A Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approach to User-Centric Maturity at Scale
Summary
User-centric design and development mindset and maturity has been low in an enterprise context. UX departments struggle a lot to gain momentum and help organizations create better products in various different ways with RoI of their efforts being low. How might we increase the user-centric maturity and mindset of the enterprise in a more organic way and help as many product teams as possible while having insufficient UX specialists? Vasilieos will present a case study for top-down and bottom-up approach taken at LEGO with practical information, learnings and reflections so far.
Key Insights
-
•
Enterprise UX maturity requires both top-down executive buy-in and bottom-up grassroots training.
-
•
Starting UX without support leads to ‘lipstick on a pig’ outcomes where UX is superficial.
-
•
Treating the UX department as a business with responsibilities increases influence and strategic impact.
-
•
With only seven UX designers for 400 products, focusing on highest ROI products is necessary but causes coverage gaps.
-
•
Embedding a UX partner at leadership level within business streams aligns UX vision with product strategy.
-
•
Using system usability scale (SUS) scores as a KPI standardizes measurement across a large product portfolio.
-
•
Vendor selection criteria incorporating usability prevents long-term failure from poor off-the-shelf solutions.
-
•
The UX academy trains non-designers on practical UX methods, increasing UX capacity organically by upskilling existing staff.
-
•
Securing dedicated time (20%) for UX activities within product teams is crucial for effective bottom-up adoption.
-
•
User-centric mindset spreads more successfully when peer colleagues, not external UX teams, lead the change.
Notable Quotes
"User experience is not like the sauce you put on your steak to make it taste better. It is the actual protein within the steak."
"Before, UX was usually brought in very late and expected to just put lipstick on a pig."
"We cleared three weeks of calendars to detach and look at the big picture — that was our UX reboot."
"We run our UX department as a business, with responsibilities, requirements, and expectations."
"With seven UXters for 400 products, the math doesn’t add up, so we must choose where we focus."
"A UX partner needs to develop a thick skin when engaging senior VPs and directors."
"We set the system usability scale score as a KPI for all products to improve measurement and usability."
"The UX academy gave non-designers 20% of their time to learn and practice user experience methods."
"The colleagues sitting next to you, not outsiders, are the best champions to spread UX mindset."
"One of our UX ambassadors transitioned to a full-time UX designer role after the academy."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"We have never played together before and never rehearsed, yet we pulled off a great rendition spontaneously."
Jim KalbachJazz Improvisation as a Model for Team Collaboration
November 6, 2017
"People saying you should write a book is nice, but it’s not the real reason you should write one."
Louis RosenfeldCoffee with Lou: Should You Write a (UX) Book?
March 7, 2024
"Staff and principal designers need to balance zooming in on execution and zooming out to define strategic vision and minimize risk."
Catt Small Micah Bennett Brian Carr Jessica HarlleeWhat's Next for ICs: Exploring Staff and Principal Designer Roles
February 22, 2024
"Finding out more about these most active users is a key priority this year, said our CEO at the board presentation."
Marieke McCloskeyUser Science: Product Analytics & User Research
March 11, 2021
"Ultimately, AI avatar tools offer UX teams options to keep recordings while meeting legal compliance."
Llewyn Paine[Demo] Deploying AI doppelgangers to de-identify user research recordings
June 5, 2024
"Correlation doesn’t imply causation, but sometimes two things happening together do imply a causal mechanism."
Joshua NobleCasual Inference
October 6, 2023
"Not all learnings lead to crucial conversations, but big insights often do, requiring emotional awareness."
Sara LogelYour Colleagues are Your Users Too
March 29, 2023
"Enterprise is kind of sexy because big, hairy, hard problems of scale and distribution live at the enterprise."
Bria Alexander Louis RosenfeldWelcome
January 8, 2024
"We often say don’t make me think. When that’s not possible, reuse and recycle those learnings."
Sam ProulxOnline Shopping: Designing an Accessible Experience
June 7, 2023
