Experience Strategy: Dealing with a UX mid-life crisis

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Experience Strategy Dealing with a UX Mid-life
Crisis Richard Dalton Rob Weening IA Summit,
Phoenix, April 10th 2010

Presenter Notes
We work at an investment management company
called Vanguard. Our user experience is very
mature and very important to us, especially the
online channel, because it handles most of our
client interactions. And because we care a lot
about it, year after year we have lots of
projects trying to improve it. Which sometimes
feels a little bit like this lots of activity
purposefully going in different directions, one
after another or even at the same time.

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http//www.flickr.com/photos/mrbigdog2k/2539218247
/

Presenter Notes
To extend this metaphor for a moment, imagine
that folks at Vanguard tried their hand at
aircraft design. A team is assigned to improve
this bi-plane to carry more cargo

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http//www.flickr.com/photos/ackook/2012371141/

Presenter Notes
they might come up with something like this
cargo plane. A little while later, another team
discovers that passenger capacity is very
important, and they redesign it

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http//www.flickr.com/photos/10037058_at_N08/28055240
85/

Presenter Notes
into this passenger plane. Still later, another
team decides that speed is critical

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http//www.flickr.com/photos/asten/2776369677/

Presenter Notes
and produces this fighter. Lastly, minutes
before the deadline, a team of IAs decides that
this

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http//www.flickr.com/photos/7817806_at_N02/300312211
6/

Presenter Notes
would be appropriate, and so on.



We have this problem with our experience.

 

Each project gets so focused on its own
improvements that it doesnt see the big picture
the fact that the experience has to balance a
number of user tasks and business goals.
Unfortunately we dont have a way to facilitate a
conversation about the overall objectives and
priorities of the experience other than arguing
about the design. So when we show our designs to
project sponsors they often take it upon
themselves to redesign them. Make it red, make
it bigger, move it up the page theyll say
theyre really just trying to express the
objectives and priorities of their project. As a
result the priorities for the experience are
constantly changing over time.

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Presenter Notes
This isnt the only challenge we face however.



Tell me, is this a good web page?

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Presenter Notes
How about this one?

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http//www.flickr.com/photos/12905355_at_N05/42754532
27/

Presenter Notes
How about this iPhone app, is it good?

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http//www.flickr.com/photos/iirraa/3682940547/

Presenter Notes
Or this drive-thru experience?



Of course, I cant tell you, because good needs
to be evaluated in the context of what the
experience is trying to achieve and since I
didnt design it, I dont know for sure what that
is.

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(No Transcript)

Presenter Notes
So how about this one? I should be able to tell
you if this one is good, right? Well this is
also a problem for us. You see, too often we
measure things because we can, not because
theyre true measures of success. 10,000 people
hit this page last month someone will say. Well
so what? Is that good? Did we want more? Less?
Did those 10,000 people get what they needed from
it? Where 100,000 looking for it and only 10,000
found it? Our measures are rarely in the context
of objectives and so we never really know if the
experience is good. Because of that we cant
learn from our mistakes, and we dont know if
were improving the experience over time.

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• At mid-life we discovered two problems
• Project teams are too focused on their goals and
  dont consider the bigger picture
• We have no consistent way to gauge success
• We have these problems because we dont have a
  common language for describing the objectives of
  the experience

2010 The Vanguard Group Inc. All rights
reserved.
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Presenter Notes
So, we have two problems, projects becoming too
focused and not seeing the big picture and no
real way to judge success. We had thought that
our design process was quite robust so this was a
bit of a mid-life crisis for us. As we thought
more about it we realized that both of these
problems shared the same fundamental root cause
the lack of a common language for describing the
objectives of the experience.

 

So weve spent the last 6 months trying to fill
this gap by pulling together the research weve
gathered over the last few years to create a
framework that fosters big picture thinking and
allows us to measure success against meaningful
objectives. This is much easier to show than to
explain, so lets take a look.

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Goals
Are realized through
Are enabled encouraged by
Capabilities
Are created changed by
Projects
2010 The Vanguard Group Inc. All rights
reserved.
13

Presenter Notes
Before we look at the framework itself lets
level-set on some basic terminology.

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Goals
Are realized through
Are enabled encouraged by
Capabilities
Are created changed by
Projects
2010 The Vanguard Group Inc. All rights
reserved.
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Presenter Notes
However we know that users arent simply robots,
blindly performing tasks. They have feelings and
emotions about the activities theyre doing.

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User-driven tasks
Business-driven tasks
Capabilities
Follow Vanguards investing principles
Web Phone Paper E-mail Mobile devices Radio/TV
Learn why Vanguard is great
Bring assets to Vanguard
Use Vanguard's products services
Self-provision on the web
Spread the word about Vanguard
Trust Vanguard
90 tasks grouped into 8 categories
45 tasks grouped into 7 categories
635 capabilities and counting

Presenter Notes
The framework is constructed from user-driven
tasks, business-driven tasks and capabilities.

