Defining ‘UX Debt’ How it’s incurred How it’s measured Identifying UX maturity of an organization

1. UX Debt: The Cost of
Taking Short Cuts
Hira Javed
May 13, 2015

2. About Me
Usability Specialist
@hirajaved10
http://lnkd.in/HGSpHW
UX Instructor

3. What we’ll talk about:
• Defining ‘UX Debt’
• How it’s incurred
• How it’s measured
• Identifying UX maturity of an organization

4. How do you experience
something?

5. “User experience represents the
perception left in someone’s mind
following a series of interactions
between people, devices, and events –
or any combination thereof.”
- Eric Reiss

6. UX = the sum of a series of
interactions

7. Types of Interactions
• Active (in our control)
• Passive (out of our control)
• Secondary (things that have indirect influence)
Source: Eric Reiss http://bit.ly/1nY60XZ

8. Designing a User Experience
• Coordinating interactions that are controllable.
• Acknowledging interactions that are beyond our
control.
• Reducing negative interactions.
Source: Eric Reiss http://bit.ly/1nY60XZ

9. “All interactions are open to
subjective interpretation.”
- Eric Reiss

10. How do you define debt?

11. Technical Debt
“Those internal things that you choose not to do
now, but which will impede future development if
left undone in software projects.” - Ward Cunningham

12. How do you know your technical
debt is compounding?

13. Defining UX Debt

14. Defining UX Debt
• Joshua Kerievsky extended that metaphor to UX
design.
• Increased cost of maintaining the user experience
due to short cuts taking throughout the product’s
lifecycle.

15. Defining UX Debt
• It’s less invisible to internal stakeholders than
technical debt.
• UX debt is more user facing in nature and can be
dangerously easy to both overlook and
underestimate.
• This makes it harder to realize you’re
accumulating it, let alone paying it off.
Source: Vijay Sundaram http://bit.ly/1GcgD25

16. Defining UX Debt

17. Incurring UX Debt

18. Incurring UX Debt
• Intentional
• Unintentional

19. Incurring UX Debt
Intentional:
• Deliberate corner-cutting due to project
constraints (budget, time, resources).
• “Don’t fix what’s not broken” mindset
• Design ideas which could simplify user interactions
are considered too complex to implement within
a specific time-frame, and as a result are
sacrificed.

20. When product decisions
compromise the user experience,
the result is UX debt.

21. Incurring UX Debt
Unintentional:
• Less obvious since it results from lack of
information or misconceptions and assumptions
about the end users.
• If time and resources are invested without
validating assumptions or legitimate insights, the
mounting UX debt could result in product failure.

22. What are the signals that you’re
accumulating UX debt?

23. Measuring UX Debt

24. Measuring UX Debt
This is a challenging task if:
• an organization has a large product ecosystem
• lack of baseline UX metrics
• Inconsistency in branding
• No formal implementation of design standards

25. Measuring UX Debt
Two key pieces of information are needed:
1) What is the baseline measurement of each
product’s UX?
2) What is the desired level of experience that
the organization aspires to create.

26. Measuring UX Debt
Once a consensus has been reached on the right
UX metric for the product, and what the optimal
experience looks like, some sort of scoring
mechanism needs to be developed.

27. Severity of Current UX Issues
Critical: “If we don’t fix this, users will
not be able to complete the task.”
Major: “Many users will be frustrated if
we don’t fix this. They may give up!”
Minor: “Users are annoyed but this does
not keep from completing the task”

28. Measuring UX Debt
• The quality of experience can be measured
across different factors such as: user
engagement, adoption, retention, satisfaction
etc.
• The greater the gap between current and desired
experience across any factor, the higher the debt
score.

29. Measuring UX Debt
Description of UX Issue Severity Debt Score
Unusable: Imperative to fix Unusable 4
Major Issue: Important to fix with high
priority
Critical 3
Minor Issue: Should be given low priority Moderate 2
Cosmetic change Minor 1
Meets criteria No Issues 0
Source: Kimberly Dunwoody and Susan Teague Reactor http://bit.ly/1NzVONm

30. Measuring UX Debt
The level of severity of a UX issue can be calculated
by the data collected from expert evaluations of
the product, or by using prior usability testing as a
baseline.

