Over the years, the field of User Experience (UX) has grown in popularity. In many organizations, UX practitioners are in demand, and have been elevated from a role of advocating for usable products, to leading and owning the process for engaging and delighting users. Savvy organizations even look for ways to ensure their offerings are meeting the emotional needs and expectations of customers. However, the field of UX is also experiencing growing pains: some companies have so many design and experience owners that it’s hard to identify what represents the actual “voice of the user,” and others have become so focused on UX-related metrics that they strive to serve the “one metric to rule them all,” losing sight of other data and indicators that yield better insights. This presentation will explore these and related themes, with a goal of rethinking the future of UX in a more intentional and value-oriented manner.

1. Rethinking our UX future
Trends and opportunities
Fadden, S. (2020, May). Rethinking our UX future: Trends and opportunities. Presented at Rethinking UX Virtual Jam (online).

2. Note: This content has been adapted from 2
past presentations
Fadden, S. (2019, September). Enterprise research and design trends: Moving
beyond user-centered design. Presented at UX India, Hyderabad, India.
Fadden, S. (2019, November). Advancements and Tensions in Enterprise UX
Research and Design. Presented at BlendWebMix, Lyon, France.

3. Steve Fadden, Ph.D.
3
Head of User Research, Analytics, Insights, & Measurement, Google
Lecturer, UC Berkeley School of Information
@sfadden on Twitter
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevefadden/

4. Rethink our
Focus
Image: https://pixabay.com/photos/lens-camera-lens-focus-focusing-1209823/

5. Image: https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=296607&picture=honolulu-hawaii

6. Image: https://blog.prototypr.io/the-hawaii-false-alert-wasnt-user-error-it-was-a-failure-of-design-b799731bbb5f

7. Image: https://blog.prototypr.io/the-hawaii-false-alert-wasnt-user-error-it-was-a-failure-of-design-b799731bbb5f

8. Image: https://hackernoon.com/redesigning-hawaiis-emergy-alert-interface-in-the-open-91c6318a7045?source=post_page-----4f55b6ee7e60----------------------

9. Image: https://hackernoon.com/redesigning-hawaiis-emergy-alert-interface-in-the-open-91c6318a7045?source=post_page-----4f55b6ee7e60----------------------

10. Image: https://hackernoon.com/redesigning-hawaiis-emergy-alert-interface-in-the-open-91c6318a7045?source=post_page-----4f55b6ee7e60----------------------

11. Image: https://hackernoon.com/redesigning-hawaiis-emergy-alert-interface-in-the-open-91c6318a7045?source=post_page-----4f55b6ee7e60----------------------

12. Image: https://www.picserver.org/highway-signs2/p/procedure.html

13. Image: https://uxdesign.cc/here-are-27-articles-relating-hawaiis-false-missile-alert-with-bad-design-4f55b6ee7e60

14. Without User
Experience
focus...
Image: https://pixabay.com/photos/lens-camera-lens-focus-focusing-1209823/

15. Reference: http://www.digibarn.com/collections/screenshots/MS%20Bob%20v1-00/bobhint.gif

16. Reference: http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/story/345740/the-biggest-software-flops-of-all-time/3 ,ç

17. “There is nothing that we
have undertaken -- with a
couple exceptions like
Microsoft Bob… where we
have decided that we have
not succeeded and let’s
stop…”
Steve Ballmer, 2006
Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Steve_Ballmer_at_CES_2010_cropped.jpg
Quote: http://web.archive.org/web/20071013051444/http://www.crn.com/it-channel/191600739

18. Without User
Experience
focus...
Image: https://www.smh.com.au/technology/the-museum-of-failure-celebrating-the-products-that-dont-quite-succeed-20170426-gvsfxi.html

19. Reference: https://www.businessinsider.com/the-bic-pens-for-women-that-everyone-is-laughing-at-2012-8

20. Rethink our
focus to cover
the full User
Experience
Image: https://medium.com/s/user-friendly/how-bad-design-perpetuates-harmful-stereotypes-759c0e4ba2b3

