UXA2022 Day 2; Rich Brophy - Death to “best practice”: The journey to cohesive design practice at scale

Governments and organisations around the world pay extortionate fees to consultants and design departments to help define and embed “best practice” design.

But best practice is a myth. Effective practice however, is real and valuable and based on what actually works.

This practical and entertaining presentation delves into how to embed a cohesive design practice at scale simply by tapping into what already works.

Transcript

1. Death to best practice.
2. Best practice at its worst s w o r s t
3. Legal design studio NSW Digital Service Toolkit
4. Designing design
5. The way we think about improving design practice is broken.
6. 1. Where we’re at 2. “Embed best practice” 3. A framework for change Today
7. The brief: “Improve the confidence and capability of research in NSW government” The output:
8. What we learned What we delivered
9. Where we’re at Part 1/3
10. The forces at play
11. Improving design practice vs. “Embed best practice”
12. Clear, shared expectations Empowered, capable people Outcomes Accessible, reliable pathways
13. “Embed Best Practice” Part 2/3
14. “Embed”
15. “People don’t resist change, they resist being changed” - Peter Senge
16. As designers and researchers, we: engage empower enable
17. Enable Motivations Blockers & drivers Leveraging behaviours “Embed” Resistance Uptake Changing behaviours
18. ➔ Playbooks aren’t being used ➔ There’s a will to do research but a lack of support ➔ Leaders motivated by “delivering” ➔ Trying new things takes confidence ➔ Starting is the hardest part ➔ Align with leader motivations ➔ Make resources “feel” right ➔ Focus on the beginning ➔ Shortest path to action ➔ Be clear on value and outputs
19. Enable > Embed
20. “Best”
21. What exactly is best practice? A procedure that has been shown by research and experience to produce optimal results and that is established or proposed as a standard suitable for widespread adoption. Merriam-Webster Dictionary A yardstick for an organisation Something that ignites the most creative solution A base you can build on Something retrospectively recognised when something succeeds A common denominator for solving problems A mirage - it’s always ahead of you (A means to) improve the efficiency of human capital
22. Clear, shared expectations Empowered, capable people Outcomes Accessible, reliable pathways
23. Improve the efficiency of human capital, um, I mean better outcomes
24. IDEAL (BEST PRACTICE)
25. REALITY IDEAL (ACTUAL PRACTICE) (BEST PRACTICE)
26. Effective practice REALITY IDEAL (ACTUAL PRACTICE) (BEST PRACTICE)
27. ➔ Playbooks aren’t being used ➔ Looking for what works around here ➔ Adapting external resources to suit ➔ Acutely aware of the challenges of government and local culture ➔ Leveraged those who excel in NSW ➔ Unique to NSW ➔ Accessible layouts & language ➔ Framework-agnostic ➔ Highly adaptable
28. Consciousness Nifty trick… Competence Unconscious incompetence Conscious incompetence Conscious competence Unconscious competence Imposter syndrome
29. Effective > Best
30. “Practice” Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
31. What you do How you do it
32. What you do How you do it Why you do it Who you do it with When you do it
33. When you focus on problems and progress, you can design less, not more
34. ➔ People are proactive when they’re faced with a problem ➔ Big promises kill trust ➔ People care about progress, not practice ➔ High value “slices” of the design process ➔ Pro tips ➔ Highly adaptable
35. Nifty trick… → REALITY IDEAL
36. Progress > Practice
37. Enable > Embed Effective > Best Progress > Practice
38. Theory of change
39. Clear, shared expectations Empowered, capable people Outcomes Accessible, reliable pathways
40. A framework for change Part 3/3
41. Those who want to excel Those who excel
42. Problems + Motivations Effective practice
43. Those who want to excel Those who excel Our role
44. Task 1: Nail the value exchange Those who want to excel Those who excel
45. Task 2: Diversify the means of exchange Those who want to excel Those who excel
46. Task 3: Reduce friction, increase momentum Those who want to excel Those who excel
47. Those who excel Those who want to excel Our job
48. A final thought…
49. Have fun Think deep Give a sh!t
50. Death to best practice.
51. Cheers. @anidiotswisdom /richardbrophy rich@richbrophy.com NSW Digital Service Toolkit Pickleinc.com.au richbrophy.com
52. One Complimentary, not uniform.
53. Death to best practice - Rich Brophy Where we’re at
54. Those who excel Those who want to excel Our role Aw areness Consideration Engagem ent Endorsem ent* Recognition Content Contribution Contribution
55. Those who excel Those who want to excel Aw areness Content
56. Those who excel Those who want to excel Feedback