The document summarizes a presentation by Juliet Richardson about how UX alone is not enough and designers need to think beyond UX. Richardson discusses how beautifully designed interfaces will not succeed if the underlying proposition or content is not appealing to the target audience. She provides examples where UX improvements did not translate to business goals like increased signups or donations because the content or user needs were not properly understood. Richardson argues that UX practitioners need to consider strategic business objectives, user research, content strategy, and organizational alignment in order to ensure UX delivers value beyond just usability.

1. THINKING BEYOND UX
JULIET RICHARDSON
Principal UX Consultant
Hi, I’m Juliet. This is my presentation thinking
beyond UX from Interact London 2014.
In this talk, I will be discussing how UX in and
of itself is not a 'magic bullet'. Designing
beautiful and intuitive interactions will only get
you so far. If the proposition that you're trying
to sell is not the right one for your audience,
they're still not going to buy it. I will talk about
some real world examples of how thinking
beyond UX can mean thinking about anything
from content and propositions to organisational
change and employee training.

2. UX IS EVERYTHING
Juliet Richardson

3. UX did not always used to be seen to be of
value. When I started, I used to spend approx.
50% of my time spent doing UX and 50%
convincing people of the value of UX.

4. Now UX is very popular. A recent Forrester
survey found that 93% of executives said that
improving the customer experience was a key
strategic aim. Everyone wants to do UX.

5. UX IS NOTHING
Juliet Richardson
But, we risk not delivering on the promise of
UX if we get it wrong.
UX in and of itself is not necessarily the magic
fairy dust that people think it is…

6. Very funny picture goes here
Hilarious slogan goes here
Juliet Richardson
UX is nothing with the wrong content
The most brilliantly designed interaction is
nothing if the content is wrong.

7. UX is nothing if it doesn’t fulfill a need.
You can have something that is brilliantly
designed, very easy to use, etc but if it isn’t
something that people want…
Juliet Richardson

8. UX is nothing if it doesn’t make business
sense…
There is no point investing in UX for something
that is not in line with your business goals.
Juliet Richardson

9. Can you test whether
recent improvements
have made it easier to
sign up for our online
forum?
We could do the testing and show it’s easier, but no
change in sign up to live forums…
Do people want to sign up? Do they even want a
forum?

10. Can you test the
usability of our new
virtual tour?
We could do the testing and make is brilliant to use,
but still it performs poorly on the live site…
Do people want a virtual tour? Do they watch it
instead of visiting?
Why does the business want a virtual tour?

11. Can you help increase
our online donations?
We can follow best practice to put the right type of
images, messages, calls to action, etc.
But our impact will be limited if your overall message
about what you do as a charity is not appealing to
potential donors

12. We need to increase
traffic to these pages
– can you help?
What is the business reason for increasing traffic?
More people viewing a page does not give any
business benefit unless they’re the RIGHT people…

13. Optimising UX without addressing wider
issues means that you risk hitting a local
maximum.
You are delivering the best you can
within the current constraints.
This means that the impact of UX
solutions may not be as great as
promised or as hoped for. You risk UX
being “nothing”

14. SO, HOW DO WE AVOID THIS?
Juliet Richardson

15. Go back to basics… Jesse James
Garret – Elements of User Experience
(2000)
You need to think of the layers of
experience and get the basics right. All
of the examples we’ve been talking
about are a result of not getting the
strategy, scope or skeleton layers right.
They’re a result of focusing on the
surface only or only doing parts of the
lower layers…

16. Juliet Richardson
Think about the starting point…
Do the right research – get at user
needs, understand business objectives
Ask the right questions – “the five why’s”
– good for users and clients

17. Juliet Richardson
Think about usefulness
Test your vision against reality.

18. Juliet Richardson
Think about content…
Take a content-first approach

19. Juliet Richardson
Think strategically….
Talk to the board, challenge the status
quo. Align with business strategy, align
UX metrics and business metrics.

20. Think organisationally…
Get the right people… Have someone
responsible for UX

21. Usable
Useful
Desirable
Optimised user experience
Juliet Richardson

22. Usable
Useful
Desirable
Optimised user experience that
delivers business value
Juliet Richardson

23. Thank you
JULIET RICHARDSON
Principal UX Consultant
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