Monday May 16, 2005

Who owns the user experience?

Now appearing in the new issue of the ACM Interactions magazine: Who Owns the User Experience? Something we all probably find quite relevant. And something we'll probably all never come to an agreement upon.

So I'll spout off anyway with another few questions: who runs the company? Who drives our business strategy? Who's responsible, at the end of the day, for our reputation in the marketplace and among the public? Who's the only person who can drive the cross-organizational changes required to get the company moving in the same direction?

Let's face it: even though "user experience" seems to be an interaction-design, usability or digital-strategy thing (the question did appear in a computing journal ater all), this is, simply put, the wrong crowd for this question. None of these people or roles can own the breadth that is the gut perception that a person has about a company. Nor should any other single group or focus in a company.

All this can only be driven by the CEO. And the better CEOs are the ones who can articulate not only "the usual business stuff," but also their vision for the user experience -- right down to the interactions, ease of use and overall strategy that drive the products and perceptions we create. (Of course, having a good Chief Brand Officer can only help.)

Related reading, off the top of my head:
Marty Neumeier's The Brand Gap;
Shaun Smith and Joe Wheeler's Managing the Customer Experience;
and Peter Schwartz's The Long View.

Happy reading. ( May 16 2005, 10:23:03 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

More on green to black

Did a little digging around on the "business case" for green design and came across this profile of eco-architect William McDonough in Newsweek magazine:

"McDonough's vision for the future includes factories so safe they need no regulation, and novel, safe materials that can be totally reprocessed into new goods, so there's no reason to scale back consumption (or lose jobs). In short, he wants to overhaul the Industrial Revolution—which would sound crazy if he weren't working with Fortune 500 companies and the government of China to make it happen."

That's great news. I hope we're all listening. Because as a shareholder, that's money in my pocket. Or my daughter's edu-fund.;-)

Related: the Business and Sustainability Conference, at SRI in Menlo Park next month. ( May 16 2005, 10:12:57 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Six georges and a fried cake.

Five dollars to anyone who can help me create my own custom theme here. Okay, make it six. Plus a donut. And Buffalo Sabres sweatshirt, circa 1988. Contact me for more details. ( May 16 2005, 10:10:58 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

From green to black

Bruce points out the good news that GE is going green(er). Communication Arts talks up Green Design in their latest issue. And Celery Design advises on green design issues for their clients. Green is everywhere...but I'm curious: is anyone talking black?

Here's why I'm curious: it's hard to tell the difference between a token gesture and a real commitment. I'll take either, but what I'd really like to see are the business justifications that go beyond altruism. I'd like to see green that moves the bottom line into the black. A green approach for sustainability's sake will only go so far in convincing the skeptics (and in turn, changing the world).

I'm being pushy. I know. But as an example, hybrid vehicles are in demand, and we all win. GE reduces emissions by X percent, and again, we all win. I'd like to see the commitment come as a business proposition. The green commitment must be rooted in saving on operational costs (saving money) or as a means of positioning for building an audience that cares (growing marketshare).

We've seen a lot of the latter, but what about the former? Aveda seems to have it: sustainable business practices and a well-received position in the high end of the cosmetics landscape. Also on the consumables end of things, just about every inch of the nearest Whole Foods is rife with similar companies that seem to do well in this space. Unfortunately in either case the cost is passed on to you and me, the Consumer Joes.

That's where the next big thing has to come from: companies that can skip gouging its customers because they operate with less, using fewer things, producing less waste...or because they doing business in the same way, but with different tools that affect the planet in less harmful ways.

Who's there now? In terms of major players, that list is awfully short. Sun actually pops into mind because it's invested heavily in distributed-workforce tools -- in fact, the degree to which Sun has succeeded at this point is rare. More tech companies are expected to step up in this area, which seems like a natural progression, given the nature of where things are headed with wifi and the ubiquitous-technology future we're headed for.

But again, that green-to-black list is woefully short. Until it grows, I can be happy with the baby steps, whether they're token moves or something bigger. Because for every GE, Sun Microsystems and Celery Design doing what it can, there are dozens more out there that aren't doing a darn thing. And if we're ever going to see a green-to-black transformation, this is where the ripple starts.

( May 16 2005, 06:39:32 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [1]