+ Follow

New Frontiers: UX Professional as Business Consultant

by Cindy Chastain on Jan 31, 2013

5,529 views

We talk a lot about cross-channel experiences and how to address these new challenges as designers, but what about using our design skills, our hard won knowledge and empathy for customers to help companies decide what products and services will help grow their business? While companies are coming round to the value of customer experience, they're struggling to acquire the skills needed for creating and managing touch points as well as understanding and prioritizing needs. And when we're talking multi-channel ecosystems, who's better equipped to address this complexity than those who have the skill set to not only understand it, but to design it and guide how it's built.

From optimizing the cross-channel customer experience, to creating new product and service extensions, we're heading into a prime moment for bringing our toolkit into the business arena. This talk is meant to be both a thought starter a around how UX can begin to play a substantive role in a company's digital strategy. Using examples from my own experiences and input from a variety of seasoned practitioners, we'll examine the challenges and map the opportunities across our own journey as UX professionals who are starting to think about what's next.

Accessibility

View text version

Upload Details

Uploaded via SlideShare as Microsoft PowerPoint

Usage Rights

File a copyright complaint

16 Embeds 760

http://eventifier.co	378
http://house.hotstudiodev.com	173
https://twitter.com	108
http://vivitoon.wordpress.com	51
http://www.swaip.me	15
http://www.eventifier.co	9
http://safe.txmblr.com	8
http://davgolan.tumblr.com	8
http://tweetedtimes.com	2
http://stream.olishaw.com	2
http://abtasty.com	1
http://translate.googleusercontent.com	1
http://carriewinfrey.com	1
http://kred.com	1
http://instacurate.com	1
http://jp.flavors.me	1

More...

Statistics

Likes: 73
Downloads: 107
Comments: 10
Embed Views: 760
Views on SlideShare: 4,769
Total Views: 5,529

New Frontiers: UX Professional as Business Consultant Presentation Transcript

NEW FRONTIERS: THE UX PROFESSIONAL AS BUSINESS CONSULTANT TITLE SUBTITLE Cindy Chastain @cchastain #uxconsultantInteraction 13 | January 30, 2013 1

Business (management) consultant:Someone who engages in the practice of helpingorganizations grow and improve their performance,primarily through the analysis of existingorganizational problems and development of plansfor improvement. 2

UX Professional:Someone who engages in user-centered designpractices to generate cohesive, predictive anddesirable designs based on holistic consideration ofa users’ experience. 3

Customer experience and technologyis becoming an essentialbusiness strategy 7

The PanelJESSE JAMES KAREN MATTHEW STEVE WHITNEY GENE SAMANTHA DAVEGARRET MCGRANE MILAN BATY HESS SMITH STARMER GRAYCXO, Independent CEO, Principal, Independent President, VP, Ecommerce IndependentAdaptive Path Consultant Normative Meld Consultant nForm Razorfish ManagementSan Francisco New York Toronto Sydney Miami/NY Edmonton Chicago Consultant St. Louis 9

Understand their customersIdentify market opportunitiesRethink business modelsArticulate a visionDefine their UX strategyPlan for organizational change 10

For companies that have been aroundfor a long time, its often the case thatthey can see the looming threat onthe horizon, that their business modelisno longer working.- Dave Gray 11

Companies think: were struggling inthis market. We need to reinvent andreinvigorate.- Steve Baty 12

Companies are seeing that theirproducts have to support theircustomers in a very different waythan theyve been doing it in the past.- Whitney Hess 13

we have arrived 14

sort of 15

Any UX work that weve done hasinvolved guiding a client through adecision-making process. Thats thecore of what strategic managementconsulting is.-Jesse James Garret 18

Im fond of saying that all the work we do is change management. -Karen McGraneInteraction 13/ January 2013 19

picture WIP 20

What Impactful UX Requires Experience Customer UX Measurement Governance Culture Strategy Understanding DesignSetting a clear vision Clear, consistent, A set of activities An ongoing set of A clear, proactively- Cultivating a cultureof the type of and accurate and disciplines practices to measure minded set of in which delivering aexperience you seek picture of your required to define user experience practices for great userto deliver customers. the characteristics quality enables the monitoring quality experience is of a person’s company to enhance and execution. embedded in the interaction with your and optimize over organization’s DNA. company. time. 21

The more things are brokered through digital products and services, the more important it is to look into how these companies operate. -Gene SmithInteraction 13/ January 2013 23

Some common threads… 24

pictureIt’s about facilitating insight(supported by a design process) 25

What needs to be done is already known by the company. Its just not consciously known. What I can do is to help facilitate that knowledge into consciousness. -Dave GrayInteraction 13/ January 2013 26

It’s about the people and the relationships. 27

You could have the bestrecommendation in the world and thesmartest person in the room, but its achange management problem. Have tounderstand the subtle dynamics of howpeople feel and how they work togetherand you have to be able to influencethat. -Karen McGrane 28

