Mental Models, Service Design & The Problem With Convergence

Mental Models, Service Design & the Problem with Convergence Filip Healy & Ian Collingwood

Convergence to users Users don’t know what convergence is, they just want things to work in a convenient and useful way. Bridging: Uniting: “The right parts of the service available on “The right services available the right devices” together in one place”

Who is offering convergence? There are many companies offering many services under a single brand

Benefits Users expect benefits from this

Brand convergence Uniting the brand leads to expectations of converged services

Mental models They form a mental models…

Who is offering convergence? A converged brand does not always mean a converged customer experience

Orange broadband offer

Virgin Media

Moment of truth The point is that the user forms a mental model that is not always true

Why is this important?

Why is this important? Personas Card sorting Eye-tracking Ethnography Diary studies Ethnography Web testing Mobile testing Iterative usability Online surveys Wireframing Usability workshops Personas Prototyping

However We often get involved in a specific product or UI dilemma

However We are not dealing with users

Service design We only focus on one part of the “front desk”

Example A telecoms company creates a browser toolbar….

Example

Example A telecoms company creates a mobile music service….

mobile music player

Service design Designing the “front stage” experience requires features at the “back stage”

Road block

They build what they can Burj Dubai (height 818m)

What causes the roadblock It wasn’t in the plan to do it that way

What causes the roadblock We don’t have budget for that

What causes the roadblock We have to keep to the schedule

Technical constraints Impossible Not impossible Bill Bill

Who is scoping? It’s beyond the scope of the project…. NOT FOR THE CUSTOMER

We’re too late The “back office” was already designed much earlier

Mental models The mental models can help to shape the organisation

Integrated definition “IDEFØ is a method designed to model the decisions, actions, and activities of an organization or system” (www.idef.com/idef0.html)

Who’s listening? Mr Big is not in the room

Who’s listening? “I don’t want it good, I want it on Tuesday”

Who’s listening? Mr Big is not in the room Product A • UX input Product B • UX input Strategic Technical Product decisions systems design Product C • UX input Product D • UX input

3 steps to move forward 1 2 3 If you work for an organisiation that cannot always deliver the products and experience that customers are expecting then you could have this problem

Step 1. Charity starts at home 1 2 3  Converge the user experience team  Facilitate knowledge sharing  Create a central UX information resource  Create a wiki  Work across programs not products  Capture every instance the user mental model breaks  Create a document to feedback upstream  Proactively deliver value beyond immediate project

Step 2. Converge product development 1 2 3  Recommend a program manager  Ensure program manager attends all debriefs  Liaise with the program manager  Recommend program level UX involvement  Involve service designers  Promote inter-working and knowledge sharing  Change reward mechanics  Provide collective pool for requirements  Provide back channel to senior management

Step 3. UX at a strategic level 1 2 3  Insights must reach decision makers earlier  Early product design prior to strategic and technical decisions  Products sketched out with key stakeholders  Converged experiences mapped out based on user expectations  UX program manager advises decision makers  UX program manager supports product teams  Holistic information gets to product UX team  Product UX findings converged upstream  User mental models understood early in process  Product marketing inline with mental models

The service system Service design is more explicit about connecting front and back stages

UCD and service design For “self service” applications “document exchange design” needs inputs for user requirements and context of use. Robert J. Glushko (2006), Information & Service Design program, UC Berkeley

UCD and service design For “self service” applications “document exchange design” needs inputs for user requirements and context of use. ISO 13407

UX in converged service provider • If you are a service provider • If you are uniting several services under one brand • If you want to develop new products for your customers that are successful UX should be part of your strategy

UX in converged service provider “Generating shareholder UX value on the road to full Costs convergence correlates with generating recognised and effective value to the targets customer” Fixed-Mobile Convergence Alliance 2008 Strategy & technology

In the short term? We know the user’s mental model

Convergence centred organisation Convergence is a service. It Marketing needs to be designed. Organisational Technology structure Convergence Product Strategy development Remuneration UX

Filip Healy filip@amber-light.co.uk 58 Bloomsbury Street London WC1B 3QT +44 (0)207 307 7770 www.amber-light.co.uk

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Mental Models, Service Design & The Problem With Convergence

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