Dear CEO:
Hi:
Recently there have been a number of threads about how to present the
argument for UX design to a company. In response I have put together the
following outline for a presentation. What improvements can you add?
----------------------------------------------------------------
>>Value Proposition
User Experience Design is an enormous opportunity for our company. It will
allow us to be more competitive and more profitable. With the right strategy
it's straightforward to implement, inexpensive and risk-free. It will make
our customers happy, improve employee morale and boost our ability to work
with partners. In short, there is a large upside and no downside.
>>What is UX design, exactly?
UX design is a way of approaching the development of interactive products
(such as software, web sites, web applications and interactive devices) that
focuses on the quality of the user's experience. It ensures that the
interactive products we produce are useful, usable and desirable. As a
result, they fit the needs of the customers, produce results with minimal
effort and are a pleasure to use.
UX design is achieved by the collaboration of the business (especially
product management and marketing) with engineering and with design
specialists.
>>How will UX design make us more profitable?
UX design will increase profits by:
o Reducing product development cost
o Reducing support costs
o Reduce training costs
o Making our customers happier and increasing market share
>>How will UX design make us more competitive?
UX design will make us more competitive because the interactive products,
software and websites we produce will be easier to use, more effective and
more desirable to our audience.
It will also reduce support costs.
Because our products work better and are better received, we will have a
competitive edge.
>>How can doing extra work reduce costs?
UX design is not extra work. The design of all the user interactions with
the product (and its environment) has to be done anyway. The problem is that
we traditionally do it in an ad hoc way. UX design processes don't add a lot
of new tasks.
Of course some new tasks are added but these are offset by increased
development efficiency. UX design processes improve the communications and
alignment between the development engineers and the business side. Research
shows that the increased clarity and consensus among the project's
stakeholders translates into a more efficient project and reduced rework.
It would be premature to suggest what our savings would be but a
conservative estimate would be 10-15% less rework as well as a shortened
time to market.
>>If UX design is so great, why isn't everyone doing it?
Many leading companies are doing it. We all know how Apple's focus on user
experience design has translated into a huge win for the iPhone. Now many
companies are focusing on making user experience design a core competence.
>>What do we need to do to implement UX design here?
User experience is not something you can "buy" and plug in. It requires that
we work in a different way:
o It's a way of approaching problems and working together
o It requires the whole-hearted cooperation of the business and IT
sides
UX design starts at the top:
o Because it cuts across departmental lines, it is only successful when
senior management determines that it must become a strategic core
organizational competence.
O We need you and other senior management to communicate the importance
of UX design throughout the company.
UX design must be positioned as a management objective for both the business
and technical side. Otherwise it will not be seen as a requirement and won't
be taken seriously.
UX design needs to be integrated into projects at the earliest possible
stages. Generally this means starting when the business case is being
constructed.
We will want a framework for UX design that integrates into our existing
frameworks.
We will need some UX design talent which we can either hire or purchase.
Over time, we want to build this talent in house.
It would be useful to make certain that we start capturing metrics from the
beginning so we can asses success and refine our processes as we learn from
our experience.
============================
Charles B. Kreitzberg, Ph.D.
CEO, Cognetics Corporation
============================
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Comments
Hi Charles
I'm sure other people will have different things to say, but I suspect that
a couple of your points sound too good to be true, which could somewhat
undermine the message.
- On UXD being "risk free"
I'd probably argue that iterative prototyping and research can mitigate
risk, reduce the chance of reaching market with an unappealing product,
and reduce the chance that you may need to engage in costly redesigns
because mistakes are caught at early stages. Though risks are reduced, they
are not removed entirely. Everything has a certain degree of risk. For
example, in a UXD process, there's a the chance that you spend too much
money or time in the design process, and then get to market late.
- On UXD being "inexpensive"
In the long run, yes, but only after a increased upfront investment. In the
short term, the design process will likely become more heavyweight,
involving some form of iterative user research and design. If a company is
used to dreaming up some requirements and then just building them, then
moving to a UXD process is going to bring more immediate costs.
Anyone else care to comment?
Harry
Hi Charles,
The approach of consolidating your "pitch" into one easy presentation is a
good start, but of course executives at large and small companies are rarely
swayed by one presentation or conversation or meeting.
As executive presentations go (having been through the gauntlet both as a
presenter and executive waaaay too many times), you probably want to:
* Write it backwards - put what you need at the top, and proof of its
value, move the supporting copy to the bottom or remove it
* Replace every sentence with an active phrase or brief "talking point" -
presentations should augment the discussion, not *be* the discussion.
