UX Intensive: Strategy - Putting it all Together
[Notes from the first day of the UX Intensive]
Product Evolution > Elevator Pitch > Co-create Concepts > Prioritize
This isn't everything.
- Integration
- Skills
- Technology
- CRM
- Findability
- Navigation
- Etc.
What these four lenses can reveal is information that helps clean up all those others.
Remember: Scope, Customer Value, Definition, and Focus.
Case study time: A financial services firm.
They focussed on business problems to start and then prioritized what they were trying to do. Took all the inputs, excluded what couldn't be solved on the web, and produced an evolution map.
They then did research to find Customer Value. This opened up many ways that the organization could improve the total interaction beyond the web site alone.
They then brought Definition through prototypes and screen designs based on what they found.
[Question Time]
Technical feasibility is a common issue. This is always going to be an issue but if your up-front analysis can estimate correctly it won't drive your project into the ground.
Be aware of outside elements and try to take them into account. A big part of strategy is understanding your organization's drivers.
For all the talk about planning, agile development is inevitably how you will do your actual development. Bring agile principles into your planning. Be iterative. Let your ideas later in the stage take you back to quickie versions of earlier phases.
Keep your strategy documents alive throughout your process. Don't just make these documents and then lock them in a binder to do.
As you make changes the vision will keep you moving in the right direction. Use strategy to hold on to clear reasons that justify your direction.
Sometimes you will need to broaden these techniques but always err on the side of focus.
The point here is to have a shared document that represents your consensus. Avoid creating too many foci.
One way to achieve focus in big groups is to break up into many small groups, like two or three people. Send them out to create the ideas and then come back and discuss, debate, and create something as a group.
Many bosses will tell you that you aren't paid to do this. Remind them that this is the strategic background information needed for good designs. Education upward. Share new things that you've learned. You are building credibility to your boss while educating him or her about user experience practice.
The people who might oppose this need to be convinced of how this kind of work benefits them directly. Map out what drivers motivate your stakeholders and address those as you move forward.
If your boss doesn't like the word user experience then don't use it. Instead use language that your decision makers respond to.
Remember that your boss has a boss. Appeal to what your boss need to do to prove his or her success up the food chain. Listen to what your boss needs and address that.
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