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User-driven tasks
Business-driven tasks
Capabilities
Follow Vanguards investing principles
Web Phone Paper E-mail Mobile devices Radio/TV
Learn why Vanguard is great
Bring assets to Vanguard
Use Vanguard's products services
Self-provision on the web
Spread the word about Vanguard
Trust Vanguard
90 tasks grouped into 8 categories
45 tasks grouped into 7 categories
635 capabilities and counting

Presenter Notes
The framework allows us to create two distinct
tools. The first, called a Capability Strategy
Sheet is useful for practitioners focusing on a
single part of the experience. The second view,
called an Experience Strategy Map is useful for
UX managers responsible for the entire
experience.

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User-driven tasks
Business-driven tasks
Capabilities
Rollover Offer (web)

Presenter Notes
Lets take a look at how we use the framework to
create a strategy sheet for a single capability.

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User-driven tasks
Business-driven tasks
Capabilities
Find an investment company
Search for candidates
Find out about Vanguards reputation
Rollover Offer (web)
Explore Vanguards range of products
Find out if there are fees to do a rollover

Presenter Notes
We use the framework to identify the tasks that
this capability has to satisfy.

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User-driven tasks
Business-driven tasks
Capabilities
Find an investment company
Search for candidates
Find out about Vanguards reputation
Learn why Vanguard is great
Rollover Offer (web)
Explore Vanguards range of products
Learn why our mutual funds are great
Find out if there are fees to do a rollover
Learn how we can help you do a rollover
Learn about the Vanguard story
Make good investment decisions
Get investment recommendations
Bring assets to Vanguard
Get information about investments
Rollover 401(k) plans into Vanguard IRAs
Learn the process and benefits of rollovers
Use Vanguards products services
Act on my investments
Invest in simplified investing solutions
Rollover my 401(k) to Vanguard
Use Vanguard for advice or guidance
Transfer my IRA to Vanguard
20
Rollover my 401(k) to Vanguard
Rollover 401(k) plans into Vanguard IRAs
Get investment recommendations
2
Get information about investments
3
Learn the process and benefits of rollovers
4
Learn how we can help you do a rollover
5
Learn about the Vanguard story
6
Find out about Vanguards reputation
Learn why our mutual funds are great
Find out if there are fees to do a rollover
8
Transfer my IRA to Vanguard
9
Invest in simplified investing solutions

Presenter Notes
Then we prioritize the tasks.

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Rollover my 401(k) to Vanguard
Emotional considerations
Rollover 401(k) plans into Vanguard IRAs
Get investment recommendations
2
Get information about investments
3
Learn the process and benefits of rollovers
4
High-level approach
Learn how we can help you do a rollover
5
Learn about the Vanguard story
6
Find out about Vanguards reputation
Learn why our mutual funds are great
Success criteria what is good?
Find out if there are fees to do a rollover
8
Transfer my IRA to Vanguard
9
Invest in simplified investing solutions

Presenter Notes
And for each task, describe any emotional
considerations, a high-level approach and the
success criteria to show if were satisfying it
well.

