Leah Buley - The UX Team of One Bootcamp

UX teams of one are the most important people working in our field today.

They’re the boots on the ground, spreading user experience to products and people who have never encountered it before. UX teams of one are battling the mighty forces of status quo and inertia to help teams experience another way - a more human-centered way - of making products and services. That’s ambitious work. And it requires not only practical know-how, but also vision, conviction, and a soft touch.

1. UX Team of One Bootcamp UX LONDON * APRIL 2012 * LEAH BULEY
2. Story time ...
3. 1900s 1940s Toyota Production System 1960s 1920s 1980s 2000s Today Mobile, Ubicomp, and Beyond Frederick Winslow Taylor Machine age. Focused on automating human labor to achieve maximum efficiency.
4. 1900s Frederick Winslow Taylor 1940s 1960s 1920s 1980s 2000s Today Mobile, Ubicomp, and Beyond Toyota Production System Treated workers (i.e., people) as key contributors to a continuously improving process. (And the original lean process.)
5. 1900s Frederick Winslow Taylor 1940s Toyota Production System 1960s 1920s 1980s 2000s Today Mobile, Ubicomp, and Beyond Parallel movements begin to focus on artificial and human intelligence, and the interfaces between the two.
6. 1900s Frederick Winslow Taylor 1940s Toyota Production System 1960s 1920s 1980s 2000s Today Mobile, Ubicomp, and Beyond User Experience Formally Emerges Understanding and optimizing for user needs becomes a growing concern.
7. 1900s Frederick Winslow Taylor 1940s Toyota Production System 1960s 1920s 1980s 2000s Today User experience is a rapidly growing field. As technology reaches increasing depths in our lives, user experience does too. Mobile, Ubiquitous Computing, and Beyond
8. 1900s Frederick Winslow Taylor 1940s Toyota Production System 1960s 1920s 1980s 2000s Today Mobile, Ubicomp, and Beyond The UX Teams of One Abound Today, we see more practitioners than ever before working to bring a human-centered design approach to new problems and new places.
9. Today 1. UX is good. 2. The world needs more of it. 3. We can make that happen. 4. To do it, we need adaptive tools and a flexible mindset. The philosophy of the UX team of one
10. The UX Team of One Bootcamp Intro Agenda, overview, and goals. Basic training Methods and planning for teams of one. Break Coffee. You know you want it. Selling and soft skills Common challenges and what to do about them. What’s next for the team of one? Where are you headed
11. What do you want to cover today?
12. Basic Training
13. Our Roles Experience Designer Web Designer Interactive Designer Interactive Designer Information Architect Interaction Architect User Experience Specialist Information Designer Web Writer UI Designer Human Factors Researcher User Specialist Copywriter Ethnographic Researcher Web Developer User Interface Developer UX TEAM OF ONE User Researchers Interaction Designers Visual Designers Content Strategists Design Prototypists
14. Required Reading
15. A Standard UX Methods Lineup DISCOVERY Stakeholder Interviews Competitive Analysis Content Audit Discovery Brief USER RESEARCH Recruiting Field Research Synthesis Personas STRATEGY Strategy Brief Design Principles Design Concepts INTERACTION DESIGN IA/Site Map Task Flows / User Stories Wireframes Content/Asset Inventories VISUAL DESIGN Mood Boards Design Comps Style Guide FRONT-END DEVELOPMENT Prototoypes HTML/CSS Asset Production VALIDATION Usability Tests A/B Testing IMPLEMENTATION OVERSIGHT Last-Minute Design Changes TRACKING & ANALYTICS Review Metrics Check Server Logs Review Customer Feedback
16. The UX Team of One Methods Lineup Assess Listening Tour Opportunity Workshop User Experience Questionnaire Heuristic Markup UX Health Check Plan and Try to Learn More Project Brief UX Project Plan Stakeholder Homework Strategy Workshop Design Some Things Design Brief Design Principles Sketching Sketchboards Wireframes Do Some Research Learning Plan Guerilla User Research Proto-Personas Comparative & Competitive Assessments Content Inventory Test It Out Paper & Interactive Prototypes Black Hat Session User Intercept Quick & Dirty Usability Test Five-Second Test Evangelize Bathroom UX Mini-Case Studies Peer-to-Peer Learning Community ROR (Return on Relationships) Pyramid Evangelism
