The Future of UX: Killing the Wireframe Machine

The Future of UX: Killing the Wireframe Machine NYC IxDA - November 14, 2013
*The Future of UX by UXPA New Jersey. NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
*Fragments by erix! on Flickr. NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
Lis Hubert @lishubert www.elisabethhubert.com NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
A user experience is an interaction between an organization and a user as perceived through a user’s conscious and subconscious mind. It is a blend of an organization’s rational performance, the senses stimulated and the emotions evoked and intuitively measured against user expectations across all moments of contact. * From Beyond Philosophy NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
A user experience is an interaction between an organization and a user as perceived through a user’s conscious and subconscious mind. It is a blend of an organization’s rational performance, the senses stimulated and the emotions evoked and intuitively measured against users expectations across all moments of contact. * From Beyond Philosophy NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
User gets in a car accident & needs to submit a claim In a state of shock NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
User gets in a car accident & needs to submit a claim Take photos of the accident with phone and uploads to submit claim. In a state of shock Feeling of relief setting in. NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
User gets in a car accident & needs to submit a claim Take photos of the accident with phone and uploads to submit claim. In a state of shock Feeling of relief setting in. NYC IxDA @lishubert Receives email from insurance co. that claim successfully submitted. Relieved about claim. Goes to get car estimate. November 14, 2013
User gets in a car accident & needs to submit a claim Take photos of the accident with phone and uploads to submit claim. Receives email from insurance co. that claim successfully submitted. In a state of shock Feeling of relief setting in. Relieved about claim. Goes to get car estimate. User’s Perception NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
User Insights Combine with Business Insights NYC IxDA UX Expertise (Empathy, Strategy, Design) Tech Insights @lishubert November 14, 2013
Discovery @lishubert NYC IxDA *not quite clear on the concept by woodleywonderworks on Flickr. November 14, 2013
Analysis *analyse by LeonArts.at on Flickr. NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
Experience Strategy NYC IxDA *photo by Kevin Dooley on Flickr. @lishubert November 14, 2013
Product Roadmaps NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
A user experience is an interaction between an organization and a user as perceived through a user’s conscious and subconscious mind. It is a blend of an organization’s rational performance, the senses stimulated and the emotions evoked and intuitively measured against user expectations across all moments of contact. * From Beyond Philosophy NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
If a company understands what customers want (and who they are/how they feel) AND that matches up with what they are or want be about, that company can design touchpoints, products and services that customers will use, love, and keep coming back to. Establishing a long-term relationship is, in my view, the ultimate goal (and probably the most proﬁtable, to boot). @rayraydel NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
Revenue - business goals achieved, task success @redwinederous NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
We describe the role of the “User Experience Architect’s Ofﬁce”, which works across the divisions, helping to harmonize the human interface and industrial design process across the divisions of Apple and ATG. NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
We describe the role of the “User Experience Architect’s Ofﬁce”, which works across the divisions, helping to harmonize the human interface and industrial design process across the divisions of Apple and ATG. ! Donald Norman - 1995 NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
The value of UX Knowing what products and services to create, NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
User Needs Easier way to deposit checks NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
User Needs Easier way to deposit checks NYC IxDA + Biz Needs More Checks Deposited @lishubert November 14, 2013
User Needs Easier way to deposit checks NYC IxDA + Biz Needs More Checks Deposited @lishubert + Tech Capabilities Ability to deposit checks from image November 14, 2013
User Needs Easier way to deposit checks + Biz Needs More Checks Deposited + Tech Capabilities Ability to deposit checks from image Product Insight Online Check Deposit Tool NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
The value of UX Knowing what products and services to create, for who, NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
The value of UX Knowing what products and services to create, for who, and when to create them NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
The value of UX Knowing what products and services to create, for who, and when to create them in order to facilitate a human-centered relationship with one’s company. ! NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
The value of UX Knowing what products and services to create, for who, and when to create them in order to facilitate a human-centered relationship with one’s company. ! This keeps customers happy, NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
The value of UX Knowing what products and services to create, for who, and when to create them in order to facilitate a human-centered relationship with one’s company. ! This keeps customers happy, gives them what they need (while fulﬁlling business needs) and therefore... NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
The value of UX Knowing what products and services to create, for who, and when to create them in order to facilitate a human-centered relationship with one’s company. ! This keeps customers happy, gives them what they need (while fulﬁlling business needs) and therefore... keeps them coming back for more. NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
Huh? NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
Keeping it real... NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
Not UX NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
Not An Experience NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
UI NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
A user experience is an interaction between an organization and a user as perceived through a user’s conscious and subconscious mind. It is a blend of an organization’s rational performance, the senses stimulated and the emotions evoked and intuitively measured against user expectations across all moments of contact. NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
