Problem Space discovery in Agile Masterclass 1678 2 hours 44 min

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Agenda- Problem Space discovery in Agile Masterclass

One of the biggest contributions UX makes to product management efforts is problem framing or how to frame the right problem for users and the business. Many stakeholders mistake asking UX designers to create mock-ups or visuals before vetting business requirements or ideas past the "evidence filter" of user behavior (field study research).  By starting with solutions, we give them credibility and power that they should not have until they are: either tested with users, or based on user constraints and opportunities found in their current problem-solving behaviors and expectations. Instead, we must 'deep dive' into a better understanding of the user's 'problem space' and remove unknowns, ambiguities, biases, and risks.

Understanding the problem space leads to better Agile UX

Poorly understanding the "problem space" means you are guessing or relying on your internal assumptions, hunches, and brainstorms. Or worse, basing decisions on the wrong kind of research (yeah, focus groups and surveys). UX as a field de-risks this very dangerous approach which relies on trusting yourself or internal decision-making unbalanced with a view from the user's world. Problem spaces are rich with context to understand how your features or design proposals will meet actual user needs, with the highest degree of emotional value (differentiation) delivered to users. Regularly mapping the problem space helps you build context intelligence within your team. Products and services that perform start with an understanding of context of use (where, when, how, and why) of how your features, functionality, or service will be used. Framing the problem informed by context is the starting point to ROI-based UX.

What we'll cover- problem framing, how to run a problem space discovery workshop and more!

In this Masterclass, we will cover problem space discovery in an Agile context including how to create more accurate MVP's on an ongoing basis. We will start with problem framing and learn to create problem statements. In this Masterclass, you will also learn how to run a Problem Space Discovery workshop to help guide your organization toward smarter product decision-making. Topics we will cover in this Masterclass:

• Framing the ‘right problem’ in UX
• Making the business case for Problem space discovery
• Strategies for managing your stakeholders who jump to solutions without discovery
• Identify bias in framing and product decision-making
• Introducing Qualitative Research to teams new to UX Research
• Doing the right kind of research to identify 'right problems' and understand problem spaces
• How to craft compelling Problem Statements
• Getting Agile teams to practice with problem-informed MVP
• 'Continuous Discovery' hacks for Agile
• How to run a Problem Space Discovery workshop

About Monthly MasterClasses:

These monthly meet-ups are topic-driven live events with an informal presentation by Frank Spillers and group activities and discussions. Monthly MasterClasses are included as part of your membership. They allow a deep dive into important UX topics, with insights drawn from process best practices and case studies from Frank’s two decades in the field.

UX Writing workshop- Part 3/3 1639 2.h hrs... Also see Part 1 + Part 2

Agenda:

Without key content, UX is lost. UX Writing brings strategic and contextually relevant content that supports and enables key UX and Interaction Design goals. Content is the most important and cheapest ‘interface’ to fix. However taking a systemic approach to staffing the role, and creating a collaborative space with the Design, Research, and Engineering team is vital. In this workshop, with Sr. UX Writer Katrin Sutterlin (wefox) and Frank Spillers (Experience Dynamics) we will learn how to tackle key UX Writing challenges including how to craft content for neurodiverse audiences for maximum accessibility. Topics we will cover: Part 1 topics covered:

• Designing and prioritising content with Content First
• Researching your users pain points (desirability and task support)
• Conceptual models and UX writing
• Auditing your UX Writing
• Tone vs Voice: Making a Tone Map

Part 2 topics covered: with guest Katrin Sutterlin, Sr. UX Writer at wefox (Germany)

• Intro to neurodiversity
• Designing for people on the neurodiversity sepctrum
• UX vs neurodiversity
• Layouts and writing for Neurodiverse audiences

Part 3 topics covered:

• How to craft high-conversion microcopy
• Wireframing and UX writing
• How best to approach content design (including updates to existing content vs new projects)
• Creating a Content UX strategy
• Evaluating & testing copywriting: tools and techniques
• Localization and content considerations
• Managing a UX writing team: business case, hiring, and working with UX research & design process

About UX Inner Circle Workshops:

These workshops are live events with an informal presentation by Frank Spillers and group activities and discussions, with a more hands-on experience to learning the material presented. Online workshops are included as part of your UX Inner Circle membership. They allow a deep study of UX topics, with insights drawn from process best practices and case studies from Frank Spillers two decades in the field.

