Video available: http://www.designforcontext.com/insights/keeping-vision-alive-ixd Lisa Battle and Duane Degler, presentation at Interaction15, the IxDA conference, San Francisco, CA – February 9, 2015 Your vision is defined, your mandate is clear, and your team is energized. You’ve captured user needs and business considerations, your detailed design work is underway and focused on meeting these needs and the larger user experience vision. And then circumstances set in as the work continues… new technical constraints, scheduling functionality delivery to meet release cycles, necessary deviations from the vision to meet short-term requirements, scope adjustments, and so much more. As UX practitioners, we often face challenges “keeping the vision alive” as projects get caught up in constraints, details, and politics. But we can’t let those things derail us or take things too far from that solid, long-term vision. In this talk, we discuss strategies and practical techniques to help teams stay focused on meeting long-term goals, while addressing short-term needs and facing the circumstances and challenges that arise through the design and implementation process. Some examples we show and discuss include: communicating project vision with executives, project leads, team members, and users; reflecting scope and progress; connecting specific features and user stories to larger design goals; and letting people know what to expect and when. We also explore techniques we use as consultants to prepare the project team to hold the line on needed improvements, advocate for user needs, and build on the “big picture” over the long haul after the UX work is completed. Topics we will cover include: maintaining strategic perspective to support long-term, larger-scale objectives; planting seeds of understanding and ownership at various levels of the organization; and providing practical templates, guidelines, and decision trees to help support expansion and evolution in a way that maintains alignment with the larger intent.

1. Lisa
Ba'le
President
lisa@designforcontext.com
Duane
Degler
Vice President
duane@designforcontext.com
Keeping
the
Vision
Alive
TECHNIQUES
FOR
COMMUNICATION
THROUGHOUT
THE
PROJECT
LIFECYCLE
INTERACTION15
CONFERENCE
•
9
February,
2015
@design4context
#ixd15

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Keeping the Vision Alive Interac=on15
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© Design for Context
PRESIDENT
AND
FOUNDER
Understand user needs and
tasks. Design applica=ons
that work the way people
expect them to.
Lisa
Ba'le
VICE
PRESIDENT
Focus on organiza=onal and
user success. Help navigate
complexity via design and
informa=on architecture.
Duane
Degler

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© Design for Context
VISION

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© Design for Context
A user-­‐centered design process leads to
crea=ng a vision for a major redesign, a
new product, a strategically important
next genera=on of a product suite.
USER-­‐CENTERED
DESIGN

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© Design for Context
VISIONARY
PROTOTYPE
Provides
a
holisRc
view
of
what
the
experience
will
be
like
when
the
future
product
is
complete,
used
as
a
constant
reference
point.
Clickable
Prototype
Watch
videos

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© Design for Context
Par=cularly when projects extend over a long
period, challenges come up: technical
constraints, scope changes, new feature
requests, poli=cs, changes in leadership…
CHALLENGES

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© Design for Context
APer facilita=ng the crea=on of a vision
for a redesign or new product, the UX
team oPen becomes responsible for
keeping the vision alive.
KEEPERS
OF
THE
VISION

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Keeping the Vision Alive Interac=on15
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© Design for Context
COMMUNICATING
THE
VISION

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© Design for Context
ExecuRves
Project
Leads
Development
Team
WE
COMMUNICATE
THE
VISION
TO
DIFFERENT
AUDIENCES…

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Keeping the Vision Alive Interac=on15
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© Design for Context
ExecuRves
Project
Leads
Development
Team
WE
COMMUNICATE
THE
VISION
TO
DIFFERENT
AUDIENCES…
Early
Middle
Late

11. @design4context
Keeping the Vision Alive Interac=on15
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© Design for Context
Project
Leads
Development
Team
WE
COMMUNICATE
THE
VISION
TO
DIFFERENT
AUDIENCES…
Early
Middle
Late
What
is
the
vision?
How
is
it
be'er
than
what
we
had
before?
How
much
have
we
accomplished
so
far?
What
is
our
roadmap
to
achieve
it?
ExecuPves

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© Design for Context
VISUALIZATION
OF
PROCESS
AND
PAIN
POINTS
Allow
decision
makers
to
visualize
pain
points
in
a
current
process
and
show
how
the
vision
is
simpler
and
cleaner.
Customer
DB
Sales
Leads
External
/
Manual
Processes
Mark
as
prospect
Customer
found?
Open
report
in
Excel
Remove
duplicates
Yes
No
View
customer
info
Run
prospect
report,
export
Search
for
customer
in
sales
system
Create
record
in
sales
system
Review
customer
record
Mark
record
as
new
prospect,
add
notes
Valid
new
prospect?
Current
System
Send
to
Sales
Team
Open
Prospect
Spreadsheet
Customer
Service
Team
Sales
Team

