UX NORTH STAR

Iain HarrisonNov 2015

What is it?

● A design “North Star” is a visual output (a video, series of hi-fidelity designs, etc.) that explains the high-level narrative of why an idea or concept will improve people’s lives.

● It should be deeply inspiring. Hence, North Stars generally benefit from being imagined a good ways out in the future

● It’s ‘stake in the ground’/ A ‘best guess’ about what the future might be● The aim is to get everyone on the same page about what the idea is, why it’s

exciting and how we could get there● It should aim to introduce significant new value into customers lives

What is it not?

● It’s not simply a redesign or reshuffle of existing elements ● It’s not science fiction, nor should the narrative feel like it doesn’t ring true to

people’s real problems, desires, or habits.● It’s not about building the exact thing we might come up with - the world and

industry shifts too quickly for us not to have flexibility on final output or deliverable

Why does it matter?

“The future doesn’t belong to data, it

belongs to the bold”Scott Galloway - NYU

“Can’t decide how you truly feel about the future? Have Data and A/B Test take the decision out of your hands. Don’t want to

invest long-term in something that has the uncertainty of failure looming in the

horizon? Take the easy path instead with a bevy of A/B Tests.”

Julie Zhuo - FB

“It’s more important than ever to be clear, to be singular, and to

have a perspective, one you didn’t generate as the result of doing a

lot of focus groups.”Jony Ive - Apple

Ok, but what else?

● We need a rally cry to align us all● We can help everyone engage in richer conversations around ‘tomorrow’

rather than ‘today’ which in turns helps with roadmap planning● Inspirational / Motivational● There’s more to a designer’s job than just shipping incremental improvements

/ BAU● Fashion is re-birth● Responsive forces our hand● Good design creates the market and ideas are king.● The best way to predict the future is to invent it

Where are we now?

● Internet penetration solid but slowing, however usage strong● Mobile advertising has significant growth potential● Revenue growth will increasingly come from emerging markets with lower

disposable income (initially)● User control / generation of content is increasing● Internet is becoming more visual - especially amongst younger audiences ● Video and particularly vertical video is growing and converts well● Reducing friction for ‘Moment of interest’ - ‘buy now’ integrated everywhere● Mobile messaging is huge and growing. The leaders have the capacity to

evolve into central comms hubs● Drones. Growth 170% YoY, very global● Huge change in workplace - millennials attitudes are shaping the entire

industry

Source: Mary Meekers internet trends 2015 report

The Mothership...

If you take 1995 as the dawn of digital eCommerce we’re now starting to attract 20 year olds who’ve never known a world without the internet. In 5 years time they will become our core user base and their attitudes, behaviours and expectations may be very different to our own currently accepted truths and mental models of digital commerce design.

2020● What will the world / market be like in 5 years time?● Follow existing paths / strategy and think of new ones that could disrupt● Use the strategy pillars - Mobilisation, Globalisation, Personalisation, Customer

Experience

Customer Experience = Personalisation / Mobilisation + Globalisation

X GP M

Delivery disruption…

G

India: One to watch?G

Highly mobilized alreadyG

Consolidated UIX

http://www.mogujie.com/

http://www.meilishuo.com/

http://www.rosebeauty.com.cn/

G

Customer Choice (max)Future Lab Fragrance Lab

P

“Less about choice, more about informed recommendation”

Customer Choice (min)‘Operator’ - Browse, Chat, pay

P

“Old: all software expands until it includes messaging. New: all

messaging expands until it includes software”Benedict Evans - VC

“Your UI is your product's humble compensation for

not being telepathic”Morten Just - Google

Customer Choice (max)Nike Flyknit

P

How might 3D printers or new more flexible manufacturing models reshape the level of

choice we can offer to consumers?

