Collaborating with UX

COLLABORATING WITH UX
PMs + UXers = BFF

AGENDA
 About Me
 Activity #1 – UX Kickoff Document
 Show & Tell
– About UX @ AppNexus
– Activity #2 – Using the UX Toolkit
– How to be a PM that great UXers dread working with
– How to be a PM that great UXers love working with
– Random Tips from a UXer
– #1 Asset for a PM
 Q&A time

ABOUT ME
 Wanted to study Graphic Design at DAAP. Got into Digital Design program
instead.
 Started professional career doing package design / branding
 Have freelanced (thought I would love it; hated it)
 Have worked at agencies (LPK, Resource Interactive, Blue Diesel)
 Have worked at enterprise companies (LexisNexis, Fifth Third Bank)
 Currently Assoc. Director of UX @ AppNexus
 Now I really like focusing on designing complex UI applications and leading a
team of UXers

ACTIVITY #1 – UX KICKOFF
 Using your project for this class…
 Pretend you have been working on your project idea at work, where you are a
PM.
 After your company’s recent prioritization process, you learn your idea made
the cut for Q3 prioritization
 You have just been allocated a UX resource and need to get this person up to
speed so they can get started on your project

COMMON TYPES OF UX’ERS
 User Experience Designers
– Specialty is designing workflows and interactions to support business
goals
 User Experience Researchers
– Specialty is understanding users (field visits, user testing, etc)
 Visual Designers
– Specialty is the look and feel (typography, icons, colors, etc)
 Information Architects
– Specialty is structure and hierarchy (navigation, naming, etc)

UX @ APPNEXUS
 4 Designers (each embedded in a project team/scrum team)
– Various levels of experience; different interests and strength areas
 2 Researchers (shared resources amongst designers and project teams)
– 1 Researcher focuses on early-stage, ethnographic research
 She answers fuzzy questions like “How do users think about “premium inventory”
 Sometimes in the field, sometimes not
– 1 Researcher focuses on design validation
 He runs the AppNexus Allies program (3 users per week, every Thursday)
 Usually remote testing via GoToMeeting
 1 Visual Designer (contractor)
 What about Information Architecture? We share it!

MY TEAM’S MISSION STATEMENT
Understand user motivations
so that we can influence user behavior
to achieve and inspire business goals
(unofficial mission statement = use as many gifs as possible)

User Research

UX Design

Metrics and Analysis
(we are working on this)

UX Strategy
(we are working on this too!)

THE UX TOOLKIT
 The goal of this toolkit is to develop a
shared language around UX
deliverables and tools.
 We want to help you determine the
lightest-weight deliverable that you
need in order to accomplish your goals.
 UX is in the problem-solving business,
and you don’t solve problems with
design documentation.

CASE STUDY: GLOBAL NAV REDESIGN

CASE STUDY: GLOBAL NAV REDESIGN
2 week timeframe

ACTIVITY #2
 Look back at the kickoff document you created earlier
 Using that information, use the UX toolkit to create a plan for your project
– You can cut it out into cards or you can just write it down
 Remember to consider your timeframe, areas of uncertainty, etc.

THE TRIFECTA
 Product Owner
– Responsible for backlog, prioritization and
resource allocation
– Should be the expert on business value and
the decision maker client’s goals and
motivations
 UX Lead
– Responsible for experience across the entire
“offering”
– Expert on user value and user’s goals and
motivations
 Tech Lead
– Responsible for providing estimations
– Expert on our technology & capabilities
PM
UX ENG
PM
UX
ENG
LESS WATERFALL…
MORE TRIFECTA!

HOW TO BE THE PM THAT GREAT
UX’ERS DREAD WORKING WITH

 Contact UX when the project is 85% finished and ask them
to “pretty it up” before release

 Require detailed mocks for everything no matter what

 Think only about the changes you are making and not how it may impact
other parts of the user’s workflow

 Commit to deadlines based on your own estimate for how long it should take
UX to design “just a few changes” (Same goes for Eng.)

 Take the mocks and run. Don’t involve the UX person in the implementation
or validation stages

 Restrict access to users and don’t share what you learn from them

 Assume you know what users need better than they do, and ignore what they
say they want. You know best!

 Consider the project done when it matches the vision in your head

UX’ERS ♥ TO WORK WITH
 Respect the Trifecta (don’t forget the Tech Lead either)

 Factor in User Value, not just Business Value, when prioritizing

 Hold a kickoff and communicate expectations early and often

 Choose the most lightweight way to accomplish what you need

 Define success metrics at the beginning of the project (and
track them)

 Actively participate in the design process

 Know (or find out) your target users’ goals and motivations and what their
lives are like

 Leave room in the process for revisions
– (Avoid the Malkovich bias, which means assuming that everyone
else uses technology in the same way you do”)

 Leave room in the process for UX review/signoff

 Encourage the whole team to focus on the end user

FINDING A GREAT UX DESIGNER
 They should:
– Understand the business
– Always ask for context
– Think macro, not micro
– Design in a collaborative way
 Including with non-designers!
– Be willing to abandon dead ends
– Crave contact with users
– Know what they don’t know

AWESOME UX TOOLS THAT YOU CAN
USE TOO!
 ZURB Solidify
– Quick way to build prototypes from mocks
 ZURB Verify
– Collect user feedback on A/B variations
 Optimal Sort
– Online cardsorting tool with great analytics
 Survey Monkey
– Surveys, obviously
 ScreenHero
– Collaborative screensharing / pair designing
 Silverback
– Record usability tests

A NOTE ON CONSISTENCY
 Barriers to consistency:
– Myth that Designers hate consistency because they are “creative”
– A huge focus on being “innovative” even when what we have works fine
– Most early-stage companies have processes that make it easier to NOT be
consistent
 Why consistency is worth it:
– Less design and tech debt
– More time spent on higher-impact issues
– A more consistent experience for users

BIGGEST ASSET AS A PM: TRUST
 Your stakeholders need to trust that you will do what you say you will do
 The WHY is more important than the HOW. If the team agrees with your WHY,
they will work with you to figure out the HOW
 If trust is not established, or is damaged:
– They will find ways to work around you
– They will hedge their bets/estimates/recommendations to achieve their own goals
– Collaboration will not be the default mode
– The quality of the end product will suffer

IAmA UX Professional – AMA
 Questions?

Collaborating with UX

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