* As Harry mentioned, seasoned executives have a finely honed sense of
smell for...er...hyperbole. Best not to claim any value proposition without
facts, case studies or hard numbers to back them up ("more effective" isn't
necessarily something UX delivers, in the broad sense - see the thread re:
usability testing as quality control)
I'm pretty sure you had one kind of CEO or executive in mind, so the pitch
would of course be quite different to a director at a Pharma company, whose
least worry is the competitive advantage of in-house apps for back-office
work. For example, I "sell" development cycle efficiency by assigning
nebulous UI work to a seasoned UX designer and focusing heavy-lifting
Model/Controller work to offshore groups - we gain about 50% more velocity
when my offshore folks don't have to wait a day for the color/position of a
button on XYZ page.
I like your thinking, and appreciate seeing how others would view this
difficult proposal for our industry.
Bryan Minihan
-----Original Message-----
From: discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com
[mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of Charles
B. Kreitzberg
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 9:27 PM
To: discuss at ixda.org
Subject: [IxDA Discuss] Dear CEO:
Hi:
Recently there have been a number of threads about how to present the
argument for UX design to a company. In response I have put together the
following outline for a presentation. What improvements can you add?
<< snip >>
I think Jared Spool's comments a few weeks ago summed up my thoughts
on how UX/UCD contributes to strategy (or doesn't!), so I'll just
refer you there:
http://www.ixda.org/discuss.php?post=45062#45062
But I'll also highlight this great quote from yesterday's Financial
Times, in which Robbie Bach, head of Microsoft's entertainment and
devices division, admitted that Windows Mobile isn't losing market
share because of sales or marketing or distribution or feature set,
but that, "Our experiences aren't as rich as they need to be."
http://bit.ly/8jbod
Victor
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=46405
Victor -
Interesting comment from Microsoft. Having been a Microsoft Mobile user
since the very early days (anyone remember Windows CE?), I would have to
say that the user experience still isn't great. 'Richness' for me would
be icing on the cake!
In fact, on my latest phone (an HTC Touch Pro 2), HTC have actually
engineered around some of the Windows Mobile clunkiness with their
TouchFlow3D interface. It's adequate, but not much more.
Regards,
William Hudson
Syntagm Ltd
Design for Usability
UK 01235-522859
World +44-1235-522859
US Toll Free 1-866-SYNTAGM
mailto:william.hudson at syntagm.co.uk
http://www.syntagm.co.uk
skype:williamhudsonskype
Syntagm is a limited company registered in England and Wales (1985).
Registered number: 1895345. Registered office: 10 Oxford Road, Abingdon
OX14 2DS.
Confused about dates in interaction design? See our new study (free):
http://www.syntagm.co.uk/design/datesstudy.htm
12 UK mobile phone e-commerce sites compared! Buy the report:
http://www.syntagm.co.uk/design/uxbench.shtml
Courses in card sorting and Ajax interaction design - Las Vegas and
Berlin:
http://www.nngroup.com/events/
> -----Original Message-----
> From: discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com [mailto:discuss-
> bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of Victor Lombardi
> Sent: 06 October 2009 7:18 AM
> To: discuss at ixda.org
> Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Dear CEO:
... admitted that Windows Mobile isn't losing market
> share because of sales or marketing or distribution or feature set,
> but that, "Our experiences aren't as rich as they need to be."
> http://bit.ly/8jbod
>
> Victor
I think that is Victor's point, William. That MS isn't cuttin' it
in the UX arena and thus can't compete.
But if you want to get a glimpse of where mobile windows is going,
check out the UI for the latest Zune. i got to play w/ it recently
and really loved it. If I wasn't so invested into DRMed AAC (upwards
of $500 according to Apple if I wanted to convert it to DRM-free),
I'd really consider it for my next MP3 player.
But regardless of that. A few thoughts.
I appreciate the "let's start the conversation" presentation that
Charlie presented. Very proactive post that gives people a tangible
tool. So kudos and thanx.
I think that I might make some changes though:
1) do what victor was doing. Case studies, quotes, etc. and try to be
as non-Apple as possible. Look at Zip Car, Salesforce.com, BBC,
Amazon, etc. Be sure to choose examples that are relevant to your
business and quantify their story in some way.
2) Fess up! as one person noted it WILL cost you money up front. It
is a new task which means new hours and probably new bodies. Create a
PLAN, not just a speech.
