Nathan Shedroff's keynote presentation at UX STRAT 2013

1. WHAT IT MEANS
TO BE STRATEGIC
Nathan Shedroff
California College of the Arts
designmba.org

5. MAKE IT SO
Interaction Design Lessons from Science Fiction
by NATHAN SHEDROFF & CHRISTOPHER NOESSEL
foreword by Bruce Sterling
Many designers enjoy the interfaces seen in science fiction films
and television shows. Freed from the rigorous constraints of designing
for real users, sci-fi production designers develop blue-sky interfaces
that are inspiring, humorous, and even instructive. By carefully studying
these “outsider” user interfaces, designers can derive lessons that make
their real-world designs more cutting edge and successful.
“Designers who love science fiction will go bananas over Shedroff and Noessel’s delightful and
informative book on how interaction design in sci-fi movies informs interaction design in the real
world.... You will find it as useful as any design textbook, but a whole lot more fun.”
ALAN COOPER
“Father of Visual Basic” and author of The Inmates Are Running the Asylum
“Part futurist treatise, part design manual, and part cultural analysis, Make It So is a fascinating
investigation of an often-overlooked topic: how sci-fi influences the development of tomorrow’s
machine interfaces.”
ANNALEE NEWITZ
Editor, io9 blog
“Shedroff and Noessel have created one of the most thorough and insightful studies ever made
of this domain.”
MARK COLERAN
Visual designer of interfaces for movies (credits include The Bourne Identity, The Island, and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider)
“Every geek’s wet dream: a science fiction and interface design book rolled into one.”
MARIA GIUDICE
CEO and Founder, Hot Studio
www.rosenfeldmedia.com
MORE ON MAKE IT SO
www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/science-fiction-interface/
MAKEITSObyNATHANSHEDROFF&CHRISTOPHERNOESSEL
Experience Design 1.1
a manifesto for the design of experiences
by Nathan Shedroff
product taxonomies 16
user behavior 116
100 years 22
information 42
takeaways 28
data 36
knowledge 48
subjectivity 78
consistency 96
navigation 84
product taxonomies 16
user behavior 116
experiences 4
experience taxonomies 10
100 years 22
wisdom 54
information 42
takeaways 28
data 36
knowledge 48
subjectivity 78
consistency 96
navigation 84
Design Strategy in Action
Edited by Nathan Shedroff
A publication from the MBA in Design Strategy program
California College of the Arts
2011
2008 Edition
Dictionary of
Sustainable Management

7. MBA IN DESIGN STRATEGY
MBA IN STRATEGIC FORESIGHT
MBA IN PUBLIC POLICY DESIGN

8. STRATEGY

9. Strategy
(Greek “στρατηγία”—stratēgia, “art of
troop leader; office of general, command,
generalship”[1])
is a high level plan to achieve one or
more goals under conditions of
uncertainty.
Strategy is also about attaining and
maintaining a position of advantage over
adversaries through the successive
exploitation of known or emergent
possibilities rather than committing to any
specific fixed plan designed at the outset.
—Wikipedia

10. “a pattern in a stream of decisions”
— Henry Mintzberg of McGill University

11. Strategic management analyzes the major initiative
taken by a company’s top management on behalf
of owners, involving resources and performance in
internal and external environments.[1] It entails
specifying the organization’s mission, vision and
objectives, developing policies and plans, often in
terms of projects and programs, which are
designed to achieve these objectives, and then
allocating resources to implement the policies and
plans, projects and programs. A balanced
scorecard is often used to evaluate the overall
performance of the business and its progress
towards objectives. Recent studies and leading

12. Strategic management analyzes the major
initiatives taken by a company’s top
management on behalf of owners, involving
resources and performance in internal and
external environments.[1] It entails specifying
the organization’s mission, vision and
objectives, developing policies and plans, often
in terms of projects and programs, which are
designed to achieve these objectives, and then
allocating resources to implement the policies
and plans, projects and programs.

13. STRATEGY IS
A HIGH-LEVEL PLAN
(FOR ACTION)

14. “DESIGN IS
A PLAN FOR ACTION”
Charles Eames

15. STRATEGY IS
ABOUT CONTEXT

16. TACTIC
STRATEGY

17. TACTIC
Usability
STRATEGY

18. TACTIC
Usability
STRATEGY
Experience

19. TACTIC
Operational Effectiveness & Productivity
Products & Services (Offerings)
Features/Performance
Price
STRATEGY
Intent, Goals, Mission, Vision, & Culture
Systems
Stakeholders (employees, investors, media,
communities, etc.)

