As any good article should, this Jared M. Spool article on creating an Experience Vision for a Self-Fulfilling UX Strategy got me thinking.
Is being ‘innovative’ a simpler idea than it’s sold? What might a business need to admit to itself in order to cultivate a culture of innovation from the top-down?
Before anyone starts defining the experience vision, it’ll help to have a good idea what the business and brand realistically stands for, where they believe they want to go, and what they’re willing to endure. Without those ingredients, commitment to the cause starts on shaky ground.
These strategy questions came to mind:
How ambitious do we feel today?
How ambitious do we want to be? If not for the wider organisation, what about each business unit?
Are we willing to go on this long-term journey or are we chasing the next delivery success story? The ticket to ride is going to challenge budgets and schedules—are you going to play or release and run?
How a business states its goals reveals the true nature of what it values. Problems arise when what’s said and what’s driving prioritisation calls don’t align. Teams need to know what they’re working towards and what challenges to expect.
Company A says, "We want to build a better X". If they’ve clearly defined what ‘better’ means, then that’s the target. Get there, and you’re done.
Rest easy? Probably not.
Company B conversely says, "In 5 years, we want to lead the market in Y. To get there, we need to improve our X.” All aboard the inspiration train! This group knows where they’re going and what it’ll take to get there. The message is clear [enough for this example] — the work doesn’t end after the upgrade.
Of the two, Company B feels less likely to be restructuring teams and shifting priorities every half year to accomodate for the original intent of X feeling stagnant or unexpectedly difficult.
As I help my client refine their programme backlog, there is a troubling, nagging question I can’t shake. Is it worth further developing these future-focused visions, or should we scrap them now and admit we only care about the here-and-now, short-term goals? It feels like such a waste to lose sight of all that experience ideation.
Luckily, I’m not making these decisions alone, and likely neither are you. The organisation as a whole sets and agrees what it expects of itself. Imagine how inspiring it’d be though to know the decisions you made today are getting you one step closer to that 23 year goal.