User gets in a car accident & needs to submit a claim Has mobile device NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
User gets in a car accident & needs to submit a claim Has mobile device NYC IxDA Take photos of the accident with phone and uploads to submit claim. Make sure can ﬁt all claim information from website on to a smaller screen. @lishubert November 14, 2013
User gets in a car accident & needs to submit a claim Has mobile device NYC IxDA Take photos of the accident with phone and uploads to submit claim. Receives email from insurance co. that claim successfully submitted. Make sure can ﬁt all claim information from website on to a smaller screen. Reuse and send standard claim email. @lishubert November 14, 2013
*sensitive noise / obvious 2 by milos milosevic on Flickr. @lishubert NYC IxDA November 14, 2013
Characteristics of a Machine 1. It’s designed to be controlled by a driver or operator. * Characteristics of a machine as defined by Dave Gray in The Connected Company NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
Characteristics of a Machine 2. It needs to be maintained, and when it breaks down, you ﬁx it. * Characteristics of a machine as defined by Dave Gray in The Connected Company NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
Characteristics of a Machine 3. A machine pretty much works in the same way for the life of the machine. Eventually, things change, or the machine wears out, and you need to build or buy a new machine. * Characteristics of a machine as defined by Dave Gray in The Connected Company NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
The Process NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
“This UX thing is gold! But how do I sell it?” NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
The Process NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
YAY We have a good “UX”!!! NYC IxDA Future Insights Live! @lishubert November 14, 2013 April 30, 2013
It’s designed to be controlled by a driver or operator. * Characteristics of a machine as defined by Dave Gray in The Connected Company NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
It needs to be maintained, and when it breaks down, you ﬁx it. * Characteristics of a machine as defined by Dave Gray in The Connected Company NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
Works in the same way for the life of the machine. Eventually, things change, or the machine wears out, and you need to build or buy a new machine. * Characteristics of a machine as defined by Dave Gray in The Connected Company NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
Closed System: self-contained and isolated from its external environment. Because it is isolated from its environment, a closed system is easier to control. * Characteristics of a machine as defined by Dave Gray in The Connected Company NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
“This is the dawning of the Age of Experience.” ~ Jared M. Spool, 2007 * The Dawning of the Age of Experience by Jared M. Spool on Slideshare NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
Successful Experience Design is... * The Dawning of the Age of Experience by Jared M. Spool on Slideshare NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
Then Now Industrial Revolution Age of Experience Machines rule! Feedback is king! NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
Trying to use methods from here. To be successful here. Then Now Industrial Revolution Age of Experience Machines rule! Feedback is king! NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
*Cage in Decay by Mr. Physics on Flickr. NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
~ UX Unicorn NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
*estupid ego by !unite on Flickr. NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
The face of UX *Timo Kohlenberg | Portrait by Timo Kohlenberg on Flickr. NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
UXer creates wireframe NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
UXers shows wireframe as the user experience UXer creates wireframe NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
UXers shows wireframe as the user experience UXer creates wireframe Team sees UXer as UX and thinks wireframes = UX NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
UXers shows wireframe as the user experience UXer creates wireframe Team sees UXer as UX and thinks wireframes = UX Team wants UX so demands wireframes NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
cogito ergo sum I think therefore I am NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
NYC IxDA Future Insights Live! @lishubert November 14, 2013 April 30, 2013
Read, Listen, Read *play, read, or listen by jessleecuizon on Flickr. NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
“Usability Testing” vs “Validating Ideas” *The Crickett versus The Scorpion by Bill Gracey on Flickr. @lishubert NYC IxDA November 14, 2013
*The Crickett versus The Scorpion by Bill Gracey on Flickr. @lishubert NYC IxDA November 14, 2013
• Framing the problem • Understanding the industry / competition • Understanding tech feasibility • Understanding business model and need • Understanding the solution (sans interface) NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
1. Find a real UX job NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
1. Find a real UX job 2. Stop calling what you do UX NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
UXers shows real value of UX as UX UXer creates wireframe Team sees you as UX and thinks wireframes = UX Team wants UX so demands wireframes NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
UXer creates wireframe UXers shows real value of UX as UX Team wants UX so demands wireframes Team sees you as UX and sees the real value of UX NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
UXer creates wireframe UXers shows real value of UX as UX Team wants UX so demands the real value of UX Team sees you as UX and sees the real value of UX NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
UXer brings the real value it promised UXers shows real value of UX as UX Team wants UX so demands the real value of UX Team sees you as UX and sees the real value of UX NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
Success!! *Sarangkot Flight by `thedreamsky on Flickr. NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
* From Beyond Philosophy NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
*Problems are Opportunities by DonnaGrayson on Flickr. NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
NYC IxDA * 05122008 by pa1nt on Flickr. @lishubert November 14, 2013
“A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.” ! ~Mohandas Gandi NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
Welcome to the Age of the Experience NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013
Thanks! @lishubert NYC IxDA @lishubert November 14, 2013