13. @design4context
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© Design for Context
VISUALIZATION
OF
PROCESS
AND
PAIN
POINTS
Allow
decision
makers
to
visualize
pain
points
in
a
current
process
and
show
how
the
vision
is
simpler
and
cleaner.
Full
CRM
External
/
Manual
Processes
Mark
as
prospect
View
customer
info
Open
Prospects
List
Review
customer
record
Mark
record
as
ready
for
contact
Valid
new
prospect?
Future
System
No
external
or
manual
processing
Customer
Service
Team
Sales
Team

14. @design4context
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© Design for Context
ROADMAP
IdenRfy
feature
groups
and
explain
what
will
be
done
for
each
of
them
in
the
short
term,
mid
term,
and
long
term.
Phase
1
Phase
2
Phase
3
1.
People
(Customer/Prospect
DB)
2.
CommunicaRons
3.
Workflow
4.
Knowledge
Base
5.
Issue
Tracking
6.
Sales
Leads

15. @design4context
Keeping the Vision Alive Interac=on15
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© Design for Context
ROADMAP
Over
Rme,
track
the
feature
groups
and
show
which
ones
are
done,
which
are
in
progress,
which
have
not
started
yet.
Group
Short
Term
Mid-­‐Term
Long-­‐Term
Framework
Clarify
structure,
navigaRon
Streamline
look
and
feel
Streamline
access
levels
Expand
access
for
external
users
Establish
interacRon
model
between
elements
Enhance
interacRons
between
element
Define
complex
interacRons
elements
Customer/
Prospect
DB
Consolidated
data
Develop
base
view
Enhanced,
context
sensiRve
views
and
access
points
Develop
responsive
view
Further
develop
tools
and
views
IdenRfy
views
and
access
points
Support
history
tracking
dependencies
CommunicaPons
IdenRfy
types
and
prioriRes
Integrated
views
independent
of
mechanism
Clarify
views
and
relaRonships
Support
history
tracking
dependencies
Automate
response
opRons
Define
model
with
person
and
issues
Integrate
with
3rd
party
tools
Workflow
IdenRfy
rules
and
user
interacRons
Build
rules
engine
Define
work
management
opRons
Build
work
management
opRons
Establish
interacRon
model
Build
base
noRficaRons
and
access
points
Enhance
noRficaRon
and
access
points
Group
Short
Term
Mid-­‐Term
Long-­‐Term
Framework
Clarify
structure,
navigaRon
Streamline
look
and
feel
Streamline
access
levels
Expand
access
for
external
users
Establish
interacRon
model
between
elements
Enhance
interacRons
between
element
Introduce
2
nd
Rer
interacRons
elements
Finalize
machine
learning
framework
Customer/
Prospect
DB
Consolidated
data
Develop
base
view
Enhanced,
context
sensiRve
views
and
access
points
Develop
reporRng
views
for
dashboard
Further
develop
tools
and
views
Add
cloud-­‐based
abstracRon
layer
IdenRfy
views
and
access
points
Support
history
tracking
dependencies
CommunicaPons
IdenRfy
types
and
prioriRes
Integrated
views
independent
of
mechanism
Clarify
views
and
relaRonships
Support
history
tracking
dependencies
Automate
response
opRons
Define
model
with
person
and
issues
Integrate
with
3rd
party
tools
Workflow
IdenRfy
rules
and
user
interacRons
Build
rules
engine
Define
work
management
opRons
Build
work
management
opRons
Re-­‐evaluate
performance
metrics
Establish
interacRon
model
Build
base
noRficaRons
and
access
points
Provide
API
for
customer
integraRons
Enhance
noRficaRon
and
access
points
Completed
In
progress
At
risk

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© Design for Context
PROJECT
GOALS
Build
towards
goals,
not
features.
Understanding
goals
and
keeping
a
focus
on
them
throughout
a
project
is
essenRal.
Decrease
call
Rme
Increase
conversion
rate
Faster
idenRficaRon
of
each
caller
More
personalized
offers
Offer
incenRves
Quick
answers
to
most
common
quesRons
Feature
Feature
Feature
Feature
GOAL
(WHY)
HOW
WHAT
(FEATURE
SETS)
Sub
feature
Feature
Sub
feature
Sub
feature
Sub
feature
Sub
feature
Sub
feature
Sub
feature
Sub
feature

