UX is Strategy, Not Design
Peter Merholz peterme@peterme.com @peterme

Peter Merholz
peterme@peterme.com
@peterme

In order for UX to
achieve it’s potential, we need to reframe it as a profession. Peter Merholz peterme@peterme.com @peterme

But of course I’d say
that, because I’m of the prior generation.

I’ve been geeking out about
user experience for a long time.

I invented the term because
I thought Human Interface and usability were too narrow: I wanted to cover all aspects of the person’s experience with a system, including industrial design, graphics, the interface, the physical interaction, and the manual. Don Norman, 1998 email

The Elements of User Experience
Jesse James Garrett jjg@jjg.net A basic duality: The Web was originally conceived as a hypertextual information space; 30 March 2000 but the development of increasingly sophisticated front- and back-end technologies has fostered its use as a remote software interface. This dual nature has led to much confusion, as user experience practitioners have attempted to adapt their terminology to cases beyond the scope of its original application. The goal of this document is to define some of these terms within their appropriate contexts, and to clarify the underlying relationships among these various elements. Web as software interface Concrete Completion Web as hypertext system Visual Design: visual treatment of text, Visual Design: graphic treatment of interface elements (the "look" in "look-and-feel") Visual Design graphic page elements and navigational components Interface Design: as in traditional HCI: Navigation Design: design of interface design of interface elements to facilitate elements to facilitate the user's movement user interaction with functionality Interface Design Navigation Design through the information architecture Information Design: in the Tuftean sense: designing the presentation of information Information Design Information Design: in the Tuftean sense: designing the presentation of information to facilitate understanding to facilitate understanding Interaction Design: development of Interaction Information Information Architecture: structural design time application flows to facilitate user tasks, defining how the user interacts with Design Architecture of the information space to facilitate intuitive access to content site functionality Functional Specifications: "feature set": detailed descriptions of functionality the site Functional Content Content Requirements: definition of content elements required in the site must include in order to meet user needs Specifications Requirements in order to meet user needs User Needs: externally derived goals User Needs: externally derived goals for the site; identified through user research, ethno/techno/psychographics, etc. User Needs for the site; identified through user research, ethno/techno/psychographics, etc. Site Objectives: business, creative, or other internally derived goals for the site Site Objectives Site Objectives: business, creative, or other internally derived goals for the site task-oriented Abstract Conception information-oriented This picture is incomplete: The model outlined here does not account for secondary considerations (such as those arising during technical or content development) that may influence decisions during user experience development. Also, this model does not describe a development process, nor does it define roles within a user experience development team. Rather, it seeks to define the key considerations that go into the development of user experience on the Web today. © 2000 Jesse James Garrett http://www.jjg.net/ia/

Dan Saffer, 2009
(http://odannyboy.com/)

Such definitional struggles are okay
— it speaks to our field’s dynamism.

As products have evolved into
services, UX has gotten muddy.

Many (most?) UX practitioners have
a design background, and a bias towards execution (in order to feel legitimate).

Though UX emerged from design
disciplines, it is not a design discipline.

So, what is UX design?

3 years ago, on this
very stage...

Then what does a “UX
designer” do?

typography instructional design perception architecture
industrial design cognition emotion exhibit design action fashion design data visualization game design

typography instructional design perception architecture
industrial design cognition emotion Wait a minute! Do I have to be good at all of that?! exhibit design action fashion design data visualization game design

It’s been right in front
of us for quite a while, but we couldn’t see it, because of our bias towards design-as-execution.

And Jesse called it out,
but so far into a packed presentation that it didn’t get the attention it deserved...

Minute 37 of 40...

Aha! The practice of UX
operates at the level of coordination.

Coordination of what?

User experience arises from the
sum total of interactions with a organization’s products and services.

That includes business development, marketing,
engineering, customer service, retail, as well as product and service design.

(Why do we continue to
behave as if design is the only organizational practice concerned with a user’s or customer’s experience?)