Editor's Notes

Who here thinks that User Experience Design provides a lot of value outside of just doing the interface?\nWho thinks that UX should be providing more value?\nWho here think that UX is...\n

Broken? Well, this UX thing is broken. We are not providing the value we should be, and today I&#x2019;m going to not only tell you why, but I&#x2019;m going to talk about a way to fix it. \n\nSo our agenda is\n- Intro/History\n- Current State\n- Problems\n- Solutions\n- Outcome\n- Conclusion\n

My name is Lis & I am a UX Consultant here in NYC\nI have been doing this work since 2005. but it wasn&#x2019;t until 3 years later, yes 2008, that I created my first one of these:\n

A Wireframe.\nBut... how could that be? How could someone be in UX for 3 years and never have done a wireframe?\n\nPeople wanted me to create the interface, the begged for someone to just draw the picture. I&#x2019;m a visual person I need to see how it will look. But we UX people knew better. \n\nBack then, UX was a completely different beast. When we said user experience, we meant this...\n\n

And the important thing to note is the the user experience here was...\n

an interaction between an organization.... and across all moments of contacts. The interface is part of this interaction, but it is not the entire experience.\n\nSo UX the profession had two levels of professionals. \n

Those that would think about that entire statement that I just showed you. and those that worked on projects. It&#x2019;s not that those project people thought that the user experience was something different, but more often than not their job was to look at a specific moment of contact within that experience and create or enhance it.\n\nWhat do I mean by moment of contact? Here is an example\n

\n

This was one of these moments of contact. This is a small part of a greater user experience that involves all touch points not just submitting a claim, but paying a bill, buying insurance to begin with and more. \n\nSo when I started my career in UX I was one of these project people and instead of delivering Wireframes to enhance this moment of contact. I would deliver documents like these..\n

And present them to the visual designer. But I wasn&#x2019;t just creating these documents out of thin air.\n\nThere were a couple of things that I had to know about to ensure this moment of contact was a good one...\n\n

First, I had to better understand the customer&#x2019;s perception. This is what UX people are thinking about at all times. They are thinking... how would my users perceive this?\n\nAnd I also had to understand my business and technology. Thus my job looked a lot like this\n

We took insights from user, business and tech research, and combining that with our skillsets of empathy, strategy and design. Empathy, the ability to put ourselves in others shoes, allows us to see the gaps, strategy allows us to figure out how to fill them, and design helps us to allow for extensible ideas. \n\nBut we don&#x2019;t just have this insights. We have to go out and find them. And so to do that... \n

