How to Overhaul Your Design Without Upsetting Your Users

Mary Piontkowski, Macadamian Brian Lawley, 280 Group

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PART 1 Meet the Speakers

PART 2 WHEN to Consider Overhauling Your Design in the Seven Phase Life Cycle

PART 3 HOW to Overhaul Your Design Without Upsetting Your Users

Agenda

Introductions

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Brian Lawley CEO & Founder 280 Group

Mary Piontkowski Director, User Experience Macadamian

Brian Lawley is the CEO and Founder of the 280 Group and the author three best-selling books, The Phenomenal Product Manager, Expert Product Management and 42 Rules of Product Management and is the former President of the Silicon Valley Product Management Association. Brian was awarded the Association of International Product Marketing Management award for Thought Leadership in Product Management, and has been featured on World Business Review and the Silicon Valley Business Report.

Mary Piontkowski, Macadamian’s Director, User Experience, has worked with other high-profile companies such as Adaptive Path, Organic, and Macromedia. Through her strategic approach, creative expertise, and mastery of a variety methods for design and innovation, Mary has helped build robust experiences for Fortune 100 and 500 companies such as Macy's, Levi's, PayPal, Sun Microsystems, Hasbro, Sprint, AT&T, Allstate, and Microsoft.

Helping companies deliver products that delight their customers and produce massive profits

Assessment – Training – Certification – Consulting – Contractors – Templates – Mentoring – Books

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About 280Group

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About 280Group: Seven Phase LifeCycle Book

-  Everyone gets a copy -  www.tinyurl.com/freeoppbook -  Please share!

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About Macadamian – Research, Design, & Development

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PART 2 WHEN to Consider Overhauling Your Design in the Seven Phase Life Cycle

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•  Phase: Stage in the product lifecycle •  Gate: Critical decision point ending a phase, and starting the next •  Product LifeCycle: phases from conceive to retire

Seven Phase LifeCycle™

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PART 3 HOW to Overhaul Your Design Without Upsetting Your Users

1. Make changes based on evidence 2. Have a process in place to collect the right kind of evidence 3. Decide if a redesign is in order 4. Redesign with the right expertise & process 5. Be prepared for backlash

1. Make changes based on EVIDENCE

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Evidence vs. Subjective Ideas & Debates

Evidence

•  Goals •  Metrics / performance •  Observation •  User feedback •  Competitive landscape

Subjective Ideas & Debates

•  Endless UI debates •  Pet projects •  Feature creep •  Tunnel vision •  Unnecessary facelifts •  Dogmatic advice

VS.

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2. Have a PROCESS in place to collect the right kind of evidence

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User-­‐Centered  Design  Process  

Tools for Gathering and Making Sense of Evidence

•  Personas and customer journey maps •  Metrics and satisfaction scores •  Ongoing usability and observation •  Ongoing competitive analysis •  Value & opportunity assessment

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−  Observa)on  

−  Contextual  inquiry  

−  Par)cipatory  design  

−  Card  sor)ng  and  structured  in  person  ac)vi)es  

−  Usability  

−  Surveys  

−  Internal  brainstorms  with  SMEs  

Research  Should  Be  Ongoing  

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Consider  Context  When  You  Seek  Feedback  Where?  What  Else  is  Going  On?  

Experience  Maps:  Diagram  Your  Customer’s  Journey  

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•  People  typically  connect  with  stories  beDer  than  reports  

•  Paint  a  picture  of  key  user  types  

•  Demonstrate  use  cases  and  priority  tasks  

•  Use  a  quote  to  express  the  impact  the  product  has  on  the  user  

Personas:  Paint  a  Picture  of  The  MoIvaIons  and  Key  Use  Cases  

Have a Process in Place to Collect the Right Kind of Evidence

•  Keep Complaints in Check •  Get to the Bottom of the Real Issues •  Be “proactive” not “reactive”

“Your Product Sucks!” ( )

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3. Decide if a REDESIGN is in order

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With Evidence, Determine the True Issues

•  Big or small?

•  Extreme or expected?

•  What is there to lose? What is there to gain? −  Customers? −  Investors? −  ROI? −  Image?

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4. Redesign With the Right EXPERTISE & PROCESS

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Design With the Right Expertise & Process

•  Is additional expertise required?

•  Is additional strategy or research required?

•  Inside vs. outside?

•  Don’t be afraid to simplify!

•  Test your concepts first!

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5. Be PREPARED for Backlash

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Be Prepared for Backlash

•  Backlash – The biggest form of flattery

•  People resist change

•  Be patient, don’t panic

•  Listen

•  Process the feedback in context

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Be Prepared for Backlash

•  Have a communication plan, consider your power users

•  Have the foresight to respond quickly

•  Consider a phased roll-out

•  Is training & education required?

•  Can product features/notifications help with the transition?

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Thank You!

•  Slides: URL will be emailed to everyone •  Giveaways

−  Product Management LifeCycle Toolkit™ −  One copy of each book

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Contact Us

Mary Piontkowski mpiontkowski@macadamian.com Follow Macadamian on Twitter: @macadamianlabs

Brian Lawley CEO & Founder 280 Group LLC contact@280group.com Follow 280 Group on Twitter: @the280Group

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Design Resources Books: •  The Designful Company: How to build a culture of nonstop innovation, Marty

Neumeier •  Innovation Workshop, Marty Neumeier

•  Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, Chip Heath and Dan Heath •  Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspired

Innovation, Tim Brown •  Inside Apple, Adam Lashinsky  

Experience Map Resources: •  http://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/the-anatomy-of-an-experience-map

•  http://desonance.wordpress.com/2010/06/16/customer-experience-mapping/

•  http://nform.com/blog/2010/02/experience-maps-cross-channel-experiences-deliverable-for-gamers

•  http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/mental-models/ Persona Resources:

•  http://www.cooper.com

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