3) Demonstrate that you know your boss' business explicitly (not
that charlie wouldn't do this, but there wasn't a "place holder"
slide for this)
4) Don't go in alone. Be sure you've already created allies in the
other departments just by word of mouth.
5) Prep through blitzkrieg. When I was hit with this issue a few jobs
ago, I would hit almost weekly if not multiple times a week my entire
office with posts from BusinessWeek and FastCompany highlighting
design's direct effect on business. Again, stay away from Apple
examples.
6) Don't talk about user experience or even design. Talk about
measurable and tangible articulations of design in the context of
YOUR product.
7) Demonstrate that you have expertise by just being above your
boss' head, but not too much that they blow you off.
8) Here's the kicker ... JUST DO IT! Sketch out examples just based
on heuristics how you envision your company's products changing over
time. Be the visionary and show the sweat equity to your ideas.
Enjoy!
-- dave
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=46405
Hi:
Thanks for your responses to the "Dear CEO" post. To avoid cluttering up the
list, I will wait until this evening and then post a consolidated reply that
integrates your ideas into the original.
Of course, as some of you have pointed out, any presentation will require
substantiation and customization. My goal for this effort is to create a
"generic" approach that speaks to the way that senior managers think. What I
want to achieve is a tool that you can adapt for your own situation.
Some of you (for example Dave Malouf) have also contributed suggestions that
are not directly about the logic of the argument but are ideas about how to
conduct the session. I will assemble these into a companion document which
we can review later.
I believe that the collective wisdom of the group will lead to a truly
useful document. Thanks and keep those cards and letters coming.
Best,
Charlie
============================
Charles B. Kreitzberg, Ph.D.
CEO, Cognetics Corporation
============================
-----Original Message-----
From: discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com
[mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of dave
malouf
Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2009 9:15 AM
To: discuss at ixda.org
Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Dear CEO:
I think that is Victor's point, William. That MS isn't cuttin' it
in the UX arena and thus can't compete.
But if you want to get a glimpse of where mobile windows is going,
check out the UI for the latest Zune. i got to play w/ it recently
and really loved it. If I wasn't so invested into DRMed AAC (upwards
of $500 according to Apple if I wanted to convert it to DRM-free),
I'd really consider it for my next MP3 player.
But regardless of that. A few thoughts.
I appreciate the "let's start the conversation" presentation that
Charlie presented. Very proactive post that gives people a tangible
tool. So kudos and thanx.
I think that I might make some changes though:
1) do what victor was doing. Case studies, quotes, etc. and try to be
as non-Apple as possible. Look at Zip Car, Salesforce.com, BBC,
Amazon, etc. Be sure to choose examples that are relevant to your
business and quantify their story in some way.
2) Fess up! as one person noted it WILL cost you money up front. It
is a new task which means new hours and probably new bodies. Create a
PLAN, not just a speech.
3) Demonstrate that you know your boss' business explicitly (not
that charlie wouldn't do this, but there wasn't a "place holder"
slide for this)
4) Don't go in alone. Be sure you've already created allies in the
other departments just by word of mouth.
5) Prep through blitzkrieg. When I was hit with this issue a few jobs
ago, I would hit almost weekly if not multiple times a week my entire
office with posts from BusinessWeek and FastCompany highlighting
design's direct effect on business. Again, stay away from Apple
examples.
6) Don't talk about user experience or even design. Talk about
measurable and tangible articulations of design in the context of
YOUR product.
7) Demonstrate that you have expertise by just being above your
boss' head, but not too much that they blow you off.
8) Here's the kicker ... JUST DO IT! Sketch out examples just based
on heuristics how you envision your company's products changing over
time. Be the visionary and show the sweat equity to your ideas.
Enjoy!
-- dave
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=46405
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Hi Charles,
The goal of your consolidated presentation is a great idea, and would make
for an awesome template.
I've done similar presentation a few times, luckily for me most of the time
a large part of the audience had already "drunk the cool aide" ;)
Things I think you're absolutely correct on:
"UX design starts at the top:"
"UX design needs to be integrated into projects at the earliest possible
stages."
Things I find a little dubious, as others have noted - UX is easy to design
or build, cheap, risk free, (or a panacea for stopping projects from
failing). Some comments to your text:
"With the right strategy it's straightforward to implement, inexpensive and
risk-free."
- Never happened for me. Complexity of project makes "straightforwardness,
price and risk" go up exponentially when including UX in design VS just
building the simplest instantiation.
