Developing a User Experience Strategy

Developing a UX Strategy

by Paul Bryan

UX Strategy Group (www.uxstrategy.net)

@paulbryan


TOPICS

Intro Vision

Business strategy alignment Customer data

Competitive landscape Experience modeling

Behavioral segmentation (e.g. personas) Road map

...other

TOPICS

Intro Vision




...other

Paul Bryan UX Strategy Group (uxstrategy.net) 4

CONSULTING


GROUP


CONFERENCE


BOOK


COLUMN


CLASSROOM


Let’s start with some definitions Goal: Desired future state Strategy: Approach, Big Idea or Concept for reaching the goal Tactic: Specific action consistent with the strategy

INTRO


INTRO


INTRO


INTRO


INTRO


INTRO

What is a UX Strategy? •  Communicates an overarching approach, vision or big

idea that serves as a “North Star” of UX •  Aligns user experience design with business strategy •  Differentiates a company's products and services from

those of its main competitors •  It describes prioritized customer segments, and how

to address their needs, wants, and interactive behaviors •  Provides a road map that shows how future releases

progressively achieve high-level goals

Tactical UX: Do what seems best right now

INTRO


Hey Paul!

Isn’t all UX strategic?

(noogie noogie noogie)

INTRO


It’s a thing.

You need it.

INTRO


TOPICS

Intro Vision




...other


1. Vision VISION


VISION

“Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”

Albert Einstein


Vision is seeing a desired future state in enough detail to get there

VISION


VISION


So is vision only for geniuses?

VISION


VISION

Go to a quiet place and imagine the future


TOPICS

Intro Vision




...other


BUSINESS STRATEGY ALIGNMENT



“Sound strategy starts with having the right goal.”

Michael Porter


Hint: This is an arduous process •  Establish a relationship with business strategy •  Obtain business strategy documentation:

Annual operating plan Market data Competitive data Marketing strategy Prioritization of product development Prioritization of customer segments

•  Connect business strategy with specific UX design direction and components









Can you answer these questions:

1.  What moves the needle in profitability in your business? 2.  How does UX impact the needle? 3.  How does the business vision and operating plan

directly impact UX design? Where can I observe it? 4.  What is the ROI of UX success? Does a UX home run

increase revenue 10%, 100%, 1000%? 5.  What kinds of customer decision factors influence usage

and profit? Are they category-specific? 6.  What barriers do customers currently experience that, if

removed, would yield much higher completion rates? 7.  What differentiates your company from competitors?

Are these factors evident in digital channels?



TOPICS

Intro Vision




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CUSTOMER DATA


CUSTOMER DATA

“In God we trust. All others bring data.”

W. E. Deming


Aligning research methodology to design phase

Discovery Formulation Evaluation

Ethnography Depth Interviews Survey Formative Usability Evaluative Usability

Design solution does not exist Key concepts not well-defined

Design solution does exist Key variables can be measured

Initiation

Design Concept

Launch

CUSTOMER DATA


Actionable Insight = connecting the wires between research data and design

CUSTOMER DATA


Research methods we use to guide UX Strategy: •  Ethnographic research (in homes, stores, offices) •  Participatory design (co-creation) •  Video diaries •  Web analytics •  Competitor UX audits •  Surveys

Methods we find less useful for UX strategy: •  Lab or remote usability testing •  Expert design review •  A/B, multivariate testing

CUSTOMER DATA


Example deliverables from customer research: •  Customer personas •  Purchase models •  Customer journey maps, mental models •  Prioritized feature set •  UX road map •  Video highlights •  Interaction designs, wireframes, templates •  UX metrics scorecard •  Comprehensive UX strategy

CUSTOMER DATA


We find in vivo research is essential to develop a UX Strategy

CUSTOMER DATA


Video diaries: An inside view of customers’ changing habits

CUSTOMER DATA


BTW:

Big Data is going to ROCK the world of UX

CUSTOMER DATA


TOPICS

Intro Vision




...other


COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE



“Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.”

Sun Tzu






COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE`


TOPICS

Intro Vision




...other


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EXPERIENCE MODELING


EXPERIENCE MODELING

“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”

Steve Jobs


Our approach to creating an experience model: •  Become very familiar with the real world

phenomenon you want to model (ethnography, video diaries)

•  Create a comprehensive list of entities and their relationships

•  Sketch the processes that occur and the data that is exchanged

•  Group entities and processes that are similar •  Consolidate and simplify

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EXPERIENCE MODELING


TOPICS

Intro Vision



Behavioral segmentation (personas) Road map

...other


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BEHAVIORAL SEGMENTATION



“People's behavior makes sense if you think about it in terms of their goals, needs, and motives.

Thomas Mann


Our approach for creating retail personas 1.  Review existing customer data and web analytics 2.  Conduct in-depth customer research, either

through on-location interviews or ethnographic studies

3.  Determine customer needs, wants, motivations, and purchase processes relevant to web, mobile phone, tablets, and/or in-store technology

4.  Determine the factors that impact interactive behavior

5.  Create real customer profiles that illustrate range of values for key variables

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Our approach for creating retail personas 6.  Operationalize variables using quantitative methods

(valid and repeatable) 7.  Create personas that represent each distinct segment 8.  Prioritize personas based on value to the company

(quantitative) 9.  Develop a UX strategy to engage top personas 10. Quantify real impact, refine the model

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The key is identifying differentiating user attributes: •  Level of knowledge in the product category •  Awareness of competitive offerings •  Willingness to surrender personal information •  Willingness to sign up for communications •  Need for detailed explanations prior to purchase •  Need for personal hand-holding after initial setup •  Ability to read text of various sizes and colors on a device •  Tendency to check many competitors prior to a purchase •  Price sensitivity •  Number of devices used •  Readiness to use online training to learn new capabilities

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Use semantic differential scales to differentiate types

Browses shopping sites on mobile in down time

Never >2x / Day



TOPICS

Intro Vision




...other


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ROAD MAP


""

The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.

Michael Porter

ROAD MAP


Our approach for generating a UX road map: •  Gather relevant data •  Create the universe of possibilities •  Assign a value (typically Business value, Customer

value, Technology effort or cost) •  Apply weighting as warranted by the context •  Apply a reality check •  Stage the resulting prioritized list into releases •  Create a product road map

Other approaches: Kano, Surveys, MVP

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ROAD MAP


TOPICS

Intro Vision


Competitive landscape Behavioral segmentation (e.g. personas)

Experience modeling Road map

...other


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Anders Ramsay (andersramsay.com)

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Anders Ramsay (andersramsay.com)

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Questions?


Thank You!
