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Business Decisions Done Right: Through a UX

Perspective

Frank Guo, PhD

Principal, UX Strategized

frank.guo@uxstrategized.com

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What’s UX Strategy, and Why Do Businesses Need it?

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Topic: Improving business decisions through UX strategy

　

Professional background – UX research and strategy 　 Set up and led UX research for large companies Worked for Oracle, eBay, Barclays, BlackRock Shaped the design of award-winning Web and mobile products An award-winning UX paper based on peer review Published more than a dozen of UX papers Co-authored a book chapter PhD in cognitive psychology, UCLA

Improved UX, product strategy, and marketing for eBay Yahoo! PayPal StubHub Motorola Cisco IMVU

Discuss improving business through UX with Frank:

650.678.8061 • frank.guo@uxstrategized.com • www.uxstrategized.com • www.frankguoblog.com

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The Current State of UX – Perceived as Equivalent of Design

Viewed as an implementation tool

Limited to digital UI

Huge opportunities missed

UX is more than just UI design UX

Strategy

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Demystifying “UX Strategy” – False Assumptions

Is just about the digital UI

Is just about improving product usability

Is about UI design principles and patterns

Is about brand identity and color palette

UX strategy ≠ UI guidelines

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What “UX Strategy” Is Really About – Informing Business Decisions

Prioritize business opportunities

Uncover hidden business opportunities

UX strategy = drive business decisions through a UX perspective

Today, will introduce a tool

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Example of UX-Driven Business Decisions – Identifying Features of an iPhone App

Features identified: Blog, charts, watch list, and reports

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Example of UX-Driven Business Decisions – Improving Adoptability of Corporate Social Platform

Key to user adoption: personalize content, up-to-

date information, communicate based on topics

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UX Strategy Tool 1:

VADU Model – Prioritizing Business Opportunities

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Not Just Usability – It’s the Holistic Experience that Drives Usage

Adoptability

UsabilityDesirability

Value

The images are from freedigitalphotos.net

Products VADU UX Factors Customers

Note: The model is based on a series of articles published on UX matters

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The Building Blocks of the VADU Factors

Value Adoptability

Desirability Usability

Discoverability

First use

Repeat use

Feature

Content

Task completion

Navigation

Findability

Readability

Consistency

Visual appeal

Functional appeal

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Definitions

CX Element Description

Value Is it useful?

Feature Do the features support user needs?

Content Does the content provide value?

Adoptability Is it easy to start using?

Discoverability Is the product discoverable by the prospective user without overt marketing?

First use Is the first-use experience streamlined and delightful?

Repeat use Will the user come back to use it more after first use?

Desirability Is it fun and engaging to use it?

Visual appeal Is the product visually appealing?

Functional appeal Is the product engaging to use?

Usability Is it easy to use?

Task completion Is it easy to complete tasks?

Navigation Is it easy to go from one place to another?

Findability Is it easy to look for a particular piece of information?

Readability Is it easy to scan and read content?

Consistency Is the UI consistent (visual presentation, page layout, user interaction, etc.)?

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What If a VADU Factor Is Missing?

Adoptability

UsabilityDesirability

People won’t use it if

there is no value

People can’t use it if

they don’t know how to

start

UsabilityDesirability

Value

Adoptability

UsabilityUsers won’t use it as

often if there is no fun

Value Adoptability

Users will stop using if

it’s difficult to useDesirability

Value

Missing Value Missing Adoptability

Missing Desirability Missing Usability

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Not All UX Elements Are Created Equal – Varies with Business Model

Adoptability

Usability

Desirability

ValueAdoptability

Usability

Desirability

Value

Gaming Example Enterprise Software Example

0.5

0.7

0.3

1.00.8

0.5

1.0

0.2

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Not All UX Elements Are Created Equal – Varies with Business Model

Adoptability

UsabilityDesirability

ValueAdoptability

UsabilityDesirability

Value

Social Network Example Ecommerce Site Example

1.0

0.51.0

0.51.0

1.01.0

1.0

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Using the Model to Prioritize

Work hard on value presentation

Align features to user needs

Develop features that differentiate on Value

Visual presentation needs to support value propositions and

usability

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Using the Model to Prioritize

Focus on getting users started

Focus on making it addictive

Usability and Value play supporting roles

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Why VADU Model? It’s all About Business Prioritization

VADU Model Peter Morville’s UX Honeycomb

Focus on business impact

Simple to use for prioritization

All elements are about general UX

Focus on UI design

Too many elements to help with prioritization

Not all elements are related to general UX

Vs.

