The “One Thing” That Will Move UX Into A Position of Strategic Relevence - CHI 2009
PANELISTS:
Richard I. Anderson, Riander, USA
Killian Evers, PayPal, USA
Jim E. Nieters, Yahoo!, Inc., USA
Laurie Pattison, Oracle Corporation, USA
Craig Peters, Awasu Design, USA
A common question asked of successful User eXperience (UX) leaders is what “one thing” they needed to do in order to move their organizations into a position of strategic relevance. However, the answers often vary, posing a challenge to those struggling to fi gure out how to achieve the same goal where they work. In this interactive session, a subset of answers will be highlighted, then real world scenarios from around the globe – most presented by recruited conference attendees – will be evaluated to determine which “one thing” should be attempted in each case. The process of figuring that out will be explicitly addressed so that session attendees can leave better able to do so themselves for their own situations. • [Jim] We need to let business know that we understand their problems, especially their big problems. Don't take on too much. Don't get diluted. At Yahoo! focused on a few problems and each resulted in generating approx. $50 mill. in revenue. UX just got moved into the marketing division. Loves it because they are now focusing on identifying and developing new ideas.
• [Laurie] You have about one calendar quarter to make an impression. Better pick projects wisely and make sure you can deliver within that time frame. Focus on something that they cannot figure out for themselves. Develop innovative ideas - usability methods that sr. management is not familiar with or knows how to implement. Make an impact on a big problem with a tool you are familiar with.
• [Craig] We often don't think about the individual contributors and the interactions they are having and that bogs down the process. Very important to interact with them as the UX designer. Example where Wells Fargo struggled with this. Several dozen people in UX group. Product manager experience with the group was inconsistent.
• [Jim] Team needs to have consistent practices so that customers/clients/product managers have a consistent experience.UX is a young profession. How long do we have to go before we no longer say we are "young"? We have had to reinvent ourselves because technology is evolving and emerging so quickly.
[Jim] There is a real need within the industry right now to have a diversified skill set.
[Laurie] Program management can bring some of the rigor from the engineering side of development into the UX side of the house and encourage UX to be part of the overall process. metrics, processes, rigor, communication. We are not in a position of strategic relevance but have been invited. What if you aren't invited? Look for opportunities to offer your support to prompt an invitation and when you are invited, make sure you make the most of it. Be aware of the "one chance" that you are getting. If the company simply does not value what you do, then you need to seriously consider looking for a different place to work. What if the executive leadership is on board with UX but lower levels feel like it is getting forced upon them and they are providing substantial resistance.What if you don't have a team bigger than one person. The panel presented numerous real life scenarios where UX teams and practitioners run into roadblocks in the business world and shared their thoughts on what one thing they should do to overcome them. Very practical and realistic. Reminded me of numerous experiences I had at Corbel and even at Manulife. So important for UX people to get educated on the big picture of what the business is all about and immerse yourself into the product itself. Ask questions to gain insights. Become a user if possible or at least try to put yourself in that mindset. There are lots of compromises that must be made and without sufficient information it is hard to determine what gets worked on and what doesn't. This panel is very pragmatic and I think the comments they are sharing are extremely useful. Simple little things such as learning fundamental professional practices. When are principles compromised for the sake of corporate reality. I think about choosing battles to win the war. So important to understand the world of the people in other departments that you interact with. Find common ground and generate an understanding of what their perception of reality is (the stakeholders that you work with). This is Jay Steele at CHI 2009 in Boston.
Richard I. Anderson, Riander, USA
Killian Evers, PayPal, USA
Jim E. Nieters, Yahoo!, Inc., USA
Laurie Pattison, Oracle Corporation, USA
Craig Peters, Awasu Design, USA
A common question asked of successful User eXperience (UX) leaders is what “one thing” they needed to do in order to move their organizations into a position of strategic relevance. However, the answers often vary, posing a challenge to those struggling to fi gure out how to achieve the same goal where they work. In this interactive session, a subset of answers will be highlighted, then real world scenarios from around the globe – most presented by recruited conference attendees – will be evaluated to determine which “one thing” should be attempted in each case. The process of figuring that out will be explicitly addressed so that session attendees can leave better able to do so themselves for their own situations. • [Jim] We need to let business know that we understand their problems, especially their big problems. Don't take on too much. Don't get diluted. At Yahoo! focused on a few problems and each resulted in generating approx. $50 mill. in revenue. UX just got moved into the marketing division. Loves it because they are now focusing on identifying and developing new ideas.
• [Laurie] You have about one calendar quarter to make an impression. Better pick projects wisely and make sure you can deliver within that time frame. Focus on something that they cannot figure out for themselves. Develop innovative ideas - usability methods that sr. management is not familiar with or knows how to implement. Make an impact on a big problem with a tool you are familiar with.
• [Craig] We often don't think about the individual contributors and the interactions they are having and that bogs down the process. Very important to interact with them as the UX designer. Example where Wells Fargo struggled with this. Several dozen people in UX group. Product manager experience with the group was inconsistent.
• [Jim] Team needs to have consistent practices so that customers/clients/product managers have a consistent experience.UX is a young profession. How long do we have to go before we no longer say we are "young"? We have had to reinvent ourselves because technology is evolving and emerging so quickly.
[Jim] There is a real need within the industry right now to have a diversified skill set.
[Laurie] Program management can bring some of the rigor from the engineering side of development into the UX side of the house and encourage UX to be part of the overall process. metrics, processes, rigor, communication. We are not in a position of strategic relevance but have been invited. What if you aren't invited? Look for opportunities to offer your support to prompt an invitation and when you are invited, make sure you make the most of it. Be aware of the "one chance" that you are getting. If the company simply does not value what you do, then you need to seriously consider looking for a different place to work. What if the executive leadership is on board with UX but lower levels feel like it is getting forced upon them and they are providing substantial resistance.What if you don't have a team bigger than one person. The panel presented numerous real life scenarios where UX teams and practitioners run into roadblocks in the business world and shared their thoughts on what one thing they should do to overcome them. Very practical and realistic. Reminded me of numerous experiences I had at Corbel and even at Manulife. So important for UX people to get educated on the big picture of what the business is all about and immerse yourself into the product itself. Ask questions to gain insights. Become a user if possible or at least try to put yourself in that mindset. There are lots of compromises that must be made and without sufficient information it is hard to determine what gets worked on and what doesn't. This panel is very pragmatic and I think the comments they are sharing are extremely useful. Simple little things such as learning fundamental professional practices. When are principles compromised for the sake of corporate reality. I think about choosing battles to win the war. So important to understand the world of the people in other departments that you interact with. Find common ground and generate an understanding of what their perception of reality is (the stakeholders that you work with). This is Jay Steele at CHI 2009 in Boston.
