“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.
