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