Thinking strategic value

#Ux is on the rise. And it has been for the last ten years. With this, ux has become more and more an expected and accepted discipline that still holds a lot of magic for the outsider. A lot of jargon is used by the field running the risk of putting new people off. But as with any jargon, this jargon can be mastered. But knowing just the jargon is only half of it. It still takes skill and experience to knowingly think like a user. Being able to ask important questions like Why should certain things appeal to me as a #user?  As a user how do I know what to do? Do I know what is asked of me as a user? Answering those imaginative user questions as a UX designer, requires empathy skills, rather than doing plain desk work like turning those answers into stories using lots of jargon. One can read an awful lot about it, yet never really behold its true essence coming from in person user interviews or running design sprint.

The maturing of Ux has made it more and more clear that there are still soo many companies that have only just started doing Ux, properly backed by research, user interviews and demos. Too many companies are still too focussed on thinking growth is just defined by money alone.

In order to #maximize user value and ensure its contribution to the company's ROI I am of the opinion Ux needs to have a permanent voice during management sessions. The value of Ux needs to be embedded within existing marketing models, not just defined as a separate model. Let’s look at one as an example. A widely used model for mapping strategy is the #Hembricks Model. This model was developed in a decade when this new value - Ux - was not yet fully known. When looking where this new strategic value fits best in the model it becomes apparent this is not possible. The quadrants simply don’t allow for it. The Hembricks model could benefit largely from an update. Used as an example but it would benefit the model largely if it could expand its quadrants by one. One for UX. This will ensure that the added value of Ux can be turned into strategic value. What do you think?

What other models do you know of we can have a look at to see how and at what level we can infuse it with the value of Ux?

#strategy #ux #user #value