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© Design for Context
PROJECT
TIMELINE
A
Rmeline
that
looks
back
over
the
project
history
and
points
out
key
milestones,
phases
and
achievements—showing
what’s
been
done
so
far
and
what’s
sRll
coming.
Q3
2013
Q4
2013
Q1
2014
Q2
2014
Q3
2014
Q4
2014
Q1
2015
Q2
2015
Business
Process
Re-­‐engineering
Focus
Groups
and
Surveys
Visionary
Prototypes
Build
for
Beta
TesRng
Build
for
Extended
Pilot
Build
for
Full
Release
Framework
People
CommunicaRons
Workflow
Issue
Tracking
Knowledge
Management
Sales
Leads
Design
direc+on
agreed
on
by
stakeholders
(Dec
‘14)
Demo
to
Board
(May
‘14)
Release
for
Beta
(July
‘14)
Demo
to
Board
(planned
Nov
‘14)
Release
for
Pilot
users
(planned
Jan
‘14)
Today!
(Oct
‘14)

18. @design4context
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© Design for Context
ExecuRves
Development
Team
WE
COMMUNICATE
THE
VISION
TO
DIFFERENT
AUDIENCES…
Early
Middle
Late
What
is
in
scope?
What
are
the
prioriRes?
What
goes
into
development
next?
Where
can
we
scale
back?
Project
Leads

19. @design4context
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© Design for Context
VISION
WALL
Surround
the
project
team
with
arRfacts
that
express
the
goals
and
success
criteria.
Image
of
a
team
room
with
flip
charts
showing
goals,
criteria
for
success,
user
research
findings
Challenge:
Distributed
teams
do
not
have
an
easy,
ambient
shared
workspace

20. @design4context
Keeping the Vision Alive Interac=on15
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© Design for Context
PROJECT
MULTI-­‐
TRACK
OVERVIEW
Keeping
different
parts
of
the
project
in
synch
and
focused
on
how
they
can
work
together
towards
a
vision.
Q4
2013
Q1
2014
Q2
2014
Q3
2014
Q4
2014
Q1
2015
Q2
2015
Q3
2015
Q4
2015
Framework
Customer/Prospect
DB
CommunicaRons
Workflow
1.1
EvaluaRon
and
Feedback
1.2
IteraRve
Design
and
Development:
Base
Element
1.3
IteraRve
Design
and
Development:
Overall
look
and
feel
3.1
Data
modeling
2.1
Data
modeling
4.2
Build
rules
engine
2.2
IteraRve
Design
and
Development:
Customer/Prospect
InformaRon
3.2
3rd
Party
IntegraRon
R&D
4.1
IdenRfy
business
rules
2.3
History
Tracking
3.3
IteraRve
Design
and
Development:
CommunicaRons
3.3
IteraRve
Design
and
Development:
Workflow
InteracRons

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FEATURE
SUMMARY
Create
digesRble
summaries
of
features,
explaining
what
it
is
and
why
it
helps.
Discuss
which
features
have
been
built
so
far…
To
Do
This
Week
Cases
prioriRzed
automaRcally
for
each
user.
Tasks
and
AcPviPes
Non-­‐case
work
is
listed
in
the
same
area
as
case
related
work
so
users
have
just
one
place
to
look.
DASHBOARD
A
single
star=ng
point
for
planning
the
user’s
work
and
finding
any
cases
that
are
wai=ng
for
the
user’s
ac=on.
Quick
Access
to
ReporPng
and
Search
Users
can
quickly
find
their
reports
and
saved
searches.
2014
VERSION

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© Design for Context
FEATURE
SUMMARY
…
and
which
features
are
sRll
coming
in
the
future.
DASHBOARD
Addi=onal
tools
will
be
integrated
into
the
dashboard
to
give
users
more
visibility
on
their
produc=vity
and
help
them
plan
ahead,
including
what-­‐if
scenarios.
FUTURE
FEATURES
Credit
Calculator
Users
will
see
credits
earned
and
credits
needed
to
meet
their
goals
ProducPvity
Data
and
Tools
Views
of
producRvity
data
allow
users
to
see
their
historical
performance
Upcoming
Work
Planning
tools
allow
users
to
make
be'er
decisions
today

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© Design for Context
USER
STORY
OVERVIEW
A
quick
overview
of
user
stories
in
a
process
flow,
to
help
the
team
visualize
the
relaRonships
between
user
stories.
CUSTOMER
CUSTOMER
SERVICE
REPRESENTATIVE
Epic
#21:
Process
a
service
request
Request
a
service
Customer
found?
Epic
#15:
Create
new
customer
Find
available
services
Service
available?
Address
valid?
Receive
new
service
request
US
#1032
Find
customer
record
US
#1041
Verify
address
US
#1016
US
#1017
Edit
address
US
#1018
Browse
services
US
#1058
Search
services
US
#1059
Preview
a
service
US
#1060
View
recommenda
Rons
US
#1061
Submit
service
request
US
#1035
US
#1033
Receive
confirmaRon
US
#1036
US
#1042
US
#1034
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No

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© Design for Context
USER
STORY
SPREADSHEET
WITH
GRAPHS
Extend
the
user
story
list
to
show
status
of
stories.

