My keynote from UX Cambridge 2014. My personal review of some of the problems we face communicating the value of user experience community today, a couple of practical, actionable tools, and suggestions as to how we can strengthen our community.

1. Describing the elephant
Moving beyond professional silos
Eric Reiss
@elreiss
UX Cambridge
September 10, 2014
Churchill College, Cambridge, UK

2. Caveat
I am not out to convince you to agree with me.
I want you to reevaluate what you do.
If you believe something,
know why you believe it.

3. My goals, your take-aways
I hope to dispell some myths:
UX is only something that happens on a screen
UX was invented in the ‘80s
UX can be accomplished by a team of one
I also want to:
Give you an actionable definition of UX
Provide tips that can help promote our
talents to the business community

5. We
are
here
Science Humanities
Business

6. The Promise
“User experience will make you rich.”

7. My question to you
“Have we delivered on our promise?”

8. Excuses on both sides....

9. The current business mentality

10. Survival is more important than success

11. “This is not the time to take risks”

12. “There is safety in charismatic leaders”

13. “There is safety in charismatic leaders”

14. The current UX environment

15. Which tool would you NOT want to have if you were building a house?

16. Pick me! Pick me!

18. Clients know what they want
But we know what they need

19. Clients know what they want
But we know what they need
This is the fatal disconnect

20. Accessibility
Mental models
Personas
SSSSeeeeaaaarrrrcccchhhhaaaabbbbiiiilllliiiittttyyyy
Usability
Knowledge management
Sensemaking
Experience design
Scenaria
Findability
Storytelling
Information architecture
Content management
Content strategy
User-centered design

21. “Creativity varies inversely with
the number of cooks involved
in the broth.”
Bernice Fitz-Gibbon
1967

22. 1995 1998 2000 2014
Webmaster Webmaster
Visual designer
Copywriter
Developer
Visual designer
Information architect
Copywriter
Front-end engineer
Full-stack developer
Visual designer
UI designer
Interaction designer
Content strategist
Information architect
Content providers
SEO consultant
Social media guru
Product manager
Project manager
Token baby boomer

24. It’s all Greek to me....

25. „Es hört jeder doch nur,
was er versteht.“
Goethe

26. “He hears only that
which he understands”
Goethe

27. “He hears CMS only that
UX
which he XMLunderstands” CS
CM UxD
G
oethe
UCD

28. User Experience
IA SD CS IxD GD PM DEV KM SEO SM MKT IT

29. What does this mean for us as
UX professionals?
No single person can truly be a
“UX Designer”
No single discipline can truly
take ownership of UX

30. Can we define UX in simple,
understandable terms?
Can we embrace all
these disciplines without
taking ownership?

31. Eric’s 1st Law of UX:
If a solution does not solve your
user’s problems, it will not
solve your company’s either.

32. So, let’s start by looking at a “user”

33. us·er
noun
1: a person who makes use of a thing;
someone who uses or employs something
2: a person who uses something or
someone selfishly or unethically
3: a person who takes drugs

34. When would you use (simultaneously):
An ergonomic seat designed for one person
Optical lenses invented by Benjamin Franklin
Alcoholic mixture invented by Dr. Iain Marshall
Incandescent device invented by Thomas Edison
Fabric made on a loom invented by JM Jacquard
Rouge Royale (marble)
Baskerville Light (typography)
Domesticated mammal
(This is often how our clients look at their content)

35. When would you use (in simpler terms):
Armchair
Bifocal eyeglasses
Manhattan Cocktail
Lightbulb
Wool jumper
Tabletop
Book
Cat
(This is an easier way to look at content)

37. Eyeglasses
Wool pullover
Lightbulb
Marble tabletop
Armchair
Book
Gus the Cat
Manhattan Cocktail

38. Sensory assistance
Warmth/comfort
Sensory assistance
Convenience/aethetics
Convenience/comfort
Education/information
Companionship
Chemical stimuli

39. The experience of a touchpoint
is always situational

41. What do your users need?
What are the scenarios?
How many touchpoints are touched?

42. How can anyone truly be a “UX Designer”
without controlling all the touchpoints?
UX design certainly exists...
...but are there truly UX designers?

43. Perhaps we need
a more useful definition of UX!

44. ex·per·i·ence
noun
1: having been affected by or learned
through observation or participation
2: the length of such participation

45. Eric’s 2nd Law of UX:
User experience is the sum of
a series of interactions between
people, devices, and events.

46. Eric’s 3rd Law of UX:
UX design represents the conscious
act of :
• coordinating interactions
we can control
• acknowledging interactions
we cannot control
• reducing negative interactions

47. Three types of interaction:
Active (things we control)
Passive (things we don’t control)
Secondary (things that have indirect influence)

48. Active interaction

49. Active interaction

50. Active interaction

51. Passive interaction (partly)

52. Passive interaction

53. Secondary interaction

54. Secondary interaction

55. UX involves all three interaction types
Coordinating interactions that we can control
Acknowledging interactions beyond our control
Reducing negative interactions

56. Coordinating interactions

57. Coordinating interactions

58. Coordinating interactions

59. Reducing negative interactions

60. Reducing negative interactions

61. Reducing negative interactions

62. Reducing negative interactions

63. Can influence
Cannot influence
Business
critical
Screw
it

64. So, where does that leave us?
How do we get business to
understand the value we can provide?
Five things to consider if you
want to succeed in UX

65. Don’t speak geek
Don’t speak geek!

66. Don’t attack other disciplines
Don’t attack other disciplines!

67. Solve problems, don’t create them
Solve problems. Don’t create them.

68. Think beyond your own self-interest
Think beyond your own self-interest.

69. And finally, my personal mantra...

70. Sell crackers, not crumbs!

71. Thank you!

72. Eric Reiss can (usually) be found at:
The FatDUX Group ApS
Strandøre 15
2100 Copenhagen
Denmark
Office: (+45) 39 29 67 77
Mobil: (+45) 20 12 88 44
Twitter: @elreiss
info@fatdux.com
www.fatdux.com