This document contains the transcript of a keynote speech given by Eric Reiss at UX Camp Europe in Berlin, Germany. The speech touches on many topics related to UX design, including myths about the field, challenges facing practitioners, and visions of the future. It includes motivational messages for attendees as well as humor and personal anecdotes from Reiss's career. The overall tone is one of inspiration and encouragement for those working in or interested in user experience design.

1. Eine Kleine Nach-musik
Eric Reiss
@elreiss
UX Camp Europe
June 26, 2016
Berlin, Germany

2. “The plenary speech affirms each
attendee’s search for knowledge.
It often seeks to put their recent hard
(or not so hard) work into the context
of their future.”
Minnesota Public Radio

3. AllegroAllegroAllegroAllegro

4. You are the
greatest
people in
the world
You are all
unique and
special
individuals
Motivational speaker

5. Follow your
passion
Follow your
heart
Follow your
dream
Oprah Winfrey

6. Make a
difference!
You are our
future!
The world is
depending on
you!
The evangelist

7. Education
pays!
You have to
pay your dues
Demonstrate
your potential
Self-made millionaire

8. Leap
Commit
Make
something
happen
Seth Godin

9. (Are you all inspired yet?)

10. AdagioAdagioAdagioAdagio

11. • We’re experiencing an information explosion
• We know how to deal with problems the rest
of the world hasn’t even thought about yet
• We all face individual market pressures
– not just between different countries
– but between different regions, too
• The job titles haven’t been defined or
standardised
• The business community still doesn’t really
know what we do so budgets are low
The world today

12. “For those who believe, no proof is
necessary. For those who don’t believe,
no proof is possible.”
Stuart Chase
(U.S. social theorist)

13. • “Responsive” is a step back to 1995
• Cross-channel consistency is a false god
• Communities are being reactive rather than
proactive:
– Romanian Institute of Technology
• We are still fighting with basic problems
– bandwidth
– battery life
– connectivity
• We love process more than results
There’s a downside

14. DWYNTDTGTSD
Do What You Need To Do To Get The Shit Done
Reiss’s Development Process

15. Reiss’s Integration Model (3:24 AM)
Figure out the business problem
Understand the opportunities
Channel your energy
Kiss some ass
Institutionalize the process
Take care of the business goals

16. (There’s probably an
acronym in there somewhere...)

17. • The economic downturn weeded out the
crap UX companies
• UX does not just happen on a screen
– Service design is on the rise
– The IoT is helping change UX perceptions
• We’re becoming a profession, not a trade
– But don’t discount empirical experience
• People at the edge drive true change
But there’s also an upside

18. • The first-world problems of battery life and
connectivity will have been solved
• We will be designing data systems, not talking
about apps and websites
• Privacy settings are going to be the currency
of the future
My view of the future

19. “Those who
control the
past control
the future.
Those who
control the
present
control the
past.”
George Orwell

20. (published 1949)

21. “The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any
sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper,
would be picked up by it; moreover, so long as he remained
within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he
could be seen as well as heard. There was of course no way of
knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment.
How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on
any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that
they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could
plug in your wire whenever the wanted to. You had to live – did
live, from habit that became instinct – in the assumption that
every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness,
everymovement scrutinized.”
George Orwell “1984” – published in 1949

23. Privacy is like virginity.
Once you lose it,
it is lost forever.

24. ScherzoScherzoScherzoScherzo

25. • What are my lifetime goals?
• How would I like to spend the next 3-5 years?
• If I knew I was going to be hit by lightning in
six months, what would I do tomorrow?
So, who do you want to be?

26. • What are you going to do to change your world?
– Is your world going to take care of itself?
– Or are you going to contribute?
• If so, how?
• If we are in the Dark Ages, who will be our
renaissance leaders?
• Where is our Bauhaus? Our Arts & Crafts?
Our Wiener Werkstætte?
• Look at your papers – where do you want to be?
More questions for you

27. About me

28. “It is our failure to become our perceived
ideal that ultimately defines us and
makes us unique.”
Conan O’Brien
Dartmouth, 2011

29. RondoRondoRondoRondo

30. Let’s kill a few myths

31. “UX is something on a screen”
NO! It’s about optimizing
a series of interactions – and not
just on a screen.
Myth #1

34. Conceptual design

35. User testing

36. Proof of concept

37. UX
ID SD IA CS

38. UX design represents the conscious
act of :
• coordinating interactions
we can control
• acknowledging interactions
we cannot control
• reducing negative interactions

39. Can influence
Cannot influence
Business
critical
Screw
it
A simple decision model

40. Top tip: If the first question a company
asks you during an interview is
“Can you wireframe”
You don’t want the job!

41. “UX is only about touchpoints”
NO! It’s also how users get
from one touchpoint to the next.
Myth #2

43. What they found surprised them. While the company’s overall
customer-satisfaction metrics were strong, focus groups revealed
that a large number of customers left because of poor service and
shoddy treatment over time. “How can this be?” one executive
wondered. “We’ve measured customer satisfaction for years, and
our call centers, field services, and website experience each score
consistently over 90 percent. Our service is great!”
As company leaders probed further, however, they discovered a
more complex problem. Most customers weren’t fed up with any
one phone call, field visit, or other individual service interaction–
in fact, most customers didn’t much care about those singular
touchpoint events. What was driving them out the door was
something the company wasn’t examining or managing–the
customers’ cumulative experience across multiple touchpoints,
multiple channels, and over time.

44. “UX is about making
end users happy.”
NO! It’s also about solving the
business goals of the stakeholders.
Myth #3

45. UX

46. Science Humanities
Business
We
are
here

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

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

49. “He hears only that
which he understands”
XMLGoethe
CMS UX
UCD
CMUxD CSS

50. Top tip: Read the key strategic documents
– business plan, marketing strategy, etc.
And don’t trust the client’s own research –
talk to a few users yourself!

51. UX is just another name for CX
NO! Customers and users are not
always the same.
Myth #4

55. Top tip: Don’t get drawn into semantic
arguments. Do the job – the definitions are
less important than you might think.

56. “UX is a new discipline.”
NO! And the tools and techniques
have been around
since the dawn of time!
Myth #5

57. 50-year-old wearable

58. 150-year-old infographic

59. 170-year-old sitemap

60. 220-year-old SEO project

61. 250-year-old knowledge map

62. 300-year-old taxonomy

63. A 400-year-old content inventory

64. 650-year-old personas

65. 5000-year-old wireframe

66. 15000-year-old storyboard

67. Gestural interfaces - 1935
“Golddiggers of 1935” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kuCSRJcTgY

68. • You are unique!
• You can change the world!
Some of you will…and thank goodness for that!
A few parting words

69. Danke!

70. The FatDUX Group ApS
Strandøre 15
2100 Copenhagen
Denmark
Office: (+45) 39 29 07 07
Mobil: (+45) 20 12 88 44
Twitter: @elreiss
er@fatdux.com
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Eric Reiss can (usually) be found at: