This document discusses using a "rock star" mindset and strategy for UX work. It advocates listening to audiences, navigating complex businesses, breaking down silos, collaborating with diverse talent, persevering through challenges, and acting as agents of change. The key message is that the product experience is more important than the product itself, and experiencing things together builds community like at a concert. The document uses examples from rock bands and musicians to illustrate strategic lessons for UX.

1. Ronnie Battista
UXSTRAT
September 14, 2016
ronnieb@slalom.com
@ronniebattista
ROCK ON!THE STRATEGY OF THINKING LIKE A ROCK STAR

2. ROCKING
OUT TO
HAPPY
HOUR
THANKS
PAUL!

3. BEHIND THE MUSIC – UXSTRAT EDITION
STRATEGIC EXPERIENCE
DRUGS

4. REDACTED

5. My first Rock
experience.

6. 1984 – Lip Sync
”Back in Black”
AC/DC
1984 – Lip Sync
”Back in Black”
AC/DC

7. "TAKING IT TO 11”

8. TAKING BUSINESS STRATEGY TO 11
STRATEGY
RESEARCH
DESIGN

9. THE CASE FOR “ROCK STAR”
THE CASE FOR ”ROCK STAR”

12. QUICK SIDEBAR:
I HATE THE TERM
“UNICORNS” IN UX.
(or anywhere really)

14. UNICORNS MIGHT
CRAP RAINBOWS…
… BUT IT STILL SMELLS
LIKE BULLSHIT

15. MEAT
YES.
MAGIC?
NO.

16. WE AREN’T
MAGICAL

17. WIZARD

18. JEDI

19. GURU

20. ZEN
MASTER

21. SHERPA

22. NINJA

23. ROCK STAR

24. A FEW CAVEATS ABOUT “ROCK STAR”…

25. THIS IS NOT A UX ROCK STAR

26. THIS IS NOT A UX ROCK STAR

27. FACT: SOME ROCK STARS ARE ASSHOLES
A FACE JUST
BEGGING TO
BE PUNCHED

28. THE STRATEGY OF
THINKING LIKE A
ROCK STAR

29. UX STRATEGISTROCK STAR
•LISTEN TO THE AUDIENCE
•NAVIGATE A COMPLEX BUSINESS
•BREAK DOWN SILOS
•BAND TOGETHER WITH DIVERSE TALENT
•PERSEVERE
•AGENTS OF CHANGE
•KNOW THE PRODUCT IS THE EXPERIENCE

30. LISTEN TO THE AUDIENCE
Led Zeppelin pioneered Album-Oriented Rock (AOR), which evolved
from progressive rock radio in the mid-1970s, using detailed
audience research and formal programming to create an album
rock format with greater commercial appeal.

31. HAIR BANDS WERE GREAT…

32. … UNTIL THEY WEREN’T

33. NAVIGATE A COMPLEX BUSINESS
WHO LIKES
M&M’S?
EVERYBODY WANT
SOME?

35. ”WHEN I WOULD WALK BACKSTAGE, IF I SAW A BROWN M&M IN
THAT BOWL ... WELL, LINE-CHECK THE ENTIRE PRODUCTION.
GUARANTEED YOU'RE GOING TO ARRIVE AT A TECHNICAL ERROR.
THEY DIDN'T READ THE CONTRACT. GUARANTEED YOU'D RUN INTO A
PROBLEM. SOMETIMES IT WOULD THREATEN TO JUST DESTROY THE
WHOLE SHOW. SOMETHING LIKE, LITERALLY, LIFE-THREATENING.”

36. BREAK DOWN SILOS WALLS

39. BAND TOGETHER WITH DIVERSE TALENT

40. THIS IS NOT
ROCK & ROLL.
OR A TEAM.
(AND NO ONE IS
LAUGHING WITH
YOU CHRIS)

41. THE SCHLOMONES!!!
Ladies and Gentile-men…

42. People don’t
want to see
women doing
things they don’t
think women
should do.
- Joan Jett

43. “If you have
twenty guys in
the room and you
just bring in one
girl, you change
the entire mood
and everyone
plays different.”
- Jack White

46. “IF YOU THINK
YOU ARE TOO OLD
TO ROCK & ROLL,
THAN YOU ARE”
Lemmy Kilmister
Motorhead
1945 - 2015

47. PERSEVERE

49. Tony
Iommi
Black Sabbath

50. SEEK OUT STRATEGIC PARTNERS

51. • DESIGNER• PRODUCT
MANAGER
• ENGINEER• UX
STRATEGY VOCALS BASS
GUITARDRUMS
WHO IS
IN YOUR
BAND?
WHO
ISN’T?