21. “User experience (UX) focuses on
having a deep understanding of users,
what they need, what they value, their
abilities, and also their limitations.”
Usability.gov
Reference: https://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/user-experience.html

22. User Experience fundamentals
have changed

23. "Good design is good business."
Thomas J. Watson, Jr., IBM
https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/gooddesign/

24. “Companies realize they need to attract
and retain loyal users— people won’t
stick around and use a poorly-designed
site or app.”
Catherine Courage, Google, 2018
Reference: https://blog.google/inside-google/googlers/she-word-catherine-courage-user-experience-vp-designing-her-career/

25. McKinsey Design Index: Design practices
correlate with higher revenues and returns
Analytical leadership: Measuring and
driving design performance
Cross-functional talent: Making
user-centric design everyone’s
responsibility
Continuous iteration: De-risking
development by continually listening,
testing, and iterating with end users
User experience: Break down walls
between physical, digital, service
design
Reference: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-design/our-insights/the-business-value-of-design

26. “...many of the key drivers of the strong
and consistent design environment
identified in our research call for
company-level decisions and
investments.”
Benedict Sheppard, Hugo Sarrazin, Garen Kouyoumjian, and Fabricio Dore,
McKinsey & Co., 2018
Reference: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-design/our-insights/the-business-value-of-design

27. Leadership expectations
Images: https://hbr.org/2013/07/the-rise-of-ux-leadership, https://www.forbes.com/sites/groupthink/2014/11/11/what-is-behind-the-rise-of-the-chief-design-officer/#65fd173433c2

28. “If you’ve been thinking about a career
in UX, now is definitely the time to get
started.”
UX Design Institute, 2019
Reference: https://www.uxdesigninstitute.com/blog/want-a-career-in-ux/

29. Growing investments in UX expertise
Atlassian 1:25 (2012) → 1:9 (2017)
Dropbox 1:10 (2013) → 1:6 (2017)
IBM 1:72 (2012) → 1:8 (2017)
LinkedIn 1:11 (2010) → 1:8 (2017)
Uber 1:8 (2017)
Image: https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/31/here-are-some-reasons-behind-techs-design-shortage/
Engineering : Design ratios are
dropping

30. “These days, an established design
team is as standard as a product
management or engineering team.”
Catherine Courage, Google, 2018
Reference: https://blog.google/inside-google/googlers/she-word-catherine-courage-user-experience-vp-designing-her-career/

31. “To hire good designers, founders have
to battle over them. It’s only going to
get worse as companies continue to
ramp up their design hiring goals.”
Dylan Field, Figma, 2017
Reference: https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/31/here-are-some-reasons-behind-techs-design-shortage/

32. Expectations are evolving
UX designer
Interaction designer
Visual designer
UI designer
Information architect
Content strategist
Reference: https://www.justinmind.com/blog/building-enterprise-ux-team/
Technical writer
Business & systems analyst
Metrics & data analyst
Enterprise architect
User researcher
Market researcher

33. “More and more companies are
recognizing just how broad, deep, and
multifaceted UX design really is...”
Inside Design, Invision 2019
Reference: https://www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/ux-career-trends-2019/

34. UX requires a team
Images: https://cakeandarrow.com/newsfeed/2017/05/debunking-the-myth-of-the-UX-unicorn/, https://www.nngroup.com/videos/ux-unicorn-myth/

35. “UX constitutes many different
specialties... Forcing one person to do
it all is a prescription for mediocrity.”
Jakob Nielsen, Nielsen Norman Group
Reference: https://www.nngroup.com/videos/ux-unicorn-myth/

36. Job expansion continues
Images: https://www.roberthalf.com/blog/salaries-and-skills/hot-job-ux-designer, http://boxesandarrows.com/ux-design-careers-in-2018-and-beyond-the-future-of-the-ux-designer/

37. “The UX profession has grown
substantially since 1950 and it is now
truly worldwide. Even so, the expected
growth until 2050 will dwarf anything
we’ve seen so far.”
Jakob Nielsen, 2017
Reference: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/100-years-ux/

38. Importance of context and the
meaning of experience beyond
technology

39. Metrics need meaning
Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/anniehp/4326154694

40. Emotions matter
Hierarchy of user needsAesthetic appeal
Affirm humanity
Respect values Pleasurable
Usable
Reliable
Functional
Reference: Walter, A. (2011). Designing for emotion. New York, N.Y: A Book Apart/Jeffrey Zeldman.

