Motivating UX Teams

Motivating UX Teams: Inspiring people to do great work Dorelle Rabinowitz IA Summit 2009 1

About me ‣ Designer. Information Architect. Manager. Storyteller. 2 2

What went wrong at the HPL? ‣ Loss of confidence ‣ Unclear expectations ‣ No performance feedback ‣ Lack of 2-way communication ‣ Lack of goals & challenges = Zero motivation 3 3

But I ﬁxed it ‣ Found an ally ‣ Asked for feedback ‣ Initiated responsibility ‣ Inspired trust and was able to do great work 4 4

Top reason people leave their job? 5

Top reason people leave their job? Their manager 5

So where are the strong? And who are the trusted? And where is the harmony? 6

Managers provide the foundation for success ‣Setting the stage ‣Building and trusting the team ‣Leading day to day and design activities ‣Share information freely 7 7

Setting the stage: making stuff happen 8 8

SETTING THE STAGE Understand yourself - manage your conﬁdence 9 9

SETTING THE STAGE Clear goals go a long way 10 10

SETTING THE STAGE Clear obstacles ‣Help get stuff done ‣Prioritize ‣Fight procrastination 11 11

I’m just a soul whose intentions are good Teamwork starts with understanding 12

TEAMWORK Understand roles and responsibilities ‣ Manager ‣ Get work done ‣ Lead ‣ Critique ‣ Team ‣ Hands on (or not) ‣ Stakeholders ‣ Get everyone on the same page ‣ Clients ‣ Assign /delegate ‣ Group/Company tasks & priorities ‣ Get rid of obstacles 13 13

TEAMWORK Understanding team’s strengths/weaknesses ‣ Know what they’re good at and what gives them trouble ‣ Can you tell when they’re feeling good and when they’re in a rut? ‣ Can they come to you when they’re in trouble? ‣ What are their personal goals? Career plans? 14 14

TEAMWORK Hire smart ‣ Hire great people and trust them to do their job ‣ Let them do it their way and feel free to tell you that the way you suggested was wrong and why ‣ Lose bad apples - one bad apple does spoil the whole bunch ‣ Set boundaries - can you be a friend and a manager? 15 15

TEAMWORK Over-communicate to build community ‣ Positive reinforcement - a pat on back goes far ‣ Celebrate accomplishments in public ‣ Help everyone see what everyone else is up to ‣ Care enough to confront and correct ‣ Give away the credit 16 16

TEAMWORK Manage emotion ‣ Keep an eye out for complainers ‣ Be a problem-solver to resolve conflicts ‣ Email or in person - whats the appropriate medium? 17 17

TEAMWORK Gaining respect and earning trust “I need to be able to look up to my manager and feel that I can learn from them. If that's not the case, I am having a hard time accepting them as a superior” “Be yourself. Be honest. Set boundaries and then let it go” 18 18

Day to day activities 19 19

A word about design feedback 20 20

Three major kinds of design reviews ‣ Peer Reviews ‣ Extremely frequent and informal ‣ Meet 1:1 with designers and stakeholders ‣ Quick feedback on explorations and ideas ‣ Team Reviews ‣ Regularly scheduled ‣ Team provides guidance to improve usability and solve open problems ‣ Collaborative refinement of solutions ‣ Stakeholder Reviews ‣ Scheduled for key project milestones ‣ Stakeholders validate design against competing needs ‣ Decisions based on prioritization of objectives 21 21

Sharing info freely 22 22

Dealing with ‣ divas ‣ people who want your job ‣ bad projects ‣ uncertain economy - layoffs 23 23

Thanks to the photographers on ﬂickr... ‣ http://www.flickr.com/photos/jannem/510243975/ ‣ http://www.flickr.com/photos/64086520@N00/1234372727 ‣ http://www.flickr.com/photos/genuinelam/314061316/ ‣ http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisarellano/ ‣ http://www.flickr.com/photos/clintjcl/232296239 ‣ http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitesidetheatre/3110914201 ‣ http://www.flickr.com/photos/jontintinjordan/43060641 ‣ http://www.flickr.com/photos/leonandloisphotos/226800605 ‣ http://www.flickr.com/photos/livlab/2871901572 ‣ http://www.flickr.com/photos/pierodemarchis/408123668 24 24

Motivating UX Teams

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