17. As a UX Team of one, often it’s necessary to adapt, adjust, and make things up as you go along. And that’s ok.
18. Team of One Method Project Brief How it works 1. Create a one-page overview of the project 2. Include vision, functional requirements, and design principles or user goals 3. Setup a meeting to review and “redline” with others How it gets others involved Puts the goals of a UX project in an appealing summary and invites people to think about what you’re trying to accomplish What questions it can answer Do we all agree on the goals of what we’re trying to accomplish?
19. Team of One Method Project Brief Pro Tip: Think about how to make methods bite-sized and purposeful
20. Team of One Method Heuristic Markup Slide from presentation by MAYA Design http://www.maya.com/portfolio/carnegie-library How it works 1. Start at the beginning of the site or service 2. At each step, take screenshots or pictures 3. Write directly on the image what’s confusing How it gets others involved Creates a very visual document that you can send around to raise awareness of design issues What questions it can answer Basic awareness questions. What kinds of issues does UX address? What opportunities do we have for improvement?
21. Team of One Method Heuristic Markup Pro Tip: Think about how to make methods self- documenting and lowest fidelity possible
22. How it works 1. Send around a survey to internal stakeholders 2. Ask them about their goals for the product, what parts need improvement, and their understanding of users How it gets others involved Invites others to share their expertise and vision for the site/service. Creates a starting point for further conversations (people will want to hear what you found) What questions it can answer How much support for change is there? What business goals do people expect the site/ service to serve? Team of One Method Internal Survey
23. Team of One Method Internal Survey Pro Tip: Think about how to make methods inclusive and participatory
24. Team of One Method Five-Second Test How it works 1. Show users a design for 5 seconds 2. Take it away 3. Ask them some questions about the design 4. See what they can remember How it gets others involved Invite team members to watch. Invite team members to participate. Best if you can get users involved too, of course. What questions it can answer How could our stuff be improved. Where to learn more uie.com/articles/five_second_test fivesecondtest.com
25. Team of One Method Five-Second Test Pro Tip: Think about how to make methods that are not rigidly sequential
26. Team of One Method UX Health Checkup How it works 1. Schedule a recurring meeting 2. Make a spreadsheet 3. Break the site into sections (e.g., search, registration, etc.) 4. For each section, choose relevant comparators 5. For each section, grade how good it needs to be vs. its comparators 6. For each section, grade how good IT IS vs. its comparators 7. As a group, discuss the gaps How it gets others involved Invites others to regularly assess how the site/service is doing What questions it can answer Where do we need to focus next? For more information http://www.slideshare.net/livlab/ux- health-check-phillychi
27. Team of One Method UX Health Checkup Pro Tip: Think about how to make methods that are focused on prioritization
28. Experiment Craft a Team of One Project Plan INSTRUCTIONS 1) Form a group with 3 or 4 people in it. 2) For each group, take one envelope and read the instructions inside. 3) Working together, create a UX project plan for the situation described. 4) Feel free to use any of the methods you find in the envelope, or to add your own. 5) Think about methods that are doable in a resource-constrained environment, and that address the specific challenges of the situation described. You have 30 minutes.
