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Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Hello. This is Susan Weinschenk. I am Chief of User Experience Strategy in the Americas for Human Factors International. And welcome to our webcast today. Our topic is Design for the Big, how user centric innovation and strategy can move UX up the value chain. And I have with me here Dr. Eric Schaffer, CEO and Founder of Human Factors International. Welcome. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Hi. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: So this is a big topic with a big name that we're going to talk about. But before we get started I have some reminders for our audience. First of all there's a white paper that goes along with the webcast that you can download. And there's a link on the screen to do that. Also you can submit questions during the webcast and we will save some time towards the end for a Q&A. And so please submit your questions all throughout the broadcast and we'll answer those later on. And then we have a special offer that we're giving at the end, but we're not going to talk about it till the end of the webcast. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Great - a free monitor or something? Dr. Susan Weinschenk: No. It's better than that. Dr. Eric Schaffer: It's better than that, okay. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: So stay tuned and we'll tell you about the special offer before we're all done. Alright, so now we are ready to get going. So Eric, we have a new class, right? Dr. Eric Schaffer: Yeah. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: And that's what we're really here to talk about is the new class. So what does this mean Design for the Big? And what's the new class? Dr. Eric Schaffer: Okay. It's a good question. So the design for the big is about moving the UX perspective up. And it's kind of doing something that we've known for a long time. So within the HFI consulting practice, we have a term that our President Jay More came up with the HFI wow. And that HFI wow is our ability to come in and look at the big picture and make contributions at a higher level. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: So obviously, when anybody is doing usability or user experience work as consulting and helping out a project, they are making recommendations to help that particular piece of software website technology product. You're saying that their contribution often is and can be larger than that? Dr. Eric Schaffer: It can be bigger. And bigger means looking at the level of strategy and at the level of innovation. So you know it's interesting one of the things that has been a complaint for a long time from our colleagues in the industry is that executives don't listen to them. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Ah, well, sometimes they don't even have a ear. I mean it's not just that the executives aren't listening, but they may have a hard time even talking to the executive, right? Dr. Eric Schaffer: Well, that's right. And the reason for that is not that the executive is deaf or doesn't care, it's just that we get told executives speak a different language. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Right. We're not phrasing it in the language. Dr. Eric Schaffer: But what does that mean? They speak pretty good English. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: [Laughter] Oh yeah. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right. So it's not English. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: No. Dr. Eric Schaffer: But what it is, is executives care about the bigger picture. So if you're doing design, and you're worrying about whether it's radio buttons, or check boxes, or left justification, and wording three nouns in a row, that's good. A CEO does not care, does not want to hear about that. And in fact if the CEO does know you're in trouble, because they're coming in can we put blue and red together. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Actually sometimes CEOs do that. Dr. Eric Schaffer: I know. I just had one last week. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: And you're one. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Yeah. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: You do that. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Well, but I'm qualified. I have my CUA. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Oh okay. Dr. Eric Schaffer: But if you're doing structural design, it's a little more important. And now its something the product managers really care about. But to move up, it's not about speaking something other than English. It's about talking about things and in the language of strategy and innovation. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: I got to ask a precursor question. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Okay. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: So why? I mean if what I really care about is the radio button and the check button why do I want to move up? Why do I want to have a bigger picture? Why do I want to think about the executive? Dr. Eric Schaffer: And I think there are a couple of reasons. One is that we need to move UX up the value chain if we're going to be respected, if we're going to be able to institutionalize usability, if we want to have that as a secure ongoing part of our organization. So we need executive championship. We've talked about that many times, right? And so if you're talking about things the executive champion cares about, that's important. Also the value is different, okay, so ... Dr. Susan Weinschenk: You mean the value of the work that we're doing. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Yeah. So if you think about it, if all we're doing is getting the left justification right, how much difference can you make? Right? But a single sentence in strategy gotten right can be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, right? A new innovation can be worth a billion dollars. We need to be able to make those higher level contributions. And the good news is that the skill sets we have as user experience people can apply to strategy innovation. We just have to understand that language, those issues, and that content. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay, so... Dr. Eric Schaffer: So it's a pretty cool thing. And we've been doing that at HFI. So if you look at our process, our framework, we start with digital strategy and innovation. And so we've been doing that regularly for really 5 years now. And those kinds of projects, I think, give the highest value, right? And so in a sense, the user experience story is the story of the golden thread. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: A story of ... Dr. Eric Schaffer: A golden thread. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Alright. What does that mean? Dr. Eric Schaffer: Okay. So if you look at any organization, there's a thread that should run from executive intent, what the executive's trying to do, to understanding the strategy, the business models, the product innovations, to the detailed design. Right. So that connection, that flow from executive intent through to the actual design is broken in most organizations. