In July,
representatives from our design, digital and pdi (product development and
innovation) departments attended the 2013 User Experience Professional
Association's (UXPA) annual conference in Washington DC.
I've asked Brian (from
PDI), Eloise (from design) and Jason (from digital) to each share a key insight
they took away from the conference this year.
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Product
Development and Innovation Manager for Curriculum
Keynote: Frugal Innovation!
The title of this
keynote presentation immediately caught my attention. We are all about frugal
innovation at Saint Mary’s Press!
We are a non-profit creating resources for
non-profits. Our customers need us to be innovative but they also need us to
deliver our innovative products with frugal price tags. So it was very
inspiring to hear the presenter, Navi Radjou, make the case that when compared
to large corporations with multi-million dollar R&R budgets, small frugal
companies and individuals are much more innovative.
He gave the following as
examples:
- A person in India who invented a bike that turns bumps in the road into engine power
- The Nano car which only costs $2000-$3000
- In Africa, a system has been created to transfer money by phone without needing a bank account
- An infant incubator has been created that only costs $200 (instead of $20,000) that has the added advantage of allowing the mother to hold the baby (see the website jugaadinnovation.com to see some of these examples)
Based on his study
of many examples of frugal innovation, Navi suggested four takeaways we can
learn:
1. Focus on the customer need and the
value of our solution to the customer (don’t start with a specific product idea
or technology)
2. Keep
it simple (respond to the critical need and don’t increase your product’s cost
and complexity with unneeded options)
3. Do rapid experimentation (have an idea,
develop it cheaply, get it to market quickly, get feedback, reiterate)
4. Leverage
partnerships (this is not just the age of social media, it is the age of social
solutions—it may often take several small, key entities working together to
solve a larger problem)
We already apply
several of these principles in our product development at Saint Mary’s Press,
especially the first one.
But what would happen if we took all four of them seriously?
Design Coordinator
This session focused on how important it is to talk to
your users (and listen to them!) and how to use progressive engagement to avoid
scaring users away.
Some key points to consider:
- Starting with general questions to open them up and get them talking, then work into really narrow questions.
- Asking users to not only give feedback on your product but also to critique, can get to deeper issues or problems they may be having.
“This works so well because humans have a fundamental need to be consulted, engaged and to exercise their knowledge.”
- Getting users engaged in helping to develop your product is not a popularity contest, and you should not be afraid to put something out there in front of users because you don’t know what people will say!
- Turn your data you collect into information and follow these steps:
·
Build the process
·
Ask for feedback
·
Refine based on input
·
Users will recognize that you are listening to them!
·
Start the process again
Through this process, this successful collaboration will
build its own momentum!
Digital Strategist
Session: Multiple
My major take away from UXPA this year was very meta.
UX is not only
about what the user tells you during a test. It's what they tell you every day
while using your products.
When it comes to websites or apps, hidden behind all
of the shiny graphics and shopping carts is a complex system that is capturing
your users’ data (analytics). This system will capture what they are searching
for, how long they stay, where they are from, what pages they go to most and
what kind of device they use to access your content.
All of this data
should be looked at and reviewed on a monthly basis. By reviewing the analytics
you can assess what the user is having trouble finding or what they search for
the most.
This will allow you to make changes to your websites or apps quickly
to help users get to the information they are looking for or adjust your
website to fit the device they are using to view your content. Ultimately,
enhancing the user experience.
Also, by reviewing all of the data, you might
come up with an idea for a new product the user is asking for. Take the time to
match up key word searches in categories that fit your content. It’s possible
you have the content or product that a user is looking for but can’t find
because they are searching using a different term.
Update your products,
content metadata and websites with the terms your customers are using. By doing
so you will make the user experience better by making the content and products
easier to find.
Your customers
leave behind a wealth of data every time they visit your website or apps. Make
sure to put on your mining hat and dig for the hidden gems of data that lie
below the surface.
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