UX: Ideals Grounded in Reality
Making decisions is challenging, especially when driving design-led innovation in a corporation with mid-to-low UX maturity. This is why I chose to study business and management: to learn how to navigate business complexities using the power of design thinking.
As I delve deeper into understanding services and products at a higher business level, I better comprehend what causes discrepancies between the ideal service experience and reality. As a UX practitioner, it is equally important to work on minimizing these discrepancies by bridging business needs, UX initiatives, and technological resources, while holding on to the ideals and beliefs that advocate for the users—the stance of a UXer.
How I Like to Work
I believe in discipline and logical thinking in any UX process. Before choosing UX methods to initiate a project, I utilize all available resources to gather explicit knowledge and build well-aligned contexts for the project. I focus on understanding the problem, determining whether it's the right problem to address, and why it matters to us.
In compact teams, I often assume a project/product manager role to lead through ambiguities. This includes guiding discussions, constructing decision-making frameworks, creating project plans, executing them, and following up.
I rely heavily on data to understand the “whats” and the “whys.” For me, user research is essentially about data collection. There is no perfect method selection, only the most suitable combination for each question or the resources available. We work under trade-offs.
If data is insufficient to answer questions, I take the initiative to gain stakeholders' buy-in and engagement and leverage cross-departmental resources. For qualitative insights, I carefully articulate research methods and plans, emphasizing why they matter and how the data will impact our understanding. For quantitative insights, I collaborate closely with data experts to draft request documents, align questions, and set expected outcomes.
In design, I adopt a “diverge mentality,” focusing on generating a quantity of ideas. When deriving opportunity spaces from discovery research, I engage various stakeholders to ideate diverse solutions. When discussions stall, I like to clear thoughts by visualizing complex processes, adding visual hints, and rapid prototyping.
I Embrace...
Well-Reasoned Open Discussions: I don't hesitate to reach out. I prefer being clear about my objectives and expectations from the beginning.
Diversity: I believe diversity sparks natural conflicts that trigger and inspire creativity. As a UX practitioner with a multidisciplinary background, I am excited to collaborate with different functional units and learn from their practices to leverage team resources for more efficient UX research and design.
Flexibility: Depending on the team setup, resources, and project scope, I adjust my methods and work mentality to best fit the needs. I strive to be as creative and aspirational as possible while staying within the problem scope and realities.
If you want to know more about my process, drop me a line at chenyusi95@gmail.com.