eliminating ux debt in the enterprise

I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.Managing UX Debt

Jack Moffett Manager App Development – GUI Inmedius, a Boeing Company

@jackmoffett jackmoffett@mac.com designaday.tumblr.com #UXdebt

UX debt is the accumulation of decisions made during design and development that negatively impact the users of a product or service.

Photo by Trey Guinn

Photo by Benjamin Balázs

TheBig 3

TheBig 3

AcquisitionOutsourcing

Neglect

Acquisition

Acquisition

Acquisition

Acquisition

Acquisition

Acquisition

AcquisitionUX should be involved in evaluation of products considered for acquisition.

AcquisitionUX should be involved in evaluation of products considered for acquisition.

Document the debt as soon as acquisition occurs, and track it.

Outsourcing

OutsourcingUX should collaborate closely with contractors.

OutsourcingUX should collaborate closely with contractors.

Set clear expectations at the outset.

OutsourcingUX should collaborate closely with contractors.

Set clear expectations at the outset.

Schedule regular quality checks and involvement from all parts or your team: design, development, testing, and management.

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Neglect

NeglectPut processes in place that assure awareness of development efforts.

NeglectPut processes in place that assure awareness of development efforts.

Team dynamics are hugely important.

NeglectPut processes in place that assure awareness of development efforts.

Team dynamics are hugely important.

Resist the urge to turn a blind eye to things you don’t feel like working on.

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IntentionalDebt

IntentionalDebtResistance to change

IntentionalDebtResistance to change

Incremental enhancement

IntentionalDebtResistance to change

Incremental enhancement

Product management strategy

Intentional DebtProduct management strategy

Intentional DebtProduct management strategyFocusing on new features

Intentional DebtProduct management strategyFocusing on new features

customer requests

Intentional DebtProduct management strategyFocusing on new features

customer requests

time to market

Intentional DebtProduct management strategyFocusing on new features

customer requests

time to market

backwards compatibility

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unIntentionalDebtMistakes and laziness

unIntentionalDebtMistakes and laziness

Lack of design

unIntentionalDebtMistakes and laziness

Lack of design

Lack of empowerment

unIntentionalDebtMistakes and laziness

Lack of design

Lack of empowerment

Separation of design & dev

unIntentionalDebtMistakes and laziness

Lack of design

Lack of empowerment

Separation of design & dev

Too many cooks

unIntentionalDebtMistakes and laziness

Lack of design

Lack of empowerment

Separation of design & dev

Too many cooks

Customer inefficiencies

IdentifyingUX Debt

IdentifyingUX DebtActive Peripheral AwarenessUX Debt InventoryUser Exposure

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Practice Active Peripheral Awareness

Practice Active Peripheral Awareness

Awareness of technology

Practice Active Peripheral Awareness

Awareness of technologyAwareness of design practice

Perform A UX Debt Inventory

Perform A UX Debt Inventory

Use the product. Take notes.

Perform A UX Debt Inventory

Use the product. Take notes.Better yet, have a teammate take notes. Then switch.

Perform A UX Debt Inventory

Use the product. Take notes.Better yet, have a teammate take notes. Then switch.

Validate it by observing and talking with users.

Perform A UX Debt Inventory

Use the product. Take notes.Better yet, have a teammate take notes. Then switch.

Validate it by observing and talking with users.

Expose Your Team

Expose Your Team“It seems that six weeks was the bare minimum for a two-hour exposure dose. The teams with members who spent the minimum of two hours every six weeks saw far greater improvements to their design’s user experience than teams who didn’t meet the minimum.”

– Jared Spool

Expose Your Team“It seems that six weeks was the bare minimum for a two-hour exposure dose. The teams with members who spent the minimum of two hours every six weeks saw far greater improvements to their design’s user experience than teams who didn’t meet the minimum. And teams with more frequent exposure, say two-hours every three weeks, saw even better results.”

– Jared Spool

ClassifyingUX Debt

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4 UX Debt Categories

TechnicalFunctional

BehavioralVisual

4 UX Debt Categories

Technical

Functional

4 UX Debt Categories

Technical

Functional

Back EndPerformance, Database, Security

4 UX Debt Categories

Technical

Functional

Back End

Front End

Performance, Database, Security

Browser Version Support

Outdated HTML/Frameworks

Poor Coding Practices

4 UX Debt Categories

TechnicalFunctional

Behavioral

4 UX Debt Categories

TechnicalFunctional

Behavioral

Scale

4 UX Debt Categories

TechnicalFunctional

Behavioral

Scale

Information Architecture

4 UX Debt Categories

TechnicalFunctional

Behavioral

Scale

Information Architecture

Priority of Functions

4 UX Debt Categories

TechnicalFunctional

Behavioral

4 UX Debt Categories

TechnicalFunctional

BehavioralTool Time

4 UX Debt Categories

TechnicalFunctional

BehavioralTool Time

Consistency

4 UX Debt Categories

TechnicalFunctional

BehavioralTool Time

Consistency

Conventions

4 UX Debt Categories

TechnicalFunctional

BehavioralVisual

4 UX Debt Categories

TechnicalFunctional

BehavioralVisual

UI Chrome

Iconography

Consistency

Fashion

Branding

Copywriting

4TechnicalFunctional

BehavioralVisual

Documentation

UX Debt Categories5

4

TechnicalFunctional

BehavioralVisual

Documentation

UX Debt Categories5

4

TechnicalFunctional

BehavioralVisual

Documentation

UX Debt Categories5

4

TechnicalFunctional

BehavioralVisual

Documentation

UX Debt Categories5

AddressingUX Debt

AddressingUX Debt

Declare bankruptcy

Addressing UX Debt

Declare bankruptcyPeople think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying “no” to 1,000 things.

Steve Jobs

Addressing UX Debt

Declare bankruptcyCall a do-over

Addressing UX Debt

Declare bankruptcyCall a do-overSkunkwork it

Addressing UX Debt

Declare bankruptcyCall a do-overSkunkwork itPhased approach

Step 1:

Photo by Captain Eric Willis

Step 1: Prioritization

Step 1:a. Severity & Impact

Prioritization

Step 1:a. Severity & Impact

b. Estimated Time to Address

Prioritization

Step 1:a. Severity & Impact

b. Estimated Time to Address

c. Responsible Party

Prioritization

Step 1:a. Severity & Impact

b. Estimated Time to Address

c. Responsible Party

Prioritization

Step 2:

Photo by John Biehler

Step 2: Schedule

Step 2: Schedule

Not Agile

Step 2:

AgileSchedule

Step 3:

Photo by John Biehler

Step 3: Collaboration

Step 3: Collaboration

UX debt is the responsibility of your entire organization.

AvoidingUX Debt

Photo by Alex Berger

Avoiding UX Debt

Usability Research & Testing

Avoiding UX Debt

Usability Research & TestingPay Attention to Details

Avoiding UX Debt

Usability Research & TestingPay Attention to DetailsModularity

Avoiding UX Debt

Usability Research & TestingPay Attention to DetailsModularityDocumentation

Manageyour UXDebt

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Thank you!

Jack Moffett Manager App Development – GUI Inmedius, a Boeing Company

@jackmoffett jackmoffett@mac.com designaday.tumblr.com