book

UX Strategy

by Jaime Levy

May 2015

Beginner

310 pages

8h 4m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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Who Should Read This Book?Why I Wrote This BookHow This Book Is OrganizedWhat Is the UX Strategy Toolkit?Comments and QuestionsSafari® Books OnlineAcknowledgements
Misinterpretations About UX StrategyMisinterpretation 1: UX strategy is about identifying a “North Star”Misinterpretation 2: UX strategy is a “strategic way” to perform UX designMisinterpretation 3: UX strategy is just product strategyMisinterpretation 4: UX strategy is closely tied to brand strategySo What the Hell Is UX Strategy?Why a UX Strategy Is Crucial
How I Discovered My UX Strategy FrameworkTenet 1: Business StrategyTenet 2: Value InnovationTenet 3: Validated User ResearchTenet 4: Killer UX DesignRecap
The Blockbuster Value PropositionWhat Is a Value Proposition?If you don’t want to live on Fantasy Island...Step 1: Define your primary customer segmentStep 2: Identify your customer segment’s (biggest) problemStep 3: Create provisional personas based on your assumptionsProvisional persona layout and breakdownStep 4: Conduct customer discovery to validate or invalidate your solution’s initial value propositionCustomer discoveryThe problem interviewPhase 1: The screener questionsPhase 2: The interviewTwo-sided marketsStep 5: Reassess your value proposition based on what you learned! (And continue to iterate until you have product/market fit.)Recap
Learning Lessons, the Hard WayUsing the Competitive Analysis Matrix ToolUnderstanding the Meaning of CompetitionTypes of CompetitorsHow to Find Your Competitors and Compile Your Competition ListSearching for competitorsFilling Out the matrix with dataURL of website or app store locationUsernames and password accessPurpose of siteYear foundedFunding roundsRevenue streamsMonthly traffic# of SKUs/listingsPrimary categoriesSocial networksContent typesPersonalization featuresCommunity/UGC featuresCompetitive advantageHeuristic evaluationCustomer reviewsGeneral/miscellaneous notesQuestions/notes to team or selfAnalysisRecap
The Blockbuster Value Proposition, Part 2What Is an Analysis?The Four Steps to a Competitive Analysis and Market OpportunitiesStep 1: Scan, skim, and color-code each column for highs and lowsScanning and skimming the dataMeasuring raw data pointsFun with color-codingStep 2: Creating logical groupings for comparisonStep 3: Analyze each competitor by benchmarking product attributes and best practicesThe analysis column of each competitorStep 4: Writing the Competitive Analysis Findings BriefFindings Brief, Section 1: Introduction/GoalsFindings Brief, Section 2: Direct CompetitorsFindings Brief, Section 3: Indirect CompetitorsFindings Brief, Section 4: Cool Features from InfluencersFindings Brief, Section 5: Taking a stand/Your RecommendationsRecap
Timing Really Is EverythingTechniques for Value Innovation DiscoveryIdentify the Key ExperiencesTake Advantage of UX InfluencersDo Feature ComparisonsStoryboard the Value InnovationThree steps to storyboarding value innovationStep 1: Create your list of panels.Step 2: Decide on your visual format (digital montages versus sketching on paper).Step 3: Lay out your storyboard on a canvas, add captions below each panel.Business Models and Value InnovationRecap
Giving It Your Best ShotHow I Became an Experiment AddictTesting Product/Market Fit by Using PrototypesThree Steps to Design Hacking the Solution PrototypeStep 1Step 2Step 3Solution Prototype Reality Check: Why User Experiences and Business Models Must Go Hand in HandRecap
Guerrilla User Research: Operation Silver Lake CaféUser Research versus Guerrilla User ResearchThe Three Main Phases of Guerrilla User ResearchPlanning phase (one to two weeks depending on team size and number of participants)Interview phase (one day)Analysis phase (two to four hours)Planning Phase (One to Two Weeks)Step 1: Determine the objectivesStep 2: Preparing the interview questionsSet up, recap/verify screener input (three minutes)Problem interview (10 minutes)Solution demonstration plus interview (15 minutes)Final thoughts (two minutes)Step 3: Finding the venue(s) and mapping out team logisticsStep 4: Advertising for participantsStep 5: Screening participants and scheduling time slotsInterview Phase (One Day)Prepping the venueParticipant compensation, café etiquette, and tippingConducting the interviewsExtracting succinct notesAnalysis Phase (Two to Four Hours)Recap