41. Values are key
Image: https://pixabay.com/photos/happiness-field-nature-ear-spring-826932/

42. Empathy over disconnected answers
Design thinking
Storytelling
Image: http://web.stanford.edu/group/cilab/cgi-bin/redesigningtheater/the-design-thinking-process/

43. Empathy over disconnected answers
Source: RUSH HOUR. (2020, May 6). This is how to ride a road bike in heavy traffic [video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH4nbQjhmoY

44. Understand the full journey
Image: https://www.inspire-india.in/the-himalayan-race-route/

45. Understand the full journey
Images: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosenfeldmedia/8462249080, https://medium.com/salesforce-ux/agile-journey-mapping-with-empathy-3e6c5a876347

46. Internal struggles for user
experience ownership

47. Ownership of UX
Source: Second Wind CrossFit. (2015, May 27). 4-way Tug of War [video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQbVT09a7f0

48. Ownership of UX
Many data sources
Different research methods
Multiple owners
● Qualitative research
● Large scale surveys
● Usage logs
● Market research
● Satisfaction and loyalty
● Serviceability

49. Need for collaborative ownership
Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blind_men_and_elephant2.jpg

50. "None of us is as good as all of us."
Ray Kroc, McDonald’s
Reference: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/ray_kroc_380549

51. Collaborative ownership: Mixed methods
Engagement
Revenue
Customer satisfaction
Product ratings
Net Promoter Score
Usability
Segmentation
User quotes
Survey verbatims
Behavior logs

52. Rethinking conventional notions
of user experience

53. Job roles are changing
● Design research
● Visual design
● Industrial design
● Chief Design Officer
● UX design
Reference: https://www.fastcompany.com/3063318/5-design-jobs-that-wont-exist-in-the-future

54. “The design community has played fast
and loose with the title ‘UX designer... It
jumps between disparate
responsibilities, tools, and disciplines.”
Clint Rule, Eric Lawrence, Matt McElvogue, TEAGUE
Reference: https://www.fastcompany.com/3063318/5-design-jobs-that-wont-exist-in-the-future

55. New opportunities & responsibilities
● Virtual interaction design
● AI design specialists
● Specialist material designers
● Organizational design
● Post-industrial design
● Design strategist
● Freelance design
Reference: https://www.fastcompany.com/3063318/5-design-jobs-that-wont-exist-in-the-future,
Image: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/artificial-intelligence-brain-think-3382507/

56. Rise of futures thinking and strategy
● Volatility, Uncertainty,
Complexity, Ambiguity (VUCA)
● Complex systems
● Agility amidst disruption
Image: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/network-connections-communication-3537400/, References: https://www.fastcompany.com/3063318/5-design-jobs-that-wont-exist-in-the-future,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeroenkraaijenbrink/2018/12/19/what-does-vuca-really-mean/#3a73444817d6

57. Insights and foundations over answers
Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Foundation-M2325.jpg

58. “The aim of usability testing is to
identify specific significant problems in
order to fix them.”
Erika Hall, Just Enough Research, 2013
Reference: https://abookapart.com/products/just-enough-research

59. Design systems over local solutions
Images: https://material.io/design/introduction/#principles, https://lightningdesignsystem.com/guidelines/overview/

60. “It’s a fantastic time to be a designer
but then you ask the question... why
does everything look the same. I think
it’s related.”
Jessica Helfand, Yale University
Reference: https://theblog.adobe.com/why-does-modern-design-look-the-same/

