why is this so hard? understanding design challenges - adam connor & magga dora ragnarsdottir,...

WHY IS THIS SO HARD? Understanding the challenges that inhibit design

Adam Connor [email protected]

@adamconnor

Magga Dora [email protected]

@maggadora

[email protected]@adamconnor

[email protected]@maggadora

#madpow

THE CHALLENGEDesign is gaining momentum



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Organizational Shifts• Designers centralized or decentralized

• i.e. each team hires their own designers vs one central group of designers that does work for the whole organization

• Chief Design/Experience Officers• Innovation Centers• Centers of excellence

THE CHALLENGEWhat they’ve tried

Adam Connor

eliminate slide 3 and pull relevant content into this slide



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Building volume and skills• Lots of hiring• Training / Bootcamps

Building shared resources• Design Systems / Pattern libraries

Process changes• Design thinking• Agile / Lean /…

THE CHALLENGEWhat they’ve tried

Adam Connor

eliminate slide 3 and pull relevant content into this slide



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All of these efforts make sense, and they’re all effective to some extent.Yet we still find and hear frustrations around getting design to "stick.”

THE CHALLENGEWhat we also see with our clients



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• Have not (accurately) identified the aspects of their organization that support or contradict design

• Are trying to make changes and don’t consider the implications for the rest of the organization

• Are trying to make changes at too large a scale

• Are trying to change people/units faster than they’re able to

THE CHALLENGEWhy doesn’t this work?



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• Belief gap

• Behavior gap

• Influence gap

THE CHALLENGEThree gaps

THE BELIEF GAP

Design is more than just roles, tools and activities.Behind those roles, activities and tools are beliefs about what we’re trying to do and why.

THE BELIEF GAP

Beliefs

THE BELIEF GAP The Culture Model

BeliefsValues


BeliefsValues

Behaviors


BeliefsValues

Behaviors

Rituals


BeliefsValues

Behaviors

Rituals

Artifacts


• Inflexibility: People’s understanding of design lacks a connection to the “why” behind it.

THE BELIEF GAPHow It Presents

• Inflexibility: People’s understanding of design lacks a connection to the “why” behind it.

• Conflict: There are beliefs work counter to those inherent in design.

THE BELIEF GAPHow It Presents

• Assess the culture, or more specifically the underlying beliefs currently influencing your org.

• Make sure you’re clear on the beliefs that you’re trying to infuse. Can you clearly articulate them?

THE BELIEF GAPAddressing The Gap

If the gap lies in inflexibility and people not understanding the beliefs behind the techniques and tools they’re using…• As you introduce process, techniques, tools etc. include

discussion about the thinking and reasoning behind them.

• Expose people to a variety of tools. Find opportunities for them to try them all and give them chances to think through and choose on their own.

• Provide additional support, not oversight, as teams work to use new tools and techniques on their own.


If the gap lies in conflicting beliefs…• Take stock of how far apart they are. Are they counter to each

other? Or are they competing?

• Work to understand the conflicting view and the value in it.

• Determine if you’re alone in recognizing and wanting to address the conflict.

• You can rarely change beliefs directly. Beliefs are built over time based on experiences.


THE BEHAVIOR GAP



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We’re trying to establish new patterns of behaviors– new ways that teams will explore opportunities and make decisions.The same over-focus on process, activities, tools, etc. that can lead to gaps in the beliefs behind these behaviors can lead to a gap in the behaviors themselves.

THE BEHAVIOR GAP



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People understand the process (the activities, techniques, tools, etc.) they could/should use – but revert to how they’ve always done things.

THE BEHAVIOR GAPHow It Presents



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THE BEHAVIOR GAPKey Behaviors

Design (Thinking)How does the company leverage design and design techniques?



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CollaborationHow well do teams collaborate on efforts (across departments, products, etc.)?



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Leadership & VisionHas a shared, clear vision for the product, service, or organization been established and communicated?



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Product* ManagementHow well do teams/managers make decisions in alignment with the vision/strategy?



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ProductionHow capable is the organization of creating the products/services that they’ve envisioned?



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LearningHow able is the organization to continuously learn more about their users and use new insights to make decisions?



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ExperienceHow is the team managing and coordinating experiences for their products and services?



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Just as before we need to take stock of the behaviors we’re trying to establish and those that our teams are exhibiting and determine:• Have you provided the right support needed for

the behaviors we’re after?• Are there additional behaviors we haven’t

accounted for?• Are their behaviors that conflict those we’re

after?How do we change behavior?

THE BEHAVIOR GAPAddressing The Gap



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THE BEHAVIOR GAP

Capability

Motivation

Opportunity

Behavior

COM-B Model For Understanding Behavior – Michie et al

Addressing The Gap



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Just like when we design for experiences, we can’t force a behavior to happen. So what can we change?


Beliefs

Values

Behaviors

Rituals

Artifacts



#madpow

Just like when we design for experiences, we can’t force a behavior to happen. So what can we change?


Beliefs

Values

Behaviors

Rituals

ArtifactsSkills & KnowledgeTools & MaterialsStructure & RolesCommunication & Language

EnvironmentPolicies & ProcessesIncentives & Metrics

These are our levers. We can “pull” on these things in combinations to drive the behaviors we seek and – over time – grow and reinforce the beliefs behind them.



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Capability

Motivation

Opportunity

Behavior




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Capability

Motivation

Opportunity

Behavior


Skills & KnowledgeTools & Materials

Communication & Language

Structure & RolesPolicies & Processes

Environment

Incentives & Metrics Structure & Roles

THE INFLUENCE GAP



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Identify the people you can get on board

Understand your ability to influence these people

Communicate based on what they are ready to hear

INFLUENCE GAPInfluence



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Not aligning change efforts and information with a level that others can understand and act on.

Not identifying partners and audiences for our change efforts in ways that build momentum.

INFLUENCE GAPHow it presents

Adam Connor

needs to be rewritten to clearly distinguish the two forms



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Con-templation

Preparation

Action

Maintenance

Relapse

Pre-contemplat

ion

INFLUENCE GAPModel of change



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Con-templation

Preparation

Action

Maintenance

Relapse

Pre-contemplat

ion

INFLUENCE GAPModel of change

Create awarenessand change in

values and beliefs

Persuade andmotivate

Educate

Facilitate

Reinforce change,reminder communications

Identify what causes old

behavior to remerge

Adam Connor

need to find an opportunity to talk about making sure we've accounted for everyone that needs to be involved.

Everybody can influence culture

Adam Connor

need to find an opportunity to talk about making sure we've accounted for everyone that needs to be involved.

DIRECT INFLUENCE

PARTIAL INFLUENCE

VIRAL INFLUENCE



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By building this map and listening for where people are in the change model, we can understand• Who we can influence

• How we formalize the message to them

• When to include them

Armed with that information you can have a strategy forward.

INFLUENCE GAPAddressing the gap



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No matter what your position is, you have the ability to influence the behaviors (and by extension, beliefs) of those around you.

The simplest way to begin is to look for opportunities to build trust and ask questions.

INFLUENCE GAPEverybody can influence culture



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• Design DOES have more attention on it than ever before.

• We have a wide variety of tactics for strengthening design capacity within our organizations.

• By understanding culture and how change is adopted we can better understand:• How to to combine tactics• When to use them• And who to use them with

• We can approach our efforts as we would a design challenge.

CLOSINGIn Summary

ANY QUESTIONS? Adam Connor [email protected] @aconnor

Magga Dora [email protected]

@maggadora