Asking Design Questions - UX Bristol 2021

Is everyone a designer? This question has been hotly debated in recent years as many of us think about how more people can meaningfully participate in the design of products and services.

Whatever the answer to ‘is everyone a designer’, in this talk, Ben Holliday will explore how anyone can start to ask design questions in the places and situations that they work in.

Design questions can be the real practical superpower of impactful UX and design work in all parts of an organisation. Ben will talk about how we can support and work with people as they start to ask design questions themselves. This includes frontline staff, operational, management, policy, technology and digital teams. This means starting with the right questions to frame the problem, then better understanding and tracking the progress we’re making, as well as the outcomes and impact of our work in people’s lives.

Transcript

1. Asking Design
   Questions
   Ben Holliday / UX Bristol - 16th July 2021
   @BenHolliday
   

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2. Hello (virtual)
   UX Bristol
   @BenHolliday
   

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3. 3
   ● Executive Director, Design at FutureGov.
   ● 20 years working in design: starting in
   graphic design, then digital and UX
   design, and later working with product,
   service, content, and org design teams.
   ● Last 8 years working in the public sector,
   mostly leading design teams and work
   as part of change and transformation
   programmes.
   ● ex-Government Digital Service and
   DWP Digital (Department for Work
   and Pensions).
   ● Private sector, working in education,
   finance (FreeAgent), and with arts,
   charity and not-for-profit organisations.
   ● Live in Kendal, Cumbria with
   my family and our large 5 month
   old puppy (left).
   

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4. 4
   Why is design a good idea?
   ● Framing
   ● Visualising
   ● Creating
   ● Connecting
   ● Learning by doing
   ● Continuously improving
   @BenHolliday
   

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5. 5
   Is everyone
   a designer?
   @BenHolliday
   

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9. 9
   Everyone can ask
   design questions
   @BenHolliday
   

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10. 10
    Design questions introduce
    constraints, provide focus, and
    create shared understanding.
    The goal is good design.
    “
    @BenHolliday
    

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11. 11
    DWP Digital 2014-2017
    @BenHolliday
    

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12. My original design questions:
    Why are we here doing this work?
    And, how do we know we’re doing
    the right things?
    @BenHolliday
    

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13. 13
    Why are we doing this work?
    or What is our motivation for building this
    product or service?
    Who are our users?
    or Who do we think would need to use this
    product or service?
    What outcome will users get from
    this service?
    or What problem will it solve for people?
    What outcome are we looking for?
    or What problem will it solve for our organisation?
    What are our key metrics?
    or What do we need to measure against
    these outcomes?
    hollidazed.co.uk/frame-the-problem
    

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14. 14
    5 questions
    in a workshop
    format to
    reach a shared
    understanding.
    Take one
    question at a
    time, and ask
    the group to
    write one thing
    per post it note.
    Affinity sort and
    group themes.
    Then discuss
    and explore
    what you’ve
    captured.
    

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15. 15
    Unverified world record, framing the problem workshop - UX Riga, Latvia 2015
    

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16. 16
    What is the
    product?
    A digital solution
    or tools to do
    something
    e.g. a set of
    interactions or a
    transaction that
    supports users to
    achieve a goal.
    What is the
    service?
    Supporting
    people’s needs in
    real life scenarios
    e.g. a combination
    of online/offline
    touchpoints and
    support leading to
    an outcome.
    What is the
    system?
    Interdependencies
    that work/function
    together
    e.g. a complex
    network of
    organisations, parts
    of government/
    policy all working
    together.
    @BenHolliday
    

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17. 17
    What is the
    product?
    Apply for housing
    in a local area
    Council website
    transaction to join
    the Housing
    Register.
    What is the
    service?
    Local housing
    services
    Council team or
    partners providing
    advice and help
    to prevent
    homelessness–
    inc. services like
    emergency
    accommodation.
    What is the
    system?
    National housing
    system/policy
    UK housing and
    homelessness
    policy, regional
    strategies,
    multi-agency
    partnerships
    and service
    management.
    @BenHolliday
    

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19. 19
    Hounslow Council: A system map showing the different agencies involved
    in vulnerable children/pupils care, including data being collected and the
    systems used to collect and manage that data.
    