Discovery - I would go out and talk to users about what gaps were in their experiences. I would talk to stakeholders about gaps that were in their businesses, and talk with technology architects to understand future plans and constraints of the systems. \n \n

I would then analyze what I heard and create insights. These insights lead to ideas and concepts for updating products and services. This might involve some modeling and white board/post it exercises. It involved a lot of discussion and collaboration. \n so we can take out insights on a project level and create a great moment of contact. But on a strategy level, UXers would do much, much more... the would take these insights and create...\n

an experience strategy. This was basically product and service strategy or vision based on user insights, business insights, and technology insights. These strategies were more than just visions. We would then figure out how to accomplish them. From this knowledge user experience people would work with product people to put together \n

Product roadmaps that were in line with bringing that experience strategy to life. \n they would get broken down into projects, where UXers would create the flow documents like I showed you before. \n All so that would could get back to this...\n

This is what we were trying to facilitate. This was the experience. And our user, business and tech insight lead us to it. This is where the true value of UX comes in. \n\nWhat about this makes UX valuable? I asked some of my counterparts.\n

\n

A twitter survey participant.\n

This one is old school. Any guesses who said this?\n

Donald Norman said this in 1995! So thus, put simply, the value of UX is not the interface on it&#x2019;s own, and just making it cool and delightful. It&#x2019;s an ecosystem of value that involves...\n

Knowing what to create. And UX people know this based on their insights from user, business and tech research. We have something called empathy (or should) and this trait, among others is what get us here. \n

Knowing what to create. And UX people know this based on their insights from discovery. So for example we did some user interviews and found that people were having a hard time making it to the bank by close time. One user need was to have an easier way to deposit checks. \n

And then after we sat down with bank stakeholders. We saw the general consensus that we needed more check to be deposited as the main business goal. \n

Chance would have it that talking with the tech guys and doing some competitive analysis and brainstorming we found out that they had been thinking about different technologies they could or could not use to deposit checks. And thus. \n

A product idea is born. \n

We know who needs the product and services. And we don&#x2019;t know just from a marketing standpoint or a segment standpoint, but we do work into understand behavior, and mental models so that we know them...\n

That&#x2019;s why we do user research in the first place. To really get to know our users so that we can understand their needs, goals, and tasks. \n

And this is the thing. UX is about experiences. It&#x2019;s telling a story or going on a date with your product or service and continuing that conversation. We map out the best time to tell that date about your promotion, your dog&#x2019;s snoring, etc. \n

Because we&#x2019;ve talked to the tech team and we know the capabilities. We&#x2019;ve done competitive analysis and know what others are doing. We also have something called empathy which helps us to put ourselves in our users place and so we know what they expect and when, and lastly, we understand our businesses and what they have planned for future business growth, we can roadmap when certain products should be build. \n

because you ultimately want these users to LOVE your product. Love in a human way. Like how you love your phone, and your laptop. You do this because they seem human. And by \n

This keeps people happy!\n

And you are actually fulfilling a need. And if someone needs something to be done, and your product or service does it that in turn...\n

Keeps them coming back for more. And they buy stuff, and you get money... and their needs are being fulfilled and the love you for it. \n\nDoing all of this means creating the right products and services at the right time, for the right people. Solving business gaps and ensuring customer retention which basically means\n

More profit.\n\nYou see. We know this was the value of UX. And we also knew if we create an interface without creating this value, that interface would be pointless. \n\nHow many people think of all the things I just talked about when they hear UX? \n\nHow many people think of this...\n

Somehow we went from all of that... to this. UX is seen as the interface, people are literally equating it only with that. We see examples of this everywhere\n

UX sketching... how is the wireframe a sketch of the user experience??\n

At least these people kept it real. User Interface Design, UX courses... tomato, tomato.\n\nBut I think we can let the cat out of the bag here and say that this...\n

is Not UX. This is also\n

not an experience. It is\n

UI... yes all that value UX was supposed to bring has been boiled down to the user interface. Now we talked about all that value of UX and how it harmonizes the interface with the product and that is all true. But what the Interface really is is...\n

