[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Main Blog Post Content” module_class=”blog-post-main-content” _builder_version=”3.27.4″ text_font=”Muli|300|||||||” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”30px” header_2_font=”Lato|700|||||||” header_2_font_size=”27px” max_width=”800px” module_alignment=”center” text_font_size_tablet=”20px” text_font_size_phone=”18px” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” text_line_height_tablet=”26px” text_line_height_phone=”20px” text_line_height_last_edited=”on|desktop” header_2_font_size_tablet=”24px” header_2_font_size_phone=”20px” header_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone”]<\/p>\n
In the User Experience (UX) community, there\u2019s an ongoing debate about how to best define UX strategy. Is it something that\u2019s best characterized by an approach or philosophy you bring to doing design work? Or is it more structured, like a formal framework or strict methodology?<\/p>\n
To give a short answer: yes.<\/p>\n
Boiling UX strategy down to a single, exclusive definition kind of defeats the whole purpose of the concept. That\u2019s because the greatest strength of UX strategy is its fluidity. In order to be viable and effective, a UX strategy needs to adapt to rapidly changing information and circumstances. However, that adaptability doesn\u2019t mean it lacks structure or methodological rigor. An effective UX strategy may utilize an array of tools, processes, methods, and people to create user experiences, but it never loses sight of the human element of that work.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a tendency for UX designers to become so wrapped up in providing a great user experience that they forget who they\u2019re actually designed for in the first place. When you find yourself trying to own the user\u2019s experience, dictating how they should engage with or feel about a product or brand, you\u2019re serving your ego and needs rather than the user\u2019s. A UX strategist\u2019s mission is to think about how to provide experiences users find easy, efficient, satisfying, and compelling, not pursue their own narrow ideas about what users should want.<\/p>\n
A good UX strategy incorporates three key concepts that help to focus design efforts on creating innovative and engaging experiences:<\/p>\n
Service Design<\/h2>\n
The user experience extends beyond the (relatively) simple mechanics of user interface. It encompasses every touchpoint of the user\u2019s engagement, including things they aren\u2019t even aware of. People don\u2019t always recognize when they\u2019ve had a good user experience, but they never forget about bad ones, which can have a long-term impact on a brand.<\/p>\n
Service design<\/a> doesn\u2019t just think about how a product or service is delivered. It\u2019s not only a company\u2019s phone app or website; it\u2019s also the way their staff behaves, how well they light and decorate their stores, and even whether or not the billboards they\u2019ve posted all around town are obnoxious. By reimagining what contributes to user experience, you can approach problems from new directions and optimize solutions more effectively.<\/p>\n In some ways, service design focuses on how organizations and end users form sustainable relationships in a community context. Rather than emphasizing the purely transactional aspect of consumer\u00a0products and services, UX strategists can create lasting connections in the service of bigger causes that affect all users.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/motivatedesign.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/blog-post-top-quote.png” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”Blog Post Top Quote” _builder_version=”3.23″ max_width=”800px” module_alignment=”center” custom_padding=”80px|||”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Quote Text” module_class=”blockquote” _builder_version=”3.27.4″ text_font=”Montserrat|700|on||||||” text_text_color=”#f3653b” text_font_size=”40px” text_line_height=”1em” max_width=”800px” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”50px||50px|” custom_padding=”|||0px” text_font_size_tablet=”35px” text_font_size_phone=”20px” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop”]<\/p>\n Boiling UX strategy down to a single, exclusive definition kind of defeats the whole purpose of the concept<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/motivatedesign.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/blog-post-bottom-quote.png” align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”Blog Post Bottom Quote” _builder_version=”3.23″ max_width=”800px” module_alignment=”center” custom_padding=”||50px|”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Main Blog Post Content” module_class=”blog-post-main-content” _builder_version=”3.27.4″ text_font=”Muli|300|||||||” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”30px” header_2_font=”Lato|700|||||||” header_2_font_size=”27px” max_width=”800px” module_alignment=”center” text_font_size_tablet=”20px” text_font_size_phone=”18px” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” text_line_height_tablet=”26px” text_line_height_phone=”20px” text_line_height_last_edited=”on|desktop” header_2_font_size_tablet=”24px” header_2_font_size_phone=”20px” header_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone”]<\/p>\n The days of lengthy product research and development are long gone. Today\u2019s organizations are pushing for faster solutions that enable them to move quickly in a dynamic economy. For UX strategists, that means embracing the principles of lean UX,<\/a> which focuses on adaptability and efficiency to get to the ideation and design stage faster than ever.<\/p>\n Lean research gains much of its speed by incorporating design teams into the research process, which allows them to get a firsthand glimpse of what the users they\u2019re actually designing for want and need. Much of this research takes the form of investigation, a dedicated effort to observe and empathize with people to understand their perspective on an experience.<\/p>\n The key question here is \u201cWhy?\u201d Utilizing strategies like ethnographic studies and body storming, lean UX doesn\u2019t concern itself with obvious questions but tries instead to get at the questions researchers never even thought to ask. Only after getting to the root of how people feel about their experiences can researchers and designers begin to understand \u201cwhy\u201d they feel that way. Then, they can get working on solutions.<\/p>\n Disruption has been a favorite buzzword of the start-up world for quite some time, but it plays a special role in the realm of UX strategy. Delivering superior user experience solutions often requires counterintuitive thinking and unconventional approaches to problems. Doing something new and different can be exciting, but it\u2019s also hard work that takes a lot of time and resources.<\/p>\nLean UX<\/h2>\n
Disruptive Design<\/h2>\n
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