25. @design4context
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© Design for Context
ExecuRves
Project
Leads
Development
Team
WE
COMMUNICATE
THE
VISION
TO
DIFFERENT
AUDIENCES…
Early
Middle
Late
How
does
__
feature
fit
in?
What
alternaRves
are
there?
Is
this
a
short
term
or
a
long
term
design?

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© Design for Context
ELABORATION
OF
DESIGN
Over
Rme,
parts
of
the
original
visionary
prototype
are
elaborated
in
more
detailed
wireframes.
Vision
prototype
Wireframes

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© Design for Context
SHOW
FEATURES
IN
CONTEXT
Within
a
user
story,
provide
a
“big
picture”
wireframe
and
idenRfy
areas
that
aren’t
in
scope
for
the
current
story.

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© Design for Context
USER
STORY
SHORT
TERM
AND
LONG
TERM
VERSIONS
SomeRmes
a
short-­‐term
design
soluRon
differs
from
the
intended
design.
When
possible,
signpost
this.

29. @design4context
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© Design for Context
ExecuRves
Project
Leads
Development
Team
WE
COMMUNICATE
THE
VISION
TO
DIFFERENT
AUDIENCES…
Early
Middle
Late

30. @design4context
Keeping the Vision Alive Interac=on15
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© Design for Context
AND
AFTER
THE
PROJECT
ENDS…

31. @design4context
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© Design for Context
Our work has a long half-­‐life and project
teams face many challenges over =me…
What else can we do to empower them
for long-­‐term success?
PERSPECTIVE

32. @design4context
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© Design for Context
Vision
Org
/
Business
PerspecRves
Specific
Project
PerspecRves
Project
Approach
Design
Approach
Design
Specifics
BIG
PICTURE
IN
MIND,
ALWAYS

33. @design4context
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© Design for Context
STRATEGIES
ThoughWul communica=ons and story-­‐telling
supports project and implementa=on teams
in =mes when you aren’t there.

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© Design for Context
CulRvate
seeds
of
understanding,
ownership,
and
advocacy
NURTURE
CHAMPIONS

35. @design4context
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© Design for Context
Provide materials that help the team
maintain the design and its intent over
=me, and expand as needed.
DOCUMENTATION

36. @design4context
Keeping the Vision Alive Interac=on15
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© Design for Context
MAP
OUT
THE
JOURNEY
Clear
dependencies
Manageable
steps
Visible
alignment

37. @design4context
Keeping the Vision Alive Interac=on15
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© Design for Context
Group
Short
Term
Mid-­‐Term
Long-­‐Term
Framework
Clarify
structure,
navigaRon
Streamline
look
and
feel
Streamline
access
levels
Expand
access
for
external
users
Establish
interacRon
model
between
elements
Enhance
interacRons
between
element
Define
complex
interacRons
elements
Customer/
Prospect
DB
Consolidated
data
Develop
base
view
Enhanced,
context
sensiRve
views
and
access
points
Develop
responsive
view
Further
develop
tools
and
views
IdenRfy
views
and
access
points
Support
history
tracking
dependencies
CommunicaPons
IdenRfy
types
and
prioriRes
Integrated
views
independent
of
mechanism
Clarify
views
and
relaRonships
Support
history
tracking
dependencies
Automate
response
opRons
Define
model
with
person
and
issues
Integrate
with
3rd
party
tools
Workflow
IdenRfy
rules
and
user
interacRons
Build
rules
engine
Define
work
management
opRons
Build
work
management
opRons
Establish
interacRon
model
Build
base
noRficaRons
and
access
points
Enhance
noRficaRon
and
access
points
Group
Short
Term
Mid-­‐Term
Long-­‐Term
Framework
Clarify
structure,
navigaRon
Streamline
look
and
feel
Streamline
access
levels
Expand
access
for
external
users
Establish
interacRon
model
between
elements
Enhance
interacRons
between
element
Introduce
2
nd
Rer
interacRons
elements
Finalize
machine
learning
framework
Customer/
Prospect
DB
Consolidated
data
Develop
base
view
Enhanced,
context
sensiRve
views
and
access
points
Develop
reporRng
views
for
dashboard
Further
develop
tools
and
views
Add
cloud-­‐based
abstracRon
layer
IdenRfy
views
and
access
points
Support
history
tracking
dependencies
CommunicaPons
IdenRfy
types
and
prioriRes
Integrated
views
independent
of
mechanism
Clarify
views
and
relaRonships
Support
history
tracking
dependencies
Automate
response
opRons
Define
model
with
person
and
issues
Integrate
with
3rd
party
tools
Workflow
IdenRfy
rules
and
user
interacRons
Build
rules
engine
Define
work
management
opRons
Build
work
management
opRons
Re-­‐evaluate
performance
metrics
Establish
interacRon
model
Build
base
noRficaRons
and
access
points
Provide
API
for
customer
integraRons
Enhance
noRficaRon
and
access
points
EVOLVING
ROADMAP
Completed
In
progress
At
risk

