Maximize Effectiveness of Stakeholder Interview with User Centered Design Canvas
As a co-founder of UX design agency, I’m perfectly aware that UX designers’ work should serve two different groups of people — clients and clients’ users. Someone may argue that the latter group is more important, but from my perspective, a successful product or business is the one that gives positive experience not only to its end users but to the owner as well. At The Rectangles, we believe that UX design is all about establishing a long-term relationship between the business and its users and to achieve that, one condition needs to be fulfilled first — successful cooperation between UX designers and business stakeholders.
For Starters — Business Context
People are prone to jump to conclusions very quickly. If you’re an experienced designer, it may be tricky. You get an opportunity to work on some project, you scan the brief and think: “ok, standard project — let’s start with the user research.” Hold your horses! There’s no such thing as “standard project” in UX design.
No matter whether you work as a freelancer or full-time UX designer, you need to know the client you’re working for. It’s not enough to familiarize yourself with the objectives for a particular project, the context is important as well. Company mission, core values, history, long-term goals — all these will help in building solid foundation on which good user and business experience can be established.
Stakeholder interview is a great way to get to know the client needs better. Not only will it allow gathering information about a specific project, it will help to put this project in the context. So next time you’re preparing yourself for a stakeholder interview, devote some time questions like:
- What’s the history of this business?
- What was its primary mission? Did it change?
- What are the core values of the company?
- What are the long-term business objectives?
- How THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT will help to achieve the company goals?
Only when you understand the business context, you’ll be fully aware of the impact your work may have on the entire organization.
Developing User-Centered Approach
Good cooperation means mutual understanding. So after you learn more about the business, it’s time for the business to learn more about its users. People working at companies often know what’s user-centered approach. Unfortunately knowing is not enough. The key is understanding how big impact on the company development can user-centered approach have.
When a company hires UX designer it’s a first step to change the approach, but it’s only a small step. To get the most of user-centered approach it should be adopted by all, ok, let’s say most of, employees. And since the fish always stinks from the head down, deep understanding of user-centered design should first emerge from the people “in charge”.
Further in this article I’ll show how User Centered Design Canvas can be used during a stakeholder interview to show, explain and inject UCD approach.
UVP workout
Due to technological development there’s an instant accessibility of goods and services. People no longer have to go to a shoemaker and wait several days for their shoes to be made. There are plenty of online shops selling shoes that are available on the spot: 24 hours shipping around the world, guaranteed.
We got used to it because it’s convenient. And this is the reason why businesses should deeply focus on what they do best and deliver the quality to their customers. Otherwise they will struggle to grab customer interest, which is fought for by many others. Hence, transparent unique value proposition is paramount for successful business these days.
Starting UX project by working out the unique value proposition will help to create a clear link between business solutions and user problems. By filling in the canvas with information gathered during the stakeholder interviews and basic user research, UVP can be formed easily. First — after user research, put the insights on the left side of the canvas. Then, during a stakeholder interview ask about solutions to users problems that that the company suggests. Next step — identify all possible alternatives and choose solutions that are unique to a particular business: these are your competitive advantages. Last but not least, form one sentence that includes a user group, their problems and business solution from competitive advantages field.
Such activity may be also done as a workshop with people working on the project. It will help to present research insights and show its value to the whole UX design process.
Crafting user-oriented solutions
General goals for UX design projects are either to improve what already exists or to create something new. In both cases every solution that is offered to users should reflect their needs. User research is therefore a necessity. From my experience, it’s hard to convince clients they should invest in research. And as a businessperson myself I understand that to some extent. But minimum knowledge (not only assumptions) about the target group is crucial for the business development. This is when UCDC may come in handy.
During a stakeholder interview, fill in the right hand side of the canvas first and then try to think of the users. It’s easy to fill in the Problems field based on solutions, but it’s not so easy to work out the motives and fears. These are the things that emerge during the research and have enormous value that can determine whether entries in Solutions field fit users expectations. After such activity, it becomes clear why user research is important. Also, for both — UX designers and stakeholders — such inverted task may be an eye-opener and great help to apply different ways of thinking.
Summary
Stakeholder interview is a great opportunity to start building trust and mutual understanding which are crucial for successful UX design process. For me, trust and understanding are necessary conditions to really take advantage of user-centered approach.
