Institutionalization of UX: A Step-by-Step Guide to a User Experience Practice

“This book is a great how-to manual for people who want to bring the benefits of improved user experience to their companies. It’s thorough yet still accessible for the smart businessperson. I’ve been working with user-centered design for over twenty years, and I found myself circling tips and tricks.” –Harley Manning, vice president & research director, customer experience, Forrester Research   ”Some argue that the big advances in our impact on user experience will come from better methods or new technologies. Some argue that they will come from earlier involvement in the design and development process. The biggest impact, however, will come as more and more companies realize the benefits of user-centered design and build cultures that embrace it. Eric offers a practical roadmap to get there.” –Arnie Lund, connected experience labs technology leader and human—systems interaction lab manager, GE Global Research   “User experience issues are a key challenge for development of increasingly complex products and services. This book provides much-needed insights to help managers achieve their key objectives and to develop more successful solutions.” –Aaron Marcus, president, Aaron Marcus and Associates, Inc.   “This handy book should be required reading for any executive champions of change in any development organization making products that demand a compelling user experience. It does an excellent job in laying the foundation for incorporating user experience engineering concepts and best practices into these corporations. In today’s competitive economy, business success will greatly depend on instituting the changes in design methods and thinking that are so clearly and simply put forth in this most practical and useful book.” –Ed Israelski, director, human factors, AbbVie   “If you’re tasked with building a user-experience practice in a large organization, this book is for you (and your boss). Informed by years of case studies and consulting experience, Eric Schaffer provides the long view, clearly describing what to expect, what to avoid, and how to succeed in establishing user-centered principles at your company.” –Pat Malecek, former user experience manager, AVP, CUA, A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc.   ”For those of us who have evangelized user experience for so many years, we finally have a book that offers meaningful insights that can only come from years of practical experience in the real world. Here is a wonderful guide for all who wish to make user experience a ‘way of life’ for their companies.” –Feliça Selenko, Ph.D., former principal technical staff member, AT&T   “Dr. Schaffer’s mantra is that the main differentiator for companies of the future will be the ability to build practical, useful, usable, and satisfying user experiences. This is a book that provides the road map necessary to allow your organization to achieve these goals.” –Colin Hynes, president, UX Inc.   Computer hardware no longer provides a competitive edge. Software has become a broadly shared commodity. A new differentiator has emerged in information technology: user experience (UX). Executives recognize that the customer satisfaction that applications and websites provide directly impacts a company’s stock price.   While UX practitioners know how to design usable, engaging applications that create good user experiences, establishing that process on an industrial scale poses critical IT challenges for an organization.   How do you build user-centered design into your culture? What infrastructure do you need in order to make UX design faster, cheaper, and better? How do you create the organizational structure and staffing solution that will support UX design over time? Institutionalization of UX shows how to develop a mature, user-centered design practice within an enterprise. Eric Schaffer guides readers step by step through a solid methodology for institutionalizing UX, providing practical advice on the organizational change, milestones, toolsets, infrastructure, staffing, governance, and long-term operations needed to achieve fully mature UX engineering.   First published in 2004 as Institutionalization of Usability, this new, expanded edition looks beyond the science of usability to the broader, deeper implications of UX: Once customers can use your applications and websites easily, how does your organization ensure that those engagements are satisfying, engaging, and relevant? Contextual innovation expert Apala Lahiri contributes a new chapter on managing cultural differences for international organizations.   Whether you are an executive leading the institutional-ization process, a manager supporting the transition of your organization’s UX practice, or an engineer working on UX issues, this guide will help you build a mature and sustainable practice in UX design.  

