User Experience is a Culture...not an Interface

Editor's Notes

1.  a list of misconceptions of UXHeavily influenced by:http://whitneyhess.com/blog/
2.  many things go into building a great user experience.  The user interface is just one piece of the puzzle.
3.   Don't try to add user experience to a checklist.  Its a cultural shit in how your create products/services that are meaningful to your users.
4.  There are many disciplines involved with creating a great user experience.  Technology is one of them.  Psychology, content strategy, user research, aesthetics, information architecture are the ingredients for a good ux recipe.  
5.  There might be a person in your organization that claims to know all of the disciplines involved with UX.  But you need the **right** staff to do it will.  The "army of one" mentality won't get you very far.. 
6.     User experience shouldn't be a conscious effort, it should be in grained as a culture within your organization.  Your products will reflect how seriously you take UX.
7.     the following slides are a list of statements that describe how we embrace ux as a pillar of our organization.
8. User experience can’t be all wrapped up into a single user interface, UX is the entire system and all of the inner workings. This is a great example of how the various disciplines in UX can come together to create a great product. http://futureselfservicebanking.com/
9.  This is VERY important.  Continually gathering input about the people your are designing for is crucial.  Even if you can't afford to do full-blow user research, you should at minimum observe your users in the context in which you are designing for.  
10.     This slide speaks for itself.  There is an emotional connection to things that WORK WELL.  Iphone, iPad, cooking pans, drinking glasses, sharp culinary knives…the list goes on.  If you aim to delight the user, you can establish an emotional connection with them.
11.    Let user experience be a grass roots effort.  Embrace these disciplines as a culture an your product will be enhanced.  Start within your organization first….then move outward.
12. User experience WILL be the means of differentiation in the marketplace. Doesn’t matter if you product is creative, line of business, or service-based….UX sells.
13.      A summary of the previous slides
14.     This is a basic list of disciplines that make for a great ux.  This list is in no way complete….if you are doing these things in context to what you are designing, you will be better off.  
15.    This slide has a lot behind it.  The basic idea is to get your employees excited about working in their environment.  There are many things that can help shape your own innovative teams.  Embracing technology, trends, social media, etc will be reflected in your products.  Give them ipads, iphones, windows phones, Safari, Firefox, IE8, OSX, Windows 7.  If that is how your employees want to work, then let them do it.  You'll be betteroff for it.   
16. For most digital products, there is a good chance that your employees could also be your customers.  So treat them accordingly.  Innovation and user experience starts from within.  Believe in what you sell, if your product has low rating from customers then its nobody's fault but your own.  
17. Buy vs. build is an old-school concept referring to the decision of building custom tools, or purchasing them.  The point is to leverage APIs, technology platforms, and tools that can get you most of the way there.  The last 20% is up to you.  Make sure you understand WHAT your user is doing, then customize that sharepoint (or whatever) solution so that it makes sense for them.  Partnerships with technology company, and leveraging what is available in ways that make sense can be invaluable to your company as technology changes.
18.  It doesn't matter if you have a great product or a bad product.  Get it out there for people to see.  You WILL learn things you'd never thought you know.  Always listen for ways to make your ______ better.  And on the other hand, if you find out your next multi-million dollar project is a flop early on…then you tell your boss you saved the company tons of money.
19.     When embracing user experience as a part of your organization.  There are only two things to remember from this deck…Its a culture…not one person, not technology, not a user interface.    your employee is your customer so treat them accordingly.