It’s Here. Meet “User Experience Revolution”, A New Smashing Book (Print + eBook)

Summary • The world has changed and there is a new generation of empowered, connected consumers – consumers with higher expectations than ever before. If your company does not meet those expectations customers will go elsewhere. In fact, according to Customer Think, 89% of customers will stop doing business with a company after a single poor customer experience.

Keywords • Customer Relationship • Involving Customers Into The Product Design Process • Understanding Users' Needs

Summary • Across all sectors, executives are more concerned with their agendas than fulfilling the needs of users. This makes convincing them of the value of user experience design very hard.

Keywords • Understand Customer Expectations • Users Have Limited Time and Tolerance • User Experience In The B2B Sector • User Experience Builds Brand • User Experience Cost Savings • User Experience And Increase Sales

Summary • Harry saw himself as the sole custodian of the user experience, a lone maverick trying to bring about change single-handedly. The more he met resistance, the more he saw himself as the only one who cared. Over time, he ended up bitter and angry at his management team and colleagues. He came to see them as the enemy.

Keywords • Find Colleagues Who Care • Reach Out To Your Potential Evangelists • Establish A Common Vision • User Experience Principles

Summary • Let’s imagine two employees at two different compa- nies. We’ll call one Nigel and the other Helen. The companies have been around for the same length of time, are of similar size, and operate in the same industry. Both Nigel and Helen work in legal. Their job is to make sure the companies meet their regulatory obligations and protect them from risk. Both are nice people whom you would enjoy an evening out with. But while Nigel is a constant roadblock to improving the experience of users, Helen is not.

Keywords • Pages • Humanise Your Customer • Tell The Customer’s Story • Communicate With Data • Ask Users For Feedback • Establish Regular Communication • Encourage Action •

Summary • The time will come when you will have done all you can behind the scenes. You will need permission to take the next big step. Where that line is and what that next big step will be will vary from company to company. The longer you leave it, the more momentum will be behind your cause and the more compelling your case will be. You will have more support, more statistics, more stories. In short, you will be better prepared. That will be important if you want management to take you seriously.

Keywords • Get The Attention Of Management • Apply Ux Design Principles To Management Needs • Frame Your Request Around Management’s Agenda • Validate Your Arguments • Get An External Perspective • Find Comparable Case Studies • Get Management’s Approval • Scare Your Management • Inspire Management • Give Management A Simple Next Step

Summary • The real barriers to implementing the principles of user experience design are external constraints: constraints of the technology; constraints around compliance and policies; constraints around requirements. These limitations have prevented you from ever showing what a great user experience looks like.

Keywords • An Experiment In User Experience Design • Delivering A Successful Pilot Project • Put Together The Right Team • The Three Rules Of Piloting • Find The Time For Your Pilot

Summary • Although Hannah and her team were experts in their field, they were constantly prevented from doing their best work by the organisational culture. They found themselves compromising their work just to get it out of the door in a difficult environment.

Keywords • Begin With User Needs • Enforcing Usability Testing • Collaborate Through Prototyping • Explore Alternative Approaches • Focus On Saving Users’ Time • Focus On Simplicity • Help Colleagues See Complexity • Making Legacy Simple

Summary • I was fortunate enough to work with an organisation whose senior management team sent out such an email. They made it clear that customer experience was their number one goal. Yet, a year on and little had changed, despite countless initiatives and training sessions. Any momentum gathered had stalled despite the best intentions of management. What had gone wrong?

Keywords • Work Across Silos • Address Organisational Structure • Break The Fear Of Failure • Make UX An Operational Expense • Update Policies And Procedures Establish • New Metrics At Every Level

Summary • Changing an organisation’s culture is a major undertaking. It will take years and you might not see the end. But it is a journey worth making. It won’t just help the business. It will help you, too. It will develop your skills and increase your employability. It will raise your profile in the business. Most of all, it will make a tangible difference here and now. Although some of what I have written about will take years to achieve, you can apply much of what I have covered today, things that will make a difference immediately.

Keywords • Work Across Silos • Address Organisational Structure • Break The Fear Of Failure • Make UX An Operational Expense • Update Policies And Procedures Establish • New Metrics At Every Level