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Because there's not a carry through. And the thing that makes it broken is there isn't a unified customer experience perspective and set deliverables that moves through. And so what we're saying is move that customer experience perspective up to the strategy level, to the innovation level, and then you won't be in that position. I remember so many times when I've been brought in to make a system usable. And you kind of go actually nobody wants that, right? And ... Dr. Susan Weinschenk: You mean the system in general? Dr. Eric Schaffer: Yeah. The system is a bad idea. It doesn't fit in the market. It's not practical. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: (Inaudible) technology in a sense. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Yeah. You don't care that you could do it technically. No one wants this, right? Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Yeah. Dr. Eric Schaffer: And so if you don't have that user-centered perspective built in and carried forward as a thread, then we could do all the left justification we want, but that's not going to be successful. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: But there's a lot, I mean this is I almost, I actually said that this is big [laughter]. Dr. Eric Schaffer: It's big. That's right. It is, but .... Dr. Susan Weinschenk: I mean how do we get there? Dr. Eric Schaffer: Well, the thing is that it may be big, but it's not mystical. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: It's not impossible. Dr. Eric Schaffer: It's not impossible. We have processes for going about systematically designed strategies, systematically designing innovative solutions, business models. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay, so you're talking about two things. You are talking about strategy and you're talking about innovation. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right. Which is sort of the big stuff, right? Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Alright, so which one do you want, do you want to finish on strategy and then talk about ... Dr. Eric Schaffer: I'm going to talk about one and then the other. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Alright. Which one the first? Dr. Eric Schaffer: So I'm going to talk a little bit about strategy first. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Alright. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Because that's the big. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right. And strategy is you know this study from Forester says that you know lack of clear customer experience strategy is one of the main impediments to good customer experience design and this is in a banking environment. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: This just recently came up. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Yeah. So the thing is that without a good strategy, we'll get somewhere, but where we don't know. And I see so many cases where because there's no good strategy an organization is pulling against itself. Let me tell you a story. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: It always helps to tell stories. Dr. Eric Schaffer: So I'm working with a bank. And they have a team working on the branch. And they're determined to make the branch experience bad. And they're working on empathy. And they have a consultancy and they are spending a lot of money investing in creating a sense of empathy with the customer. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay, right. Dr. Eric Schaffer: At the same time, there's another group separately. And what they're doing is they've got an operation to move those customers out of the branch and into the digital channel where they can serve them for less. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: So you certainly don't need empathy because they're not there. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Well, in fact, you don't want empathy. You want them to leave. [Laughter] so you're pulling the customer to the branch. You are pulling the customer to the digital, I don't know if that's good, right? So it's incredibly inefficient. So we need to have at the top level that coordinating strategy, right? Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Of where user experience fits in with the overall customer experience and the overall ... Dr. Eric Schaffer: So we're underlying determine what the strategy should be. And we're in a world where that strategy means to not just be nice. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: What do you mean by not just be nice? Dr. Eric Schaffer: Okay. So when we've been in exponential times. Go in u-tube. There's a really good video on that. We live in exponential times means that ... Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Yes, I've seen that one. Dr. Eric Schaffer: You have seen that one, right? Everything's growing. The net's moving out. Everythings ... Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Speed and the right. Dr. Eric Schaffer: So there's a strategy which has worked for many companies of being a fast follow. So we see what happens in the market. We see what another bank is doing. We see what another medical company's ... And we'll pick up on that and follow them, and we'll be okay. The problem is that we're moving so fast that it's not okay. I mean technology alone is moving very fast. But what we're going to be doing in the course is talking about not just technology, but things like mega trends and lifestyle change. And it's our job to be able to see these are the things that are happening. Design trends are changing. All this is changing. And you know what, if you're a company that doesn't look at that, that doesn't look at it aggressively and has aggressive strategies, you're likely to be dead. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: So you're saying that you know for people who are watching through our user experience specialist usability people... Dr. Eric Schaffer: Yeah. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: That there's actually a body of knowledge that they're probably some what familiar with. It's not totally foreign to them. Dr. Eric Schaffer: No, because they're used to looking at customer centric issues. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: But they're going to have to be much more conversant in that... Dr. Eric Schaffer: They are going to use the language of mega trends, design trends, and executive intent, and these kinds of things. And just if you do that, you'll be more valuable to your organization. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Because now you're able to contribute at a higher level and your contribution will really move your organization ahead. So you are valued as an individual and as a usability organization, right. Usability organizations need to not get stuck saying you know we make sure the colors are good, right. We want to be at a position and say no. We're part of the innovation conversation. And it may not be that we own strategy or own innovation. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: But we need to be able to... Dr. Eric Schaffer: We're at the table. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: We need to be able to talk about letting the other people who do own it. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Correct. And being at the table is important. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Yeah. Dr. Eric Schaffer: And so we need a model in our head and this is from a course, but we need a model in our head of what executives think about in terms of strategy. And the different parts, the different language, and we need to see how we fit in, because in a sense, you know what, we're central to it, right? They are talking about technology, well, technology is cool. But today, technology is a slave to the user experience. People are buying user experience. I just saw a recent article that said you know if you have money, don't buy a thing, buy user experience, right? And you'll be happier for it. People are getting that. So we bring to bare a whole model of the customer eco system, the customer's values, the customer's needs, the issues of persuasion, emotion, trust, all of that. We bring that to bear at the strategic level. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Yeah. I mean I'm really getting that big part of what you're talking about is this translation of what we already do. We are already (inaudible). Dr. Eric Schaffer: You understand this stuff and you've been studying users and talking users. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: I know. There are people watching it too, not just me personally, right? We all have been. Dr. Eric Schaffer: They also have. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Right. But not necessarily used to talking about it in this way. Dr. Eric Schaffer: So we're used to talking about user experience, but we're not used to applying it in the context of these bigger issues. And to do that, the key to that is understanding the models, understanding the way that an executive is going to be thinking about these issues. And so that's like a key that unlocks a huge potential. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay. Dr. Eric Schaffer: And so as we do this work, if there's anything that we need to perhaps get a little better at is having a wider view of our customer eco system. So when you're doing ... Dr. Susan Weinschenk: What do you mean by eco system? Dr. Eric Schaffer: So eco system is a term I think we are receiving from ethno managers. And in fact many of the methods we are using today are inspired by ethnographic managers. So ethnography says we're not going to look at just a small pebble, we are going to get a bigger picture of what's happening in an overall context, right? Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay. Dr. Eric Schaffer: So one of the things we need to share with people is that we need bigger understandings than we used to before. So I remember being in you know human computer interface school and basically you have a human and a computer working like that. Now what about a mobile device? You have lots of different players. The device moves through lots of different environments. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: So by eco system, you are talking about the physical environment but also many people. Dr. Eric Schaffer: It's a physical environment with many actors, many people, many scenarios. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Many artifacts. Artifacts are not the things we design but the things that I might be using a tool that I'm using like ... Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Users using in their ... Dr. Eric Schaffer: Sure you know a light socket to a power socket to charge my phone. That's a artifact. That's something I'm going to use. I'm designing a phone, but I need to understand about light sockets. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: What else, okay. And so these things are all part of eco system. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Eco system. And the eco system is also the interactions between people. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: And I know when I've seen some of the work that comes out of our what we have good specializes in (inaudible) and the have wonderfully rich diagrams that come out the ways, the methods, they have showing these connections are very impressive. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Exactly. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: So is that the, is this going to be taught in your class? Dr. Eric Schaffer: Yeah, exactly. So we're going to talk about the most current methods of cloud UX and how to take that and to model it, eco system diagrams, diloads, day in the life of a diagrams, and being able to use that as a foundation for conversations about big issues. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right. And so is that big perspective is being able to not get hung up in that individual screen design, but looking at the context in which things are used, looking at how the organization that competes against our organizations. And being able to participate in that, being able to look at how new technologies impact that. It's a great big fun puzzle. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: And I would think I know for us and probably for a lot of people watching the field of UX they are being asked to design not just for web sites on a computer screen, right, but now we've got the mobile devices, and I Pods, and smart phones and ... Dr. Eric Schaffer: And you have refrigerators with computers built into them and we're designing in situations with social context, with environmental context, it's far more important than the old days when we worried about oh I got a computer, and it's got a keyboard... Dr. Susan Weinschenk: One person. Dr. Eric Schaffer: One person (inaudible). Dr. Susan Weinschenk: And not communicating with another person either. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right. So looking at it from those view points of computer supported collaborative work, how the new technologies fit in. All of that's terribly important. And we need to link up in that golden thread. So to understand that thread from executive intent, we have to understand the different types of executive intent. In fact it should be our job as we listen to our executives and understand what those statements really are to come back and say you know you haven't accommodated UX. You haven't considered what the market is doing. You need to be able to think about the practicalities of how humans and technology can make this happen. There are some executive intent statements which just inspire you from a UX viewpoint. Others are disasters. So what we want to do is to make our contribution by giving feedback about it and also by on-boarding it. So if we're in alignment with the executive intent, if we're an enabler of that executive, then we're valued more, right? So understanding that language and understanding the types of strategies that we need to bring that to. So people talk about strategy all the time. But there are different types of strategies. There's market strategy, there's channel strategy, we need to be able to talk in those terms. We need to be able to bring our unique perspectives and skills of research to that. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Sometimes I think it's sad too because a lot of the times we are in alignment, but we're not speaking that way and so we're perceived as not. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Correct. So if we're walking around going UX is important, UX is important ... Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Right. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right. Nobody wants that, right. [Laughter] right, but if we can say look the you know the ideology of the company is this, and this is how UX helps that happen, it's completely different. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Yeah. I know I had a - I was working with a client recently and they said that the word for them this year, the directive was all about engagement. And so much of ... Dr. Eric Schaffer: And so everybody in the organization is the worlds expert in engagement, right? [Laughter] you have the data (inaudible) designer we're working on engagement, right? Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Well, the thing is the project we were working on was really was how you can get people more engaged in the products and services. But we weren't using that word until I found out that this was an important word and it's like put that in, right, in our deliverable. Dr. Eric Schaffer: So to the extent even in large organizations there are key players who are trying to do things in the industry, move the industry. And to the extent that we can be enablers of them, give them feedback, tie our efforts into what they are doing, that's very, very critical. And so that puts you in a very powerful position in the organization because you're a key enabler of that high level executive (inaudible), right? And you could bring that down into explicit strategies. Strategies that are specific. So one thing that I see sometimes, and it's I think it's tempting for organizations to do this, but you'll get strategies like we're determined to give customers a reliable experience, right? That sounds great. When I ask you something like who is sitting around going you know what I think I am going to make things unreliable [laughter], right? Nobody's doing that. So what is the point of that kind of strategic statement? It's not really happening. So what we need to do is bring in our knowledge of the eco system, our knowledge of things like persuasion methods, right? And to be able to say here's ways we can move as an organization perhaps cross product, perhaps cross channel, perhaps coordinating products, perhaps coordinating channels in order to be highly competitive in the market. Today so many businesses have been commoditized. It's amazing, right? And so that commoditization makes it so there's no margin. There's no ability to really be successful to grow. And in all you are doing is making things usable. And making things usable is good. It is important. But it's a hygiene factor today. You got to do that. Then it's just like you are serving like that ping pong, cricket, tennis, it doesn't have top spin. A good strategy is having top spin. It's making things that move ahead. And so that's really I think really a powerful thing for an organization to pay attention to. And so that top spin can be deciding what areas in the market to address. It can be applying particular kinds of persuasion methods, right. Even things like you know strategies are free, right? So or reciprocation or compliance (inaudible) are methods from the PET course that we've got. We'll often fall into becoming a great strategy, right? So it's really exciting for me to see how our field can move up, right? So we can see how you know there's basic kinds of strategy everybody's talking about, right? So every bank is talking about cross channel aggression. And we've been talking about it for 10 years. And yes, that's good. We need to do cross channel aggression. But if that's all you are doing that's not a powerful enough strategy to really succeed and be difference. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Yeah. So a part of what you are saying I think (inaudible) is that a lot of times the things that we do down on the ground are different. You know out in the trenches. We are getting important feedback from the customers, from the users. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: About what should be considered in the strategy. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right, what kind of strategies will work. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: What will resonate with your market. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Absolutely. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: But a lot of times that doesn't necessarily, you know then we do our study and then we do our deliverable to the, that's one way [laughter] and it never gets to the higher level of the organization. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right, and so what happens is we get strategies that are disconnected from the market as executives are left to make strategies by reading magazine. And so you get you know everywhere you'll get like social networking, that's our strategy, and it's like wow, I don't really necessarily want a social network around my medical supplier or my bank or something like that [laughter]. That is ... Dr. Susan Weinschenk: You might. Dr. Eric Schaffer: May be, right? And it's context yes you will. But it's only very specific populations where that's going to work. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Right. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right. So or I love the i-Pod thing. We're going to make something that's an app for the i-phone, right? And that will be our strategy. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Right, okay. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right. So beyond strategy, though, we also have the opportunity to contribute to I think one of the areas that's hottest in organizations today. And it's hot because they're looking for market advantage in difficult markets we need to come up with products that are new. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: So this is the innovation piece. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Ah the innovation piece. So we need to be able to be instrumental in the professional process of coming up with ideas. Now everybody goes no, no, no. Everybody in the organization should be an innovator, this is true. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: But you're not talking about being innovative or being an innovator. You're talking about a process of innovation where you figure out what technology products offerings, new software, website ... Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right, business models. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Functionality what should (inaudible) Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right. And so what we need to be able to do is to really lead, in many cases run an innovation process. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: But this is not something that you know usability people are necessarily used to doing. Dr. Eric Schaffer: But in fact, we have been innovative and we are innovative and we often come up with really cool ideas. So this is an example you know where you face a question of how am I going to handle long lines in ATM, right? And so some company might install more ATMs. Another company might raise the minimum so you can't get money out of the ATM unless it's a certain amount. Or you can go another approach which we actually came up quite a long time ago and it's now out in the market which is fun to see, is tracking who the customer is, what they normally do and go oh you want another $50 of receipt, that's what you normally get to press the button. And that cuts the ATM time down like in half. So that's an innovation. And that's one kind of innovation. But we can go beyond that to bigger innovations. And so this kind of small innovation is in our DNA. We're forever doing it, right? But what we want to do is a bit bigger. This is a single page, this is from an innovation project we did for Intel. And this page is the precursor concept to the class of APC which we call the (inaudible). Dr. Susan Weinschenk: So this was an innovation project that ... Dr. Eric Schaffer: That we did for Intel. And we were asked to look at the educational market in emerging markets and we came up with the initial concept and worked through it. That concept has now sold I think about half a billion dollars just that was well above a hundred, I mean sorry, a million. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Yeah (inaudible) [laughter]. We're really excited about it. Dr. Eric Schaffer: No, no. And so being able to participate is as part of the innovation process or even leaders of the innovation process is important to companies because they need to get away from the commodity world and into more of a blue ocean strategy where (inaudible). Dr. Susan Weinschenk: And there's a methodology for doing innovation. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Yeah. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: I mean innovation is not does not just mean you come and ... Dr. Eric Schaffer: It doesn't mean just come and innovate. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Come up with (inaudible) ideas. Dr. Eric Schaffer: No. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Just as we have a user centered design methodology... Dr. Eric Schaffer: We have an innovation process and the skill sets that you've got that allow you to do good user centered design and innovation are very similar. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: So being able to interview ... Dr. Eric Schaffer: Being able to understand the customers or what they do ... Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Iterative design. Dr. Eric Schaffer: All of that, right? Dr. Susan Weinschenk: So you're saying this is a new, it's not a new skill set, but user experience people can take the skills that they have, but then learn this new process, not new process but learn a methodology for innovation and then they'll actually be able to do not just usability projects, but also innovation projects. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Correct, absolutely. And so what the class really focuses on is understanding the language. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay. So now you're talking about a new class, okay. So it's a 3-day class. Dr. Eric Schaffer: It's a 3-day class. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay. Dr. Eric Schaffer: And it combines both the strategy and innovation perspective. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Together. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Because in many cases in most cases, there are similar kinds of activities. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: That sounds like a lot. Dr. Eric Schaffer: We're keeping busy [laughter], right? But it's a you know for e.g. you can't do good innovation work if you don't understand mega trends unlike soft trends. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay. Dr. Eric Schaffer: You can't do strategy either. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right, so this kind of one larger perspective is what you need in order to be able to participate at these two levels, yeah? Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay, alright. Well, we've got some questions. Do you want to start with questions? Dr. Eric Schaffer: Okay, are there questions? Yeah, yeah. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Alright, we'll start with we have some coming in. Let me remind everyone that if you have questions that you want to submit to us, there is a link on the screen and you can submit a question and then we'll answer it. So we have a couple in. First one is do I take the user centered analysis course first before I would take this course? So we have a – I know many of you watching now about our curriculum, we have 4 courses that are part of what we call the certified usability analyst curriculum. And then we have our PET course. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right. So we're building now the CXA. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: CXA. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right, certified user experience analyst. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Right and we've got the PET before that. So the PET works more. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right, so we have a PET course. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Yeah. Dr. Eric Schaffer: We have the design for the big. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Yeah. Dr. Eric Schaffer: And there are 2 more courses coming. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay. Dr. Eric Schaffer: One is an advanced PET course and the other is an institutionalization of user experience design course. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay so for this course design for the big... Dr. Eric Schaffer: Yeah. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: What should they have taken first before they come to this? Dr. Eric Schaffer: So you can come and take that course (inaudible). Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Without any (inaudible) okay. Dr. Eric Schaffer: But it's certainly good ... Dr. Susan Weinschenk: If you get permission from the professor, no, okay, we're kidding. Dr. Eric Schaffer: But if you have user centered analysis, it will help. It makes sense more. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay. Dr. Eric Schaffer: If you have PET design, it will help make sense more, but it won't be lost in the dust. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay. Dr. Eric Schaffer: If you're taking this course just ... Dr. Susan Weinschenk: On it's own. Dr. Eric Schaffer: On it's own. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay, alright. Well, I have so many questions, I don't know what to do. Okay, let's do this one. Dr. Eric Schaffer: That's a long one. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: This is a long question, yeah. I hear you say that UX expert should rise up the value chain and should add value. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Could you please help us come to terms with what drives innovation? Is it UX that drives innovation or is it technology that drives innovation? Dr. Eric Schaffer: That's a good question and the answer is to some extent both do. So if technology moves ahead, it creates opportunities for innovation that weren't there before. The problem is that some organizations approach it from a technology view point without a UX component. If you do that, you're in really bad trouble, because you're likely to build things that you can do. You can build it but people don't want it, right? And so it may be impractical. It may be something which is just too difficult for people to use that where they have another alternative it doesn't fit comparably. It doesn't fit with your brand. And so if you do innovation as a technology process, you are not competitive in the market. And in fact, today, because technology, particularly computerized technologies are so advanced I mean do you remember, there was a time where when you were talking about doing interface design, you would sit down like okay, what technology you are in. What are you using? What are it's limits? Today ... Dr. Susan Weinschenk: I am not going to admit to any of these things which ask do I remember a time back when [laughter]. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Okay. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Because that was before my time. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Susan started when she was 8, 6... Dr. Susan Weinschenk: 5 [laughter]. Dr. Eric Schaffer: But ... Dr. Susan Weinschenk: I (inaudible) do I remember a time ... Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right when you had to really ask about the technical abilities of the interface. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Right. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Now it's sort of like you're using one of the current ones leave me alone. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Right. Dr. Eric Schaffer: I know you can do a slider, I know you can do a check box. I don't need to know those things. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Can the users select it? Dr. Eric Schaffer: It's what the user wants to do. And so there's been a shift and today for the most part, it's the UX side that leads innovation, not the technology. And that's a huge change in this. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: This next question I think is a little bit related. Don't you think product strategy and innovation is the responsibility of the product manager team? Are you suggesting they need to start thinking differently or need a new team? Dr. Eric Schaffer: It can go in a lot of different ways. Clearly they need to think different, right? So the product management team will often tend to look at it from a technology or from a business point of view. Those are good perspectives, but you need to have the UX perspective also. That may mean bringing the UX team in to do it. It may mean learning the stuff yourself. I don't care. As long as somebody is doing it, it's key to success. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: So should the product management team people be coming to the big course or not necessarily? Dr. Eric Schaffer: They can, absolutely, yeah. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay. Alright. Is the big course appropriate for a mid-sized company's executive team? Or is it targeted specifically at the [laughter] this is going crazy, the small handful of usability types. Dr. Eric Schaffer: That's sort of sad. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: No, no. I think they're saying that in a mid-sized company they may only have a few usability people. Then you got more people on the executive team (inaudible). Dr. Eric Schaffer: So this is not an executive course. This is a practitioners course. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay. Dr. Eric Schaffer: If an executive is very hands on, sure they could take it. But it's not geared to that. It's geared to people who are actually going to be doing the work. And so be they UX people, be they people in marketing, or business, or technology. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: So it doesn't matter where they're from. Dr. Eric Schaffer: They shouldn't be executives. So it's not geared for them. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay. Alright. Let's do this one next. Can you list the top 5 things I will learn and will be able to implement within my organization? Do they contain proven strategies for me to implement? Dr. Eric Schaffer: Yeah. I mean so the interesting thing is that because HFI spends most of it's time doing consulting work and design work, we've tried all the stuff. We've been doing strategy for years. We've been doing innovation work for years (inaudible) has been really spear heading that in the organization for 8 years. We know how to do this work. And it's proven. What can you do? I think it's very important that you can participate at the executive intent level. And that means understanding the language and tying in to the language of executive intent. You can also participate in strategies that may be participating in market strategies and or channel strategy. And that means you heard me say participate. It doesn't mean you need to run it. But it means that you need to be at the table being part of the conversation. Then you also can be part of or even run the innovation processes. That can be incremental innovation which we are really used to or disruptive innovation which is more radical that people need today. We have client after client who are coming to us now saying we need this new mobile device to be different. It needs to be far better. It needs to be a breakthrough. You can't do that with good interface design. You need to do that at the level of the eco system. How does this fit in, how does this play with other channels, how do I optimize the role of technology. Those are the questions that really make the difference today. You need to be part of that. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay. You know I think what I'm going to do by the way is take a few more questions and then we'll have time for more questions but I want to make sure we have time for the special offer. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Okay. It's not a topic. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Yeah. So I'm going to do one more question. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Okay. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Actually two, because they're related. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Okay. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Then I'll give the special offer. Dr. Eric Schaffer: They're both long. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: That's right. And then we'll do more questions. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Then do more questions. Okay. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: I don't want all these people to lose this special offer. Okay. We have two questions that have to do with government. So like I will combine them together. So the first one is what about, oh no this one isn't about it. Dr. Eric Schaffer: It's not about the government. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: I saw it was about governments. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Which is may be more interesting. Let's do that one first. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: You want to do that one first, alright. What about governments and policy that higher up the decision ladder we move the more decisions are built and evaluated around corporate policy. It might seem out of this program, but its necessary for decision making. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Its not out of scope. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: It's in scope. Dr. Eric Schaffer: It's in scope. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: So do you talk about governments? Dr. Eric Schaffer: Yes. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: In the course. Dr. Eric Schaffer: So we're talking about that flow from executive intent which is the highest level down to different kinds of strategy which is the governance level. Now the interesting problem with that so we want to participate in it and the interesting problem is that often it's broken or left on the floor. So that's what we want to pick up that executive intent. That's where we want to pick up the executive intent and make sure that we're carrying that golden thread through down to design. Do that, you're a hero. Okay you want to do the I want to hear about the coffee cup. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay. We're getting so many questions in. Dr. Eric Schaffer: I'll do more questions but ... Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Alright. (inaudible) right, so here's our special offer. We have this special offer, first I have to tell you about the course itself because they are related to the special offer. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Okay. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: So our new course on design for the big we have 4 cities now, we have just added 2 cities. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Okay. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: New York, San Francisco, DC, and Chicago all coming up. We have New York City joined and San Francisco in July. DC and Chicago in September. These are all listed on the website. If I got two special offers. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Okay. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: If you sign up for the course register and pay by May 31st you get $200 off the course. Dr. Eric Schaffer: You could get dinner. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: For $200? Dr. Eric Schaffer: Yeah. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: You get a really nice dinner even in New York City. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Yeah. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Alright, but I talked Jay More, the President, into a special offer. I asked him if we could offer an extra $100 off if people registered by the end of today. Dr. Eric Schaffer: That's like wine with dinner. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Yeah, definitely. Lot of wine with dinner. So a really good wine with dinner. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Good wine with dinner, okay. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: So this will be for people who are listening and watching because well, they don't have to be, but if you know they find that out tomorrow, it's too late. So for any of you who are listening if you're interested in the course, if you, I'll say that again. If you register and pay by May 31st you get $200 off. If you register and pay by the end of today, so we've decided this was midnight Central US time. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Okay. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: You get $300 total off. So that's better than a coffee cup. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Yes, better than a coffee cup. I admit. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: You're in the (inaudible) Dr. Eric Schaffer: (Inaudible) a nice coffee cup. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Okay. You'll get a really nice coffee cup. Alright, next one. Now again the government question. How do you convince governmental organizations to invest? I don't know if they mean invest in innovation or invest in a course. Commercial companies can benefit money wise from doing some of this work, right? But governmental organization don't or shall not profit right, they're not supposed to get a profit. So how do you convince them? Dr. Eric Schaffer: And this is a really big question because it is really how do you convince them for the whole journey of user experience from executive intent strategy through design. And the answer is you have to know what makes governmental organizations, your governmental organization tick. And for most government organizations the imperative is to make their constituents feel that their tax dollars are well spent, right? So a government organization isn't trying to make a profit, but they need to get the support of the people. And so the argument then becomes if you torture your constituents if you torture your citizens with technology if you don't meet their needs they are not going to be very happy and supportive of what you're doing. So that's usually what I find is that the core of a governmental organization. There are other ones too. And so we need to be just as in a regular organization you need to listen to what the executive intent is and tune to it it's the same thing. In a government organization it's no different at all. Same for non-profit. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Yeah. And we have a tendency to give examples that have to do with you know e-commerce and people buying more. But actually we do a lot of work that doesn't have to do anything with people buying anything or exchange of money, right? Dr. Eric Schaffer: Yeah. Systems that work within organizations. Systems and applications and tools built by NGOs and by governments. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Yeah. Right. Lots of questions. We'll see how many we can fit in. This next one, I'm going to answer it. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Okay. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: It's actually a side question that I found someone writing in. Dr. Eric Schaffer: [Laughter] that's a good one. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: He or she says I plan to take the PET course not the Big course though not in the immediate future. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Oh. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Why not. Are there any books recommended readings that one might go through that might lay the foundations? So I'll give a couple of answers. One is that at our website we have a wonderful bibliography of all kinds of – do you think I should mention this one book called [laughter] Neuro web design what makes them click? It's my book. So that will be ... Dr. Eric Schaffer: Very good book. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: But actually there's a lot ... Dr. Eric Schaffer: It's a (inaudible) read. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: It is. So Neuro web design what makes them click go read that. But I should say there are a lot of really good books out there. Dr. Eric Schaffer: But Neuro web's very good. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: So and the other thing is that if you are (inaudible) email me susan@humanfactors.com it's not hard and I'll give you lots of other books to read besides mine. I love the given book recommendations. Alright. Keith is already here. You state that the interface design doesn't build the wow product. Is it then that product design with interaction design together is the key to a successful product? These are tough questions. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Yeah, it's a good question. Oh look, there we go. Thank you. Okay. [Laughter] We've read the book. It's a good book. Fun to read. So the answer is that the wow of a product starts at the strategic level. It starts at the ideation level. And you can't compensate for a bad idea with a good design, right? In fact I've stopped projects where I've been brought in and it's like okay you have a great big consulting project and I'll be after a while go can we stop now because no one wants this [laughter]. Right, so really it's our responsibility to be able to participate at that bigger level so that we're on track so that when we go to design, it's successful. Now the other side is you can destroy a design at the detailed design. You can have a great idea which fails because of just bad quality of design. So all of it needs to work is the answer. A wow product is where that golden thread is there from executive intent, innovation, structural design, detailed design, all of that's lined up then you got a killer design. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: I now have a long one. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Oh my God. People like typing. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: I do believe that design thinking and process is critical for business success. That said, how do you recommend the UX professionals align and or work with the individuals and teams that are typically in charge with product innovation within an organization like product development, innovation teams etc. Is the shared responsibility yet there is fear inherent in those interactions? Dr. Eric Schaffer: Who's afraid? Well, so it may be interference. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: (Inaudible) interfere. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right, okay so interfere. The answer is be very clear for your organization who owns what, okay. If you own innovation, fine. If somebody else owns innovation, don't walk in and say you guys don't have a clue. We're taking over here or if you do (inaudible). But that's not a good strategy. But what we can do is we can go in and have a dialogue where we contribute. And contributing to be accepted in contribution means having the language and the models that they are working with. So if we can talk at a strategic level, if we can talk at the innovation process level, then we can sit at the table, have a contribution and be valued in that. Whereas if we are talking in the pure UX human computer interface optimization language then we're going to be like yeah, yeah you guys you paint the screens when (inaudible) yeah, make it pretty. Screen beautification. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Right [laughter]. Right. I think UX types are challenged to get a seat at the table. You give them the credentials that are most valued relevant to product development and innovation. That is MBAs and business majors. How do we deal with this stigma and ensrue that design is equally competent in the specificities. Dr. Eric Schaffer: You know, it's not about credentials. It's just not. It's about the quality of your contribution. So if you walk in, you're speaking the wrong language and the wrong models, people are going to be like oh yeah, wrong guy. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: (Inaudible) got an MBA. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Yeah. You can have Ph.D. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: (Inaudible) usually of doing more. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Yeah, you're right. Ph.D. is a bad idea. But you can have an MBA. But if you are not speaking the right language you are not valued. So it's all about that. People are not really sitting there checking your resume before you sit down at the table. They're listening to what you say and judging whether you have a contribution. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: So if you can get a couple of these projects under your belt, and show that ... Dr. Eric Schaffer: And just I mean even after the course you'll see you can sit down and you start talking about mega trends and micro trends. You start being able to talk about design trends. You start talking about market segmentation approaches. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Eco systems. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Draw an eco system diagram and they'll be like you know I came I was talking with head of customer offering recently at a bank. And she just you know I showed her a PET diagram. She was like we never get anything like this. And so we have so much. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: And I really feel I know that many of my interactions with clients recently they say the fact that you have a methodology and that you have a proven process is what is really important. So I think that that is we say is really critical. We have a few more minutes, about 5 more minutes and we have like a (inaudible) of questions. So let me say before I keep going on questions that any questions we don't get to we will answer at the forum that is at the HFI connect site. And that's connect.humanfactors.com (inaudible) right I hope so. Dr. Eric Schaffer: Humanfactors.com yeah. That's right. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Alright, next one. Executive intent can only truly be inferred by a UX VP or director if in place not practitioner themselves who rarely have interaction with said executive Eric Schaffer's executive intent is making money. I don't know what that means. Dr. Eric Schaffer: I don't know what the last part is, but I know about so I mean I didn't make up executive intent, right. Executive intent is a common thing within high levels within an organization. I guess what I would say is to some extent your title and your place in the hierarchy does put limits on your exposure. But if you are making a contribution it tends to reach the right person and your exposure grows. And so I've seen personally for e.g. for HFI as our consultants have learnt to talk about strategic issues, and innovative issues, suddenly we've gone from commonly talking to product managers to talking to CIOs and CEOs and managing directors, and so that conversation locus change has happened not because we have a different credential but because the things we're talking about need the attention of the CMO. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Well, I think even if you can just inch your way up... Dr. Eric Schaffer: Right. Well, it will probably happen naturally. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Right. One level above. Dr. Eric Schaffer: So you get carried there. It's like if you're talking about a concept of a way that you know ecological lifestyle changes which we're going to talk about. So if we talk about how the ecological changes in the world create lifestyle changes, which change the way our company's business is going to be in the future and our business model will work in these ways. That's a message that isn't going to sit with your manager. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Well, I know that as I have started to change the way I speak about a deliverable on a project, often after that meeting someone will say could you give this presentation and then they want to go to the next group higher up. How do you see these ideas impacting online learning, online training? Dr. Eric Schaffer: Okay. So the answer is that every business is impacted by the changes that are going on today. And needs to innovate it needs to change their intent around those changes. If I look at the future role of online learning, I believe it will explode. And if you understand the ways that it will explode, then I guarantee you, you are going to be far more successful than if you are just plotting ongoing yeah we do basic online learning, right. So online learning in a world which is going to be telecommuting and tele-educating, and tele-socializing where local businesses will grow. So when we look at how those changes happen, and we're going to spend some serious time on that, then you'll be able to say, yeah our business is going to profoundly be impacted and there are new opportunities. So that's the kind of big picture we need to be looking at. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: Our last question. Who are the instructors going to be? Dr. Eric Schaffer: Apala Chavan and I are going to do it. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: You are, alright. So let me give a reminder for everyone about all of this. You can download a white paper. You can look for because we didn't answer all the questions. So the rest of the questions we will answer at the forum on HFI connect. The course, if you are interested in signing up for the courses New York, San Francisco, DC, and Chicago in July and September, I talked about our special offers. Thank you very much... Dr. Eric Schaffer: Thanks. Dr. Susan Weinschenk: For joining me today and thank you everyone. |
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