29. Break (Please leave your sharpies. We’re running low.)
30. Selling & Soft Skills
31. Building support for UX is one of the biggest challenges we face Building a basic understanding of UX 17% Getting permission to do the work 13% Communicating + selling ideas 12% Just Trying to Do Good Work 12% Time 8% Politics 7% No Strategy 7% Creative Isolation 6% Status Quo 5% Territory Disputes 5% Keeping Up With the Industry No Process Holding My Ground
32. Leah Buley | Lack of understanding/ support for UX No permission to do user research / UX So you just try to do what you can But there’s too much to do. Not enough time. Plus the politics Little strategy Fear of change Territory disputes The usual human stuff Foundation Process Tactics Fight- i-ness A rapidly changing industry
33. To overcome these challenges, let’s address them head on. People who don’t understand the concept or process of UX People who minimize the breadth of UX People who are confused about UX research People who are concerned about the time or money required to do UX work People who are unimpressed without hard ROI
34. From Matt Jones: I make technology fun and easy to use. The functional pitch: My job is to think about products from the human point of view. I have a lot of methods for understanding the human perspective, and then I design the screens/parts of the product that people interact with. The strategic pitch: I design digital products. I design products that align our business strategy with customer desires and expectations. The complementary pitch (for engineers and other designers): I combine research with design. First I do research with users. Then I design how people move through the system and how they interact with it along the way. Finally, I provide a blueprint for what to build. Elevator Pitches For people who don’t understand the concept or process of UX...
35. Tell stories about products that are famous for great multi- channel experiences, to get people thinking beyond web. Storytelling For people who minimize the breadth of UX... Car Sharing Services Amazon Virgin
36. For people who are confused about UX research..... Cite a Guru After the fifth user, you are wasting your time by observing the same findings repeatedly but learning not much new. - Jakob Nielsen Explain the difference between design research and market research, as well as the difference between quantitative research and qualitative research. The Design Research Defense Market Research Design Research Usability Research Sizing Inspiration Validation
37. For people who are concerned about the time or money it takes to do UX... Start a Conversation Talk with them to understand where they see opportunities and to discuss some lightweight but UX- friendly alternatives. The “It Gets More Expensive to Scrap It Later” Defense * 5 minutes 2 hours Sketch Wire Frame Visual Design 1 day Dev Code 1 week Production Code 2 months * Based on anecdotal evidence
38. Talk about what measurements you care about, figure out if any baseline tracking is in place, and start measuring. Instrument & Start Measuring For people who are unimpressed without hard ROI.. Cite Forrester Willingness to consider the company for another purchase Likelihood to switch business to another competitor Likelihood to recommend to a friend or colleague .71 .65 -0.41 Source: Forrester Research, Inc. Correlation Between User Experience and Loyalty
39. Experiment Practice a Hard Conversation INSTRUCTIONS 1) Find a partner and, in pairs, grab one envelope marked A, and one marked B. 2) Each envelope contains real questions that a UX team of one might encounter 3) Partners take turns. First, person A takes a card from his or her envelope, and asks person B to respond to the provocation on the card. Person B, your job is to give a reasonable and persuasive response 4) Person A, listen carefully, and when they are done, tell them three things: what I liked, what could have been better, and something to try. 5) Person B, try your response again, taking persons A’s suggestions into account. 6) Now, switch. Person B, read a card. Person A, respond. Repeat until all your cards are gone. You have 20 minutes.
40. Experiment Practice a Hard Conversation 1) What I liked 2) What could have been better 3) One thing to try
41. What’s next?
42. Types of Teams of One Crossovers Transitioning into UX. They bring passion and fresh perspective. Builders Have been doing UX work for a while and starting to see real progress from it. Doers Doing good work, but without much support. Can be adrift in their organizations. Independents Work for themselves, but contract with other organizations or groups to provide UX services
43. Crossovers Focus on getting “permission” by doing trying quick experiments & design efforts Get out of the office and talk to users Become familiar with opportunities to improve existing products * * *
44. Doers Focus on bringing others into the process Lighten tools and methods Think strategically/earlier in the process * * *
45. Builders Focus on bringing other, more senior people into the process Focus on telling good success stories Learn how to show return on investment * * *
46. Independents Figure out what you do really well, and talk about it Focus on marketing yourself and networking Practice saying no to bad work * * *
47. My horoscope on August 27, 2009
48. ✔ ✔ ✘
49. Write down 3 developments you want to see in your UX practice within 5 years. Think about... • Your role • Your team • Products you put into the world • Your success stories • Who your allies are • Education (yours and others) • Where you work • How you work • The culture you create & contribute to Experiment Think About Your Own Future INSTRUCTIONS You have 3 minutes
50. Thanks! Book http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/ux-team-of-one/ Me leahbuley@gmail.com · @ugleah · www.ugleah.com