Designing and operating user centered digital services - Jeff Sussna

Designing and Operating User-Centered Digital Services

Jeff SussnaIngineering.IT@jeffsussna

@jeffsussnaCopyright © 2015 Ingineering.IT, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Me: IT consultant/design thinkerPractice: IT transformation Career: Dev/QA/OpsBackground: liberal arts


A method for user-centerednessEmpathyEthnographyAbductionIteration

“Solving wicked problems”-Horst Rittel

“Changing existing situations into preferred ones”-Herbert Simon

DevOps is design thinking


“Welcome to Digital Service 101”1-day “design/IT/business” seminarHistory, philosophy, economics, biology (and computer science)


Information Technology -> Interaction TechnologyIT includes digital design and product management




What will we learn?A holistic approach digital service quality A common design/operations languageHow to evaluate, adapt, and improve methodologiesNew ways of thinking and working across boundaries



AgendaTalking, discussing, designing: -Post-Industrial IT -Continuous Quality-A Language for Continuous Design


From industrialism to post-industrialism






Service economy


Knowledge work


Change and innovation as the new purpose


Pervasive computerization


Post-industrialism in the 21st century


Products -> servicesThings -> experiences Transactions -> relationshipsConvincing -> understanding


Silos -> infusionIs the coffee shop for chatting or working?Is your phone for calls/photos/email?Is your car a car or a Spotify client?


Complicated -> complexIs your car radio Honda’s fault or Spotify’s?Is online customer subscription management SoE or SoR?Is your data managed by Freshbooks or Heroku or AWS?Do your customers call your support line or just complain on Twitter?




Complexity is counterintuitiveEmergenceCascading failureSensitivity to history



Efficiency -> adaptabilityKodak lasted 100 years before being disruptedMicrosoft lasted 30 yearsApple went from the world’s most valuable company to a ? in 1 year



Brand promise shifts from delivery to conversation


The old business imperativeEngineer scale, robustness, predictability Push product and message


The new business imperativeNavigate complexityCo-create product and message


Our dayHow does the new business imperative challenge old methods?How can new methods help us satisfy it?


Warm-up exerciseWhere do you experience infusion and complexity?How does it break down old methods?What new challenges does it pose?

A New Model of ControlJeff Sussna

Ingineering.IT@jeffsussna


What is business? Control Profit, market share, stock priceProduct quality, customer satisfactionOperational efficiency, employee behavior …


Industrialism: the age of control


TaylorismTime/motion studies -> standardized activities Separation of planning/management from execution


The problems with industrial controlProduct-centricEfficiency/scale over adaptabilityRadical separation of planning from execution Assumes predictability


We need a new, post-industrial model of control






Cybernetics: kybernetes, “good steering”


Lean Startup as a cybernetic methodologyProduct development: predict the customer’s trajectoryMVP: calibrate your aimPivot: adjust your prediction


“Cybernetics needs to be applied to itself”-Margaret Mead


“The cybernetics of observing systems”-Heinz von Foerster





Autopoiesisself-creation / self-production



Structural couplingInternal organization corresponds to external environmentNo flies, no frog


Self-steeringContinual internal/external adaptation


So what?How do you even spell “autopoiesis”?!


Business is a process of continual self-productionEmployees + systems + materials = productsProducts + sales = revenueRevenue pays for employees + systems + materials…


Companies succeed through structural couplingWrong product, wrong price, wrong market… = “death”


The post-industrial economy -ServiceInfusionComplexityDisruption

- demands self-steering



The cybernetic insightLife/business is a never-ending process of adaptation




“I like cybernetics: its intrinsic circularity helps me see myself through the eyes of the other.”-Heinz von Foerster

IT As a Conversational MediumJeff Sussna



Infusion makes IT critical to brand as conversation


Impedance mismatch: IT as industrial control aid



We need a post-industrial model/purpose for IT IT as a medium for empathic conversation


Interaction Technology: how companies converse With customersAmong themselves


Conversational ITIntegrates building blocks with shared cybernetic roots and purposeUnderstanding that foundation is key to effective action


AgileThe grandfather of cybernetic IT


Agile’s identity crisis “We are uncovering better ways of developing software” - what? “We value <X> over <YY>” - why?


“Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage"


Agile optimizes for steeringRequirementsImplementationPrioritizationProcess


Agile does not optimize for speed…or efficiency…or predictabilityResist the temptation to re-industrialize


Agile doesn’t actually deliver value to anyoneEnter DevOps


What is DevOps, anyway?!Digital service: functionality and operability are inseparable DevOps treats them as a unified problem


The Three Ways of DevOpsFlowFeedbackContinuous Experimentation and Learning


The DevOps Way of FeedbackInfrastructureApplicationBehaviorChangeAll layers impact UX


How do you steer infrastructure?Expensive, physical, complicated: slow/riskyEnter cloud: dynamic capacityCloud also optimizes for steering


MicroservicesReduces friction for external delivery and internal adaptation “a new organizational model as much as a new architectural model"Brings the self-steering business to life


Common ingredient: small batch sizes WorkChangeStructureDependency


Small batch sizes -> rapid feedback loopsRapid feedback loops -> precise steering


Beyond engineering: taking service seriously


Service DesignDesign thinking applied to services Holistic internal-external understandingPervasive user-centeredness




Self-steering happens through serviceYour company is a serviceIT is a serviceThe practice of design (or dev or QA or ops) is a serviceA microservice is a serviceEverything is service (design)


Design (what should come next) becomes operations


Operations (what happens now) becomes design


Design becomes continuousIT as conversational medium enables a circular design/operations loop



How do you ensure IT drives useful conversations?


Design for service, not just software:Start with the customer’s needsAddress experience across touchpoints and timeTreat employees as customers


Minimize latency, maximize feedback:Extend the mantra of Lean throughout the lifecycleDesign signals, not just featuresApply to internal and external relationships


Design for failure, operate to learn:Design for resilienceUse failure as informationIncorporate entire “UX stack”


Use operations as input to design:Seek out operational insightExpose internal and external interactionsListen to reality -> act on what you hear


Seek empathy:Approach everything you do as user-centered design Use operations to better understand the customer’s perspective


ExerciseHow do we get from here to there? (everyone has a legacy)


A New Definition of QualityJeff Sussna



Agenda-(Post-Industrial IT aka digital business)-Continuous Quality-A Language for Continuous Design


What does continuous design mean for quality?Success as useful conversation with customers and each other


Conversation/steering happens via service CompaniesIT organizationsDesign, development, operationsMicroservices


What is the real meaning of service?


Software product quality“The software meets the spec.”


Software service quality"The service helps customers accomplish their jobs-to-be-done"




Service value is co-created in useCustomers “hire” services to help them accomplish jobs-to-be-done


"The product is the trip."-AirBnb designer




Goods-dominant logicProducers create value via goodsValue is exchanged for money Consumers destroy value via use



Service-dominant logicMutual service exchange Value co-creation through job-to-be-done satisfaction






Service-dominant logic points us toward:Systems thinkingConversationSteering Empathy


Goods-dominant -> service-dominant logicCaptures the essence of industrial -> post-industrial shift The most important and difficult mindset shift to makeApplies at all levels: company, team/person, microservice



ExerciseWho is your customer?What is their job-to-be-done?What help do they need to accomplish it?

Building Quality InJeff Sussna



How do we assure service, not just software quality?


Four dimensions of serviceOutcomesAccessCoherencyContinuity


OutcomesDo the elements work correctly?Are they usable? Do they fit into my workflow?Do they help me accomplish my job-to-be-done?Goes beyond validation


AccessCan I use the service how and when I need to?Performance, scalability, security, visibility…


Access depends on humans not just systemsBiz/tech operations staff are customers too“Running the service” helps me accomplish my goals


Access is about repair not just preventionFailure is inevitable in complex systemsSolving problems contributes to customer satisfaction


CoherencyDoes the service address my entire journey?Does my experience hang together?Does it integrate with the surrounding context?


ContinuityDoes the service evolve along with me and my world?Bugs, improvements, evolution… Dev/test becomes part of service delivery


Steering happens hereEmployee journeys evolves in response to customer journeysEmployee journeys evolve in response to each othere.g., DevOps/Design Thinking adoption


Managing change becomes a UX concernReleasing a new feature triggers employee and customer journeysNeed to design across time, not just space


A new definition of quality demands a new approach to QA


Industrial QAEnd of the assembly lineTail wagging the dogFocus on software not service



Post-industrial QAValidation and correction become part of creationCybernetics build error detection into aim/fireContinuous design: design becomes operations becomes testing


Post-industrial QAValidation and correction become part of creationContinuous design: design becomes operations becomes testing


Complexity changes operationsOperations becomes “searching for failure” Prod becomes test (?!?!?!)