61. “While great art makes you wonder,
great design makes things clear.”
John Maeda, The Laws of Simplicity, 2006
Reference: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/laws-simplicity

62. Teamwork and diversity
Reference: https://hbr.org/2016/11/why-diverse-teams-are-smarter, https://hbr.org/2018/07/the-other-diversity-dividend

63. "Do not tolerate brilliant jerks. The cost
to teamwork is too high."
Reed Hastings, Netflix
Reference: https://www.td.org/insights/dont-tolerate-brilliant-jerks

64. Cross-functional team ownership
Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/juhansonin/12140602074

65. Rethinking our
future
Image: https://www.pikrepo.com/fiqmf/welcome-to-the-future-signage-over-white-clouds-at-daytime

66. Represent user values
Images: https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=103270&picture=kawasaki-police-motorcycle

67. Follow a code
Images: https://www.who.int/about/ethics/ethical-principles, https://uxpamagazine.org/developing-a-code-of-ethics/

68. Features for a UX Design code
● Accessibility
● Ergonomics
● Safety
● Appropriate Attention
● Movement
● Beauty
● Transparency
● Security
● Mind
● Community
● Innovations
Reference: https://uxpamagazine.org/developing-a-code-of-ethics/

69. Protect users
How might we:
● ...develop principled design
systems that defend users?
Image: https://www.fastcompany.com/90370454/over-1000-shopping-sites-from-j-crew-to-walmart-are-deceiving-users-study-shows

70. Respect users
How might we:
● ...fully inform users and
implement strategies to educate
about tradeoffs?
Image: https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/5/17426922/apple-digital-health-vs-google-wellbeing-time-well-spent-wwdc-2018

71. Understand the full impact
Images: https://www.flickr.com/photos/n1c0la5ma1gr3t/34906341742, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_Foundation_Servers-8055_14.jpg

72. Value orientation
How might we:
● ...extend design thinking and
empathy toward human values
that guide our organizations
Image: https://www.maxpixel.net/Form-Hand-Finger-Sky-Love-Human-Heart-Freedom-3666866

73. Connection
How might we:
● ...encourage design and research
toward affirming our humanity
and connectedness?
Image: https://www.needpix.com/photo/1495239/people-kids-children-group-community-diversity-friends-world-worldwide

74. Sustainability
How might we:
● ...prioritize sustainability in our
design systems and foundational
research?
Image: https://www.goodfreephotos.com/vector-images/recycle-crystal-earth-vector-icon.png.php

75. Address the skills gap
Image: https://www.maxpixel.net/Oasis-Crescent-Lake-Desert-1181517

76. “UX is one of the most difficult roles for
companies to fill. There is a shortage of
experienced professionals so demand
is currently outstripping supply.”
John Dennehy, Zartis (recruiting), 2019
Reference: https://www.uxdesigninstitute.com/blog/want-a-career-in-ux/

77. “Preparing the next generation of
designers will have to be a
collaborative effort among schools, the
tech industry, and design tool
companies themselves.“
Dylan Field, Figma, 2017
Reference: https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/31/here-are-some-reasons-behind-techs-design-shortage/

78. Build our community
How might we:
● ...explore new ways of working to
share critical talent where
needed?
● ...anticipate upcoming skills
gaps to address UX for the new
normal?
Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Unstructured_playing_(9).jpg

79. Foster strategic and futures thinking
How might we:
● ...consider future needs and
scenarios as a team?
● ...anticipate future
consequences of our work?
Reference: https://www.oecd.org/site/schoolingfortomorrowknowledgebase/futuresthinking/futuresthinkinginbrief.htm, Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/frosch50/14791994156

80. Recap

81. Take action to rethink UX!
● Guide organizations toward
human values through design
thinking and empathy
● Design and research toward
affirming humanity and
connectedness?
● Prioritize sustainability
● Inform and defend users
● Partner to anticipate skills gaps
and foster talent-sharing
● Promote team-based strategic
and future thinking

82. Thank you!