38. @design4context
Keeping the Vision Alive Interac=on15
38
© Design for Context
Grant
-­‐
PracPcing
engineer
28
years
old
KNOWLEDGE
Engineering
subject
ma'er
●●●○○
EXPERIENCE
Years
of
job
experience
●●○○○
TECHNOLOGY
Computer/web
knowledge
●●●●○
DEMOGRAPHICS
&
CHARACTERISTICS
• Can
travel,
but
might
do
it
less
now
• Busy
WORK
/
RESPONSIBILITIES
• Working
engineer
• Master’s
not
PhD
RELATIONSHIP
TO
TRADE
ORGANIZATION
• Not
acRve
member;
not
enough
Rme
to
volunteer
• A'ends
local
chapter
meeRngs
BACKGROUND,
KNOWLEDGE
&
EXPERIENCE
• Very
familiar
with
the
industry
GOALS
&
MOTIVATIONS
• Networking
• Wants
to
get
licensed
/
keep
license
USE
OF
TECHNOLOGY/WEB
• Tech
savvy
IMPLICATIONS
FOR
SITE
DESIGN
OR
CONTENT
Membership
in
trade
organizaRon
could
help
him
with
career
development
and
networking
(conversion)
Create
a
list
of
references
WHO
Research
Project
Assistant
WHEN
At
any
Rme
FREQUENCY
Daily,
potenRally
mulRple
Rmes
a
day
ENVIRONMENT
Online
TRIGGER
Primary
researcher
requests
a
list
of
potenRal
publicaRons
that
can
be
used
as
references
SCENARIO
In
preparing
to
publish
a
research
arRcle
in
a
peer-­‐reviewed
journal,
the
Research
Project
Assistant
begins
to
create
a
list
of
references
that
either
in
support
of
the
research
or
against
the
research
so
that
when
the
primary
researcher
is
ready
to
begin
wriRng
the
arRcle,
she
has
a
list
of
relevant
references
to
use.
PROCESS
VARIATIONS
• Depending
on
the
journal
in
which
the
references
will
appear,
they
will
need
to
created
in
various
formats,
such
as
APA
or
Chicago.
PERSON
VARIATIONS
• Some
Research
Assistants
keep
a
list
of
previously
used
references
on
hand
with
secRons
marked
so
that
when
the
researcher
is
preparing
a
new
arRcle
similar
to
a
previous
arRcle
she
all
ready
has
the
needed
references
DATA
CONSIDERATIONS
• None
PERSONAS
AND
SCENARIOS
Re-­‐ground
people
in
the
users’
experience

39. @design4context
Keeping the Vision Alive Interac=on15
39
© Design for Context
STYLE
GUIDES
AND
PATTERN
LIBRARIES

40. @design4context
Keeping the Vision Alive Interac=on15
40
© Design for Context
What
kind
of
content
is
it?
Product
markeRng?
Help
content?
“About
us”
info?
Other?
Future
product?
Current
product?
Product
Overview
page
“On
the
horizon”
area
Org
strat.
and
goals?
Dept.
details?
Our
people?
Clickable
org.
chart
“2014
Vision”
page
Dept.
home
page
Help
repository
Call
webmaster
DECISION
TREE

41. @design4context
Keeping the Vision Alive Interac=on15
41
© Design for Context
SUMMARY
Keep a big picture mindset, and encourage others
to do the same
Help team members tell meaningful stories
Create ar=facts to support evolu=on over =me

42. Lisa
Ba'le
President
lisa@designforcontext.com
Duane
Degler
Vice President
duane@designforcontext.com
Keeping
the
Vision
Alive
INTERACTION15
Thanks!
Presenta=on is on Slideshare – Go to www.designforcontext.com/publica=ons
@design4context