The World Usability Congress took place in Graz from October 15 to 17, 2024, shining a light on international professionals and experts in the field of UX (User Experience) and CX (Customer Experience). The conference offers workshops and talks that deal with current challenges and innovations in the industry. The workshops and talks were held by speakers who work in global operating companies such as Facebook, PwC, Zalando, SAP, Amazon & IBM.
These are my notes on the talks I found particularly interesting. The notes on the talks will be split into two research blogs.
Becoming a Changemaker by leading with design
Opening Key Note, Maria Giudice
„Changemakers“
- People who can see the patterns around them, identify the problems in any situation, figure out ways to solve the problem, organize fluid teams, lead collective action, and then continually adapt as situations change.
Mistakes:
- Coming in too hot (Learn from other people’s mistakes, opinions and failed projects)
- Pushing own agenda (Find common ground/ goals, make allies)
- Taking on too much (small wins drive big change, Essentialism, prioritize time, measurable results, impact matrix)
- Ignoring customers voice (ongoing customer feedback, co creative process)
- Failure to communicate effectively (clear communication, compassion, empathy, clear & honest, shared vision and expectations, goals & non-goals)
- Failure to think about the whole system (research root problem, journey maps, living map, understanding cause and effect)
- Failure to iterate, adapt and evolve (Feedback loops)
- Failure is inevitable and there is no finish line (Embrace the low points)
Key Take-aways:
- Listen and learn before taking action
- Collaborate on a shared vision
- Go for the small wins; prioritize
- Let your customers speak for you
- Communicate effectively and clearly
- Think about the whole system
- Iterate and evolve
- Persist and persevere
Navigating turbulence: Strategies for sustaining a design team in changing times
Swapnali Thakar, Cybersapien Inc.
- Productive tension (level of direction + remaining agile)
- Agile Adaptability for Sustainable Confidence: Balancing immediate changes with thoughtful transformations, coupled with adaptive improvement strategies, sustains team confidence and agility amidst dynamic organizational shifts.
- Need to measure success
- Journey from mandate to movement
- Journey from cooperation to collaboration
- Journey from arrogance to confidence
- Journey from price to value
Cultivating Trust Amid Uncertainty: Focused on cultivating a supportive culture, it establishes a safe space for team members to express concerns, vital for building and maintaining trust during turbulent times.
Mobilize teams:
- „It (15 min standups) was an opportunity for me to gauge the team’s mood, I would pay attention to the non-verbal of each individual. If I noticed a team member looking a bit preoccupied, I would connect with the individual afterward in a friendly manner, to see if there was anything I could do to help.“
- Ideation workshops
- Make room for designers to specialize in something they are passionate about (example AI)
Cross Pollinate
- Among team members / Across teams
- Within the industry / Other industries
- Cross pollination creates diversity of thought
Clear purpose
- Increases satisfaction
- Boosts productivity
- Drives innovation
- Creates alignment
Be patient
- Give yourself time to reflect
- Give yourself time to transition
- Rely on your support network
From UX Management to Experience Leadership
Nico Licht, SAP
Companies with top financial performance treat design as…
- … More than a feeling Measure and drive design performance with the same rigor as revenues and costs
- …More than a product Break down internal walls between product and design
- ….More than a department Make user-centric design everyone’s responsibility, not a siloed function
- …More than a phase De-risk engineering, continually listening, testing, and iterating with end-users
The value of Experience Management
- Experience management is an effort by organizations to measure and improve the experiences they provide to customers as well as stakeholders like vendors, suppliers, employees, and shareholders.
Measuring “Feelings” (e.g. SUS, PSAT, NPS) is only the first step in a journey towards better experiences. Companies with superior products and services have more loyal customers and much happier employees.
Measure and drive Design Performance, ⭐️ Outcome over Output
