Applying Leadership Thinking to User Experience Design

Applying Leadership
Thinking to UX
User experience design & user research @lily_dart lilydart.com

@lily_dart
Applying Leadership Thinking to UX
User experience design & user research
User Experience Designer

@lily_dart
Experience

@lily_dart
Experience
A series of interactions

@lily_dart
Experience
A coherent journey

@lily_dart
Experience
Invoking an emotion
A coherent journey

@lily_dart
Invoking an emotion
A relationship
A coherent journey
Experience

@lily_dart
Experience
front-end developers

@lily_dart
Experience
back-end developers

@lily_dart
Experience
back-end developers
clients

@lily_dart
Experience
back-end developers
brand designers
clients

@lily_dart
Experience
back-end developers
brand designers
strategists
clients

@lily_dart
Experience
back-end developers
brand designers
strategists
clients
copywriters

@lily_dart
Experience
back-end developerscustomer services
brand designers
strategists
clients
copywriters

@lily_dart
Experience
brand designers
strategists
clients
copywriters
researchers

@lily_dart
Experience
brand designers
systems administrators
strategists
clients
copywriters
researchers

@lily_dart
Experience
brand designers
strategists
clients
copywriters
researchers
dev-ops

@lily_dart
Experience
brand designers
strategists
clients
copywriters
researchers
QA’s
dev-ops

@lily_dart
Experience
brand designers
strategists
clients
copywriters
researchers
QA’smarketing designers
dev-ops

@lily_dart
User experience is a team sport

@lily_dart

@lily_dart
Design principles

@lily_dart
Design principles
Designing for “users”

@lily_dart
Design principles
Designing for audiences

@lily_dart
Design principles
Designing for audiences
Designing for experience

@lily_dart
Empathy

@lily_dart
Empathy
Collaboration

@lily_dart
Empathy
Collaboration
Direction and focus

@lily_dart
Empathy
Collaboration
Direction and focus
Mentoring

@lily_dart
The qualities of a good designer

@lily_dart
The qualities of a good designer
Are the qualities of a good leader

@lily_dart
Too many people view management as leadership.
It's not. Leadership comes from inﬂuence, and
inﬂuence can come from anyone at any level and in
any role.”
Kurt Uhlir
“

@lily_dartUser experience design & user research
EmpathyEmpathy
Getting groups of people excited about an idea
requires understanding what motivates them. ”
Bryan Zmijewski
“

@lily_dart
A good leader is empathetic

@lily_dart
They understand our individual needs>

@lily_dart
They understand our individual needs
They listen to our expertise
>
>

@lily_dart
They understand our individual needs
They listen to our expertise
They listen to, and prioritise, our concerns
>
>
>

When there is no empathy, you get:
Lack of commitment
to decisions

“I decided not
to it that way”
Lack of commitment
to decisions

“I decided not
to it that way”
“The developer didn’t
follow my design”
Lack of commitment
to decisions

“I told the designer we
couldn’t do that”
“I decided not
to it that way”
follow my design”
Lack of commitment
to decisions

“I thought someone
else was doing that?”
“I decided not
to it that way”
Lack of commitment
to decisions
follow my design”
“I told the designer we
couldn’t do that”

@lily_dart
A good designer is empathetic

@lily_dart
They can put themselves in a users shoes>

@lily_dart
They can put themselves in a users shoes
They are good at understanding human behaviour
>
>

@lily_dart
They can put themselves in a users shoes
They are good at understanding human behaviour
They can prioritise the needs of others
>
>
>

Use empathy to connect with colleagues
To avoid lack of commitment

Understand what motivates them>

Understand what motivates them
Take time to understand their concerns
>
>

Understand what motivates them
Take time to understand their concerns
Consider colleagues needs as you would users need
>
>
>

Direction and focus
The greatest leaders mobilize others by coalescing
people around a shared vision”
Ken Blanchard
“

@lily_dart
A good leader sets direction and focus

@lily_dart
They communicate goals, not details>

@lily_dart
They communicate goals, not details
They explain why those goals are important
>
>

@lily_dart
They communicate goals, not details
They explain why those goals are important
Open to change when change is necessary
>
>
>

When there is no direction and focus, you get:
Conflict

Conflict
“The current
trend is…”

“This is best practice”
Conflict
“The current
trend is…”

“Because I’ve been doing
this for 10 years”
Conflict
“The current
trend is…”

Conflict
“The current
trend is…”

“The current
trend is…”
“Won’t work because
of the flux capacitor”
When t
Conflict

@lily_dart
A good designer promotes direction and focus

@lily_dart
They keep designs goal focused>

@lily_dart
They keep designs goal focused
They make design decisions with intent
>
>

@lily_dart
They keep designs goal focused
They make design decisions with intent
They are keen to measure and improve
>
>
>

Set goals for your work
To avoid conflict

> Don’t wait for someone else to deﬁne those goals
To avoid conflict

>
>
Don’t wait for someone else to deﬁne those goals
Deﬁne metrics to measure your success
To avoid conflict

If something isn’t working, change it
>
>
>
Don’t wait for someone else to deﬁne those goals
Deﬁne metrics to measure your success
To avoid conflict

“
Collaboration
Individual commitment to a group eﬀort -
that is what makes a team work.”
Vince Lombardi

@lily_dart
A good leader facilitates collaboration

@lily_dart
They make space for new ideas to be considered>

@lily_dart
They make space for new ideas to be considered
They empower teams to make their own decisions
>
>

@lily_dart
They make space for new ideas to be considered
They empower teams to make their own decisions
They don’t claim personal credit for successes
>
>
>

Blame
When there is no collaboration, you get:

“The feature
description was unclear”
Blame

“The feature
Blame
“That wasn’t
the palette
I specified”

“The feature
Blame
“The developer
implemented my
design badly”
“That wasn’t
the palette
I specified”

“The developer
implemented my
design badly”
“The feature
“That wasn’t
the palette
I specified”
“The QA should
have checked that”
Blame

@lily_dart
A good designer facilitates collaboration

@lily_dart
They are open to feedback and new ideas>

@lily_dart
They are open to feedback and new ideas
They create assets that are easy to reuse
>
>

@lily_dart
They are open to feedback and new ideas
They create assets that are easy to reuse
They present information in a way users can understand
>
>
>

Design for internal collaboration
To avoid blame

> Consider your team your users when presenting ideas
To avoid blame

>
>
Consider your team your users when presenting ideas
Avoid using jargon others may not fully understand
To avoid blame

>
>
>
Consider your team your users when presenting ideas
Avoid using jargon others may not fully understand
Focus your communication on what is relevant to them
To avoid blame

Empower your colleagues to be design-led

> Help colleagues to problem solve, don’t solve for them

>
>
Help colleagues to problem solve, don’t solve for them
Focus advice on value and impact, not “best practice”

>
>
>
Help colleagues to problem solve, don’t solve for them
Focus advice on value and impact, not “best practice”
Don’t be “the expert”, be the mentor

Empathy
Collaboration
Direction and focus
Mentoring

User Experience Designer

Any questions?
Thank you
@lily_dart lilydart.comUser experience design & user research

Applying Leadership Thinking to User Experience Design

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Applying Leadership Thinking to User Experience Design