Customer Choice (min)Amazon ‘Echo’

P

“They’re trying to get you 50% of what you need to

50% of all households within 4 hours”

Scott Galloway - NYU

“It’s the cable pipe of stuff”

Scott Galloway - NYU

Customer Choice (max)‘Teleportation Fashion’

X

P

“To me, a world without color TV or personal computers is an abstraction.

For a host of kids as of yesterday, so is a world without VR.”Josh Valcarcel - Wired

“We’ve been reading words for hundreds of years, listening for

thousands but drawing for millions”Scott Galloway - NYU

Project Soli

MY ACCOUNT

Path of Personalisation?

MY PROFILE MY LIFE?

‘ASOS_ByIain’‘Iain’s ASOS’‘Iain’s Account / Orders’

MY SITE

VR? ‘A Digital Life’

Personalised / Adjusted Curated / Distinct The ‘Digital Me’

MIN MAX

Product Products Interface

Wearables / ‘Micro-interactions’Must think harder

X

M

No-one has killed it just yet

No one is using the watch as a primary interface /

only interface

Most have simply shrunk apps down to fit the watch

A change in context or technology most often

requires a different design approach

Project Jacquard

Enhancement

Freelance / UGC Commerce‘The rise of the individual’

“We’re seeing the rise of the individual.Workers + consumers are becoming the innovators. They

are rewiring and rewriting the playbook, disrupting the market to add flexibility and efficiency into their lives.

This is much deeper than traditional notions of community and broadcasting. This is about millennials attitudes to work,

and the opportunity for user controlled platforms in an on demand 24/7 mobile economy. They are increasingly going to be in the driving seat around product, content & service

and we need to plan for that”

X

M

We should be thinking about Platform + product

What happens when a person becomes a business?

“...who becomes a retailer and who becomes a warehouse?”

Scott Galloway - NYU

Let’s Imagine...● Drones are common and have become an important last mile delivery

mechanism as well as a way to achieve a multitude of tasks / act as general ‘life support’.

● The web has moved to become incredibly visual, almost ‘cinematic’ in appearance and interactivity has enabled us to build almost ‘living / breathing’ experiences.

● Wearables have extended way beyond the wrist and are standalone rather than simply companion devices

● VR has become a new computing and interface paradigm in its own right with several distinct flavours (augmented VR, Immersive VR etc) It’s changed the game on what ‘browsing the web’ and ‘online’ actually means

● Mobile messaging has disrupted the mobile OS platforms by becoming ecosystems / OS / a distinct experience in their own right (OS within OS?).

● It’s tough to tell if the the brand serves the user or user serves / is the brand such is the disruption that’s happened within traditional eCommerce models

The real mothership!● Disruption, disruption, disruption!!!● Screen size growth is one thing but it could actually be more about platform

/ experience / UI growth with many more distinct flavours than the current Mobile vs. Desktop vs. app paradigm / model we’re all familiar with. There’s growth in the ‘ends’ of the experience and this will drive innovation in UI thinking

● Think you’ve seen gesture control? Think again● There is nowhere Apple cannot go. It could launch sunglasses, Clothing,

Luggage, Jewellery, Cars (already underway) or all of the above. We don’t see them as a direct competitor but maybe we should

● The future of wearables is a quest for human enhancement● There is no offline. We’re all on crack but just don’t know it● We need to think about ASOS as ‘a platform’ rather than simply ‘a shop’

Some of the most valuable recent startups add significant supplementary income into customers lives.

● Personalisation is going to be so so so pervasive● Watch out: The cloud hardly ever comes from the point on the horizon that

you're currently looking for it. (especially in tech)

Don’t forget brand personality

Fun

Fearless Fresh

Inspiring

Individual Youthful

Authentic

Passionate Innovative

Next steps / Output

● Pick a single track or look for cross over between tracks● Research the hell out of it but please please don’t use quant!● Ideate and iterate - rinse and repeat● Tell the story - storyboard / series of hi-fidelity images / movie etc that

describes the experience someone has when you achieve the end state of the vision.

THINK BIG!