Organizational Readiness mark maxted Senior Principal Engineer Blue Coat Systems Tactics for Success

mark maxted

Senior Principal Engineer

Blue Coat Systems

Motivations Why do usability initiatives so often meet with only qualified success? Why did a technique I used with great success at one company fail miserably at the next? Why am I so frustrated?

Why do usability initiatives so often meet with only qualified success?

Why did a technique I used with great success at one company fail miserably at the next?

Why am I so frustrated?

Dimensions of Readiness Technical Process Cultural Product/Market

Technical

Process

Cultural

Product/Market

Technical Readiness How flexible is the underlying architecture? How often do you hear “we'd have to change our architecture” in an engineering response? Can you easily change data presentations? Is business logic separated from the workflow? How many interfaces do you have to support? How agile is your interface toolkit? Low: business logic and presentation intertwined and hard coded. High: well layered, “evolvable” UI technology

How flexible is the underlying architecture?

How often do you hear “we'd have to change our architecture” in an engineering response?

Can you easily change data presentations?

Is business logic separated from the workflow?

How many interfaces do you have to support?

How agile is your interface toolkit?

Low: business logic and presentation intertwined and hard coded.

High: well layered, “evolvable” UI technology

Architectural Readiness concrete user interfaces abstract interface virtual machine features and services platform platform independence application/ business logic

Process Readiness Are corporate processes (and the process to change them) well defined ? Do they incorporate usability? What is the process for generating product requirements? Who owns the lexicon? Are processes for UI and underlying technologies distinct? Low: ad hoc processes, requirements expressed as features, individual engineers dictate terminology High: requirements expressed as use stories

Are corporate processes (and the process to change them) well defined ?

Do they incorporate usability?

What is the process for generating product requirements?

Who owns the lexicon?

Are processes for UI and underlying technologies distinct?

Low: ad hoc processes, requirements expressed as features, individual engineers dictate terminology

High: requirements expressed as use stories

Cultural Readiness Technophilia vs Interdisciplinary Respect We don't know what we don't know People who don't know this aren't ready Use ad hoc demonstrations Do QA and Customer Service have a say in requirements? What role does Docs play? Low: engineering claims “we know our users” Medium: usability is about panel design High: focus is on end to end customer experience

Technophilia vs Interdisciplinary Respect

We don't know what we don't know

People who don't know this aren't ready

Use ad hoc demonstrations

Do QA and Customer Service have a say in requirements? What role does Docs play?

Low: engineering claims “we know our users”

Medium: usability is about panel design

High: focus is on end to end customer experience

Product/Market Readiness Emerging technologies and markets are feature driven Audiences are poorly defined Management reacts to early adopters Mature technologies are solution driven Audiences are better defined Management can turn down “distractions”

Emerging technologies and markets are feature driven

Audiences are poorly defined

Management reacts to early adopters

Mature technologies are solution driven

Audiences are better defined

Management can turn down “distractions”

Tactical Summary Do's assess your organization's readiness recognize inertia have realistic expectations be patient and adaptable develop a roadmap exploit opportunities to fund your roadmap Don'ts act too far ahead of your organization's readiness try to change too many things at once spread yourself too thin.

Do's

assess your organization's readiness

recognize inertia

have realistic expectations

be patient and adaptable

develop a roadmap

exploit opportunities to fund your roadmap

Don'ts

act too far ahead of your organization's readiness

try to change too many things at once

spread yourself too thin.