Seeding Growth HackersUsing the Funnel Matrix ToolWhy a Matrix and Not a Map?Rocking the Funnel MatrixThe Vertical AxisSuspect stageLead stageProspect stageCustomer stageRepeat User stageReference User stageThe Horizontal AxisUser’s ProcessDesired ActionBusiness TaskMetricsRequired FunctionalityValidated LearningsConducting Suspect Stage Experiments with Landing PagesCase Study 1: When a Value Proposition Needs to PivotCase Study 2: When a Value Proposition Needs to Acquire LeadsHow to concoct a Landing Page experimentRecap
Holly North1. How did you become a strategist and/or get into doing strategy as part of your work?2. What does UX strategy mean to you? Is it a bogus job title?3. How did you learn about business strategy?4. Do you think it’s helpful for UX designers who are aspiring strategists to get an MBA or have a business degree?5. What types of products have you done the strategy for that were the most exciting or fun to work on?6. What are some of the challenges of conducting strategy in different work environments (for example, startups versus agencies versus enterprises)?7. Have you ever conducted any form of experiments on your product or UX strategy, whether it be trying to get market validation on a value proposition or testing prototypes on target customers? How do you get closer to the truth while you are conducting strategy?8. What is your secret weapon or go-to technique for devising strategies or building consensus on a shared vision?9. What is a business case or anecdotal story that you can share that walk us through the steps you have to go through when conducting strategy specifically for an innovative product?10. What are important skills or mindsets for a strategist to have? Or what makes you good at your job?Peter Merholz1. How did you become a strategist and/or get into doing strategy as part of your work?2. What does UX strategy mean to you? Is it a bogus job title?3. How did you learn about business strategy?4. Do you think it’s helpful for UX designers who are aspiring strategists to get an MBA or have a business degree?5. What types of products have you done the strategy for that were most exciting or fun to work on?6. What are some challenges of conducting strategy in different work environments (for example, startups versus agencies versus enterprises)?7. Have you ever conducted any form of experiments on your product or UX strategy, whether it be trying to get market validation on a value proposition or testing prototypes on target customers? How do you get closer to the truth while you are conducting strategy?8. What is your secret weapon or go-to technique for devising strategies or building consensus on a shared vision?9. What is a business case or anecdotal story that you can share that walk us through the steps you have to go through when conducting strategy specifically for an innovative product?10. What are important skills or mindsets for a strategist to have? Or what makes you good at your job?Milana Sobol1. How did you become a strategist and/or get into doing strategy as part of your work?2. What does UX strategy mean to you? Is it a bogus job title?3. How did you learn about business strategy?4. Do you think it’s helpful for UX designers who are aspiring strategists to get an MBA or have a business degree?5. What types of products have you done the strategy for that were the most exciting or fun to work on?6. What are the some challenges of conducting strategy in different work environments (for example, startups versus agencies versus enterprises)?7. Have you ever conducted any form of experiments on your product or UX strategy, whether it be trying to get market validation on a value proposition or testing prototypes on target customers? How do you get closer to the truth while you are conducting strategy?8. What is your secret weapon or go-to technique for devising strategies or building consensus on a shared vision?9. What is a business case or anecdotal story that you can share that walk us through the steps you have to go through when conducting strategy specifically for an innovative product?10. What are important skills or mindsets for a strategist to have? Or what makes you good at your job?Geoff Katz1. How did you become a strategist and/or get into doing strategy as part of your work?2. What does UX strategy mean to you? Is it a bogus job title?3. How did you learn about business strategy?4. Do you think it’s helpful for UX designers who are aspiring strategists to get an MBA or have a business degree?5. What types of products have you done the strategy for that were the most exciting or fun to work on?6. What are the some challenges of conducting strategy in different work environments (for example, startups versus agencies versus enterprises)?7. Have you ever conducted any form of experiments on your product or UX strategy, whether it be trying to get market validation on a value proposition or testing prototypes on target customers? How do you get closer to the truth while you are conducting strategy?8. What is your secret weapon or go-to technique for devising strategies or building consensus on a shared vision?9. What is a business case or anecdotal story that you can share that walks us through the steps you have to go through when conducting strategy specifically for an innovative product?10. What are important skills or mindsets for a strategist to have? Or what makes you good at your job?

Overview

User experience (UX) strategy requires a careful blend of business strategy and UX design, but until now, there hasn’t been an easy-to-apply framework for executing it. This hands-on guide introduces lightweight strategy tools and techniques to help you and your team craft innovative multi-device products that people want to use.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, UX/UI designer, product manager, or part of an intrapreneurial team, this book teaches simple-to-advanced strategies that you can use in your work right away. Along with business cases, historical context, and real-world examples throughout, you’ll also gain different perspectives on the subject through interviews with top strategists.

Define and validate your target users through provisional personas and customer discovery techniques
Conduct competitive research and analysis to explore a crowded marketplace or an opportunity to create unique value
Focus your team on the primary utility and business model of your product by running structured experiments using prototypes
Devise UX funnels that increase customer engagement by mapping desired user actions to meaningful metrics