The Design Studio: The User Experience Practitioners Secret Weapon John Whalen, PhD Principal, Strategy & User Experience jw@brilliantexperience.com brilliantexperience.com @brlexp

Agenda Introductions Introduce Brilliant Experience & Methodology UX Methodology - More than UX Detail the Design Studio and Its Origins Introduce Todays Problem Work Through Design Studio Summary Design Studio as Secret Weapon

Introducing Brilliant Experience

Research Stakeholder Interviews Field Research Competitor Reviews Expert Reviews Strategy and Ideation Strategy Workshop Design Studio Rapid Prototyping Iterative Refinement UX and Design IA & Flow Interaction Design Concept Realization Visual Design & Branding

Fast Facts Boutique user experience consultancy Founded 2011 Founders 15+ years experience in the field Approximately 1/2 clients large enterprise, 1/2 funded startups Self-funded, profitable since inception Annual revenue doubling since founding

Types of Clients 1. Enterprises seeking innovation renewal - Seek more user research - Want strategy and ideation guidance - Need help motivating team 2. Startups seeking professional UX - Need help getting product to launch - Want a more professional user experience

Sample Clients

Meet Our Specialists user experience usability designerdeveloper

Innovation Challenge

The world around us is changing faster than ever

Leading companies can falter faster than ever if they fail to innovate.

Having a great brand is not enough.

Having a great brand is not enough.

We support Entrepreneurs and Intrapreneurs by leading mission-critical UX innovation projects.

How do we cross the chasm? User Insights Great Experience, Successful Product Insert Magical Process Here

Not recommended

Hard to find

Brilliants Methodology

To help you understand what this is, lets play Name that Methodology

User Stories 1 Design & Develop 2 Feedback 3

User Stories 1 Design & Develop 2 Feedback 3 Agile

Build 1 Measure 2 Learn 3

Build 1 Measure 2 Learn 3 Lean Startup

Lean Startup

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience 1 2 3 4 Empathize with the audience you are designing for. Brainstorm possible designs Build a representation of one or more of your ideas PrototypeIdeateResearch Test your ideas for feedback Test

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Empathize with the audience you are designing for. Brainstorm possible designs Build a representation of one or more of your ideas PrototypeIdeateResearch Test your ideas for feedback Test Design Thinking 1 2 3 4

Design Thinking

Design Thinking Check out IDEO, or as we like to say: Brilliant Experience of the west A couple books by IDEO founders:

Brilliants Agile/Lean/DT Experience

Brilliants Methodology Mix market research (probing individual psyches for needs/desires) user-centered design design thinking / innovation techniques lean startup / agile UX behavioral economics / persuasive design ! Plus some: management consulting

UX success lies beyond UX

Two Tracks Product Development Team Development

Two Tracks Product Development Team Development Empathize with your audience Determine management alignment

Two Tracks Product Development Team Development Empathize with your audience Determine management alignment Baseline measurement Evaluate the team

Two Tracks Product Development Team Development Empathize with your audience Determine management alignment Baseline measurement Evaluate the team Design studio

Two Tracks Product Development Team Development Empathize with your audience Determine management alignment Baseline measurement Evaluate the team Design studio Exploration of solution space Intensive training

Two Tracks Product Development Team Development Empathize with your audience Determine management alignment Baseline measurement Evaluate the team Design studio Exploration of solution space Intensive training Partner designers / developers Support UX team

Examples

Two Tracks Product Development Team Development Empathize with your audience Determine management alignment

What do they say? do? think? Consumer! Lawyer! Banker! Neuroscien2st! VAD7Nurse! Drug7Researcher! Farmer! Federal7Administrator! Mom7/7Chaueur!

Stakeholder Alignment

Two Tracks Product Development Team Development Empathize with your audience Determine management alignment Baseline measurement Evaluate the team

Baseline Testing

UX Lead Technical Lead User Researcher Usability Expert Front-End Developer Front-End Developer Interaction Designer Majority of large organizations use hybrid employee/consultant teams Provides specialized capabilities when needed Helps to kick start internal team growth Allows company to determine which roles should be in house UX Strategist consultant employee Evaluate The Team

Two Tracks Product Development Team Development Empathize with your audience Determine management alignment Baseline measurement Evaluate the team Design studio

CEO: I know you had an agenda, but lets just sketch our ideas anyway...

Elevator Pitch

Business Needs

Personas

Scenarios

Customer Experience Journey

Early Ideation

Two Tracks Product Development Team Development Empathize with your audience Determine management alignment Baseline measurement Evaluate the team Design studio Exploration of solution space Intensive training

Sketching & Prototyping

Design Iterations

Iterative Testing PRESS GANEY Welcome Lidia | My Account | Customize Clinical Performer detail Volume By Service Line detail detail detail detail detail Southwest ORTHOPEDICS Pediatrics Emergency Surgery Cardiology Neurology Oncology Hospital Acquired Infection 9 16% Physical Restraint Accidental OverdosagesAdverse Blood Reactions 24% 1 2 4 50% 12% Complications 24% 2.7% Mortality Core MeasuresReadmissions 16% 24% 85% 24% 1.2% 24% detail detail RevenuePerformanceView:Date Range: 1m 3m 1yr YTD Custom Division/Service Linequick Links: Performance > System Wide

Intensive Training

Summary

Two Tracks Product Development Team Development Empathize with your audience Determine management alignment Baseline measurement Evaluate the team Design studio Exploration of solution space Intensive training Partner designers / developers Support UX team

PayPal Research, Strategy, and Redesign

Design Studio in Detail: Origins and Evolution

Design Studio Origins Design school - Intensive group critique of work - Learn through criticism - Take chances and learn through experimentation - Everyone learns through design.

Design Studio Evolution Goals of Design Studio for UX - Rapidly align team on: - Internal business goals of project - Prioritized audiences - Audience goals and scenarios - Relationship between business and audience needs - Rapidly form ideas around - Possible solutions space - Early concepts

Design Studio: Components

Elevator Pitch

Business Needs Prioritization

Persona Prioritization & Build

Scenarios

Customer Experience Journey

Early Ideation

Sketching & Prototyping

Design Iterations

Introducing a Design Studio

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Introduction

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Today, we will create the foundation for a winning web strategy and design direction through a strategy workshop & design studio.

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Introduce the design studio process, our goals and activities. Prioritize business goals. Ensure we are aligned on IRS goals for the project and desired outcomes. Prioritize your audiences, define them create the scenarios in which they would use this product. Audience NeedsEnterprise NeedsIntroduction Flesh out best ideas. Get the team to agree on promising conceptual directions through presenting concepts to the team. Design Studio The Process 1 2 3 4

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Schedule - Day 1 Time Activity & Description 12:30 1:00 Kickoff & Introduction 1:00 - 2:00 Elevator Pitch 2:00 - 2:10 Brief Break 2:10 - 3:00 Prioritize Business Objectives 3:00 3:20 Prioritize Site Audiences 2:30 - 2:45 Brief Break 3:30 4:30 Create & Present User Personas 4:30 - 5:00 Summary & Wrap Up

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Schedule - Day 2 Time Activity & Description 8:00 - 8:20 Day 2 Kickoff 8:20 - 8:30 Stakeholder Comments on Day 1 Findings 8:30 9:20 Create & Present User Scenarios 9:20 - 9:30 Brief Break, Design Studio Setup 9:30 9:45 Feature Brainstorming Session 9:45- 10:00 Introduction to Conceptual Design & Design Studio 10:00 11:15 Homepage Design Sprints 11:15 11:45 Group Presentations of Designs 11:45 12:00 Wrap up

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Goals Collaborate Generate ideas End up with several good ideas

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Guidelines for the next two days. 1. Minimal phones, tablets, or laptops - we need to focus on the project - We will give you breaks to get your fix 2. We must generate a lot of ideas quickly - We will have deadlines to get things done 3. We are not in the idea- or ego-squashing business - We succeed through a breadth of perspectives

Todays Workshop Challenge

Problem Statement:

Meet the Lemieuxs, speak English little bit

Lemieuxs plan for Washington DC

Meet the Washington Metro

Quest-ce que cest???!!!