Adaptation changes planningA/B testing, canary releases, incremental feature surfacingProd becomes test again!


Quality becomes continuousAcross time and space: design -> dev -> opsQA shifts left and right


Whither the QA department?Help the organization see the four dimensions of service quality



QA’s new roleAdvocate for feedbackAntidote to cognitive biasAdvocate for the customerAdvocate for service-dominant logic


DiscussionHow do the four dimensions of service impact your approach to QA? How might a post-industrial QA “organization” look?

A Language for Continuous DesignJeff Sussna



How do we design and operate user-centered digital services?


We need something that helps us:Navigate complexityUnify design and operations Exchange service with customersAchieve continuous quality


We need a “specification language” for continuous design…





“I promise I’ll clean my room before dinner.”


Intention


Expression


Intensity


Benefit


“A strongly-stated intention to provide service”


Why “promise”?


Promises aren’t always kept


“A strongly-stated intention to provide servicethat may or may not come to pass”





Real-world systemsCollections of autonomous agents collaborating through promises


Acknowledging uncertainty enables greater certainty


Acknowledging uncertainty -> greater certaintyAuto-scalingCircuit breakersContinuous integrationDesign-for-fail


Treating agents as autonomous enables greater scalability, resilience, and steerability


Needs + promises > requirementsMicroservicesSelf-organizing teamsScaling agile


“Thinking in promises”What promises should (can) we make?What promises do we need from others?What can we do to maximize trust? (by keeping/repairing our promises)What promises do our customers need to keep?



What is the traveler’s job-to-be-done?To get checked in with the hotel computer?To make the transition from travel & stress to rest & relaxation



The failure stems from making the wrong promise


Promise thinking models continuous designService, not just softwareDesign for failure, operate to learn Operations as input to design


Promise thinking models holistic service deliveryPhysical and digital Social and technical Design and operations Macro and microInternal and external


I promise to help you rest as part of your trip


I promise to……give a great talk on Promise Theory …show my kids a good time on vacation …close the deal and make my quarterly sales numbers


I promise to help you reserve a satisfactory roomI promise to be available when you want to use meI promise to be functional and usableI promise not to lose your reservationI promise to keep your information secure


I promise to help you transition from travel to restI promise to be clean, attractive, and navigable I promise to be friendly and helpfulI promise to give you a place to store your luggage


I promise to help you get the guest checked inI promise to be available when you want to use meI promise to be functional and usableI promise to find the customer’s information quickly


I promise to support your larger service contextI promise to help you find a suitable restaurantI promise to help you keep in touch with the office


I promise to help you operate the businessI promise to understand your (customers’) changing needsI promise to continuously deliver operations system improvementsI promise to help you understand and adopt system changes


I promise to unify functionality and operabilityI promise to deliver secure code I promise to design for operationsI promise to reduce deployment frictionI promise to collaborate to solve shared problems


Promise Thinking ExerciseWhat is the customer’s promise-to-be-kept? How do we help them keep their promise?-Physical/digital-Front office/back office-Social/technical


Promise thinking processWhat promises do we need to make?What promises do we need made to us?How do we maximize our ability to keep our promises?-resilience in the face of broken promises-repair of our own broken promises


Use service-dominant logic at all levelsModel the organization from the customer inAddress all four dimensions of service, not just software


Design across domainsPhysical/digitalFront office/back officeSocial/technicalDesign/development/QA/operations/support


Using promise thinkingFocus on conversations not artifacts Apply to systems, processes, orgs, people Incorporate all four dimensions of serviceStart where you areBe curious and openDesign continuously


Promise thinking is……the language of continuous design…what happens when Service design meets DevOps meets complexity


Promise thinking powers self-steeringAre we keeping our promises (to customers/to each other)?Are we making the right promises?How do we repair broken promises?…by continually changing existing into preferred


In conclusion…


Goods-dominant -> service-dominant logicCaptures the essence of industrial -> post-industrial shift The most important and difficult mindset shift to makeApplies at all levels: company, team/person, microservice





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