Build Systems, Not Stuff Presented
by @Abby_the_ia 1

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I Make the unclear, clear
for people who use and make things. 3

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Most recently I Have helped
• Change the audience for Sharpie from a office supply consumer to teenagers looking for a self expression tool • Grow a 150,000 member Facebook fan base for JELL-O over the weekend. • Pilot a revolutionary diet for people with Type 2 diabetes • Analyze and strategically prioritize digital marketing efforts and improvements for Herman Miller in support of their movement into the B to C market 5

I hear a lot of
the same things over and over... Our current digital marketing is: A) Embarrassingly out of date B) Not flexible enough to support needs C) Not able to be affected quickly because of politics and the bureaucracy D) All of the Above (Eeeeekk) 6 6

The behavior of the system
cannot be known just by knowing the elements - Donella Meadows 7 7

Meet the Blind men of
digital marketing “I post on social media and send emails” “I control the money” “I manage the Websites” “I design the marketing” 8 8

Observation: Its always the same
issues affecting the same parts of the same systems 9 9

We need to build systems,
not just stuff. 10 10

When Stuff is king... 11
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Spray-n-Pray is common wisdom 12
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Corporate Underpants start to show
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Shiny, dusty objects accumulate 14
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Trends win out over needs
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“Skunkworks” projects used to achieve
tactical goals 16 16

Everyone feels rushed and underserved
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We ask for more stuff
We need a Facebook page vs. We need a Digital Recruitment engine 18

Sound familiar?
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There has to be a
better way 20 20

But we arent in manufacturing!
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isnt Creativity meant to be
messy? 22 22

One important (and easy) question:
How should we spend our finite creative energy? 23 23

By analyzing the system, maybe
we can improve the User experience of working in digital marketing 24 24

Systems-based thinking the process of
understanding how things influence one another. viewing "problems" as parts of an overall system, rather than reacting to specific part. focusing on cyclical rather than linear cause and effect. 25 25

When System is king... •
Effectiveness becomes measurable • Solutions have longevity and reuse • Entities are able to remain in sync while operating independently • Adequate time and budget is allocated • People feel like things just work 26 26

Reinventing the Wheel Repeatable Magic
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Systems Thinking 101
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A system is a set
of stocks and flows that is interconnected in a way that it produces a predictable pattern. 29 29

STocks: Assets within your organization
that are able to be measured for example: • Knowledge of industry trends • Marketing Budget • Creative Talent 30 30

Flows: Process that affects and
connects stocks for example: • How insights become strategy • How designers are briefed on architectural decisions • How code is accepted in development 31 31

Cold hard Facts about systems
1. Levels of stock are only able to be affected by manipulating flows 2. Stocks take time to change, because flows take time to flow 32 32

another fact: Digital Marketing is
a system 33 33

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Digital Marketing: A common system
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Digital Marketing: A common system
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If you are doing it
right, you start here 37 37

Digital Marketing: A common system
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But, a lot of people
start here... 39 39

Digital Marketing: A common system
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And even here... eek! 41
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Digital Marketing: A common system
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A lot of people stop
here. 43 43

Digital Marketing: A common system
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and This part is almost
always ignored or weak 45 45

there are shared lessons that
all organizations can learn from 46 46

Five common system failures 47
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What’s supposed to happen 49
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What can also happen 50
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Symptoms • brittle feeling interactions
• Not knowing all the incarnations of the experience • Not being able to defend cost of improvement 51 51

Diagnosis: Low Awareness of how
something works today leads to bad strategy You need to work on research. 52 52

Idea to Combat: Measure quality
of existing systems: 1. Heuristically 2. Analytically 3. With real users 53 53

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Lets try to find a
way to apply online 55 55

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Symptoms • All the content
is there and nothing can be found • No research has been done into what users want • Low conversion and roi 59 59

Diagnosis: Lack of clear goals
and key performance indicators leads to confounding experience You need to work on goal setting 60 60

Idea To Combat: Define S.M.A.R.T
Goals and a plan to measure against them q Specific q Measurable q Achievable q Relevant q Time bound 61 61

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Symptoms • Content feels forced
into boxes it doesnt fit into • things are jimmied together • Creative production always costs more than expected and often assets are reused inappropriately 64 64

Diagnosis: silo-ed decisions on content
degrade quality of experience offered You need to work on architecting 65 65

Idea to COmbat: Let the
users make the call when content organization challenges arise. Card sorting, contextual inquiry and collaborative design can all be used for this. 66 66

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Symptoms • Devices and tools
are devised to assist people in understanding the marketing material • Navigation is bloated, landing pages lack focus • Functionality is heavy and unneeded 70 70

Diagnosis: Too many things, no
priority. SUch a mess. You have to work on documentation 71 71

idea to Combat: Create a
roadmap of features defined not just against resources available but against user and business goals 72 72

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h,p://ausweb.scu.edu.au/aw05/papers/refereed/alexander/paper.html 74
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Diagnosis: NEver completing the feedback
loop. You need to work on measurement 75 75

Idea to Combat: Host a
conversation with designers, marketers and researchers to talk about improving the flow of strategic guidance and insight 76 76

How to get started in
your organization 77 77

to Become a system advocate
in your organization 78 78

Lesson 1: You need pictures,
because systems happen all at once. 79 79

Pictures are thought starters 80
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Pictures allow you to see
the connections 81 81

pictures allow quick illustration of
problems and solutions 82 82

Pictures are great for understanding
the systems, roles and rules 83 83

Pictures can illustrate a higher
level view 84 84

Lesson 2: Evaluate the System
as is • Get the right people in the room to discuss the results of the current digital marketing environment • Document it in simple pictures, perhaps stocks and flows • Highlight hardships you feel today or know about externally 85 85

Lesson 3: Take Stock of
what you need • Identify the goals you have for your digital marketing • Identify the obligations you have to meet for stakeholders • Identify the things colleagues have complained about or asked for 86 86

Lesson 4: Prioritize issues to
work on • Identify the issue type. Is it a lack of resource, bad process, old technology? • Determine how much (and who) it hurts? • Assign a internal and external priority 87 87

Lesson 5: Try New flows
• Get the space, team and instance needed to experiment. • Make sure people know they are guinea pigs • Treat it as a research assignment (try A/B testing, and asking followup questions in a focus group etc...) • Document what you are trying, why and how you feel it will change things 88 88

Lesson 6: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
• Reduce the complexity across initiatives • Reuse technological investment across campaigns, building an arsenal of owned solutions over time • Recycle your “stuff”: Always think about the lifecycle of the “stuff” your systems are producing. 89 89

Lesson 7: Have the right
attitude • Be honest and transparent • Be collaborative • Be forward looking • Be willing to fail and try again 90 90

So... Next time someone asks
for stuff 91 91

Think... How can we take
this up a level? Are we thinking about the life cycle? Can we measure our impact here? Who else is impacted by this and how can they help solve this? 92 92

How can we... Build a
system, not just more stuff 93 93

Thanks! @abby_the_ia Abbytheia.com abbycovert@gmail.com 94
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