52. AARON
IRIZZARY

55. SEPTEMBER, 1992
“
“Goofy garage thunder from an international quartet who all
met at the University of York. Live Shows apparently adopt an
exclusive theme. Students from Hell, we presume” – Kerrang

58. “They sound too
damn happy for their
own good! Maybe
someone should
attach a cheese
grater to their
genitals to help
toughen up their
sound” – Rob Zombie

59. ROCK & ROLL
WASN’T A
PRODUCT
EVERYONE
WANTED
AGENTS OF CHANGE

61. DON’T EQUATE THEIR
ACTIONS, EQUATE
THEIR INTENTS

62. QUESTION THE SYSTEM

63. RAGE AGAINST YOUR MACHINE

64. KNOW THE PRODUCT IS THE EXPERIENCE
THE PRODUCT IS THE EXPERIENCE

66. YES, TECHNOLOGY IS
CREATING NEW
WAYS TO
“EXPERIENCE”

67. EXPERIENCE THE NEW REALITY

68. TECHNOLOGY
CHANGES…
…BUT THE
SONG REMAINS
THE SAME

69. The BieberThe Beatles

70. The Bieber

71. MUSIC IS AN
INCORPOREAL
PRODUCT.
IT CAN ONLY BE
EXPERIENCED.

73. WHY WOULD YOU
COME TO THIS
CONFERENCE IF YOU
CAN GET THE
CONTENT FOR FREE?

74. People experiencing the same
event, at the same time and in
the same space, are in that
sense “equals”. This has
tremendous binding power.
A togetherness is formed and
this is called
“communitas”.
Quote: https://medium.com/@bobhoranjr/why-we-crave-shared-experiences-5443afba6405#.wtgf4ka88
VICTOR TURNER
CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGIST

79. BECAUSE EVERYBODY ROCKS
UX STRATEGY: UNITES US ALL
UXSTRAT LOVE FROM NEW ZEALAND!

80. BECAUSE EVERYBODY ROCKS
UXSTRAT LOVE FROM THE UK!

81. TIME FOR SOME
COMMUNITAS
(PLEASE STAND)
RIGHT NOW!

82. UXSTRAT PEEPS!
SHOW THE TWITTERVERSE
HOW HARD WE
ROCK!

84. WE LOVE ROCK
STARS BECAUSE
THEY ARE HUMAN.

85. THINK ABOUT YOUR ROLE IN UX
STRATEGY LIKE DAVE GROHL
THINGS ABOUT ROCK & ROLL
To me this award
means a lot because
it shows that the
human element of
making music is
what’s most
important…, it’s not
about what goes on in
a computer. It’s about
what goes on here
(heart) and it’s about
what goes on in here
(head). “

86. THINK * LIKE A
ROCK STAR
* AS AN EPONYMOUS TITLE? PROBABLY ISN’T SUCH A GREAT IDEA. J
THE TUNE TO REMEMBER:

87. ENCORE: THE POWER OF ROCK ON!

88. BECAUSE EVERYBODY ROCKS
Ronnie James Dio
1942 - 2010

89. BECAUSE EVERYBODY ROCKS
LIKE ROCK, UX UNITES US ALL

95. ALWAYS GREAT
GETTING THE
UXSTRAT BAND
BACK TOGETHER…

96. Peace LOVE
https://img1.etsystatic.com/059/0/9634473/il_570xN.729034461_ipxk.jpg
TIME TO
PARTY
LIKE A
ROCK
STAR!
… AND DAY 1 OF THIS
UXSTRAT GIG IS OVER.

97. Peace LOVE