It’s about teaching a company to fish. 29

We ask: what are the processes andcapabilities we need to have in placeinternally in order to continue to deliverthis experience on an ongoing basis?-Jesse James Garret 30

The solution is not the service.The service is the path we can provide. 31

Understand the Figure out Create a plan forproblem and identify how to make implementationthe opportunity. change happen. and sustainability. research, prototype, test, refine 32

We have come prepared… 33

Interaction 13/ January 2013 34

Ability to listen to customersSystems level problem solvingFacilitating consensusInquiry based processesAbility to go deepPatience around finding solutionsSeeing multiple facets of a problem 35

A lot of business problems that fail in analytic approaches are much better served with a design approach. - Steve BatyInteraction 13/ January 2013 36

The UX field benefits because all of us have a ground in making things. That is incredibly powerful. Were starting from being the builders. And moving upstream into the strategy world. -Karen McGraneInteraction 13/ January 2013 37

But we’ve had to learn new things… 38

Picture 39

How to use and understand their language How business models workBeing really good at translationUnderstanding how organizations workBasic sales stuffBudget and numbersEvangelizing and persuasionIntellectual honesty and strength 40

So what does the future look like? 41

Ecosystem maps will be the new journey mapsCustomer experience professionals andbusiness process pros will become best friendsCustomer experience pros will chase employeeengagementFirms will pay a premium for scarce talentForrester, January 2013 42

Picture 43

There’s way more clients who dont get it than those who do. Its the forward edge of the market that recognizes the value of an experience driven approach at the strategic level. -Jesse James GarrettInteraction 13/ January 2013 44

Theres a step that a designer needs to take where they abstract out from their particular type of design and recognize that at an abstract level theres a design process that has common principles. Once you can take the step you can start to appreciate the intent of the design process and then apply it in other ways. -Steve BatyInteraction 13/ January 2013 45

So much opportunity if people want to be leaders. But theyre going to need to know how businesses run. -Samantha StarmerInteraction 13/ January 2013 46

I would be interested to see the field to stop acting like we are impostors and to start embracing this more fully. -Karen McGraneInteraction 13/ January 2013 47

THANKS! 48

Gaurav Mishra, Usability Expert seems ux folks need to work on the 'business table'..as well.. as domain is evolving... 3 months ago

Are you sure you want to

Jason Mesut, Head of User Experience at RMA Consulting Great job Cindy. Having sat on the front row through this next to a nodding and verbally approving Alan Cooper, I enjoyed the talk a lot. Reviewing again I have to respect the insight, and elegant slide delivery here - it was top notch. Any criticism i referred to at the Redux was purely based on the need for our industry to take this discussion further, beyond the rhetoric, into more actionable steps. Otherwise, these sorts of talks can set the expectation far too high for a talented and passionate industry that just isn't universally equipped to be considered appropriate competition for business/management consultants. The thing is, i truly believe we have a lot to offer. But having worked at a management consultancy, seeing great talent, similar methods, but wholly different value systems, and professional ethics, I think there is more to be aware of. I would love to chat in more detail some time, or have the chance to provide a more refined comment. 3 months ago

Mark FelcanSmith, Senior Manager, User Experience at Walgreens Cindy, thanks for sharing at Interaction13! You made a significant impression on this discussion of the evolving role. The slides are packed with great conversation and debate pieces...looking forward to participating in the broader dialog of how we continue to evolve the role, and carry influence further upstream. I believe Service Design is an interesting space to investigate the value this multidisciplinary role can bring to opportunity creation and solution design. 3 months ago

Makoto Kern, IIIMPACT at Makoto Kern, IIIMPACT Solid. Great presentation! 3 months ago

Thomas Vander Wal, Senior Consultant at InfoCloud Solutions, Inc This is dead on. A really good overview of the work I've been doing the last 7 to 8 years. For much of that stretch I stopped using UX (or any variant) as a descriptor of what I do as most businesses haven't considered UX as covering or helping resolve their problems. Having UX folks with enough years of experience and being tightly woven into the understanding of business needs and complexities is what holds much of UX back. UX for them has often been a light understanding that sits hanging off IT somewhere. This preso is great for reshaping that. Thanks! 3 months ago

Søren Muus Got it recommended by Bogaards. Very interesting, and nice to realize that I'm not the only UX Director involved with change management - but it also increases demands to our business skills. 3 months ago

Cindy Chastain, Creative Director, Experience Design at R/GA Thanks, Abby. :) 3 months ago

Abby Covert, Information Architect at Abby the IA This is so great Cindy. Nice work! 3 months ago

Plamen Slavov at Richmond International Airport (RIC) wow 3 months ago

ruthtupe I was there!! #ixd13 3 months ago