A part of a moment of contact. \n\nLet&#x2019;s look at what are scenario may look like if we only concentrate on the wireframe as the experience shall we?\n

We know they have a mobile device so we know we have to fit all the necessary claim information onto a smaller screen. We just reuse the standard email.. without thinking about this new context. \n\nWhat a great experience right. Unfortunately, we are moving more and more towards this.\n\nSo...\n

What happened?\n\nTo answer this we start here...\n

The Industrial Revolution was a period from 1750 to 1850 where changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times. \nAll of these changes relied on the use of Machines. One might even call this time period the time of the machine.\nSo let&#x2019;s look at machines a little closer. What are the characteristics of a machine. This is how Dave Gray defines it in his recent writings. \n

Machines are designed to be controlled by an operator or driver... They are also\n

need to be maintained, and when it breaks down, you fix it. and lastly, my favorite.\n

They work the same way for life. \n Our good friend Dave Gray also notes in his works that machines are \n

Closed systems.\n\nDave defines a A closed system as self-contained and isolated from its external environment, and tells us that Because it is isolated from its environment, a closed system is easier to control.\n\n\n

That is why the Industrial Revolution needed the machine. They needed these closed systems to control output. And, the many factories that defined the Industrial Revolution&#x2019;s high production were in and of themselves machines. They had assembly lines and processes that assured control over production. \n Our companies still look at getting work done this way. They want to be able to control the output of work. And to do that with software development we created this...\n

The software development lifecycle. This is how we ensure and control the output of software. The people in these closed systems (project teams) are isolated to execution. And this works for software... to an extent.\n\nStarting a few years ago, with the rise of UX, we saw companies more and more realizing they needed experience designers. What companies didn&#x2019;t know was how to ensure and replicate creating &#x201C;great experiences&#x201D;. Did UX fit here? If so how? If not then where? When companies asked UXers this question... this\n\n

was our response. We knew we had a great idea, we knew UXD was going to be key to company success, but have been really really bad at marketing it to the companies in the way they needed. We saw from Don Norman that UX works across divisions to harmonize the interface and the product, and we saw the value of UX doing so but Instead of selling that value, we tried to sell our process &#x201C;you should create personas, we have to do research, bla bla bla&#x201D;. What does this have to do with anything??\n\nWe were fading and fading fast, and even we were starting to doubt our value. So, the only chance for survivial was to fit ourselves into the SDLC. Once we did that we could &#x201C;work our way up&#x201D; to the value we knew we could bring\n\nTo get a spot in the process, you had to have a defined deliverable. The Business had requirements docs, Development had code, Testers had test cases, visual designers had comps... what did UXers have... just this fluffy duffy user stuff. \n\nAnd this is when it happened. This is when we gave in and create the wireframe to safely secure ourselves here.\n\n\n

The design phase. Control attained, experience design explained. \n\nUX was not just hard to sell for internal organizations trying to start a practice, but it was also hard to sell for these folks...\n

This companies are also still closed systems. They had been living in a world of print and advertising and needed a way to go digital. How to do that? Oh this UX thing sounds promising, but how can we control it&#x2019;s output to assure our clients that we are doing work? The wireframe fit the bill as the solution.\n\nDefining the experience as the interface, attaching the UX label to it allowed the experience to be controllable and measureable and that is how this...\n\n

Was created. \n\nThe closed system in which people create interface artifacts (wireframes, prototypes, sketches, etc) and sell them as UX so that good experience design output can be controlled and guaranteed. \n\nBetter defined as &#x201C;People creating interface artifacts (wireframes, prototypes, sketches, etc) to sell as the user experience, because they have forgotten about, never learned or unable to sell the real value of UX.&#x201D;\n\nThis machine was created in order to control and measure the output of experience design, to fit it into the company mold, and to make the experience tangible to others. Companies all felt like with a UX person creating an actual deliverable they were delivering &#x201C;good experiences&#x201D;.\n\nSo what? What&#x2019;s the big deal with this current state? It works right? We get money in the door, our products are more usable, what&#x2019;s the big deal? Well it is a big deal. Let&#x2019;s walk through the problems.\n\n\n

