making sense of messy problems - systems thinking for multi-channel ux
DESCRIPTION
I gave this talk at the IA Summit in New Orleans on March 25, 2012. Here's the talk description: It’s part of our job to talk to people to figure out complex situations. To build things people love, we have to understand not only users, but also the wider context we’re working in: people, systems, structures, business models, and more. The need to think the user experience through on several channels challenges us to envision a system that is cohesive and delivers delightful experiences.Business analysis, computer science and psychology offer different frameworks and tools to help to make sense of a messy situation, to articulate and visualize the problem. In this talk, I will present a selection of techniques that are relevant to UX, such as Soft Systems Methodology or the Business Model Canvas.You will walk away with:- Knowledge about systems thinking theory- An understanding of how systems thinking methods can be used as part of a UX process, incl. tools and techniquesTRANSCRIPT
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
Making sense of messy problems
Johanna Kollmann@johannakoll
IA Summit 2012, New Orleans
Systems thinking for multi-channel UX
Illustration by David Wicks: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sansumbrella/467998944/
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
This matters because
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
In the past the man has been first; in the future the system must be first.
~Frederick Winslow Taylor (1911)
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
In the past the man has been first; in the future the system must be first.
This in no sense, however, implies that great men are not needed.
~Frederick Winslow Taylor (1911)
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
http://visitmix.com/work/descry/awebsitenameddesire/
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
“A system is
~ Donella Meadows
a set of elements or parts
often classified as its function or purpose.”
that is coherently organized and inter-connected in a pattern or structure that produces a characteristic set of behaviors,
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
Peter Checkland
Human activity systemsSoft Systems Methodology
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
Leverage points…
…places within a complex system where a small shift in one thing can produce big changes in everything. …are often counterintuitive.
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
Systems Thinking & UX
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
1) Modeling
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
2) Behavior over time
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
3) Change
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
1) Modeling
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Rich Picture
1. Construction of the Humber Bridge (adapted from Stewart and Fortune, 1994) © The Open University
2. Distance Learning Situation © Wood-Harper et al, Information Systems Definition: The Multiview Approach, Blackwell Scientific Publications 1985
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Rich Picture elements
Stakeholders
Worldview
Connections
Conflicts
2. Distance Learning Situation © Wood-Harper et al, Information Systems Definition: The Multiview Approach, Blackwell Scientific Publications 1985
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Business Model Canvas
Job seekers
Recruiters
Jobs
Candidates
Manage, promote platform
Platform
Manage and develop platformMarketing costs
Job adsHiring fee
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Business Model Canvas
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
2) Behavior over time
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Flows
inflow outflow
informationfeedback,
control
stock
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Feedback loops
George’s ability to solve
problems
Number of problems
solved
Number of remaining problems
Time available per problem
Project in trouble
Management pressure to
solve problems
R1 R3
R2
Need to involve Paul
B1
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Behavior over time graphs
inventory
days
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Behavior over time graphs
inventory
days
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Cohort analysis
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Cohort analysis
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Custom tools to monitor interactions
by @lukew
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Photo by Anders Zakrisson http://www.flickr.com/photos/anders-zakrisson/4982281184/
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
3) Change
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
inventory
days
Flows and loops
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
Take-aways
The ‘worldviews’ that people and elements in the system holdThe processes that are necessary to deliver value to customers
How to gather and visualize information holisticallyHow user-centered design and empathy help to reduce uncertainty
What is the right level for the impact you are aiming for?What enables the change, where are conflicts, who can be your change agent?
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
This matters because
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
Business trends.
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
Humane systems.
#IAS12 - @johannakoll
The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
We will not solve the problems of the world from the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. More than anything else, this new century demands new thinking:
We must change our materially based analyses of the world around us to include broader, more multidimensional perspectives.
~Albert Einstein