Just because UX emerged from
software and grew with web doesn’t mean it has to be digital.

UX is not a functional
group in an organization.

A “UX department” absolves other
departments from concerning themselves with UX.

The companies that deliver the
best UX often don’t have the biggest UX groups.

UX is a mindset. (it
is a humanistic way of approaching problem solving)

UX is an outcome. (this
is why you can have a good or bad user experience)

You can’t “design experience,” but
UX benefits from intent and a singular vision.

UX Design is not all
of these distinct disciplines.

UX Design is what’s left.

The challenge for a UX
designer is to identify where, how, and what level to engage.

May I suggest a model...

Interaction Information Design Architecture UX
Industrial Visual Design Design Sound Architecture Design

You could have started at
a specific discipline, but now you’re overseeing many factors.

UX is a leadership role.
(and not necessarily a management role.)

UX is a systems role.
(UX brings humanity into systems design and engineering)

UX is a synthetic role.

We use design approaches, but
not for ‘design’ outcomes. These approaches drive broader understanding.

So what does this person
do?

Begin in free sites Attempt
contact Find more leads Paid search Experience PeopleSmart within a funnel Try the trial membership and decide on a paid membership Use and decide on a renewal Find out as much as possible from free sources Evaluate the search capabilities of PeopleSmart Determine the accuracy of the data by trying it out Add PeopleSmart to the “go to” tool box Determine the accuracy of Leave no stone left Abandon the free the data by trying it out unturned serach Consider paid searches The Sleuth will ask herself: A Sleuth will use her own credit card or get permission to and phone numbers The Sleuth will see additional cross-sell offers such as Bits and pieces of information acquired during the free With continued use, she becomes familiar with the site site with a more rational mindset and take the time to read eople who search for people for Customer’s Is this accurate? Is it current? Is it cost effective for Awesome! What’s this I have to pay even Now I could just me to keep searching O Ugh! Yet another more for what I really want?! How can I tell? in all these various I guess I’ll try site I have to They have “trial membership” start my search these...they’re a long places? shot but maybe I’ll learn to navigate. newer data! all about? with PeopleSmart. search for a person begins with get lucky. Thinking begin to search in free sites before considering a paid search such as if Try to if list another phone number report lists another then then phone number contact the got out of the free search person the Sleuth will consider the costs report and start the free Send a registered letter or make a phone call to START OVER Try to contact the person User insights if GOOGLE DATABASE Send a registered letter then if additional data Doing or make a phone call to then list another phone number lt s su S for the free trial and might Se Add e re ea arch rch it i “GO TO” TOOl bOx Of DaTabases START START TOOl bOx Of lasT ResORT OVER OVER Results con- Duplicate, useless or inaccurate results found if ‘em yet? then list another phone number found found ‘em yet? ‘em yet? START START OVER OVER Touchpoints Contact Report Order Receipt Background Order Receipt Credit card is Talk with Renewal notice Look and feel of Search See the deal Report email the site results offered email from trial ends staff Excited Feeling Curious Reassured Unsure Unsure Goal: Find the current contact Concerned information and whereabouts of a Betrayed Frustrated Business Business Development Units Marketing Marketing Thank you Search Optimization User Experience By: Analytics Loretta Neal Member Services

Facilitation

Ideation

Ideation

Experience strategy and vision

Experience strategy and vision Do
more with less Authentically digital Pride in craftsmanship Be fast and fluid Win as one

[Image removed due to proprietary
nature.] Experience planning

Ongoing oversight and
orchestration

UX designers lead organizations to
ensure that great experiences get out into the world.

This doesn’t mean UX designers
can’t or shouldn’t do the execution work. It’s just a different kind of work. (Directors can write, act, shoot, and edit, too.)

UX needs to stop selling
itself short.

UX needs to think and
act big.

UX needs to not let
others define what it does.

UX needs to lead, not
follow.

Thank you for your consideration.
Peter Merholz peterme@peterme.com @peterme