Iterative Innovation small  guerilla  projects  can  lead  to  big  successes  

Emily  Holmes  Director,  K12  User  Experience  @uxemily  

challenges

Rapid    Growth  

Technical  Debt  

Process  Issues  

2011  UX  

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UX  2013  Gaining momentum

Release  to    customers  

Development  

SpecificaMon  

Interface    design  

Release  to    customers  

Development  

Prototype  &  validate  

Customer  research  

Moving upstream 2011   2013  

•  Only  takes  a  few  hours  •  Doesn’t  cost  anything  •  Gets  feedback  directly  from  students  

School visit Persona workshop FIRST UI HiRE

•  Sped  up  the  whole  project  •  Ended  opinion-­‐based  internal  debate  

FIRST UI HiRE School visit Persona workshop

Design studio School visit FIRST UI HiRE Persona workshop

•  MulMple  departments  •  Only  takes  2  hours  •  A  chance  to  share  their  ideas    •  We  want  to  hear  about  their  experiences  

Design studio School visit FIRST UI HiRE Persona workshop

•  Incredible  cross-­‐department  discussion  •  Exposed  great  stories  and  informaMon  •  Sense  of  common  purpose  

Design studio Partner in crime Persona workshop scenarios

•  Only  takes  2  hours  •  It’s  fun  •  We  want  their  help  with  design!  

Design studio Partner in crime Persona workshop scenarios

•  It  WAS  fun!    •  Fostered  collaboraMon  and  great  ideas  •  People  appreciate  knowing  their  ideas  maYer  •  People  started  to  understand  UX  •  Changed  the  road  map  

Design studio Partner in crime scenarios

•  PM  was  included  as  a  partner  •  It’s  just  a  couple  of  phone  calls  •  It’s  cheaper  to  validate  now  

User research

Design studio Partner in crime scenarios

•  OpMmized  the  scope  of  work    •  Customers  loved  being  included  •  PM  loved  talking  to  customers  •  PM  saw  UX  as  a  helpful  partner    

User research

Partner in crime scenarios

•  Fast  and  free  •  Eliminate  misunderstandings  about  the  project  •  Enable  simple  validaMon  cycles  

User research Lean startup

User research Partner in crime scenarios Lean startup

•  Project  was  smooth  and  efficient  •  Saved  money  by  eliminaMng  extraneous  scope  •  Customers  loved  the  process  and  the  product  •  PM  saw  value  in  Lean  UX  tools  

User research Lean UX coaching Lean startup

•  It  worked  on  CTE  and  other  projects  •  Customer  response  has  been  very  posiMve  •  TesMng  early  and  o]en  saves  Mme  and  money  •  We  can  try  it  with  a  contractor  

scenarios

User research Lean UX coaching Lean startup

•  Customer  feedback  is  very  helpful  •  Research  can  find  the  right  problem  to  solve  •  It  gets  people  out  of  the  building  

scenarios

User research Lean UX coaching Lean startup

•  Provide  soluMons  to  familiar  problems  •  Use  short  case  studies  that  are  quick  to  read  

User research Lean UX coaching Lean startup

•  A  copy  appeared  on  every  product  manager’s  desk  

Lean UX coaching Lean startup Next?

•  Only  takes  2  days  •  Gets  PMs,  engineers  and  UX  to  collaborate  •  Provides  a  neutral  perspecMve  

Lean UX coaching Lean startup

•  People  got  it  •  Reinforced  what  our  own  UX  team  had  been  saying  •  PMs  agreed  that  UX  should  be  their  partners  •  The  team  wants  to  work  in  cross-­‐funcMonal  pods  

Next?

Next? Lean UX coaching

Sea    monsters  

New  Products  

Legacy  Product  

Sea monsters

•  UX  is  at  the  forefront  •  Lean  UX  is  the  way  we  do  things  •  Co-­‐designing  with  teenagers  

New products

•  Pick  one  project  at  a  Mme  •  More  build-­‐measure-­‐learn  •  IteraMve  design  and  development  •  Scenarios,  story  maps  and  MVPs  keep  the  focus  on  the  customer  

Legacy product

Parting advice

•  Build  and  iterate  on  your  successes  •  Find  ways  to  eliminate  objecMons  •  Have  a  plan,  and  be  paMent  •  You  can  get  there!