Briefing on the past 12 months' work and achievements of the User Experience Service, and looking ahead to the next year. Delivered to the University of Edinburgh Digital Transformation Board, 9 May 2018

1. User Experience Services
update
Digital Transformation Board
9 May 2018
Neil Allison
User Experience Manager

2. Timeline
2016/7
• UX Service consultancy model proposed
• Student Digital Experience Standards & EdGEL service proposals
2017/8
• UX Service consultancy model pilots
• Promotion of service & case studies
2018/9
• Student Digital Experience Standards (inc EdGEL) service pilots
• UX Service planning for transition to BAU

3. Target organisational maturity
Source: Abi Reynolds, www.uservision.co.uk
• Initial position:
Absent to Informal
• By end of 2016/17:
Recognised
• By end of 2018/19:
Managed

4. Achievements & what’s next
• Activity to date:
• Researched & developed a Human Centred Design Process for the University
• Proposed Student Digital Experience Standards & EdGEL operating model
• Undertaken UX consultancy pilot activities supporting a range of projects & services
• Developed & delivered UX training
• Cycle of community events established
• Promotional website & Sharepoint insight repository set up
• What’s next:
• Recruitment – UX consultancy and Standards staff
• More support to projects and services, more case studies
• Pilot Student Digital Experience Standards
• Refining process & evolving/expanding the EdGEL resource
• Embedding processes, integration with web governance
• Establishing a sustainable operating model

5. Service offering
www.ed.ac.uk/is/ux
• Services
• Resources
• Processes
• Case studies
• Informal advice and consultation
• Consultancy and advisory support
• Recruitment support
• Team training and guidance
• One-off or fixed-scope activities
• Active involvement through a project

6. Case studies
• Range of levels of involvement
• From agency/contractor recruitment & brief
development
• To full collaborative immersion in a project
• With students and staff
• Websites, applications and blended services
• Across the project lifecycle
• Pre-project discovery to late stage usability testing
http://bit.ly/UoE-UX-case-studies

7. Design thinking workshops
to uncover student attitudes,
behaviours and needs

8. Students attitudes to selfies, social media and ID
“I don’t take
selfies.”
“People roll their
eyes when it’s
‘selfie time’.”
Uncovering opportunities
for quick fixes &
fundamental shifts in
expectations for the
longer term

9. Producing living documents
that facilitate collaboration
& encourage ongoing user
engagement

11. Keeping users involved
http://bit.ly/UoE-HCD

12. Scope of case study projects
Card services
BI/MI
APIs
UCP contact details
Finance service for students
Helpline IT self help
UCP students’ study admin
Online learning applicants
HELPLINE ENHANCEMENTS
• Call completion time dropped from
3.25 to 2 days
• Encouraged two thirds of Central
wifi users to switch to Eduroam
• Measurable engagement ‘funnels’
through self-serve content

13. Our challenges
Starting with the problem
& solution already
defined
Not enough time or money
factored into project plans
Customers looking for a product
rather than to solve a problem:
“We need some personas”
“Design us a journey map”
User research too late:
seen as a validation
exercise
Governance impeding
ability to respond to
learning as we progress
Plans for longer term
evaluation and
improvement not
prioritised
Research seen as a
one-off activity

14. The solution? Standards
• Student Digital Experience Standards
• Encouraging appropriate planning from the outset
• Facilitating ongoing self-service appraisal against the HCD model
• Managing the risk of not taking a user-centred approach
• Promoting use, evolution & expansion of EdGEL
• How can we embed Digital Experience Standards
in our most critical services and projects?

15. Thank you
Questions?
Neil Allison
User Experience Manager