Michał Aleksander
Your UX Strategy – About Becoming a Better UX Designer
Pearson English Technologies
„Poland’s UX Specialists’ profile”❖ Annual survey of a few
hundred UX Designers from all over Poland
❖ This year carried out by Joanna Kwiatkowska, Tomasz Skórski, and me
❖ For the first time, some questions concerned the impact of UX Designers on the processes in the company
Poland’s UX Specialists’ profile
Survey participants
Out of 207 respondents, I selected 100 who declared working on positions directly related to UX (Usability Specialist, UX Designer, Interaction Designer, etc.)
Age
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38
1244
233
13
9
5
1413
9
12
411
Average age: 29 years old
Company size
freelancer startup 10 - 49 50-249 250 - 999 > 1000
23
1721
25
68
The larger the company, the harder it is to have an impact on the processes
How is UX understood in your company?
0
15
30
45
60
Correctly Partially Incorrectly Not at all
410
55
28
We still have to justify our role
Does your company carry out user needs research (e.g. surveys, observation, etc,) before the start of the design work?
0
15
30
45
60
Yes, always In some projects No
10
55
28
We still often do not design in order to solve users’ problems
Are your designs tested by end users before their implementation?
0
17,5
35
52,5
70
Yes, always In some projects No
9
62
23
We still often don’t test our solutions before delivering them to the users
Do you have an impact about the product’s final shape?
0
12,5
25
37,5
50
Yes, always In some projects Never
3
4249
Summary
We feel that we can change the processes and that we have an impact on the product’s final shape, but our designs often fail to be based on user data or to be tested before their implementation.
What fails?
Information flow issues❖ You receive information about a new project, but you don’t know why the product is to
be created and what its chances of success are
❖ No information about the product’s performance on the market and whether it has satisfied the business requirements and expectations
❖ You receive the business requirements, but without the information whether they have been created as a result of an analysis of the market and consumer needs
❖ The project is in progress, but there will be no research and testing at its early stage, so there is no way to predict the potential users’ reaction to the product
❖ The design work is not supported by information about the technical possibilities and limitations, so you don’t know whether your designs can be implemented and whether and how they will affect the schedule of the development team
Your design process…
1. I know why the product is being created2. I know who the product is for3. I know how others did it4. I know the limitations on my work5. I know how to design this6. I am certain my design is good7. I know my design is being implemented correctly8. I know how the product I’ve designed is doing on the market
...based on information
UX maturity in your companyUX is in the fabric of the company and is a source for product initiativesLevel 6
UX is a key value of the company and affectsLevel 5
UX is critical and used in the companyLevel 4
UX is very important and formalizedLevel 3
UX is important, but not profitableLevel 2
UX is not importantLevel 1
Plan your development in the company
1. Determine the current UX maturity level
2. Set a long-term goal for yourself
3. Define the actions that will let you reach this goal
4. Set a plan of action
Examples of initiatives in a UX strategy Development within the company:
Development within the company:
❖ setting the professional development path❖ compiling a list of competencies for the Interaction Designer and
the Visual Designer❖ making a list of conferences and trainings necessary for raising
our competency❖ training in the interpretation of data from Google Analytics
Examples of initiatives in a UX strategy
Working with a Scrum team:
❖ supporting the team to have them include testing (preferably user testing) of solutions in their Definition of Done
❖ preparing a catalog of Agile UX methods❖ preparing the personas for workshops and internal discussions❖ organizing the time and the place for regular presentations of
our work❖ organizing design workshops
Examples of initiatives in a UX strategy
Design:
❖ creating a design path including the activities prior to the design work
❖ finding a source of knowledge about user problems and using it in the work
❖ creating a categorized and searchable database of knowledge about the users (segmentation, demographic data, research results, etc.)
❖ determining strict context for each product (e.g. Journey Map)❖ writing down design standards (also with disabled users in mind)❖ paired solution design
Examples of initiatives in a UX strategy
Testing:
❖ aiming at user testing of the solutions before their implementation;
❖ creating contact database of users of the products we’re working on
❖ setting critical paths, Key Performance Indicators for them, ongoing monitoring, measuring, and reacting to their changes
❖ ability to conduct testing in the users’ natural environment
Thank you! Not enough?How to become a better UX Designer
A practical guidebook for UX Designers working in the Scrum methodology
Polish versionibuk.pl
English versionamazon.com