Everyone loves the *idea* of design thinking, but not everyone has been able to put it into practice, especially at scale. In this session we will review a few case studies from the Cisco Security Business Group that demonstrate how design thinking has transformed the way large, complex, enterprise software products are being designed and built using design thinking as a driving process.

1. Mark Congiusta
Senior User Experience Manager, Cisco Security Group
April 27, 2020
Design Thinking in the Real World
As Told Through Memes, Pop-culture References, and Assorted Clip Art

2. • Mark (don’t worry about my last name)
• Design leader at Cisco for 10 years
• Architecture, product, web, advertising,
animation, graphics, UX, a couple of design
degrees etc.
• Has led billions of Design Thinking
initiatives in and outside of Cisco
• Has been known to exaggerate
WHO’S THIS GUY?

3. Think about something you
love for 30 seconds…

5. “[A]n upbeat mood makes
people more receptive to
information of all kinds”*
*Adam K. Anderson, “Positive affect increases the breadth of attentional selection,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104, no.1 (2007): 383-388.

6. IT’S SCIENCE

7. PRO TIP:
ALWAYS PUT THEM
IN THE MOOD

12. Culture
Strategy
Tactics

13. Culture
Strategy
Tactics
Define
Invest
Communicate

14. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

18. Core Principles Design Thinking

19. PRO TIP:
SAY IT SO A
ANYONE CAN
UNDERSTAND

20. TO MAKE DESIGN THINKING HAPPEN
YOU GOTTA SPEND MONEY

25. © 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential

27. PRO TIP:
IF YOU DON’T HAVE
A BUDGET, SPEND
YOUR TIME INSTEAD

28. LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT
DESIGN THINKING
I’M LISTENING

32. PRO TIP:
SAY IT SO THE
PEOPLE IN THE
BACK CAN HEAR

33. Culture
Strategy
Tactics
Collaborate
Track
Learn

34. Culture eats strategy for
breakfast.*
*Peter Drucker, Management Consultant
But without strategy
culture will starve.

36. LIKE A BOSS
GET YOURSELF A CO-CONSPIRATOR

37. © 2019 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential
Cross Functional
And Diverse

38. ENGINEER
FACILITATOR
SALES
PM UX
SUPPORT

41. PRO TIP:
FIND ALLIES AND
SMITE YOUR
ENEMIES

43. “In God we trust, all
others bring data”*
*William E. Deming, Management Consultant

44. Analytical Leadership Cross-functional Talent
Continuous Iteration User Experience
Companies’
Greatest Design
Weakness*
10
10
17
Create a bold, user-
centric strategy
Embed design in the C-
suite
Employ design metrics
8
6
5
Balance qualitative and
quantitative user
research
Test, refine, repeat.
Fast!
Integrate user,
business, competitor
research
4
8
9
Invest in design tools
and infrastructure
Nurture top design
talent
Convene cross-
functional teams
9
8
4
Integrate with third-party
products and services
Start with the user, not
the spec
Design a seamless
physical, service, and
digital-user experience
*https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-design/our-insights/the-business-value-of-design

45. RESULTS:

46. “Not everything that can
be counted counts, and
not everything that counts
can be counted”*
*Albert Einstein, Theoretical Physicist

47. PRO TIP:
KEEP THE
RECEIPTS

50. vs

51. Customer Questions 1 2 3 4 5
Was it clear that search results included several types of
results and objects? ✓ ✓ ✓ — ✓
Were the search results useful? ✓ ✓ ✘ ✘ ✓
Did they understand how to use the supplied objects ✓ ✓ ✓ ✘ ✓
Did the logic model successfully resolve the use case? ✓ ✓ ✓ ✘ ✓
Did the summary page show that the intent was
implemented? ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

52. Customer Validation

53. © 2019 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential
An Efficient Failure
A Flawed Success
An Epic Win

54. PRO TIP:
IF IT’S BROKE,
ITERATE

55. Culture
Strategy
Tactics
Target
Process
Methods

59. vs
FRAMING:
Design a vase
Design a way to
enjoy flowers

60. vs
BE CRYSTAL:
Normalize layer 3 and
layer 7 policy
orchestration
Customers know
intuitively how to write
policies and know
exactly what happens
when they deploy

62. Visual design/UI (Atomic UI) ✓
Terminology (SBG Glossary) ✓
Micro interactions (Archetypes) ✓
Aligned policy workflow ✎

64. PRO TIP:
DON’T START WITH
MOVING TARGETS

66. Numerous user forums, workshops, and visits.
Dozens and dozens of research studies.
Hundreds of customer interactions.
Thousands of data points.
Implementing an evidence-based design
process? Priceless.

67. Design Thinking Is Now Part Of Our Day Job

73. USING DT FOR LOTS OF STUFF

74. PRO TIP:
CAN’T TRUST THE
PROCESS IF YOU
DON’T HAVE ONE

78. Not so good
Great!

83. PRO TIP:
DON’T BELIEVE
THEIR BULLSHIT,
EVERYONE CAN
DRAW

85. BOO!!!

91. PRO TIP:
TOOLING WON’T
MAKE YOU… BUT IT
MIGHT BREAK YOU

95. interactivemark@gmail.com