The Industrial Revolution is long gone. We are now in the age of the experience. This is the age where companies like Netflix and Apple reign supreme not just for their products but for the experiences around those products. \n\nSo in the age of experience, having good experience is vital. Well what is good experience?\n

In his talk back in 2007 the Dawn of the Age of Experience, Jared M. Spool describes successful experience design as:\n\nIntegrates the user and the business\nInvisible\nMultidisciplinary \nCultural\n\nTo design for these types of experiences we need to work in an open system. Dave Gray tells us that open systems are those &#x201C;A system that exchanges information with its environment.&#x201D;\nWe need this exchange of information with our users, our businesses our technology teams. \n\nSo we can look at our history here like this\n\n

So we have this industrial revolution where machines were put into place. Closed system to control output and companies are trying to use the same system with UX here\n\n

We are using a machine (the wireframe machine to be exact) to define our age. These machines, as we have seen are closed systems. But what we need in the Age of the Experience is an open system. \n\nBut our current system utilizes the machine as it&#x2019;s metaphor for success in order to try to control and measure &#x201C;good experiences&#x201D; and thus... having the wireframe machine in place...\n\n\n

By defining and selling UX as the interface, the machine holds UX captive and with it it&#x2019;s ability to contribute to company success.\n\nThis starts a spiral effect. \n

Since UX has the wireframe machine.... aka we sell, and others sell UX as the interface we have erased the &#x201C;value of ux&#x201D; as I have explained it. People think that making a good interface is good &#x201C;UX&#x201D; and think that we are magical beings that just create &#x201C;good experiences&#x201D; out of nowhere. \n\nBut because we aren&#x2019;t taking user insights, tech insights, and biz insights into account, and aren&#x2019;t mapping this moment of contact we are designing into an overall customer experience (ecosystem), our solutions, our products aren&#x2019;t based off any research and aren&#x2019;t validated. We are therefore just guessing and not creating really valuable stuff for our businesses or our users (unless we get lucky).\n\nUX is just a guessing unicorn... we aren&#x2019;t really solving real problems based off real insights. This means that we aren&#x2019;t doing UX... we are just...\n\n

ego, for opinion for designs sake. \n\nNo one here is really doing UX Design.\n\nIn addition, the UX person is still responsible for the solution. And to all you UXers out there do you know what you are in your companies? You are \n

They see you, your wireframe machine, and all that comes with it. and think .... that is what UX is. \n\nAnd our involvement in it actually perpetrates the problem. \n

so the uxer creates the wireframe.\n

they then show this as the value of ux\n

Teams see the UXer as UX and think wireframes are UX...\n

Team knows we are in the Age of Experience, so wants UX and sees UX as wireframes so demands wireframes and\n\nThis is a long way of saying that problem 1 is... \n

UX is set up for failure. We can never bring the value we say we will if we continue to live in the wireframe machine. And if we can&#x2019;t bring the real value in this age of the experience then our companies...\n\n\n

will not be successful.\n\nSo what does this have to do with the future of UX?\n

The value of User Experience... all the things we went over at the beginning. Those are what makes up UX. It is the entire purpose behind UX as a profession. Without providing it, UX ceases to exist. There can be user focused thinking, user centered design, but there is not Experience design as a value add. \n\nIf the wireframe machine keeps us from providing that value, and if not bringing that value means not practicing user experience design, then we can say that the wireframe machine needs to die in order to see the future of UX as a profession.\n\nSo, how do we kill it?\n

The first step is to stop selling UI solutions as UX solutions. This is for both UXers and non UXers alike.\n\nUser Experience is not something we can loop into a closed system. To be valuable it needs to be in an open system, interacting and taking into account business needs, tech needs and user needs. The wireframe machine keeps this system too closed. \n\nBut before we can stop selling UX as the UI we need to first \n

need to learn what UX really is. Both UXers and Non-UXers alike. The experience is not the interface, that is only a part of what UX people do. \n\nHow do we learn that. Well the first thing we should do is...\n

we have so many resources and blogs that can help us to learn more about the value of UX. The problem is, there are many that also perpetrate the problem. So how do you know the right resources? Those that are talking about UX strategy, defining problems, etc as opposed to only the interface = UX.\n\nBut reading and listening isn&#x2019;t the only thing you need to do...\n

