Teaching a cross-Tasman corporate web

team to value UX.Four stories about building digital

experiences, expressed through the medium of 2002 pop culture.

UX in the corporate world• Working with a lot of other people• Bringing the user into the room and the

heads of people who specialise in all sorts of other things

• Knowing we’ll never get anything perfect• Keeping an eye on a huge amount of work• Office politics meets education:

“Championing” UX more than doing UX

Adam Kendall / @kendallsUser experience specialist

National Australia Bank (NAB)

Max Johns / @mxdej Business lead, BNZBefore that:

Online content specialist, NAB

When I got my UX job at NAB, I thought I’d be like this guy...

...but it feels more like this.

Ok, we’re not that nerdy. But we’re still pretty nerdy.

And the coffee in the office still needs work.

My first day in the job

“I’m so glad you’re here. We need help. From a UX perspective, should we use the red ‘Go’ button or the black

‘Go’ button?”

I know nothingabout UX

I know somethingabout UX, but

I need help

I’m making my ownUX decisions

The journey my new team needs

2002

In 2002, Max designed this site…Adam started his first IT job.

2002

2002

Other pop-culture references from 2002.

I don't like people who come here

saying: 'Ooh, we did it this way, we did it

that way'. I just wanna go do it this way.

I have no idea

what I’m

doing.

Three singles in

the year’s top

100.

I know what I’m doing, but I need help

A day may come when

courage fails, when we

forsake our friends and

break bonds of fellowship, but

it is not this day.

I’m part of a great

team, but I’m also a decision-

maker.

I know nothingabout UX

I know somethingabout UX, but

I need help

I’m making my ownUX decisions

Let’s use these three characters from 2002 to help illustrate our stories...

Story 1: José and forms

I know nothingabout UX

I know somethingabout UX, but

I need help

I’m making my ownUX decisions

UX

UX

We have lots of forms… heaps in fact.

They were usually built to our stakeholders requirements, not to our users needs. The David Brent way of doing things.

These are three of our most used forms with lots of inconsistencies… the David Brent way of doing things.

UX

We got Jose, our form builder to start thinking about forms from the users point of view…

And creating a form style guide so he can replicate this stuff….

This is what our forms look like now. A little less David Brent…. and a bit more P-Diddy.

Story 1: Summary

What we did here:• Started small: one person, one project• Got him thinking from the user’s point of view• Showed why consistency is importantThe downside:• David Brents involve UX too late – 5 weeks of extra work• UX seems like a lot of work when you realize that every other form is wrong, tooThe upside:• Our first UX convert (a bit closer to P-Diddy)• Better forms – happier users, more leads• Better processes

I know nothingabout UX

I know somethingabout UX, but

I need help

I’m making my ownUX decisions

UX

Natalie KerschnerUX Specialist, BNZ

@BrambleRose_Nat

We also talk to our counterparts across the tasman to steal/borrow their ideas…

We talk to our counterparts around the globe to start conversations …

… and to recruit internal test participants.

Lunch and learn – informal sharing

All of these things help us get a bit further from David Brent (I know nothing) to P-Diddy (I know something).

Story 2: International Payments

I know nothingabout UX

I know somethingabout UX, but

I need help

I’m making my ownUX decisions

UX

We’re getting people a bit closer to becoming P-Diddy…

International money transfers are confusing!

Here’s the site that used to help our customers… but it was terrible…

People were becoming P-Diddys because they asked for me first – and I convinced them to do some qualitative user testing… I also convinced our web team to help me do the testing. This meant they were talking to real users and hearing what they had to say… warts and all!

This is what the site looks like now, since the user testing… the developers and everyone involved had a direct connection between the users and the final designs.

I know nothingabout UX

I know somethingabout UX, but

I need help

I’m making my ownUX decisions

UX

What we did here:• Got involved early by accepting an offer to help• Organised user testing and involved a lot of the team• Helped the team fit testing results into their work

The downsides:• Convincing the team to be involved in user testing was like getting them to join a

cult• Then organising them to attend the sessions was like herding cats

The upside:• People had learned to think UX early• The team met, and talked to, actual users• Test subjects tell it like it is

Story 2: Summary

Story 3: Locations tool

I know nothingabout UX

I know somethingabout UX, but

I need help

I’m making my ownUX decisions

UX

Moving people from P-Diddy and closer to Aragorn.

Our current locations tool was in need of a major redesign.

Let’s draw some ideas

...do a quick test...

...draw some

more...

...and test

again...

Here’s the result of using heuristic assessments on paper prototypes. Much much better….

I know nothingabout UX

I know somethingabout UX, but

I need help

I’m making my ownUX decisions

UX

What we did here:• Got them going and left them to it• Gave them the tools to do the job• Kept myself available so they could keep checking in

The downside:• Technology issues – not released yet

The upside:• Once I got the team started, they were making their own UX decisions• Proof that the processes I created actually work

Story 3: Summary

Data before designWe have a wealth of data that we need to look at before we even think about beginning a design.

Guerrilla testing

We also test our paper prototypes with our colleagues before we put too much effort into high-fidelity designs.

Source: Abby Covert - http://abbytheia.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/ia-heuristics-journey/

Heuristic cardsWe use heuristics (rules of thumb) to test our paper prototypes…

Story 4: Special credit card offer

I know nothingabout UX

I know somethingabout UX, but

I need help

I’m making my ownUX decisions

UX

We’re finally getting some Aragorns…

Yo dude, I’m from the Agency. I just designed a

shiny new campaign page! Wanna chuck it online for

me? KTHXBAI.

Two of our colleagues went and got the data, did the paper prototypes, tested and assessed these, did the high-fidelity prototypes, tested and assessed, iterated until they got it right…

And they did this all by themselves without a UX person – they just used the UX person for the final check before going live.

The final product of their work….

How to get a corporate web team to value UX

I know nothingabout UX

I know somethingabout UX, but

I need help

I’m making my ownUX decisions

When you’re dealing with David Brents:• Start small - even as small as one person, one

task• Look for chances to introduce new tools in

context (e.g. style guides)

How to get a corporate web team to value UX

I know nothingabout UX

I know somethingabout UX, but

I need help

I’m making my ownUX decisions

For the P-Diddy phase:• Put together a “tool kit” – borrow other people’s good

ideas, or build your own• Grow the team – get more people involved in UX• Get involved, in a balanced way. As people use the tools

for themselves, check in regularly

How to get a corporate web team to value UX

I know nothingabout UX

I know somethingabout UX, but

I need help

I’m making my ownUX decisions

Once you have Aragorns:• Give them space• Work on the tools and processes, not the

people

Thank you!

Adam Kendall - @kendalls

Max Johns - @mxdej