2. User Experience
UX Team Best Practices
•Centralized or de-centralized.
•Roles: UX Architect, IA/Interaction Designer, Visual Designer,
Front-End Developer, Usability Expert/Researcher, Content
Strategist.
•Average ratio of Developers to UX Team Members should be
between 5-10 to 1.
•Teams and processes develop over time in stages.
•UX should be integrated into the project software development
life cycle.
Six Core Disciplines of User Experience
3. Project Software Development Life Cycle
3
IT Project Software Development Lifecycle
UX Process What We Should be Doing
• Project request from
Sponsor
• Sponsor creates Project
Profile w/IT
• Gate 1
• Resources
• Kick-off
• Attend IT kick-off (1,
2, 3 or all if identified
already)
• Determine UX
effort/type needed (3)
• Determine resources
(2)
IT Creates
Project Schedule
• Identify UX
team members
(3)
• Work with PM
to include UX
elements in
project schedule
(3)
• JAD Sessions
• Requirements
Document
• Existing site
review/research (4)
• User/Task Analysis
(4)
• Attend JAD sessions
(1, 3,4, 5, 7, 8, 9)
• Technical Design
• Graphic Design
• Assist with requirements
(3, 5, 7, 8, 9)
• Content inventory (8)
• IA (5)
• Wireframes (5)
• Visual design (6)
• Content Creation (8)
• Wireframe and/or
Prototype Testing (4)
• Coding • Functional testing
• Occasional Usability
testing
• Create test plan (4)
• Build scenarios (4)
• Conduct testing (4)
• Review results
(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
• Implement/retest
(5, 7, 3, 4)
• Elevation
• Post-launch survey
(4)
• Potentially post-
launch usability test if
more iterations are
to be done on the
site/app (4)
UX Touch-points
Occasionally, we build wireframes and
are involved in usability studies
Often, we
do visual design
Sometimes usability studies
are done before launch.
Sometimes, surveys are
done after launch.
• Content
implementation on
Content-managed
sites (if applicable) (8)
Key Responsibilities:
1:Sponsor 2:IT 3:UX Architect 4:Researcher 5:IA/Interaction Designer 6:Visual Designer 7:Front-End Engineer 8:Content Strategist
9:Sponsor Rep
Note: UX Architect oversees UX for project during the SDLC.
4. UX Team Proposed Near Term
(with External Agency Support) Pooled Team
This model is heavily dependent upon agency
support and prioritization of projects.
Risks!
•Only one UX resource currently. We are recruiting for a
UX Architect but the salary is low compared to Atlanta.
•With most of the work done externally, the Architect may
be required to take on project management duties for
anything related to Marketing within the project. The
identification of this risk shows a gap within digital projects
that currently exists – a project manager.
4
UX Roles
5. Actualization/Next Steps
1. Agree and gain approval for this user experience discipline within
Marketing.
2. Have conversations with IT to get their buy-in on inclusion of
user experience into the SDLC (Software Development Life
Cycle.)
3. Add required internal resources and external agencies.
4. Socialize and incorporate into Marketing processes.
5. Establish priorities for UX/Usability.
6. Align external resources, (agencies, etc.) to priority projects.
8. User Experience (UX)
8Source: Nick Finck presentation, Director of User Experience at projekt202, previously with Deloitte Digital and Blink Interactive.
9. Best Practices UX Team Structure
9
Sources: NNGroup Usability Week 2013 conference (Kara Pernice, Managing Director, NNGroup and Christian Rohrer, Chief Design Officer & VP at
McAfee), “How to Build a Killer User Experience Team” (http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/build-killer-user-experience-team/)
Researcher: Conducts user research for projects, to include, but
not limited to: field studies, usability studies, focus groups, surveys,
competitor app/site reviews.
IA/Interaction Designer:
Responsible for laying out
information and plays a key role
in deciding the screen flows and
interaction patterns to be
followed. Delivers the
wireframes, screenflows,
sitemap and interaction design
documents.
Content Strategist:
Responsible for shaping up the
‘tone of voice’ of the product
by carefully planning the
content. Content includes text,
as well as whatever element is
being used to communicate
with the user.
Visual Designer: Through
color, typography, visual
hierarchy, brand and style,
communicates the ideas
through whatever medium is
available to carry forward the
UX vision.
Front-End Engineer:
Translates through code the
ideas which are in the form of
wireframes, documents and
visual mockups into a working
prototype.
UX Architect: Team visionary.
Oversees the project from a UX
perspective.
10. UX Team Proposed Long Term
Option 2 – UX with Internal Resources
Each Channel or combination of like
channels would have a UX team for
their projects, overseen by the UX
Manager or UX Architect.
This structure requires more
internal resources.
10
A team within Digital to support each Marketing channel. Centralized model.
Note: We might be able to start with three teams – .com, Worksite/Consumer, and Broker/Associate.