Excus moi?

Will it take my children away from me?

Are there any signs?

Challenge: ! Use design studio to figure out how to make it easier to get a family through the Washington Metro using their mobile phone(s).

Individual Activities

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Elevator Pitch

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Warm Up The Elevator Pitch - Work independently - Present to the group - One Post-It note per space

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Elevator Pitch The elevator pitch is a quick assessment of team alignment. The goal is to briefly describe your new product as if you were in an elevator pitching it to a key stakeholder. We want each individual to describe its audience, their need, the products category and biggest benefit, and how it uniquely serves your audience.

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Elevator Pitch For who have _______________ is a that Unlike ______________ (target customer), (customer need), (market category) (one key benefit). (less efficient option), (unique differentiator).

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Elevator Pitch - Discussion Benefits Time duration Getting clarity on direction

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Prioritize Enterprise Goals

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Enterprise Goals List out, group and prioritize all the goals you have as an enterprise. Goal: Ensure we are all aligned on goals and directions. Ensure we understand how to create success criteria.

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Enterprise Goals - Discussion Importance of voting and procedure there. What if senior stakeholder wants to pull rank? Demonstrates difference between business goal (I want more people to sign up) and a user goal (they dont necessarily want to sign up)

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Prioritizing Site Audiences

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Prioritizing Site Audiences We want to be able to think like your target audience(s) Create personas that will help us relate to that person and anticipate their action Steps: 1. Brainstorm to create all the major audiences for the site. 2.Prioritize the audiences 12:30 - 1:15

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Create Personas

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Create Personas We want to be able to think like your target audience(s) and create personas that will help us relate to that person and anticipate their actions Team up for this task and provide: - Name - Picture - Description - Goals & Needs - Technologies

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Personas - Discussion What do you like to include in personas? Are these the right level of fidelity for you? Have you ever made these with senior folks, developers, marketers and UXers in the same room? What happens if you do?

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience User Scenarios Create the scenarios in which your persona would be using the tool - Describe the situation and goal of your persona - How would they use this tool? - What are they trying to accomplish? - What information are they seeking?

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience User Scenarios - Discussion Benefits? How do you do this differently? What happens when the marketers make one of these (sometimes)?

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Introducing the Design Studio

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Quantity over visual quality. The more ideas the better. Sell your concept to the group. Using prioritized user scenarios and business needs. CritiquePresentIdeate Creatively based on feedback. Refine The Design Studio Process 1 2 3 42 3

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Goals Collaborate Generate ideas End up with several good ideas

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Guidelines for the next two days. 1. Minimal phones, tablets, or laptops - we need to focus on the project - We will give you breaks to get your fix 2. We must generate a lot of ideas quickly - We will have deadlines to get things done 3. We are not in the idea- or ego-squashing business - We succeed through a breadth of perspectives

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Design Studio Critique Present, critique, and prioritize interesting ideas

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Concepts & Ideation

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Concepts and Ideation Use the 8-square page. Sketch unique ways that the tool might work. Produce as many as possible. Be creative! Work independently. Be prepared to present your work to the group when you are done.

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Concepts and Ideation - Discussion What do senior executives say when we ask them to do this? What do we say in response? ! What are ways this would be hard for you to do at your organization? ! How is this culture aligned with your organization? Is there anything else you might do to introduce the concept.

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Detailed Design Use the 1-square sketching page Provide more detail about what is on the page and how it would work You can use sticky notes to annotate the features and functionality Work in teams At the end of the session you will present your work to the group

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Detailed Design - Discussion How many sprints are typically recommended here? How long should users take for designs? What happens when they work on teams? Is that an issue? What outcome are we looking for? (Finished designs?)