20. TACTIC
How to make, deliver, and support the best
<offering> possible
STRATEGY
What we should be in the business of
(to begin with)

21. TACTIC
How to make, deliver, and support the best
<offering> possible
STRATEGY
What we should be in the business of
(to begin with)
THE ORGANIZATION
THE PRODUCTS

25. EXPERIENCE CREATES VALUE

26. EXPERIENCE CREATES VALUE

27. EXPERIENCE CREATES VALUE

28. EXPERIENCE CREATES VALUE

29. Your
Company
customers
(end users)
NGOs
media
community
(geographic)
partners
labor unions
retailers
local
government
wholesalers
the
Environment
industry
trade
associations
employees
distributors
regional
government
courts suppliers &
manufacturers
insurers &
reinsurers
shareholders
banks
investors
institutional
investors
competitors
Your
Company
customers
(service
providers)

30. STRATEGY TOOLS

31. Strengths Weaknesses
Opportunities Threats

32. Strengths:
• We’re us
• We’re great
• We know stuff
• We’re fast
• We’re easy to use!
Weaknesses:
• We work too much
• We care too much
• We’re perfectionists
Opportunities:
• Own the market
• Expand product lines
• Make more stuff
• License stuff
• Co-brand with Disney
• Create an “experience”
Threats:
• Others can get fast
• Others can be easy
to use
• Someone gets to
Disney before us
• We don’t have a “big
data” strategy!

33. Strengths:
• We’re us
• We’re great
• We know stuff
• We’re fast
• We’re easy to use!
Weaknesses:
• We work too much
• We care too much
• We’re perfectionists
Opportunities:
• Own the market
• Expand product lines
• Make more stuff
• License stuff
• Co-brand with Disney
• Create an “experience”
Threats:
• Others can get fast
• Others can be easy
to use
• Someone gets to
Disney before us
• We don’t have a “big
data” strategy!

34. ENVIRONMENTAL
ANALYSIS
Social Issues: Customer Needs and Wants
Political Issues: Legal, Regulations...
Tech. Issues: Technology trends, opps...
Economic Issues: Market trends, opps...
Industry-Specific Issues: ???

35. ENVIRONMENTAL
ANALYSIS
• Customers seek clarity
• Customers are afraid of technology
• RIM is out, HTML5 is in
• Lending is slowing
• Customers worried about their future
• etc.

36. COMPETITIVE
ANALYSIS
• Clarity
• Fear of technology
• HTML5
• Loan Help
• Reassuring
X
X
X
X
√
√
√
√
X
X
X
X
X
√
X
X
X
√
X
X
√
√
X
X
X

37. Strengths Weaknesses
• Clarity • Fear of technology
• HTML5
• Loan Help
• Reassuring

38. Strengths Weaknesses
Opportunities
(Biggest
Strengths vs.
Biggest
Weaknesses)
Threats
(Biggest
Weaknesses
vs. Biggest
Strengths)
• Clarity • Fear of technology
• HTML5
• Loan Help
• Reassuring

39. Better
Worse
Smaller Bigger

40. Better
Worse
Smaller Bigger
Hey! A Blue
Ocean
Strategy!

41. For <target customers> that <need/
care about> , our <product, service>,
company> is a solution that <benefit> .
Unlike, <our competitor> , our <product,
service>, company> is <unique
differentiator> .
POSITIONING
STATEMENT

42. POSITIONING
STATEMENT
For Professor Plum that needs to
kill someone , our noose
is a solution that is silent .
Unlike, Miss Scarlett , our noose
is purple
.

43. Our users want the most features
possible in a fast , inexpensive
application delivered in the cloud .
MADLIBS OF UX

44. Where to start:
• Who is your customer really?
• What is their life life, what do they need,
what do they want?
• What value is being provided to them and
what kind of value can you realistically
provide?
• How can you differentiate yourself based
on this value?
• What’s it going to take to be successful?
• Are you ready? Is it worth doing?
• Do you have the right people (who do
really need)? Do you have the right culture?

45. RELATIONSHIP

46. EXPERIENCE
RELATIONSHIP

47. VALUE
EXPERIENCE

48. TOTAL VALUE
EXPERIENCE

49. TOTAL VALUE
FUNCTIONAL VALUE +
FINANCIAL VALUE +
EMOTIONAL VALUE +
IDENTITY VALUE +
MEANINGFUL VALUE =

50. FUNCTIONAL VALUE +
FINANCIAL VALUE +
EMOTIONAL VALUE +
IDENTITY VALUE +
MEANINGFUL VALUE =
FUNCTIONAL VALUE +
FINANCIAL VALUE +
QUANTITATIVE
TOTAL VALUE

51. FUNCTIONAL VALUE +
FINANCIAL VALUE +
EMOTIONAL VALUE +
IDENTITY VALUE +
MEANINGFUL VALUE =
FUNCTIONAL VALUE +
FINANCIAL VALUE +
QUANTITATIVE
EMOTIONAL VALUE +
IDENTITY VALUE +
MEANINGFUL VALUE =
QUALITATIVE
TOTAL VALUE

52. QUALITATIVE
VS.
QUANTITATIVE

53. TAKEAWAYS
• Qualitative AND Quantitative
• Strategy is derived from research
• UX can (and should) play a role
• Leadership is communicating vision
• Relationships and value are built
through experience

54. THANK YOU