Cost:

Not a member? $100 Members: FREE…join the UX Inner Circle to get this and enjoy access to $10,385 worth of value- recording trainings from 20 years of Frank Spillers’ work.

Buy this course and get recording plus part 1 + part 2 for only $100** USD: [wlm_stripe_btn sku=payperpost-1157 button_label="Buy Now" pay_button_label="Buy Now" coupon="1"]

**50% of ticket sales donated to The Trevor Project (saving LGBTQ+ youth lives).  

Why Join?

The UX Inner Circle is a professional learning community with a program of monthly events for UX researchers and designers, managers, and directors practicing UX and Service Design. We are a small group of currently 50 UX and Service Designers, Directors, and Researchers currently 100% working in UX. Attendees come from orgs like Harvard, Google, IBM, Accenture, Deloitte, Capital One, US Bank, healthcare, government, and non-profits. So why join?

• Refine or expand your current skills-- push the boundaries of your learning.
• Get advice and guidance: Put a top-performing UX expert (Frank Spillers, CEO of award-winning UX firm Experience Dynamics and top instructor at Interaction Design Foundation) in your pocket. Stay connected with the latest on what Frank is thinking and prioritizing in UX and Service Design.
• Ask anything to other UXIC colleagues on a dedicated private Slack channel. Also, collaborate during monthly meet-ups (Masterclasses).
• Get a promotion at work or upgrade your skills, portfolio, or process knowledge. This is the #1 reason folks keep subscribing to the UX Inner Circle.

Ready to Join the UXIC?

30- Day Free Trial (billing starts month 2) Membership includes access to ALL monthly event recordings and more (going back 20 years of Frank's UX career). 150+ recordings.  Monthly live meet-ups (Masterclass topics) and workshops (every other month). Miniclasses (short webinars) and access to longer webinars Frank provides with his UX firm Experience Dynamics. Financial inclusiveness membership: USD$49 per month for Nonprofit-Student- or you live in the Global South/ Emerging Market (.org; .edu) Regular membership: USD$99 Individual per month 20% discount on Annual Price; switch anytime, cancel anytime. Review the Pricing Options ***THIS EVENT IS FREE WITH UX INNER CIRCLE MEMBERSHIP***

Interview- Matt May, Head of Inclusive Design a...

Problem space discovery in Agile Masterclass 1185  

Agenda- Problem Space discovery in Agile Masterclass

One of the biggest contributions UX makes to product management efforts is problem framing or how to frame the right problem for users and the business. Many stakeholders mistake asking UX designers to create mock-ups or visuals before vetting business requirements or ideas past the "evidence filter" of user behavior (field study research).  By starting with solutions, we give them credibility and power that they should not have until they are either tested with users or based on user constraints and opportunities found in their current problem-solving behaviors and expectations. Instead, we must 'deep dive' into a better understanding of the user's 'problem space' and remove unknowns, ambiguities, biases, and risks.

Understanding the problem space leads to better Agile UX

Poorly understanding the "problem space" means you are guessing or relying on your internal assumptions, hunches, and brainstorms. Or worse, basing decisions on the wrong kind of research (yeah, focus groups and surveys). UX as a field de-risks this very dangerous approach which relies on trusting yourself or internal decision-making unbalanced with a view from the user's world. Problem spaces are rich with context to understand how your features or design proposals will meet actual user needs, with the highest degree of emotional value (differentiation) delivered to users. Regularly mapping the problem space helps you build context intelligence within your team. Products and services that perform start with an understanding of context of use (where, when, how, and why) of how your features, functionality, or service will be used. Framing the problem informed by context is the starting point to ROI-based UX.

What we'll cover- problem framing, how to run a problem space discovery workshop and more!

In this Masterclass, we will cover problem space discovery in an Agile context including how to create more accurate MVP's on an ongoing basis. We will start with problem framing and learn to create problem statements. In this Masterclass, you will also learn how to run a Problem Space Discovery workshop to help guide your organization toward smarter product decision-making. Topics we will cover in this Masterclass:

• Framing the ‘right problem’ in UX
• Making the business case for Problem space discovery
• Strategies for managing your stakeholders who jump to solutions without discovery
• Identify bias in framing and product decision-making
• Introducing Qualitative Research to teams new to UX Research
• Doing the right kind of research to identify 'right problems' and understand problem spaces
• How to craft compelling Problem Statements
• Getting Agile teams to practice with problem-informed MVP
• 'Continuous Discovery' hacks for Agile
• How to run a Problem Space Discovery workshop

About UX Inner Circle Workshops:

These workshops are live events with an informal presentation by Frank Spillers and group activities and discussions, with a more hands-on experience to learning the material presented. Online workshops are included as part of your UX Inner Circle membership. They allow a deep study of UX topics, with insights drawn from process best practices and case studies from Frank Spillers two decades in the field.

