I believe there are two main factors that make someone successful in running a UX/CX team. One is their ability to showcase strength in the functions of research, strategy, and ultimately design (which are showcased in the Case Studies). The other is someones leadership perspective - how they manage, organize, and develop and team - as well as how they operate across the other functions in the organization. I've simplified it down to four main pillars of a highly functioning team.
3.
SCALABLE & INCLUSIVE
OPPERATING MODEL
1.CLEAR ALIGNMENT ON WHAT IS "UX"
How each organization defines the roles and responsibilities of their “UX” function varies between companies. My focus as a leader is to ensure UX is more than just a reactive interface design and usability testing team and is tapping into the multiple talents of a UX team.
While both are extremely important to the execution of high-quality experiences, the function adds so much more value to the organization when it has a broader focus - able to thoroughly understand the Customer/User and directly affect Product Roadmaps.
Ensuring the team has the functional maturity to be fueling the business and product strategies / roadmaps, while maintaining the technical design chops to deliver on product execution.
2.PRINCIPLES FOR INTENTIONAL DESIGN
For every organization, there is a need to maintain a set of guiding principles that direct the approach to both design and interaction - helping our teams understand not only HOW to design but WHY.
On the following pages are a set of 5 Guiding Principles that I have used in the past to ensure the entire team - no matter what size or across any number of different portfolios - has the same foundation for purposeful and intentional design.
Service Design Methodology
LOOK AT EVERY PROBLEM NOT JUST FOR THE MICRO EXPERIENCE, BUT HOW IT FITS INTO THE ENTIRE JOURNEY
Not just a focus on the digital solution
What was the customer journey to get to this point?
What things (physical and digital) will they interact with?
What outside influences are helping / hurting?
How do you bring the task to completion?
Transactional Simplicity
THE BASICS OF THE TRANSACTION SHOULD BE SIMPLE - THERE SHOULD BE NO LEARNING CURVE
Your primary user journey should be easily adopted
Don’t get paralyzed with the complexity of edge cases
Usability testing should always validate a solution
Continually measure against customer feedback and analytics
Experiences that Influence
IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU ARE BUILDING CUSTOMER OR INTERNAL FACING EXPERIENCES, HUMANS ARE HUMANS, AND THE BASICS OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY SHOULD HELP MAKE ANY EXPERIENCE DESIGN INFLUENTIAL.
Anchoring Bias - what's the better value between something that is $100 v. $50 v. $30?
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Bandwagon Effect - does knowing how many other people have bought an item or done an action affect my decision?
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Information Bias - at what point does not enough information become too much information and paralyze the user?
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Salience - information that easily recognizable / understand will be the immediate focus, regardless of its relevancy to the decision.
Recency - how recently a user saw relevant information will be vital to their decision making.
Zero-Risk Bias - decisions that appear safe and with minimal down-side will improve user comfort in proceeding. ​​
Focus on
the Job
FOCUS ON THE JOB (TO BE DONE) FOR THE USER AND TIE THAT INTO THE BUSINESS OUTCOME.
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What is the users primary intention?
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What is the ultimate business outcome of the experience?
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What metrics will be use to know that we are successful?
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Do we have alignment across the business (stakeholders) on the purpose, job, and KPIs?
High Business
IQ
EVERYONE WITH A HAND IN THE SOLUTION SHOULD BE INTENSELY ALIGNED TO UNDERSTANDING THE BUSINESS​​.
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Underdstanding of how the business works, how it makes money, and what motivates them.
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How does every experience achieve a business objective?
How does everyone at every seniority contribute to success?
Ensure teams are fully invested in achieving outcomes important to the business.
3.SCALABLE OPERATING MODEL
While certainly not rocket science, having a clear definition of how a team works within their operating model is important to peers and stakeholders. Helping the team and our partners understand the different phases of the model and how our process aims to solve their problems.
I would include this at the front-end of almost every presentation deck - to continually reinforce what we do, where we currently are in the process, and what they should expect. Transparency and communication are a key to building a strong team and solid relationships.
4.A HIRE, COACH, AND DEVELOP STRATEGY
Last, but certainly not least, is the approach towards how I systematically hire, coach, and develop talent.
No matter the size of the organization, having the ability to grow across the various functions of a UX team as well as vertically into more senior roles (or even into management) ensures the team stays engaged long-term.
When I talk about the attributes of a “leader” that’s not just a people manager - but anyone on the team regardless of tenure. A big part of my philosophy is that everyone’s role on the team is to make the team stronger and those attributes can be relevant from the most junior-level designer, to Director and above managers.
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IN ORDER TO BRING IN AND DEVELOP WORLD CLASS TALENT, YOU NEED A STRONG LEADERSHIP PLAN IN PLACE TO SUPPORT THAT GROWTH
Senior-level support from the top down
Clear understanding of the teams place in the organization
Solid set of principles and practices to develop against
Clear and holistic values that follow from hire to development
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FUNCTIONAL STRENGTH
What is your skill set in the functional area of your job. Being able to understand and master the tactical parts of the job.
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BUSINESS IQ​
How well do you understand the business in which you work? From understanding the micro environment within a small team to understanding how Custom Ink is growing and how they are profitable.
COMMUNICATION & PRESENTATION
How clearly can you present your work, facilitate a meeting across various stakeholders, and sell ideas to peers, functional teams, and senior leadership?
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COLLABORATION
At what level are you able to add value to not only your specific skill set, but across the other disciplines within the business.
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TEAM DEVELOPMENT
We are always focused on making the team as a whole better - what is your contribution to improving skills, knowledge, or understanding of not only our peers, but all those around you.​