Table of Contents:
Preface xiii Acknowledgments xvii Read This First! xix About the Authors xxxix Part I: Startup 1 Chapter 1: The Executive Champion 3 The Value of Usability 4 Beyond Classic Usability 11 CEO Wants a Great Customer Experience: Now Don’t Fall for UX Fads or Half-measures 16 Who Can Be a Champion? 22 The Role of the Executive Champion 22 Keep Moving on the Strategy, Keep Expanding and Innovating 24 Chapter 2: Selecting a Usability Consultant 29 Staffing 32 Completeness of Solution 33 Domain Expertise 34 Methodology 35 Tools and Templates 36 Object-Oriented Approach 37 User-Centered Size and Stability 38 Corporate Cultural Match 39 Specializations 40 Organizational Structure 41 Change Management Ability 42 Quality Control and Feedback 42 Ongoing Training for the Consultancy’s Staff 43 Summary 44 Part II: Setup 45 Chapter 3: Institutionalization Strategy 47 What to Consider When Developing the Strategic Plan 51 A Proactive Organization 52 Coordinating Internal Staff and Consultants 53 The Importance of Sequence 54 Targets of Opportunity 57 Slower Can Be Better 58 Phasing in Design Standards 58 Key Groups for Support or Resistance 60 Training 63 Methodology and Infrastructure 64 The Project Path 65 Levels of Investment 65 Summary 66 Chapter 4: Methodology 67 What to Look for in a User-Centered Methodology 68 An Outline of The HFI Framework 73 A Quick Check of Your Methodology 82 The Challenges of Retrofitting a Development Life Cycle 82 Templates 87 Summary 88 Chapter 5: Interface Design Standards 89 What Is an Interface Design Standard? 90 Types of Standards 91 Screen Design Templates 92 Patterns 94 Other Contents of a Design Standard 95 The Scope of Design Standards 96 The Value of Design Standards 98 The Process and Cost of Developing Standards 100 Disseminating, Supporting, and Enforcing Standards 102 Summary 105 Chapter 6: Standard User Profiles and Ecosystem Models 107 The Worst Practice 108 Thin Personas: “Jane Is 34 and Has a Cat” 110 Quality Personas 111 The Best Practice: Working with Full Ecosystems 112 Standard User Profiles and Ecosystems 113 Static versus Organic Models 115 Summary 116 Chapter 7: Tools, Templates, and Testing Facilities 117 Introduction to Your Toolkit 118 Testing Facilities 119 Recording of Testing Sessions 122 Modeling Tools and Software 124 Data Gathering and Testing Techniques 131 Advanced Methods 134 The Special Needs of International Testing 135 Recruiting Interview and Testing Participants 137 Summary 140 Chapter 8: Training and Certification 141 Types of Training 142 Certification 149 A Typical Training Plan 151 Conferences 151 Summary 153 Chapter 9: Knowledge Management 155 Why Conventional Knowledge Management Fails 157 The Cost of Failure 158 Object-Oriented UX 159 Professionals Don’t Start from Scratch 162 Linkages 162 Summary 164 Part III: Organization 165 Chapter 10: Governance 167 The Roots of the Governance Problem 168 Memes That Kill 169 Education Helps 172 Verify That a Methodology Is Applied 174 Closing the Loop on Standards 178 Checking If the Practice Is Alive 180 Summary 184 Chapter 11: Organizational Structure 185 Organizational Structures for User Experience Design Teams 188 Placement of a Central Team in the Overall Organization 192 Escalation of Problems 198 Graphic Artists, Writers, and Other Usability-Oriented Staff 199 Summary 200 Chapter 12: Staffing 201 The Chief User Experience Executive 203 The Central Usability Organization Manager 204 The Central Usability Organization Staff 206 What to Look for When Hiring 219 An Offshore Model 230 Summary 233 Chapter 13: Projects 235 Doing It Right 237 Managing by Project Importance 237 Who Will Do the User Experience Design? 239 Different Strategies for Practitioner Involvement 240 Working Smart 242 Efficient Project Planning 244 Estimating Experience Design Work 244 Summary 246 Part IV: Long-Term Operations 247 Chapter 14: Long-Term Activities of the Central Team 249 Maintaining Respect and Negotiating Effectively 251 Maintaining Momentum 252 Evangelizing 255 Training 258 Mentoring 259 Supporting Standards 260 Supporting the Community 262 Performing Usability Testing 263 Focusing on Metrics 264 Having Responsibility 266 Reporting to Executives 267 Summary 271 Chapter 15: The Future 273 Symptoms of Leaping the Chasm 274 Maturity 276 Your Organization’s Maturity 277 Process, Capabilities, and Staffing 277 Strategy, Innovation, and Persuasion 280 New Technologies 281 Chapter 16: Design for Worldwide Applications 283 Do International Markets Really Matter? 283 How Does Bad Cross-Cultural Design Happen to Good Organizations? 284 Internationalization, Localization, and the Challenges of Current Practice 285 Between the Idea and the Reality Falls the Shadow 287 The Criteria for Success 287 A New Global Delivery Model for Local User Experience 288 Critical Tools 290 Local Understanding, Global Success 291 Are There Populations We Cannot Reach? 294 Can We Look Forward to a Unified Globe? 296 Emergence of the “Third China” 298 References 301 Index 305