Then do! Gain empathy and understanding of why the process is important. \n\nOnce we understand the real value of UX, and have cultivated our strategy, empathy, and design skills, we have to\n

educate our clients and our companies on our real value. One of the ways we do that is to speak in terms that resonate with them...\n

Once you know the value, speak the meaning of it, not the term. UX people are notorious for using terms that our business customers don&#x2019;t understand. They hear something like usability testing and that sounds unnecessary, but validating ideas before we waste money building... now that sounds useful. \n\nThere was a great article on Smashing Magazine recently by Tomer Sharon entitled &#x201C;Lean Startup is Great UX Packaging&#x201D;. I encourage everyone to go out and read it. \n

Just say no to only creating the wireframe before gaining your insights, before understanding the problem, before understanding the solution. No I cannot show you my wireframes only, I must tell you why they are important. \n\nNo we haven&#x2019;t yet defined the problem, I can&#x2019;t draw the solution. No I can&#x2019;t work in this closed system and deliver a good experience. \n\nStop showing these are your only accomplishments in\n

as your only value in interviews. \n\nStop showing these first as the &#x201C;UX solution&#x201D; in project meetings. There is so much more that you do in order to get to this interface. \n\nYes, this entire presentation is not to point out that wireframes are useless. It&#x2019;s to point out that they are not the experience and designing them in on their own does not constitute doing UX. T\nhey are an output of the process, they are a visual to show to get others to respond to, but they should be used correctly.\n\nNot all UXers are just doing strategy, and you aren&#x2019;t wrong for drawing the wireframe, you are wrong for thinking it is the experience, and that you can do it without doing this stuff first...\n

Understanding the environment you&#x2019;ve been asked to design in. Figure out the real problem. Understand the industry and business. Doing these does not require a long drawn out discovery process many times. It just involves you stopping for a moment to orient yourself to what&#x2019;s going on. If you skip this stuff, and just start sketching, and then if you show your sketches, prototypes, and wireframes as the experience... you are part of the problem. Just say no.\n\nNow, I know what you may be thinking. Lis, come on here. I need a job and my boss will never let me do all this work that isn&#x2019;t wireframes. It&#x2019;s just not feasible. And I&#x2019;m not telling you to go out and quit your job and live broke for the rest of your life. But you do have some options. \n\nYou can try to sit down with your teams and tell them about the value that UX is supposed to bring.\nSell them on what UX is and what the value really is\n\nAnd if that doesn&#x2019;t work, then you have 1 of 2 options. First...\n\n\n\n\n

One in which they at least are open to stepping outside of the machine&#x2019;s control into an open system environment that adapts to the problem and user at hand.\n\nAnd second...\n

And if you can&#x2019;t leave the machine that&#x2019;s fine... just please stop calling what you do UX, and call it what it is... Interface Creation. \n\nNon UXers you are on the hook to, and you have a very valuable and important role to play.\n

Be open to learning the value. You all want more value from UX. Well are you really open to getting it? Are you ready to hear how a UX person can help you with you product? Are you open to that. Well in order to get the value you need from UX... u need to prepare to receive it. \n\nIf you are open to the value, but can&#x2019;t find anyone that really provides it, don&#x2019;t just bring on UX people to say you have them... Instead...\n

If you want to get the real value from UX then demand it. Just say no to having your experience design done in a closed system. \n\nHire people that bring it the value of UX, not just for wireframes and interface design, but allow them to do the stuff they are supposed to do and in an open system of feedback!\n\nOk so our solutions to the problem are \n1. UXers and non UXers need to stop selling interfaces as UX\n2. UXers need to learn the real value of UX so that they can then\n3. Educate and Advocate for it.\n4. Non UXers need to be open to getting learning what UX really is and then they need to \n5. Demand that value\n\nThis is how we kill the machine... and what are the outcomes of killing the machine?\n\nFirst UX is set up to successfully bring the value that it promised. How? Well once we stop selling UX as the wireframe this is what we see\n\n\n\n