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Review Our Work & Shared Understanding

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Review our work Recognize priorities, top audience needs, promising design possibilities.

Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Thank you. Congratulate the team!

Design Studio: Procedural Details

Duration of Meeting How long have yours been? - Mine: 1/2 day to 3 days - 1/2 day - well defined app - 2 days - typical for larger group that needs to achieve alignment - 2 days enough to allow for true design studio - detailed design and critique - Sometimes need longer when there is detailed information about the users available

Selecting Features Elevator Pitch Affinity Diagraming Business Priorities Prioritizing and building Personas Prioritizing and building Scenarios User Experience Mapping Brainstorm sketch concepts, revise concepts ! Why/When do any of this? What is missing?

Workshop Agenda - Day 1 Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Schedule - Day 1 Time Activity & Description 9:00 - 9:30 Kickoff & Introduction 9:30 - 10:00 Elevator Pitch 10:00 - 10:10 Brief Break 10:10 - 11:30 Review Business Objectives 11:30 - 12:30 Lunch Break 12:30 - 1:15 Prioritizing Site Audiences 1:15 - 2:30 Create User Personas 2:30 - 2:45 Brief Break 2:45 - 3:30 Experience Journey Mapping 3:30 - 4:30 Creating User Scenarios 4:30 - 5:00 Summary & Wrap Up

Workshop Agenda - Day 2 Copyright 2012-2013 Brilliant Experience Schedule - Day 2 Time Activity & Description 9:00 - 9:20 Day 2 Kickoff 9:20 - 9:30 Stakeholder Comments on Day 1 Findings 9:30 - 9:40 Brief Break, Design Studio Setup 9:40 - 10:00 Introduction to Conceptual Design & Design Studio 10:00 - 12:00 Homepage Design Sprints 12:00 - 1:00 Lunch Break 1:00 - 3:00 Interior Page Design Sprints 3:00 - 3:15 Brief Break 3:15 - 4:30 Final Design Sprint & Presentation Preparation 4:30 - 5:30 Team Presentations 5:30 - 6:30 After Party

Who to Invite? When to get involved? Senior Executives / Executive Sponsor UX Design Marketing Development Operations Other channels (print, in-store, phone support) SMEs ! Others?

Who to Invite? When to get involved?

Tools Youll Need

Worksheets, Posters Elevator Pitch Defining Characteristics: Name: persona sketch sheet Age: Gender: Occupation: picture description other goals & needs technologies

Design Studio in Agile Sprints

One Example from client

Design Studio as UX Secret Weapon

Design Studio - Side Benefits Understand team dynamics - See the team working together - Understand the personalities, roadblocks, willingness to learn, try new things ! Allow a safe environment to explore new ideas - Get executive permission (demand) to change - Give permission to brain storm possibilities - Provide rare chance for cross discipline interaction (marketing, development, UX, design, sales) - Align team on way forward, even if underspecified

Design Studio - Side Benefits Let other team members understand UX and Users - Challenge other teams to think like the user - Force prioritization of audiences - Get those team members to role play as a user, develop empathy - Demonstrate the challenges of UX design - Get them to prioritize - Allow other teams to empathize with the challenges and needs of the UX team

Design Studio - Side Benefits Get feeling of accomplishment - Create immediate decisions and deliverables - Ensure that the team have built something together, for once - Create a pact between UX, Execs, Developers, Marketers (when does that happen otherwise?) - Build team camaraderie

Just one piece of the UX puzzle Product Development Team Development Empathize with your audience Determine management alignment Baseline measurement Evaluate the team Design studio Exploration of solution space Intensive training Partner designers / developers Support UX team

Research Stakeholder Interviews Field Research Competitor Reviews Expert Reviews Strategy and Ideation Strategy Workshop Design Studio Rapid Prototyping Iterative Refinement UX and Design IA & Flow Interaction Design Concept Realization Visual Design & Branding Thank you! @brlexp | brilliantexperience.com