Product Managers + UX teams: working better together Masterclass 1180 2 hrs 46 min Product management groups often manage, lead, or heavily influence UX teams. Product management (‘Product’) plays this role due to its close proximity to Engineering and ‘the Business’. However, many product managers struggle to “play well” (get the most out of interactions) with UX process and team inputs and outputs. In Product’s defense, this line of business inherited UX in many ways to save it from being incorporated as a sub-function of Engineering. However, product managers must understand specifically what value UX brings and how to work with UX teams better. Many Product teams appreciate and thrive on UX input. As a result, the product managers that ‘process share’ with UX teams, can get more business value from UX. Therefore, UX teams play a strategic role in Product organizations that want to realize the ROI from UX. In this Masterclass, Frank Spillers shares tested methods for improving relationships and interactions between UX and Product.

Topics we will cover:

• Defining roles: What UX teams do; what Product managers need; where the roles overlap
• How to understand and influence a Product Manager and a UX team
• Product management vs UX management
• How successful products are managed for better UX
• Product roadmaps vs UX roadmaps
• Mapping of types of Product Managers (from worst to best) to collab, the archetypes & how to Manage the managers
• Negotiating the MVP’s, Backlogs and Agile UX
• Key UX/Product collaborations- tools and templates
• Resolving conflicting agendas and avoiding collaboration traps
• Managing UX teams for better product outcome

Understanding the role of intangible value in S...

Journey Mapping workshop: Creating journey maps with impact 1167 2 hrs 52 min Be sure to see Journey Mapping as a Team Sport masterclass Mural board archived: UXIC Journey Mapping workshop (PDF)

Agenda: Journey Mapping workshop

Journey maps are tools for decision-making and organizational transformation. That is, if you create and discover them as a ‘team sport’. The journey map itself is a deliverable that comes out of user research and centering the needs of your improvement project around real-world customer behavior. But the journey map is not just a visualization. It is an artifact that represents collaboration and cross-pollination breaking the silos and channel-centric approaches that create friction in your organization, and for your customer. In this workshop, we will create journey maps based on actual field research on how users manage sustainability behaviors (energy-saving in the home). You will learn how to create a journey map, and how to accurately sharpen the tool as an agent of insight, clarity, and good decision-making. Journey mapping should be a transformational experience for your stakeholders and your users. Getting journey mapping right, and making it a habit, is key to growing UX maturity in your organization– a vital business goal. Topics we will cover in this workshop:

• The 6 types of journey maps
• Blending journey maps and the power of each type
• How to choose the right journey map for your stakeholders
• How to make sense of user data (touchpoints, moments of truth, artifacts, goals/tasks, channels, and more)
• Ways to make your journey mapping more impactful
• Governance and managing execution of journey mapping recommendations

About UX Inner Circle Workshops:

These workshops are live events (recordings included) with an informal presentation by Frank Spillers and group activities and discussions, with a more hands-on experience in learning the material presented. Online workshops are included as part of your UX Inner Circle membership. They allow a deep study of UX topics, with insights drawn from process best practices and case studies from Frank Spillers two decades in the field.

Product Managers + UX teams: working better tog...

UX Writing workshop- Part 3/3 1157 3 hrs (Part 3/3, total course 9 hrs)

Agenda:

Without key content, UX is lost. UX Writing brings strategic and contextually relevant content that supports and enables key UX and Interaction Design goals. Content is the most important and cheapest ‘interface’ to fix. However taking a systemic approach to staffing the role, and creating a collaborative space with the Design, Research, and Engineering team is vital. In this workshop, with Sr. UX Writer Katrin Sutterlin (wefox) and Frank Spillers (Experience Dynamics) we will learn how to tackle key UX Writing challenges including how to craft content for neurodiverse audiences for maximum accessibility. Topics we will cover: Part 1 topics covered:

• Designing and prioritising content with Content First
• Researching your users pain points (desirability and task support)
• Conceptual models and UX writing
• Auditing your UX Writing
• Tone vs Voice: Making a Tone Map

