Digital Projects Gone
Horribly Wrong
@ExperienceDean
And the UX Pros Who
Still Save the Day
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@experiencedean
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@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
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79CE
@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
Chegg Prep / www.checgg.com
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@ExperienceDean
Karl Brullov / The Last Days of Pompeii / Public Domain
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@ExperienceDean
Anthony Boyd / Adobe Stock / Apple
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@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
Adobe Stock
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@ExperienceDean
Digital Project
Death Throes
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@ExperienceDean
Why Do Our
Projects Fail?
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Users Hate It / Over Budget / Team Disarray
Mediocre Design Accepted / Overworked UX
Pros / Zero Executive Commitment to UX / No
User Research / Took Too Long / Politics /
Over-Delivery / Client Destroys It Afterward /
Low Budget / Crazy Expectations / UX Pro All
Alone / Design by Committee / Time Utterly
Consumed by Project Management / No User
Testing / Client Lies / Goals and Metrics Not
Tracked or Satis
fi
ed / Agile Squashes UX /
Unseasoned Team / Stakeholder Domination
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I’m Reminded
of a True Story
@ExperienceDean
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Client:
ACME Corporation
@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
UX Lead:
Dean Schuster
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@ExperienceDean
UX Lead:
Sylvia Wiss
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@ExperienceDean
Discovery
De
fi
nition
Requirements
Design&Development
Testing
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@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
Where did Sylvia
go wrong?
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Two Types of UX
Project Failure
@ExperienceDean
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Your Fault
@ExperienceDean
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Not Your Fault
@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
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ACME
@ExperienceDean
Silvia
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Misread the
Project
@ExperienceDean
Silvia
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@ExperienceDean
Poor
Communication
Silvia
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@ExperienceDean
Faulty UX
Leadership
Silvia
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@ExperienceDean
Underestimated
Change
Silvia
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@ExperienceDean
ACME
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Incomplete
Requirements
@ExperienceDean
ACME
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@ExperienceDean
Rudderless
Team
ACME
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@ExperienceDean
Unde
fi
ned
Agile Process
ACME
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@ExperienceDean
Unexpected
Disruption
ACME
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@ExperienceDean
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The Parents of
Success & Failure
@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
Success has many
fathers, but failure is
an orphan.
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@ExperienceDean
Anthony Boyd / Adobe Stock / Apple
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@ExperienceDean
Failure has many
fathers,
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@ExperienceDean
Failure has many
fathers, success is
just elusive.
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@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
The UX Pros Who
Still Save the Day
@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
Avoiding
Pyroclastic
Apocalypse
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@ExperienceDean
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No Support
@ExperienceDean
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No UX
Commitment
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Resist the urge to teach.
@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Resist the urge to teach.
Draw attention to customer issues.
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Resist the urge to teach.
Draw attention to customer issues.
Identify concrete
fi
xes.
@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Resist the urge to teach.
Draw attention to customer issues.
Identify concrete
fi
xes.
Research users anyway.
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Left All Alone
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Track your time & tasks.
@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Track your time & tasks.
Appeal to quality.
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@ExperienceDean
NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Track your time & tasks.
Appeal to quality.
Identify & prioritize speci
fi
c roles.
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@ExperienceDean
NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Track your time & tasks.
Appeal to quality.
Identify & prioritize speci
fi
c roles.
Be patient…
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@ExperienceDean
NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Track your time & tasks.
Appeal to quality.
Identify & prioritize speci
fi
c roles.
Be patient… to a point.
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@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
Not
Ready
to Die
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@ExperienceDean
Small Budget
Big Goals
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Client? Don’t say yes.
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Client? Don’t say yes.
Internal? Appeal to scope & timeline.
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Client? Don’t say yes.
Internal? Appeal to scope & timeline.
Internal? Ask what priority to drop.
@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
Surface-Level
Interest
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Client? Help ferret things out fast.
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Client? Help ferret things out fast.
Client? Wait.
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Client? Help ferret things out fast.
Client? Wait.
Internal? Opt for incremental wins.
@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
Murder,
Death,
Kill
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Destructive
Maintenance
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Establish regular check-ins.
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Establish regular check-ins.
Advocate for governance.
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Establish regular check-ins.
Advocate for governance.
Train. Train. Train.
@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
Fiery
Molten
Rainfall
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Dev Process Terror
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Identify Agile
fl
avor immediately.
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Identify Agile
fl
avor immediately.
Form a bond with the product lead.
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Identify Agile
fl
avor immediately.
Form a bond with the product lead.
De
fi
ne global and
fl
exible UX inputs.
@ExperienceDean
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Dominant Villains
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Do not cower in fear.
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Do not cower in fear.
Be a good faith UX “Fiduciary.”
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Do not cower in fear.
Be a good faith UX “Fiduciary.”
Always leverage data.
@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
Chaotic
Contribution
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Far Too Pure
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Think “partner” not “troglodyte.”
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Think “partner” not “troglodyte.”
Pick your battles.
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Think “partner” not “troglodyte.”
Pick your battles.
Offer constructive options.
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Think “partner” not “troglodyte.”
Pick your battles.
Offer constructive options.
Communicate trade-offs.
@ExperienceDean
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Not Pure Enough
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Be like your car mechanic.
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Be like your car mechanic.
Raise your hand.
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Be like your car mechanic.
Raise your hand.
Relentlessly point to users and goals.
@ExperienceDean
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Callow Calamity
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Dive into the deep end.
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Dive into the deep end.
Emulate a solid practitioner.
@ExperienceDean
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NAVIGATE THE APOCALYPSE
Dive into the deep end.
Emulate a solid practitioner.
Listen and ask.
@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
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Saving
The Day
@ExperienceDean
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Unique Role
@ExperienceDean
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YOUR CENTRALITY
UX touches nearly every discipline.
@ExperienceDean
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YOUR CENTRALITY
UX touches nearly every discipline.
If not you, who?
@ExperienceDean
@ExperienceDean
Harried / Dark /
Optionless /
Trapped
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@ExperienceDean
Harried / Dark /
Optionless /
Trapped
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@ExperienceDean
?
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@ExperienceDean
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Difference
Making
@ExperienceDean
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Take Heart,
Sylvia
@ExperienceDean
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MOVING FORWARD
Good can come from catastrophe.
@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
MOVING FORWARD
Good can come from catastrophe.
You can now predict the future.
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@ExperienceDean
MOVING FORWARD
Good can come from catastrophe.
You can now predict the future.
Live to save another day.
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You Have
Agency
@ExperienceDean
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@ExperienceDean
SURVIVING & SAVING
You can always do something.
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@ExperienceDean
SURVIVING & SAVING
You can always do something.
Start with your sphere of in
fl
uence.
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@ExperienceDean
SURVIVING & SAVING
You can always do something.
Start with your sphere of in
fl
uence.
Be unfailingly constructive.
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@ExperienceDean
SURVIVING & SAVING
You can always do something.
Start with your sphere of in
fl
uence.
Be unfailingly constructive.
You are here. All is never lost.