About the Author :
Dr. Eric Schaffer’s prediction that the most profound differentiator for corporate computing would be a positive online user experience has made him a visionary of the “Third Wave of the Information Age.” Dr. Schaffer saw that differentiation would come from getting the user experience design job done efficiently, easily, and without frustration. Founder and CEO of Human Factors International, Dr. Schaffer has been in the field since 1977 and has run consulting and training operations worldwide.   Apala Lahiri, global chief of technical staff at Human Factors International and CEO of Institute of Customer Experience, is one of the world’s top experts in cross-cultural design and contextual innovation. The Bollywood Method, Bizarre Bazaar, and Funky Facilitator are just a few of the creative techniques she has developed to help companies understand user experience in diverse cultural and economic environments.  

Review :
“This book is a great how-to manual for people who want to bring the benefits of improved user experience to their companies. It’s thorough yet still accessible for the smart businessperson. I’ve been working with user-centered design for over twenty years, and I found myself circling tips and tricks.” –Harley Manning, vice president & research director, customer experience, Forrester Research ”Some argue that the big advances in our impact on user experience will come from better methods or new technologies. Some argue that they will come from earlier involvement in the design and development process. The biggest impact, however, will come as more and more companies realize the benefits of user-centered design and build cultures that embrace it. Eric offers a practical roadmap to get there.” –Arnie Lund, connected experience labs technology leader and human—systems interaction lab manager, GE Global Research “User experience issues are a key challenge for development of increasingly complex products and services. This book provides much-needed insights to help managers achieve their key objectives and to develop more successful solutions.” –Aaron Marcus, president, Aaron Marcus and Associates, Inc. “This handy book should be required reading for any executive champions of change in any development organization making products that demand a compelling user experience. It does an excellent job in laying the foundation for incorporating user experience engineering concepts and best practices into these corporations. In today’s competitive economy, business success will greatly depend on instituting the changes in design methods and thinking that are so clearly and simply put forth in this most practical and useful book.” –Ed Israelski, director, human factors, AbbVie “If you’re tasked with building a user-experience practice in a large organization, this book is for you (and your boss). Informed by years of case studies and consulting experience, Eric Schaffer provides the long view, clearly describing what to expect, what to avoid, and how to succeed in establishing user-centered principles at your company.” –Pat Malecek, former user experience manager, AVP, CUA, A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. ”For those of us who have evangelized user experience for so many years, we finally have a book that offers meaningful insights that can only come from years of practical experience in the real world. Here is a wonderful guide for all who wish to make user experience a ‘way of life’ for their companies.” –Feliça Selenko, Ph.D., former principal technical staff member, AT&T “Dr. Schaffer’s mantra is that the main differentiator for companies of the future will be the ability to build practical, useful, usable, and satisfying user experiences. This is a book that provides the road map necessary to allow your organization to achieve these goals.” –Colin Hynes, president, UX inc.