User Experience Strategy Model - A Methodology to drive User Experience
- 1. Hosted by Novel‐eBiz , Strategic Global User Experience series includes articles, discussions, presentations, User Experience Strategies, Case Studies and illustrated examples. A Structured Approach to User Experience Strategic Model Unifying Business Strategies Author: Sushmita Dutt Consultant: Strategic User Experience and Information Architecture for Enterprise Web, Digital Communications, Mobile and Touch-screen user-centric, interactive devices.
- 2. A Structured Approach to User Experience Strategic Model Sushmita Dutt 2 Strategic User experience is redefining the way we design user interface and user interactivity for today’s user-driven technologies – web, mobile, touch- screen, and digital applications. This article presents a structured methodology approach, a model, which illustrates a systematic process in strategizing user experience in sync with strategic business goals. The market has changed. Technology has altered the way we do business today. Today, each second two new blogs are created, seven PCs are sold, 2.2 million emails are sent, 520 links are clicked, 1,157 videos are viewed on YouTube and 31,000 text messages are sent over mobile network. An unexpected, voluminous growth of Social Media networking has created new groups of online users – the interactive users. Corporations around the world are eager to interact with this user group - the social network influencers experiencing and sharing brands the interactive way. User experience in today’s customer facing technologies (web, mobile, wireless, touch-screen) demand strategic plans which typically include – content strategy (digital and written) and information flow strategy which takes care of planning, design and development of a user-friendly technology delivering ease-of-use.. For all customer facing businesses, customer-centricity is pivotal to business success. “Focus on the user and all else will follow”, believes Google and delivers one of the best user-friendly experiences we have on the web today. The adoption of user-centric interactive marketing has mandated knowledge gathering and understanding of user behaviors in the
- 3. A Structured Approach to User Experience Strategic Model Sushmita Dutt 3 digital technology context. Getting User Experience Strategy in place, therefore, has become a necessity to align user perspectives with business strategies and overall operational modes of a company. User experience strategy, in fact, roofs the basic pillars that hold an interactive technology platform together – Information Architecture User Interactivity Design User Interface Design Data Flow and Business Logic Strategically conceived user experience helps elevate business strategy to a true value-driven level typically delivered to users via multiple communication channels like social media, web and mobile networks to help build a synchronized user experience. How do we derive at User Experience Strategies? While each company follows its own in user experience strategies primarily driven by corporate branding policies, here is a structured methodology approach, a model, which illustrates a systematic process in strategizing user experience in sync with strategic business goals:
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- 5. A Structured Approach to User Experience Strategic Model Sushmita Dutt 5 Methodology Model highlights and explanatory notes: High impact research at macro level: A bottom-up approach within a corporation drives knowledge gathering on the internal user group: The company stake holders. High impact research at micro level: A top down approach involving segmented market study drives knowledge gathering on the user group: The end users. Scramble both Macro/Micro Findings: Cluster user stories into scenarios which will help create a compare/contrast transparent matrix to indicating relationships between user scenarios and business requirements. User flows: Create a “Global” context user flow and “sub- level” user flows with technical annotations which relate to -- Identified Business needs. -- User interface. -- User interaction technologies. -- Usability findings. Contradictions: Identify, map and document which user stories - -- Contradict expected user paths. -- Display un-identified user paths. -- Display threats to expected user paths. Digital strategies: Within a given technology set-up, identify digital technologies that best suit user scenarios for best user experience -
- 6. A Structured Approach to User Experience Strategic Model Sushmita Dutt 6 -- Social media network. -- Micro site. – Blog. -- Digital communication. -- Cross-platform integration. -- Mobile/Touch screen devices. Proof of concept: Create quick low fidelity prototypes to test effectiveness of recommended user experience strategy. User tracking programs: Create interactive programs to measure user’s active participations into recommended digital platforms like blogs and social media networks. Recommendations: Include user experience recommendations into creative and technical briefs. Integration: Integrate user experience strategic model into every aspect of company’s user facing operations – from help desk through e-mailers and SMS promotions for a unified strategic user experience. Flag Risks and Contradictions: Document user experience negativities and contradictory feedback and identify “at risk” components or bottlenecks to best user experience. Gap Analysis: Document gaps between actual user experience and expected user behavior stipulated in user experience strategies.
- 7. 7 A Structured Approach to User Experience Strategic Model Sushmita Dutt 7 Documentation: Document user experience strategic model for future use and alteration. Note: The process included in this structured approach to User Experience Strategic Model unifying Business Strategies does not follow the industry standard Waterfall methodology – a sequential process flowing downwards through phases of conception, initiation, analysis, design, construction, testing, implementation and maintenance. User experience methodology included in this article is structured but not essentially sequential. The steps can be altered and modified to suit specific business needs. © Sushmita Dutt. For an in-depth presentation of the User Experience Strategic Model with applicable case studies, please contact author Sushmita Dutt at sushmitadutt@novel-ebiz.com Sushmita Dutt’s Profile: Work: --------- ■ Associate Director, Novel-eBIz www.novel-ebiz.com e-Technology Products, Applications design and development; User Experience Analysis. ■ Senior Information Architect: CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield www.carefirst.com Technology platform: Integrated Portal for Health Insurance. ■ Information Architect: SAP America www.sap.com Technology platform: Country Syndicated Enterprise Portal ■ Project Manager: Novasoft Information Technology Corp. www.novasoftinfo.com Technology platform: Web Applications and Multimedia Products ■ Software Engineer for Testing: Microsoft Corp. www.microsoft.com Technology platform: Web TV product development Education/ Workshops/Webinar: --------- ■ M.S. Information Systems, Pace University, New York ■ M.A. Communications, University of West Florida ■ B.A. Graphics, Sir J.J. Institute, Mumbai, India ■ Webinar ‘A Conversational Approach to Selling Value’ - Host: Citrix, April 6, 2010. ■ Workshop: SAP Business By Design - workshop on strategic IA / UE, February 21-23, 2010. ■ Workshop: Human Factors International workshop on PET (Design for Persuasion, Emotion and Trust - critical factors for creating online user experience – April 30, 2009. ■ Workshop: SAP Services and Education workshop on strategic IA/ UE – December 16-17, 2009.