22
Rollover my 401(k) to Vanguard
Emotional considerations
Rollover 401(k) plans into Vanguard IRAs
Get investment recommendations
2
Get information about investments
3
Learn the process and benefits of rollovers
4
High-level approach
Learn how we can help you do a rollover
5
Learn about the Vanguard story
6
Find out about Vanguards reputation
Learn why our mutual funds are great
Success criteria what is good?
Find out if there are fees to do a rollover
8
Transfer my IRA to Vanguard
9
Invest in simplified investing solutions
23
Rollover my 401(k) to Vanguard
Emotional considerations
Rollover 401(k) plans into Vanguard IRAs
Many users arent sure what they need to know in
order to make a good decision. Offering too much
information can lead to decision paralysis
Get investment recommendations
2
Get information about investments
3
Learn the process and benefits of rollovers
4
High-level approach
Learn how we can help you do a rollover
5
Learn about the Vanguard story
6
Find out about Vanguards reputation
Learn why our mutual funds are great
Success criteria what is good?
Find out if there are fees to do a rollover
8
Transfer my IRA to Vanguard
9
Invest in simplified investing solutions
24
Rollover my 401(k) to Vanguard
Emotional considerations
Rollover 401(k) plans into Vanguard IRAs
Many users arent sure what they need to know in
order to make a good decision. Offering too much
information can lead to decision paralysis
Get investment recommendations
2
Get information about investments
3
Learn the process and benefits of rollovers
4
High-level approach
Learn how we can help you do a rollover
5
Provide summary information about investments
appropriate for rollovers within this capability.
Provide contextual access to the full investment
information and an easy path back
Learn about the Vanguard story
6
Find out about Vanguards reputation
Learn why our mutual funds are great
Success criteria what is good?
Find out if there are fees to do a rollover
8
Transfer my IRA to Vanguard
9
Invest in simplified investing solutions
25
Rollover my 401(k) to Vanguard
Emotional considerations
Rollover 401(k) plans into Vanguard IRAs
Many users arent sure what they need to know in
order to make a good decision. Offering too much
information can lead to decision paralysis
Get investment recommendations
2
Get information about investments
3
Learn the process and benefits of rollovers
4
High-level approach
Learn how we can help you do a rollover
5
Provide summary information about investments
appropriate for rollovers within this capability.
Provide contextual access to the full investment
information and an easy path back
Learn about the Vanguard story
6
Find out about Vanguards reputation
Learn why our mutual funds are great
Success criteria what is good?
Find out if there are fees to do a rollover
80 of people who navigate to the full investment
information from this page should use the in-page
links vs. global navigation
8
Transfer my IRA to Vanguard
9
Invest in simplified investing solutions
26
Rollover my 401(k) to Vanguard
Rollover 401(k) plans into Vanguard IRAs
Get investment recommendations
2
Get information about investments
3
3
4
7
8
1
4
Learn the process and benefits of rollovers
4
Learn how we can help you do a rollover
5
4
Learn about the Vanguard story
6
Find out about Vanguards reputation
5
7
Learn why our mutual funds are great
Find out if there are fees to do a rollover
8
2
Transfer my IRA to Vanguard
9
5
Invest in simplified investing solutions

Presenter Notes
We can then use the sheet to inform, analyze and
discuss our design solutions.

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Rollover my 401(k) to Vanguard
Rollover 401(k) plans into Vanguard IRAs
Get investment recommendations
2
Get information about investments
3
3
4
7
8
1
4
Learn the process and benefits of rollovers
4
Learn how we can help you do a rollover
5
4
Learn about the Vanguard story
6
Find out about Vanguards reputation
5
7
Learn why our mutual funds are great
Find out if there are fees to do a rollover
8
2
Transfer my IRA to Vanguard
9
5
Invest in simplified investing solutions
28
Rollover my 401(k) to Vanguard
Rollover 401(k) plans into Vanguard IRAs
Get investment recommendations
2
Get information about investments
3
3
4
7
8
1
4
Learn the process and benefits of rollovers
4
Learn how we can help you do a rollover
5
4
Learn about the Vanguard story
6
Find out about Vanguards reputation
5
7
Learn why our mutual funds are great
Find out if there are fees to do a rollover
8
2
Transfer my IRA to Vanguard
9
5
Invest in simplified investing solutions
29
Rollover my 401(k) to Vanguard
Rollover 401(k) plans into Vanguard IRAs
Get investment recommendations
2
Get information about investments
3
3
4
7
8
1
4
Learn the process and benefits of rollovers
4
Learn how we can help you do a rollover
5
4
Learn about the Vanguard story
6
Find out about Vanguards reputation
5
7
Learn why our mutual funds are great
Find out if there are fees to do a rollover
8
2
Transfer my IRA to Vanguard
9
5
Invest in simplified investing solutions
30
Rollover my 401(k) to Vanguard
Rollover 401(k) plans into Vanguard IRAs
Get investment recommendations
2
Get information about investments
3
3
4
7
8
1
4
Learn the process and benefits of rollovers
4
Learn how we can help you do a rollover
5
4
Learn about the Vanguard story
6
Find out about Vanguards reputation
5
7
Learn why our mutual funds are great
Find out if there are fees to do a rollover
8
2
Transfer my IRA to Vanguard
9
5
Invest in simplified investing solutions
31
Capability Strategy Sheet

• Ensures that project teams are aware of the full
  scope of the capability and what is most important

• Helps sponsors to stay focused on tasks and their
  priorities rather than design decisions

• Supports controlled evolution of capabilities by
  providing a stable framework to evaluate success
  or failure

2010 The Vanguard Group Inc. All rights
reserved.
31
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tasks

Presenter Notes
The other tool that we can create is the
Experience Strategy Map. This is a little like
one of Indi Youngs mental models in structure
with the user tasks arranged along the top and
the capabilities mapped against the appropriate
tasks. We can also surface the success criteria
onto this map, showing how well each capability
satisfies a task.