"UX design will increase profits by:"
"o Reducing product development cost" - I have never experienced this
"o Reducing support costs" - Can happen, also Support costs can spike
until users understand new UI
"o Reduce training costs" - See “support costs” above
"o Making our customers happier and increasing market share" - UX can
aide in this, but sometimes customers just like what they’re used to, good
bad or indifferent.
"UX design processes improve the communications and alignment between the
development engineers and the business side."
- There are lots of methodologies that improve this communication which have
nothing to do with UX, (see virtually all Agile Development processes).
--
Joseph Rich Rogan
President UX/UI Inc.
http://www.jrrogan.com
David -
Thanks for your note, but that is not how I read the MS quote from
Victor. MS appears to think they are not cuttin' it because their
experience is not rich enough. I disagree - I think their experience is
just plain not good enough. I keep meaning to do a blog on Maslow's
hierarchy of needs - my feeling is you need to satisfy the basic user
experience requirements before adding gloss (although gloss does make up
for *some* deficiencies). If MS concentrates on making their experience
*richer* before fixing some fundamental problems (like simple profiles
for comms and sound), they will just be applying lipstick to the pig.
Regards,
William
-----Original Message-----
From: discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com
[mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of
dave malouf
Sent: 06 October 2009 10:15 AM
To: discuss at ixda.org
Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Dear CEO:
I think that is Victor's point, William. That MS isn't cuttin' it
in the UX arena and thus can't compete.
...
oh!!! I see what you mean. Ok. I agree w/ you!
I interpreted "richness" to just mean "good". ;-)
-- dave
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=46405
I actually start my argument by presenting a comparative stock chart
comparing Apple versus Microsoft over the past five years in term of
business growth. That usually gets their attention! :)
Tom
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=46405
I like Tom's approach. Showing is almost always better than telling. If I
had to give a presentation meant to pitch UX, I would UX the heck out of
that presentation. The brochure/cold-call feel doesn't come off right.
"What's the best experience you've ever had with a piece of technology?"
"Okay, you specifically, why do you like your iPhone? And you there, why do
you like your Blackberry?"
"UX is about creating better experiences for people who buy your products
and interact with your company."
And then provide some examples.
Note: I wrote this up in 2 minutes so it might not read well.
On Tue, Oct 6, 2009 at 3:49 PM, Tom Gebauer <tom at tomgebauer.net> wrote:
> I actually start my argument by presenting a comparative stock chart
> comparing Apple versus Microsoft over the past five years in term of
> business growth. That usually gets their attention! :)
>
>
Also like the idea of showing and letting people talk about
experiences they love and why.
This can be a nice lead into a show and tell about example
experiences that are well crafted and well thought out.
rgds,
Dan
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=46405
David -
Interesting suggestion, but I have to warn you that to a lot of people
technology 'just is'. They haven't thought about their own experience of
it. I say this because I start some of my UCD courses (usually within
commercial organisations) asking people to name their most or least
favourite piece of technology. While some responses will be very quick
and enthusiastic, for others it is like pulling teeth. Maybe it's the
idea of having a favourite and in my case it just an ice-breaker, but I
was surprised by some of the responses at first.
Regards,
William Hudson
Syntagm Ltd
Design for Usability
UK 01235-522859
World +44-1235-522859
US Toll Free 1-866-SYNTAGM
mailto:william.hudson at syntagm.co.uk
http://www.syntagm.co.uk
skype:williamhudsonskype
Syntagm is a limited company registered in England and Wales (1985).
Registered number: 1895345. Registered office: 10 Oxford Road, Abingdon
OX14 2DS.
Confused about dates in interaction design? See our new study (free):
http://www.syntagm.co.uk/design/datesstudy.htm
12 UK mobile phone e-commerce sites compared! Buy the report:
http://www.syntagm.co.uk/design/uxbench.shtml
Courses in card sorting and Ajax interaction design - Las Vegas and
Berlin:
http://www.nngroup.com/events/
-----Original Message-----
From: discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com
[mailto:discuss-bounces at lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of
David Mulder
Sent: 07 October 2009 8:38 PM
To: discuss at ixda.org
Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Dear CEO:
I like Tom's approach. Showing is almost always better than telling. If
I
had to give a presentation meant to pitch UX, I would UX the heck out of
that presentation. The brochure/cold-call feel doesn't come off right.
"What's the best experience you've ever had with a piece of technology?"
...