Part 2 topics covered: with guest Katrin Sutterlin, Sr. UX Writer at wefox (Germany)

• Intro to neurodiversity
• Designing for people on the neurodiversity sepctrum
• UX vs neurodiversity
• Layouts and writing for Neurodiverse audiences

Part 3 topics covered:

• How to craft high-conversion microcopy
• Wireframing and UX writing
• How best to approach content design (including updates to existing content vs new projects)
• Creating a Content UX strategy
• Evaluating & testing copywriting: tools and techniques
• Localization and content considerations
• Managing a UX writing team: business case, hiring, and working with UX research & design process

About UX Inner Circle Workshops:

These workshops are live events with an informal presentation by Frank Spillers and group activities and discussions, with a more hands-on experience to learning the material presented. Online workshops are included as part of your UX Inner Circle membership. They allow a deep study of UX topics, with insights drawn from process best practices and case studies from Frank Spillers two decades in the field.

Interface consistency- the case for and against...

UX Writing workshop- Part 2/3 with Sr UX Writer Katrin Sutterlin 1121 2 hrs 44 min with guest speaker Sr. UX Writer Katrin Sutterlin (wefox) View Part 1 Also see UX Writing- Increasing conversion rates with emotional impact (Masterclass)

Agenda:

Without key content, UX is lost. UX Writing brings strategic and contextually relevant content that supports and enables key UX and Interaction Design goals. Content is the most important and cheapest ‘interface’ to fix. However taking a systemic approach to staffing the role, and creating a collaborative space with the Design, Research, and Engineering team is vital. In this workshop, with Sr. UX Writer Katrin Sutterlin (wefox) and Frank Spillers (Experience Dynamics) we will learn how to tackle key UX Writing challenges including how to craft content for neurodiverse audiences for maximum accessibility. Topics we will cover: Part 1 topics covered:

• Designing and prioritising content with Content First
• Researching your users pain points (desirability and task support)
• Conceptual models and UX writing
• Auditing your UX Writing
• Tone vs Voice: Making a Tone Map

Part 2 topics covered: with guest Katrin Sutterlin, Sr. UX Writer at wefox (Germany)

• Intro to neurodiversity
• Designing for people on the neurodiversity sepctrum
• UX vs neurodiversity
• Layouts and writing for Neurodiverse audiences

Part 3 topics covered:

• How to craft high-conversion microcopy
• Wireframing and UX writing
• How best to approach content design (including updates to existing content vs new projects)
• Creating a Content UX strategy
• Evaluating & testing copywriting: tools and techniques
• Localization and content considerations
• Managing a UX writing team: business case, hiring, and working with UX research & design process

Workshop- Designing Your Life: Avoid burnout and bring calm to your day (for designers and managers) 1110 3 hours

Agenda: Designing your life

"60% of managers saying the pandemic has hurt their mental health and 40% saying they are now prioritizing their mental health over their career" (LinkedIn news 9 March 2022).

This workshop follows the mantra from TED founder Richard Saul Wurman who once said, ‘Designing your life is the most difficult problem of them all’.

Today, you need to be totally resilient and adaptable, while staying creative. Yet the world we live in throws up obstacles including daily challenges to our attention and stress. Managers and designers who work cross-functionally can feel it most. Even success can be a challenge to remaining fresh and open to new information and ideas.

As UX Designers know, good journeys don’t just happen, they are meticulously designed and tested before confidence is felt. This workshop will show you how to apply User Experience and Service Design processes, mindsets, and tools to your life at work and in today’s work-at-home mode. The research-based tools and techniques you will learn have been tried and tested by Frank Spillers, founder of leading UX firm Experience Dynamics, and come from his personal experience.

Agenda:

• Assessing your life design destination (the heuristic evaluation of where you are).
• Defining your life journey map (3 essential journeys you need to map).
• Designing a new control panel of the mind (a new UI for motivation and more).
• Strategies for resilience and momentum (quick meditation and more).
• Dealing with distractions and guarding your focus.

About UX Inner Circle Workshops:

These workshops are live events with an informal presentation by Frank Spillers and group activities and discussions, with a more hands-on experience to learning the material presented. Online workshops are included as part of your UX Inner Circle membership. They allow a deep study of UX topics, with insights drawn from process best practices and case studies from Frank Spillers two decades in the field.