First once we stop selling wireframes as the solution, and sell the real value of UX instead.\n\n

our teams and businesses change their outlook on what UX value is. So instead of demanding wireframes\n\n

They demand UX value which then means that \n\n

Bringing the real value, and the types of things that UX people will be providing besides interface artifacts are...\n

So the types of things that UXers would use to deliver this real value would be\nProduct Roadmaps\nExperience Maps\nPersona Documents\nStrategy Decks - including Business benefit and user benefit.\n\nDoing these things, Bringing the real value of UX by means that UX is set up for\n

Success in bringing the value that so many of our businesses, products and services need. This means that UX is helping companies to be more successful as well.\n\nAnd we don&#x2019;t just do this because the value of UX is cool. But because it is really really valuable to businesses and our users.\n

We create that human-centered bond between a company and it&#x2019;s users.\n\nSo... we&#x2019;ve talked about a lot. Let&#x2019;s bring it all to a close...\n

In the beginning of this talked we talked about what the customer or user experience really is.\n\n&#x201C;A user experience is an interaction between an organization and a user as perceived through a user&#x2019;s conscious and subconscious mind. It is a blend of an organization&#x2019;s rational performance, the senses stimulated and the emotions evoked and intuitively measured against user expectations across all moments of contact.&#x201D;\n\nWe also defined the real value of UX as\n\n

Knowing what products and services to create, for who, and when to create them in order to facilitate a human-centered relationship with one&#x2019;s company. \n\nThis keeps customers happy, gives them what they need (while fulfilling business needs) and therefore... keeps them coming back for more.\n\nAnd we boil that down by saying that UX value = Business success...\n\nWe then talked about the current state of UX\n

and how it is similar to the industrial revolution in which progress was contained and &#x201C;measured&#x201D;. The wireframe machine, This is a never ending cycle of wireframe/interface misery created because UXers and non UXers had no idea how to sell UX. Instead of selling the real value of UX they sold the interface as the value.\n\nIt was created in order to describe UX in terms of a deliverable and to assure customers that they were creating &#x201C;good experiences.&#x201D;\n\nThis machine remaining alive and well causes a great deal of problems including: \n

1. UX is set up for failure - Businesses don&#x2019;t succeed in this experience age\n2. UX doesn&#x2019;t exist without its value.\n\nIn order to solve those problems we had to kill the wireframe machine. And they way we did that was by \n

User experience professionals can help kill the machine by.\n1. stop selling their value as the interface and the wireframe\n2. learning the value\n3. educating and advocating\n4. just saying no\n\nNon-UX professionals\n1. Be open to the real value of UX.\n2. Demand the real value of UX.\n\nWe saw the outcomes of killing the machine were..\n

we see \n1. UX is set up to successfully bring value - successful businesses in the age of experience.\n\nBut the biggest thing is that... right now UX value is like this here unicorn...\n

Caged up in a closed system. One that can be controlled. One that has to remain isolated. The value of UX will stay this way until we unlock it with an open system approach.\n\nThe most important, and scary, part of unlocking the value of UX is saying No. And this is for both UX people and business people to. Not only do we say No to the machine, we say No to faking experience design and demand the value that UX promised and is poised to give. \n\nRemember this\n

The Industrial Revolution is over. It ended about 160 years ago. We are now in the Age of the Experience. The age where true Experience Design, which relies on an open system to thrive, is needed for our businesses to succeed and to meet and exceed our users expectations. \n\nWhen it comes to selling and understand UX all of us have sat by quietly to avoid trouble and change for too long and moved along with the wireframe machine. We need to remove the rusted old machine from our lives so that we can work in an open system that gets feedback from it&#x2019;s environment to adapt to that environment. We need to kill the wireframe machine, all of us... for doing so is...\n

only real future of UX.\n

Thanks!\n

The Future of UX: Killing the Wireframe Machine

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The Future of UX: Killing the Wireframe Machine

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