At the end of the Balanced Team conference in Chicago June 22-24, we formed a closing circle and asked each person to say one thing they would take away from the event. I’ve paraphrased peoples’ comments and organized them into themes for easier reading.
CULTURE
- Qualities of a company that can produce good UX: Vision, feedback loops, culture (per Jared Spool)
- Design the organization for balance
- Process leads to culture, culture is established by leadership
- Culture is what you make it. Culture your culture
- Leadership matters
- Designing the product means you have to design the business, which covers the end to end user experience
VISION
- Focus on output over outcome (referencing something Jeff Patton said)
- Experience defines features, and helps determine right MVP
INTERACT with USERS/CUSTOMERS
- It’s not enough to build process to know your users. It’s vital that people get to see it first-hand
- Kidnap the CEO and take him/her to see users
- Buyer goals and user goals are connected
POLY-SKILLED PEOPLE
- More skills, smaller teams
- Broken comb people (+3) [per Jared Spool’s presentation]
TEAMWORK
- I’m going to hire a designer so we can have a more balanced team
- Involve everyone in design thinking and focus on the product
- Experience is important to having a good product and interpersonal relationships. Focus on good experience leads to better work.
- How UX principles apply to the product and organization. Everyone is involved in the UX of the product
- The power of integrated thinking
- Bring developers on board early, help them see the big picture
- Designer-as-facilitator (+1)
HOW do we KNOW it’s GOOD?
- I will test my hypothesis and get validation
- How do we check for results as we try to make “better products?”
SERVICE COMPANIES and FREELANCE considerations
- People said there’s a transition in power as they go from consultant to in-house. Does this have to be true?
- As a service org, how can we manage the expectations of our clients and influence their decisions?
- Likes the idea of charging by feature (as discussed by 8thLight)
The BALANCED TEAM COMMUNITY
- I met like-minded people (+1)
- I liked learning about balanced team
- I’m not alone
- Nice to be with the other kool-aid drinkers
- We are fellow travelers who can help each other with day-to-day tactics
- I’m not crazy, other people think like I do
- There are people out there who can help me
- Your passion feeds mine
- Great to meet people who are doing it and have advice for other people in the group
- Appreciated the trust, respect and openness of the group
FUTURE of BALANCED TEAM group
- We’re going someplace together. Where next?
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS
- There are different solutions for different situations. It’s OK to move/change jobs/careers
- Lots to think about, thanks