UX14 - Commoditization Of UX Design (Mandar Bhedasgaonkar)

As UX field has flourished and matured over the years, the UX practice saw a lot of changes. Standardization of elements and controls, streamlining and documentation of design process, integration of UX design into SDLC, emergence of number of training institutes offering UI design training, etc. This essentially brought in the commoditization of UX Design practice.
Commoditization brings in a lot of value as well as poses a lot of challenges. We need to be aware of this transformation and especially the challenges and possible mitigating tactics.
The most important advantage is that we don’t have to explain and convince the value of UX design anymore to the industry. That means the playing field is now very big and there is big opportunity. However there are a lot of challenges.
One of the most important challenges is that commoditization abolishes the premium. Reducing returns has associated problems
? Quality of work
? Quality of resources
? Trap of standardization
The processes that industry has so far developed may not be adequate to cope with these challenges. A mass production approach may be useful for developing UX processes for software design and development. The other challenges include stifling innovation and reskilling professionals.

Transcript

1. 1 Commoditization of UX Design .............. Mandar Bhedasgaonkar Synopsis “Usability Engineering” which was a relatively new and uncommon term in the 90s became mainstream and popular in the early 2000s. Ergonomists, Psychologists and Industrial designers were the evangelizers who brought in this change. They also broadened the scope of the domain that was limited to only Usability Engineering to User Experience Design. Now we see much matured user experience teams in most of the software organizations. As this field has flourished and matured over the years, the UX practice saw a lot of changes. Standardization of elements and controls happened across the board, Design process became streamlined and well documented, UX design got integrated into SDLC and various software development processes such as Agile and SCRUM, Number of training institutes emerged that offered UI design training. This essentially brought in the commoditization of UX Design practice. Commoditization brings in a lot of value as well as poses a lot of challenges. Software industry, businesses, software professionals as well as students of UX design need to be aware of this transformation and especially the challenges and possible mitigating tactics. Advantage of commoditization: The most important is that we don’t have to explain and convince the value of UX design anymore to the industry. The whole software industry is now willing to embrace UX design wholeheartedly. That means the playing field is now very big and there is big opportunity. However there are a lot of challenges. Challenges: One of the most important challenges is that commoditization abolishes the premium. The premium offered for UX design work is disappearing. Reducing returns has associated problems  Quality of work  Quality of resources  Trap of standardization The standardization, processes, and training programs that industry has so far developed may not be adequate to cope with these challenges or rather may be counter-productive. A completely new and different process is needed to overcome these challenges. A mass production approach may be useful for developing UX processes for software design and development.
2. PGPX 13-14: Mandar Bhedasgaonkar Page 1 There are other challenges of commoditization such as Stifling Innovation. The low returns will discourage any new thinking or innovation. However innovation is the key to get out of the trap. This also poses challenges to the professionals working in this field as well as newly entering in the field. Skill development required to succeed in the changing scenario will be different.