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Value: Develop Products/Features that Add Value to Users

Customer Reviews are always valuable

Comparison table helps with shopping decisions

Good implementation:

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Value: Develop Products/Features that Add Value to Users

The image doesn’t present value to users

Poor implementation:

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Adoptability: Make It Easy to Start Using the Product/Feature

Upselling premium service in the context of using the product

Good implementation:

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Adoptability: Make It Easy to Start Using the Product/Feature

How can a first-time visitor sign up?

Poor implementation:

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Desirability: Make It Engaging and Addictive

Desirable ≠ Looking nice

Good implementation:

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Desirability: Make It Engaging and Addictive

The homepage doesn’t look exciting

Poor implementation:

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Usability: Make It Easy for Users to Do Tasks

Very easy to set up a meeting and send invites in Gotomeeting

Good implementation:

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Usability: Make It Easy for Users to Do Tasks

How can I get rid of the grid on the screen? Have to Google the solution

Poor implementation:

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VADU UX Element Application

ValueMonetization model

Product definitions & features

Branding & positioning

Desirability

Usability

AdoptabilityMarketing

Download and installation

SEO

First-use workflow and “front door” experience

Product features

Workflow

Visual design and content strategy

IA and workflow design

Interaction design

Visual design

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VADU UX Element Application

Prioritizing business opportunities

Project roadmap

KPIs and metrics

Customer satisfaction surveys

Product and design review checkpoints

VADU together

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Used as Scorecard

Actions:

Focus on Adoptability

Can sacrifice Usability as trade-off

UX Element Actual Score Target Score

Value 3 2

Adoptability 5 8

Desirability 9 10

Usability 9 5

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Used as Scorecard

UX Element Actual Score Target Score

Value 3 10

Adoptability 5 5

Desirability 9 3

Usability 9 7

Actions:

Focus on Value

Can sacrifice Desirability and Usability as trade-off

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Used as Scorecard

UX Element Actual Score Target Score

Value 3 10

Adoptability 5 10

Desirability 9 10

Usability 9 10

Actions:

Focus on Value and Adoptability

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Case Study – It’s About Adoptability, Not Usability

FB Connect is very easy to use, but hard for people

to adopt in an eCommerce space.

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VADU Business, Product, and Design Checklist

Value

Feature/Need alignment – Does your product support user needs?

Branding and marketing messaging – Does your branding and marketing messages align with value propositions?

Differentiation – Is it compelling for new users to see “why” they should use your product?

Monetization model – Does the monetization model align with users’ value perception of your product?

 

Adoptability

Exposure – Can non-users be exposed to your product, through SEO, ads, product reviews, etc.?

Installation – Is it easy for users to download and install?

First-use experience – Is the first-use experience streamlined and engaging?

Tutorials – If the product is complex to use, do you have tutorials to get them started?

Emails – Are there welcome emails and email tips that help users start using the product?

Landing page – If users find your product through SEO or ads, do you have well-designed landing pages?

Decision aid – What kind of decision making help do you offer for users to choose a product of yours?

 

Desirability

Engaging experience – Do the look and feel, branding, features, and content excite users?

Content abundance – Do you have enough interesting content for users to “get lost” in your product?

Gamification techniques – Have you applied gamification techniques, when appropriate, to your product

 

Usability

Discoverability – Are information and calls to action easy to discover?

CTA – Does your UI have relevant and clear calls to action?

Readability of content – Is it easy for users to review information?

Comprehensibility – Is your content written in a way that’s easy to understand?

Error handling – Does your UI let users know and recover from errors?

Navigation and IA – Is it easy for users to go from one place to another? Is the information well organized?

Findability – Can users easily find that they seek?

Accessibility – Does the UI support accessibility design?

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Q & A

To read more about UX strategy examples and ideas, check out my UX blog: www.frankguoblog.com

Have questions or suggestions? Feel free to email me at: frank.guo@uxstrategized.com

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Unlock business value through user experience 　 Insight Advice Outcome

Improved UX, product features, and marketing forIndustries: enterprise software, eCommerce, finance, mobile eBay Yahoo! PayPal StubHub Motorola Cisco IMVU

Professional background 　 Award-winning digital products An award-winning UX paper based on peer review Published more than a dozen of UX papers Co-authored a book chapter Frequent speaker at professional conferences Led UX research for major companies Developed many UX guidelines and trained professionals in applying them PhD in cognitive psychology, UCLA

Request a free consultation from Frank:

650.678.8061 • frank.guo@uxstrategized.com • www.uxstrategized.com

About UX Strategized

About the firm: We are a boutique digital strategy and design firm based in San Francisco bay area. Leveraging award-winning experience

and proprietary techniques, we provide end-to-end digital strategy and design consulting, specializing in performing 360-degree UX

research and analysis, driving digital strategy that unlocks business opportunities and elevates user experience, developing UI

architecture that lays down a solid experience design framework, and providing usability solutions that dramatically improve ease of use

and user engagement.