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20. 20
    The map creates conversations:
    questioning the direction we’re
    taking, the spaces in between
    things, and what is now possible
    “
    @BenHolliday
    

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21. Through asking questions
    and getting new perspectives
    we can better understand
    user needs.
    If we can start to understand
    product/service/system
    contexts, then we will start to
    see the relationships between
    different types of need.
    @BenHolliday
    

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22. 22
    hollidazed.co.uk/leading-service-design-user-needs
    @BenHolliday
    

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23. 23
    Instead of accepting ‘the system’
    at face value we can prise it open
    to reveal the human needs and
    choices that create and sustain it
    Matt Edgar (Transformation Director, NHSX)
    “
    

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24. 24
    “…children have been
    driving themselves to
    theatre from DCU, in our
    super new electric car…
    This has given the patients
    a positive experience. Edie
    tried the car out first and
    loved it.”
    Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital
    twitter.com/NHSG_RACH
    

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25. 25
    Tackling the fears and
    anxieties of children facing
    radiotherapy for cancer.
    “When the treatment is
    given, no one else can be
    in the room, so the child,
    of necessity, is separated
    from their parents to face
    a loud and intimidating
    machine alone.”
    

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26. 26
    What other
    design questions
    should we
    be asking?
    @BenHolliday
    

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27. 27
    Where do we need better questions?
    ● Direction
    ● Impact
    ● Inclusion/exclusion
    ● Breakpoints
    ● Design doing
    @BenHolliday
    

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28. Design Question (Direction):
    What are we working towards, what
    is the ideal future for this
    [product/service/change]?
    @BenHolliday
    

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29. 29
    theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/21/bristol-reveals-plan-to-pedestrianise-historic-centre-in-covid-19-reforms
    

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30. Design Question (Impact):
    How is [this product/service/change]
    being experienced in the places, and
    with the people it’s impacting?
    @BenHolliday
    

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32. Design Question (Inclusion/Exclusion):
    Who is excluded by[this product/
    service/change], or who doesn’t
    it reach?
    @BenHolliday
    

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33. 33
    “…what we
    really need to
    do is look at the
    extremes …if we
    understand
    what the
    extremes are
    the middle will
    take care of
    itself”
    Dan Formosa
    Smart Design
    hustwit.com/objectified
    

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34. 34
    bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-tyne-56325136
    

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35. Design Question (Breakpoints):
    What will happens if and when [this
    product/service/change] breaks?
    @BenHolliday
    

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36. 36
    theverge.com/2021/4/26/22404639/elon-musk-tesla-solar-roof-mistakes-cost-price-increase
    Elon Musk says Tesla made
    ‘significant mistakes’ with
    solar roof project
    Musk said Tesla has run into
    trouble “assessing the
    difficulty of certain roofs,”
    and said that the
    “complexity of roofs varies
    dramatically.” If an existing
    roof has protuberances, or
    problems with the
    underlying structure, or is
    not strong enough to hold
    Tesla’s solar tiles, then the
    cost can be two or three
    times higher than Tesla’s
    initial estimates.
    

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40. 40
    A question of
    design doing?
    @BenHolliday
    

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41. 41
    Doing is a process of questioning:
    ● how could this work?
    ● how can it work better?
    ● what if I tried it this way?
    ● what if I made that adjustment?
    etc.
    @BenHolliday
    

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42. 42
    Prototyping examples (lightweight, quick, iterative learning)
    

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43. 43
    Frank Lloyd Wright
    The San Francisco Call
    Building Project Model (1940)
    Displayed at MoMA New York
    

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44. 44
    How might we,
    and why are we?
    @BenHolliday
    

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45. Thank you
    @BenHolliday
    benholliday.com
    wearefuturegov.com
    

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