Building a UX Team in Higher Education
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The document outlines a three-step guide for building a user experience (UX) team in higher education, emphasizing the collaborative nature of UX as an emotional outcome rather than just aesthetics. It highlights the need for effective leadership to advocate for UX and engage the organization through usability testing and setting meaningful KPIs. Additionally, it suggests forming a UX guild among existing enthusiasts to foster collaboration and professional development across departments.
Building a UX Team in Higher Education
- 1. BUILDING A UX TEAM IN HIGHER EDUCATION A THREE-STEP GUIDE TO By Jonathan Kochis Adapted from a talk given at PSEWEB 2016
- 2. BUILDING A UX TEAM ISN’T EASY, ESPECIALLY IN HIGHER EDUCATION. LET’S GET THIS OUT OF THE WAY:
- 3. BUT THERE’S HOPE…AND IT STARTS HERE.
- 5. UNDERSTAND UX STEP ONE User experience is a feeling, an emotional outcome. It’s not the way something looks or what it does but the way something makes us feel before, during, and after we use it. UX is a team sport. Everyone in your organization should be involved. The responsibility of delivering a great digital user experience can’t fall on one person, or even one department (see the elusive UX unicorn on the following slide). Great user experiences are valuable, usable, accessible, and appealing. Suggested reading: The UX Playbook for Colleges and Universities.
- 6. LET’S GET THIS OUT OF THE WAY:
- 7. FIND (OR BECOME) A LEADER STEP TWO
- 8. FIND (OR BECOME) A LEADER STEP TWO Sell UX. As a leader you need to be a UX advocate within your organization. Do your research and present cases where design and CX-focused organizations outperform their peers. You can also discuss the cost of providing a bad user experience. Build empathy. Start by scheduling and executing simple usability tests on-site. Invite people to watch and share the recordings. User exposure helps sell the value of UX and is critical when building an understanding of your customers. Set KPIs. Your (eventual) team needs to understand that what they’re doing matters and how to tell if they’re work is making a difference. As a leader your job is to help set these targets. Suggested reading: The Benefits of User-Centred Design.
- 9. QUESTIONSQUESTIONS START WITH A GUILD STEP THREE
- 10. START WITH A GUILD STEP THREE Teams can be expensive aren’t built overnight. There are likely people in your organization already participating in UX activities. Find them and discuss forming a UX guild. A guild is an organized group of people who have joined together because they share the same job or interest. You can set standards and use the KPIs to help everyone move forward, even if they work in different departments. Grow together. Professional development should be part of your guild standards. Attend conferences, watch recorded talks together, and find mentors and colleagues in your community. Suggested reading: Scaling Agile at Spotify (includes information on guilds).
- 11. JONATHAN KOCHIS FEEL FREE TO CONNECT! jonathan@res.im @jonathankochis http://res.im