The UX AnalystElevating the Business Analyst with the lens

of Human Centered Design Thinking

Why this matters

Why this matters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O94kYyzqvTc#t=49s

Why Software Fails

• Unrealistic or unarticulated project goals. • Inaccurate estimates of needed resources. • Badly defined system requirements. • Poor reporting of the project's status. • Unmanaged risks. • Poor communication among customers, developers, and users. • Use of immature technology. • Inability to handle the project's complexity. • Sloppy development practices. • Poor project management. • Stakeholder politics. • Commercial pressures.

Why Software Fails

• Unrealistic or unarticulated project goals. • Inaccurate estimates of needed resources. • Badly defined system requirements. • Poor reporting of the project's status. • Unmanaged risks. • Poor communication among customers, developers, and users. • Use of immature technology. • Inability to handle the project's complexity. • Sloppy development practices. • Poor project management. • Stakeholder politics. • Commercial pressures.

Solvable

What is a Business Analyst?

• A Business Analyst identifies business needs and

determines solutions to business problems.

• A UX Designer identifies user needs and determines

solutions to user problems.

What is a User Experience Designer?

Differences

UX DesignerBusiness Analyst

Differences

• Identify what the new system should do.

• What CAN users do?

• Create process flow diagrams.

• Research Current Process

• Identify how the new system should work.

• What WILL users do?

• Create navigation flow diagrams.

• Research Users

Similarities

Solve Problems • By listening.

• By communicating.

• By problem-solving.

• By analyzing.

• By visualizing.

UX DesignerBusiness Analyst

Let’s combine them

• Business goals

• “What will success look like for this product?”

• Behavioral goals

• “What are the behaviors that support these goals?”

Let’s combine them

“What do users have to do for this product to be successful?”

Let’s combine them

“What do users have to do for this product to be successful?”

It’s not about features.

It’s about measurable,observable outcomes.

Examples

Before: • We need to increase the number of users who select

Plan B and Plan D instead of Plan A.

• We need to sell more movie tickets than our competitor down the street.

After: • We need people to better understand Plans B and D.

• Users need to understand why our movie theater is better than our competitor down the street.

Brings focus. • To every feature; every user story.

Brings ideas. • Objective measurement to evaluate proposed

solutions.

Accountability for Designers. • Links design work directly to business outcomes.

Benefits

Stakeholder Politics

Addressing the first problem

Proto-Personasasdf;klasdlf;kja;sldfkjasd;fj

What are Personas?

What are Personas?

Representation of a typical user. • Identify behaviors and motivations.

• It is a way to summarize trends and patterns, observed through extensive user research.

Problems with Personas

Time consuming and expensive! • Not enough user data.

• Often to vague to be useful.

• Often contain unvalidated conclusions.

Do not incorporate existing beliefs. • Limited company buy-in.

What are Proto-Personas?

Leaner variant of the traditional Persona. • Not initially the result of user research.

• Stakeholders encapsulate the organization’s beliefs based on their domain expertise and gut feeling.

Benefits of Proto-personas

Short 4 hour workshop.

Creates alignment with Stakeholders.

Keeps Stakeholders invested.

Reinforces company awareness about the end user.

Direction for further user research.

Benefits of Proto-personas

Badly defined requirements

Addressing the second problem

Job Storiesasdf;klasdlf;kja;sldfkjasd;fj

What are User Stories?

A tool used to capture a description of a software feature from an end-user perspective.

“As a <user>, I want to <goal>, so that <reason>.”

Benefits of User Stories

Perfect tool for maximizing development throughput.

Keeps things manageable and separate.

Problems with User Stories

Locked into a sequence with no context.

Proposes unvalidated solutions.

Users don’t judge software based on individual features!

What are Job Stories?

Situation vs. Persona

Motivation vs. Goal

Expected Outcome vs. Reason

Examples

Before: • As a user, I want to save my work, so that my work is

saved when I return.

• As an administrator, I want to add a new user, so they may access the system.

After: • When I return to the application, I want to pick-up

where I left off, so I can easily continue my work.

• When a new user joins our organization, I want to add them to the system, so they may access the system.

Benefits of Job Stories

Defines motivations, not implementations. • Empowers the designer and developer to build the

right solution.

Removes assumptions about the user. • Provides contextual information.

Poor communication among customers,

developers, and users.Addressing the third problem

Customer Journey Mapsasd;flkjasl;dfkjals;dkfja;lsdkj

What is a Customer Journey Map?

What is a Customer Journey Map?

Graphic interpretation of the overall story between a customer and an organization. • From an individual’s perspective.

• Correlates key decisions with emotions.

• Across all touchpoint and channels.

Benefits

Identifies operational inefficiencies.

Helps avoid unnecessary features.

Discover new opportunities.

Encourage Internal Coordination.

Key Take-aways

Key Take-aways

• Focus on motivations and outcomes,not just features.

• Enhance business goals by incorporating behavioral goals.

• Our clients can avoid common pitfalls by incorporating design thinking strategies.

“What do users have to do for this product to be successful?”