31. Organizational UX Maturity

32. UX Maturity Model
Developed by Macadamian Technologies
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ
Stage 1: Unenlightened
Stage 2: Awakening
Stage 3: Enlightened
Stage 4: Super Human
Stage 5: Celestial

33. UX Maturity Model
Stage 1: Unenlightened
• Organization sees UX design simply as visual design,
“layered” on top of the product’s functionality.
• It’s addressed at or near the end of coding.
• No professional UX professionals in the house -
either employees or consultants.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ

34. UX Maturity Model
Stage 1: Unenlightened
Implications:
• High risk of displacement if competitors are able to
provide the same value and a better UX.
Indicators:
• No discussion of UX or only in terms of graphics
• End users are not consulted
• No UX goals tied to business goals
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ

35. UX Maturity Model
Stage 1: Unenlightened
What’s required to move forward:
• Ensure that relevant business issues are correctly
identified as being UX design related.
• UX education needs to happen.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ

36. UX Maturity Model
Stage 2: Awakening
• Organization genuinely considering to improving
UX, but still has no formal structure.
• UX may be misunderstood and any changes may
be implemented in bits and pieces.
• No UX professionals within in the organization, but
an outside expert may be consulted.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ

37. UX Maturity Model
Stage 2: Awakening
Implications:
• Experience does not play a major role in
differentiating the product from competitors.
• Organizations must decide level of investment in UX
processes and practices to stay competitive.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ

38. UX Maturity Model
Stage 2: Awakening
Indicators:
• UX design is a hot topic, at least for some projects.
• Design decisions are made based on some newly
acquired UX knowledge.
• Limited user feedback (opinions on design or
functionality).
• General or hard to measure UX goals.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ

39. UX Maturity Model
Stage 2: Awakening
What’s required to move forward:
• Launch a pilot project, overseen by experts, with a
clear connection between UX design goals and a
business objective.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ

40. UX Maturity Model
Stage 3: Enlightened
• Organization is doing UX right or at least
significantly better on some projects.
• Leadership team understands the value of design
and investments are being made in professional
hires or contracts.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ

41. UX Maturity Model
Stage 3: Enlightened
Implications:
• Products can be distinguished from competitors’
based on UX design.
• Success is still inconsistent across the product
portfolio and users may not associate the company
with excellence in UX design.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ

42. UX Maturity Model
Stage 3: Enlightened
Indicators:
• Evidence that UX design has clearly had a positive
business impact.
• UX goals are clear and measurable.
• Users involved but not always in the right way or in
time to inform design decisions.
• No senior leadership in UX. No standards.
• Executives are noticing and have opinions.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ

43. UX Maturity Model
Stage 3: Enlightened
What’s required to move forward:
• Clear UX goals for teams on projects and providing
accountability and empowerment to UX experts.
• Roles need to be defined so everyone on a project
feels they can contribute to the UX outcomes in
some way.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ

44. UX Maturity Model
Stage 3: Enlightened
What’s required to move forward:
• UX experts willing to take initiative, collaborate and
integrate with other functions.
• Senior leadership and expertise is required to help
align and coordinate UX resources and other
functions.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ

45. UX Maturity Model
Stage 4: Super Human
• Organization has moved beyond the basic “why
and hows” of UX design in their products.
• They are more concerned with the nuances of
particulars of improvement in UX.
• UX goals are clearly embedded with the
organization's mindset and people understand their
roles in the process.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ

46. UX Maturity Model
Stage 4: Super Human
Implications:
• The company has a reputation for UX excellence in
their products and often wins on this basis.
Indicators:
• UX is no longer a hot topic. Discussion is more likely
to be about the latest techniques, process
improvements, etc.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ

47. UX Maturity Model
Stage 4: Super Human
Indicators:
• A strong set of practices, processes and guidelines
exist that are actually utilized by project teams.
• Users are regularly consulted for projects. And it’s
done consistently with correct techniques.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ

48. UX Maturity Model
Stage 4: Super Human
What’s required to move forward:
• The next step beyond excellence is when the
organization realizes that the product experience is
just one part of a larger experience delivered to
customers.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ

49. UX Maturity Model
Stage 5: Celestial
• Strategic implementation of UX design principles.
• UX design is firmly integrated into all aspects of
customer experience. This includes all the touch
points that happen around the product.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ

50. UX Maturity Model
Stage 5: Celestial
Implications:
• The company has a reputation for excellence in all
aspects of customer experience.
Indicators:
• UX goals are linked to business objectives with total
customer experience in mind.
• Research in UX is strongly coordinated with other
customer experience feedback processes.
Source: Macadamian Technologies http://bit.ly/1F7ZpQZ

51. Key Take-ways
Characteristics of organizations that do UX well and
are conscious of their UX debt:
• The leadership and culture in the company
appreciates the value and necessity of UX design
from a business point of view.
• Access to UX expertise (in-house or out-source)
• They use appropriate technique to obtain and
understand user input.

52. Key Take-ways
• There are connected and integrated processes
that enable individuals to work together to create
the user experience of the product.
• The principles of UX design are applied to the
product ecosystem to drive consistent customer
experience.

53. Questions ?