Business case template

• We have (problem)
  • It costs us this (in treasure, pain, missed opportunities)
• A way forward is (solution)
  • It will cost us this to get started (in treasure, people, space, equipment, etc.)
• In the first (timeframe) it will yield (result), based on the similar experience of (others)
  • Ideal for us is if it ramps to producing (result)
  • Other opportunities it might create include (stretch)
• There’s also (alternative solution)
  • It’s better than the other (because)
  • It’s worse than the other (because)

Any part of this you can’t answer can be answered with the help of folks in your org, folks you know or learn about via working the network, or can be left asked but unanswered

Design leader’s event loop

People

• How can I improve our recruiting pipeline? How can I fill this open position?
• Who needs feedback from last week?
• Does everyone on this team know what is expected of them?

Projects

• Are my projects on track? Is anyone blocked?
• Do I need to update anyone or any other teams about project status?
• Are there projects on the back burner we could/should start?

Process

• What needs to be covered at standup?
• What process drops am I noticing that I can nudge?
• Are we managing projects the right way?
• Am I ready for today’s meetings? Can any be canceled?
• What are my goals for the week? How did I do last week?
• What do I need to do to be more successful in my job?

Organization

• What can I do this week to take a step forward on my goals for the organization?
• Do my long-term for goals for the organization still make sense?

5-15 template

• Name:
• Week ending:
• Accomplishments for the week: (List completed activities and notable accomplishments. In general, what is working? What is your current situation?)
• Priorities for next week: (Be specific.)
• Challenges/roadblocks: (Describe potential challenges that may impede your intended tasks/goals.)
• Lessons learned/opportunities for improvement: (List any area that might benefit from improvement; questions you are trying to solve; lessons recently learned or relearned.)

Things to budget for

• Conference attendance including travel and expenses for each person and each new headcount
• Training
• Books and reports episodic
• New lab stuff
• Recruiting for lab – put in R&D segment of Input_FY12_Budget
• Contractors & their equipment and software
• New hires & their equipment and software
• Outside firms
• Equipment refreshes
• Software updates & new tools
• Research trips
• Eval products (software, apps, hardware)
• Development hardware (android phones, tablets, ipad)

Things to consider reviewing

• User goals and pain points
• Customer info
• CA info
• Bugs
• Feature requests
• PRD and MRD
• Current system behavior
• Competitive systems/features
• Prior design materials
• Prior testing results
• Prior beta results
• Lay reviews
• Pro reviews
• NPS commentary

Things to consider defining

• Documentation
• Errors
• Empty state
• First run state
• Notifications
• Non-behavior – when should the system be careful to do nothing
• UI workflow
• UI structure/architecture
• Hardware behavior – buttons, indicators, sound
• Port arrangement
• Physical setup process
• Virtual setup process
• On-product information
• Inner box arrangement

Weekly Review How-to, cribbed from “Getting Things Done” by David Allen

• Loose Papers - put in inbox to process
• Process Notes - review notes for action items, waiting-for, projects, etc.
• Review Past Calendar - lingering actions? Reference data?
• Review Upcoming Calendar - capture actions triggered
• Empty Your Head - put in writing any new actions, projects, waiting-for, someday, etc. not yet captured
• Review Action Lists - mark off completed actions, review for reminders of further action steps to record
• Review Waiting-For List - record appropriate actions for any needed follow-up. Mark off things no longer waiting
• Review Project (and Larger Outcome) Lists - evaluate status of projects and outcomes one by one; ensure at least one action item on each. Browse WIP support material to trigger new actions, completions, waiting-for, etc.
• Review Any Relevant Checklists - to trigger new actions
• Review Someday/Maybe List - move newly-active to projects list, delete no longer interesting projectsBe Creative and Courageous - any other hare-brained, creative, thought-provoking, risk-taking ideas to add into the system?

What do we mean by impact?

Assumption: all below improve revenue and/or profitability, directly or indirectly

1. Increases reach (addressable market) of in strategic category (sell what we have)
2. Delivers needed product in strategic category
3. Addresses unmet need of strategic customer/in strategic category
4. Improves appeal of product in strategic category
5. Develops or delivers strategic technical capability
6. Reduces returns or support costs
7. Reduces customer complaints

Self-Marketing Question

• What do people think of me now?
• What should they think?
• Who is the primary audience?
• Quality is in - what level of quality do I project?
• What is the clear difference between me & the next guy?

Allocate people, time, and treasure to serve a business, not a product.

General UX strategy

1. Start with customer wants and needs
2. Check that these are real
3. Define a desirable experience
4. See that it is actually desirable (test)
5. Design a solution to deliver that experience
6. See that it actually delivers (test)
7. Refine, express every detail
8. Implement, verify implementation
9. Ship
10. Observe
11. Plan the updates

An assessment of project scope must include:

• The general goal
• Things we want to avoid
• Assumptions and expectations
• Activities
• Deliverables
• Duration
• Resources and budget

Relate short-term decisions to the long-term more explicitly. This will…

• Continue to build up the experience roadmap, with new and explicit attention to dependency order of the enabled experiences, and do so in an internally public manner.
• Stop redefining the process interfaces between UX/ID and Marketing, and instead push the humans to communicate. We seem to re-document and reassert the process every year, but the results don’t change materially; time to do something different.
• Participate in re-defining how we plan projects so that there will be a greater connection between resource availability and business priority, if only for my own sanity and sense of effectiveness. This should make it possible for work to become a little more standard, tamping down the high volume of events and exceptions that make improvement difficult.