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tasks
34
tasks
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Experience Strategy Map

• Shows which capabilities support which client
  tasks across all channels useful as we think
  about consistency of the experience

• Shows the health of the entire experience -
  helping sponsors prioritize which capabilities
  should be improved

2010 The Vanguard Group Inc. All rights
reserved.
35
36
Look daunting but its composed of simple elements
2010 The Vanguard Group Inc. All rights
reserved.
36
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandelbrot_set

Presenter Notes
When we show people the frameworks 90 user
driven tasks, 45 business driven tasks, and 600
(and counting) capabilities, theyre often
overwhelmed by the size and complexity of the
idea. And thats an unfortunate, but
understandable reaction, because theres no doubt
that the framework really is a big idea.



Thats the bad news



The good news is that taken one capability at a
time, the framework is surprisingly simple and
easy to use. Working with our business partners,
weve found that it takes 2-3 hours to create a
basic sheet, i.e., a prioritized list of 10-15
tasks. And weve found that once the business
understands the language of the framework, they
actively engage in discussing tasks and task
prioritization.



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We need our business partners to spread the idea
throughout the organization
http//www.flickr.com/photos/63197350_at_N00/47106232
0/

Presenter Notes
And its a great thing that our business
colleagues seem to enjoy participating in
capability discussions because not only are
they critical to identifying tasks and setting
priorities, but theyre also critical to getting
the framework accepted in the larger
organization. We need a small group in the
business to have positive experiences using the
framework so that they will recommend it to their
colleagues working on other projects.

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Helping the business
to reframe their ideas
http//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/FileTwo_silhoue
tte_profile_or_a_white_vase.jpg
2010 The Vanguard Group Inc. All rights
reserved.
38

Presenter Notes
Now lets talk about some other applications of
the framework.



Up to now, weve talked about using the language
of goals and tasks to describe the capabilities
that make up our user experience. We also think
that the same framework could effect an even
broader cultural change.



Heres how that might work. Each year at
Vanguard, middle and upper managers meet to
discuss and prioritize the projects they want to
fund. Those projects are described in 2-3 page
documents called project briefs, or charters.
And very often, the brief will contain very
concrete design directives, like



Add a link on this page Add content here Make
this more prominent on the siteAdd this new
section to the site



OK, we recognize that its quite natural to
describe a project in terms of tangible, physical
things. But that also has an unfortunate
side-effect right from the outset of a project,
it puts the business squarely into the business
of user experience design and somehow, we keep
on hoping that thats our job.



So heres the opportunity We want to work with
the business to write their project briefs using
our frameworks goals and tasks and then help
them to identify the capabilities that should be
improved or created.



How would this be better? Were hoping that it
would allow the business to focus more on
defining the problems its trying to solve and
it would allow us to focus on finding solutions.

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The same goals, tasks emotions can often
describe the current and future state
http//yearofadventure.wordpress.com/2008/09/16/od
e-to-my-triptik/
2010 The Vanguard Group Inc. All rights
reserved.
39
http//www.flickr.com/photos/rapo/2251688164/

Presenter Notes
And theres yet another application for the
framework.



Are capability strategies and experience strategy
maps enough to create a great user experience?
Weve believed for some time that having a
five-year UX vision is also important.



Well, as we were thinking about five-year
visions, we realized that while the language of
the framework is useful for describing the
details of capabilities, it can also be used to
bring a larger UX vision into focus. How is this
possible, you ask? We think that that most of
the elements in a five-year vision are
evolutionary (or revolutionary) changes to our
approaches to the very same goals and tasks that
we perform today.



Imagine the sitting in front of the Capability
Strategy map with business colleagues and asking,
What are the most critical tasks for the
business? In five years, how do we envision
that we support those tasks? Will there be
changes in this channel? and so on.



Were not sure if this approach will be helpful,
but in the coming year we want to partner with
the business and use the framework as the context
for developing our own 5-year vision.

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The journey is as important as the destination
2010 The Vanguard Group Inc. All rights
reserved.
40
http//www.flickr.com/photos/quitelucid/246647500/

Presenter Notes
We set out with a couple of fairly tactical
problems - to improve the way we set goals for
and evaluate our user experience. However, the
solution we came up with this common language
is causing us to behave differently. By
facilitating communication across roles and over
time its enabling people with different
perspectives, backgrounds and responsibilities to
talk and collaborate and ultimately work
together towards shared goals.

 

Now, will this work for you? Well were not
sure, but we do think it could work for
organizations like ours. Ones with a mature user
experience, where the tasks and capabilities are
well known and where continuous, measurable
improvement of the user experience is desired. If
you try it, even pieces of it, wed love to know
how it works out for you.





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Richard Dalton Rob Weening richard_dalton_at_vanguar
d.com richard_at_mauvyrusset.com _at_mauvyrusset rob_w
eening_at_vanguard.com Thanks also to Steve Weber
2010 The Vanguard Group Inc. All rights
reserved.
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