1.
Teaching a crossTasman corporate web
team to value UX.
Four stories about building digital
experiences, expressed through the
medium of 2002 pop culture.

2.
UX in the corporate world
• Working with a lot of other people
• Bringing the user into the room and the
heads of people who specialise in all sorts
of other things
• Knowing we’ll never get anything perfect
• Keeping an eye on a huge amount of work
• Office politics meets education:
“Championing” UX more than doing UX

3.
Adam Kendall / @kendalls
User experience specialist
National Australia Bank (NAB)
Max Johns / @mxdej
Business lead, BNZ
Before that:
Online content specialist, NAB

4.
When I got my UX job at NAB, I thought I’d be like this guy...

5.
...but it feels more like this.

6.
Ok, we’re not that nerdy. But we’re still pretty nerdy.

7.
And the coffee in the office still needs work.

8.
My first day in the job
“I’m so glad you’re here. We need help. From a UX
perspective, should we use the red ‘Go’ button or the black
‘Go’ button?”

9.
The journey my new team needs
I know nothing
about UX
I know something
about UX, but
I need help
I’m making my own
UX decisions

10.
2002
In 2002, Max designed this site…Adam started his first IT job.

11.
2002
2002
Other pop-culture references from 2002.

12.
I don't like
people who
come here
saying: 'Ooh,
we did it this
way, we did it
that way'. I
just wanna go
do it this way.

13.
I have
no idea
what
I’m
doing.

14.
Three singles in
the year’s top
100.
I know what I’m doing,
but I need help

15.
A day may
come when
courage fails,
when we
forsake our
friends and
break bonds of
fellowship, but
it is not this
day.

16.
I’m part of
a great
team, but
I’m also a
decisionmaker.

17.
Let’s use these three characters from 2002 to help illustrate
our stories...
I know nothing
about UX
I know something I’m making my own
about UX, but
UX decisions
I need help

18.
Story 1: José and forms
UX
I know nothing
about UX
I know something I’m making my own
about UX, but
UX decisions
I need help

19.
We have lots of forms… heaps in fact.
They were usually built to our stakeholders requirements, not
to our users needs. The David Brent way of doing things.
UX
UX

20.
These are three of
our most used
forms with lots of
inconsistencies… the
David Brent way of
doing things.
UX

21.
We got Jose, our form builder to start thinking
about forms from the users point of view…
And creating a form style guide so he can
replicate this stuff….
UX
UX

22.
This is what our forms look like now. A little
less David Brent…. and a bit more P-Diddy.
UX

23.
Story 1: Summary
UX
I know nothing
about UX
I know something I’m making my own
about UX, but
UX decisions
I need help
What we did here:
• Started small: one person, one project
• Got him thinking from the user’s point of view
• Showed why consistency is important
The downside:
• David Brents involve UX too late – 5 weeks of extra work
• UX seems like a lot of work when you realize that every other form is wrong, too
The upside:
• Our first UX convert (a bit closer to P-Diddy)
• Better forms – happier users, more leads
• Better processes

24.
We also talk to our counterparts across
the tasman to steal/borrow their
ideas…
Natalie Kerschner
UX Specialist, BNZ
@BrambleRose_Nat
UX

25.
We talk to our counterparts around the
globe to start conversations …
… and to recruit internal test participants.
UX

26.
Lunch and learn – informal sharing
All of these things help us get a bit further from David
Brent (I know nothing) to P-Diddy (I know something).
UX

27.
Story 2: International Payments
We’re getting people a bit closer to
becoming P-Diddy…
UX
I know nothing
about UX
I know something I’m making my own
about UX, but
UX decisions
I need help

28.
International money transfers are confusing!
UX

29.
Here’s the site that used to help our customers… but
it was terrible…
UX

30.
People were becoming P-Diddys because they asked for me
first – and I convinced them to do some qualitative user
testing… I also convinced our web team to help me do the
testing. This meant they were talking to real users and
hearing what they had to say… warts and all!
UX

31.
This is what the site looks like now, since the user testing…
the developers and everyone involved had a direct
connection between the users and the final designs.
UX

32.
Story 2: Summary
UX
I know nothing
about UX
I know something I’m making my own
about UX, but
UX decisions
I need help
What we did here:
• Got involved early by accepting an offer to help
• Organised user testing and involved a lot of the team
• Helped the team fit testing results into their work
The downsides:
• Convincing the team to be involved in user testing was like getting them to join a
cult
• Then organising them to attend the sessions was like herding cats
The upside:
• People had learned to think UX early
• The team met, and talked to, actual users
• Test subjects tell it like it is

33.
Story 3: Locations tool
UX
I know nothing
about UX
I know something I’m making my own
about UX, but
UX decisions
I need help
Moving people from P-Diddy and closer to Aragorn.

34.
Our current locations tool was in need of a major redesign.
UX

35.
Let’s draw ...do a
some ideas quick
test...
...draw
some
more...
UX
...and
test
again...

36.
Here’s the result of using heuristic assessments on paper
prototypes. Much much better….
UX

37.
Story 3: Summary
UX
I know nothing
about UX
I know something I’m making my own
about UX, but
UX decisions
I need help
What we did here:
• Got them going and left them to it
• Gave them the tools to do the job
• Kept myself available so they could keep checking in
The downside:
• Technology issues – not released yet
The upside:
• Once I got the team started, they were making their own UX decisions
• Proof that the processes I created actually work

38.
Data before design
We have a wealth of data that we need to look at before we
even think about beginning a design.
UX

39.
Guerrilla testing
We also test our paper prototypes with our colleagues
before we put too much effort into high-fidelity designs.
UX

40.
Heuristic cards
We use heuristics (rules of thumb) to test our paper
prototypes…
Source: Abby Covert - http://abbytheia.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/ia-heuristics-journey/
UX

41.
Story 4: Special credit card offer
UX
I know nothing
about UX
I know something I’m making my own
about UX, but
UX decisions
I need help
We’re finally getting some Aragorns…

42.
Yo dude, I’m from the
Agency. I just designed a
shiny new campaign page!
Wanna chuck it online for
me? KTHXBAI.

43.
Two of our colleagues went and got the data, did the paper
prototypes, tested and assessed these, did the high-fidelity
prototypes, tested and assessed, iterated until they got it
right…
And they did this all by themselves without a UX person –
they just used the UX person for the final check before
going live.
UX

44.
The final product of their work….
UX

45.
How to get a corporate web team
to value UX
I know nothing
about UX
I know something I’m making my own
about UX, but
UX decisions
I need help
When you’re dealing with David Brents:
• Start small - even as small as one person, one
task
• Look for chances to introduce new tools in
context (e.g. style guides)

46.
How to get a corporate web team
to value UX
I know nothing
about UX
I know something I’m making my own
about UX, but
UX decisions
I need help
For the P-Diddy phase:
• Put together a “tool kit” – borrow other people’s
good ideas, or build your own
• Grow the team – get more people involved in UX
• Get involved, in a balanced way. As people use
the tools for themselves, check in regularly

47.
How to get a corporate web team
to value UX
I know nothing
about UX
I know something I’m making my own
about UX, but
UX decisions
I need help
Once you have Aragorns:
• Give them space
• Work on the tools and processes, not the
people

48.
Thank you!
Adam Kendall - @kendalls
Max Johns - @mxdej