512549

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Hooked? Follow up hints

Claudia Urschbach

urschbach@gmx.de

urschbac

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Contact