SURVIVAL STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR
DESIGNERS IN LARGE ORGANISATIONS
Mark König, UX Camp Berlin, June 2014
2. UNDERSTAND
1. (WATCH � you did)
STRATEGIES
TECHNIQUES
3. LEARN & APPLY
UNDERSTAND
Commons?
IN COMMON?
ANNUAL
REPORT
(BALANCE
SHEET)
PROFIT &
LOSS
STATEMENT
MANAGERS THINK IN TIME SLICES
3 WAYS TO MAKE MONEY
AMOUNT PRICEX MONEY=
1 piece 10 million € 10 million €X =Luxury
approach
10 mn barrel 100 € / barrel 1 billion €X =Sheikh
approach
1 billion
call minutes1 ct / minute 10 million €X =
Masses
approach
MANAGER‘S INTERPRETATION
OF PLAIN DESIGN THINKING
TARGET
GROUPNEEDS CONCEPT …
Shareholder Value max.Stock course &
dividend
Boss /Mgr Bonus max.Max. individual
targets
„IWO“ – A BASIC THINKING
INPUT WONDER OUTPUT
Buy
Sources
Spend money
Rod & Worm
Work / create
Services
Spend money
Time
Sell
Products
Earn money
Fish
Buy
Sources
Spend money
Rod & Worm
IWO PRINCIPLES
INPUT WONDER OUTPUT
� Mini-max at same level will not work!
� Most companies do Maximum Principle at budget overall.
For this reason they do Minimum Principle at single orders.
Maximum
Principlefix / given manage MAX!
Minimum
Principle MIN! manage fix / given
Conclusions
STRATEGIES
CHOOSE YOUR ENVIRONMENT
* Take care to choose company in which specialists can become top level without becoming a manager (if
you are career oriented), e.g. IBM, agencies, … if you still want to work on real stuff later on.
In which INDU S TRY do you want to create?
Which CUS T OMERS does the company serve (B2B vs B2C)?
Which P R ODUCTS are created in which depth and value chain?
What is the TE A M constellation (organisation & reporting line)?
What SE T UP you will be involved in (collaboration & decision making)?
What BUD G ET is invested in experience and design?
How EXP E RIENCE and design are understood in the company?
What RESPONSIBILIT Y will you have now and in the future*?
CLARIFY GOVERNANCE FOR DESIGN
Purpose of Design:
Delivery versus Strategy?
Corporate guideline & decision
competence?
UX team: Must-use or optional?
Who decides on procurement?
Skills, pricing & effort
decisions?
Accountability & responsibility
for related functions, e.g. brand,
products, marketing, research
ACCOUNTABILITY RESPONSIBILITY
FAIRNESSTRANSPARENCY
VALUE PROPOSITION
Profile: Create your own „brand“ / in
the company: For what do you stand
for?
Deliver what you promise! May be
always a little more.
Do not say „yes“ to everything: Fight
relevant fights – in the meaning of
the company.
Surprise people e.g. with real content
and no ppt.
C-HARBOUR STRATEGY
Make UX a CEO topic?
Take care: Not sufficient!
Top managers change every
3-4 years. Example Telekom:
5 responsibles for innovation
in Executive Board between
2009 and 2014.
Management direction can
change from one day to
another.
Politics: Do not become part
of a manager’s deal.
BETTER CREATE A NETWORK
Identify relevant stakeholders & needs
Establish personal & valuable relation
Do little pleasures BUT don‘t do everything
LONGTERM TWO WAY APPROACH
Year 4Year 3Year 2Year 1 2016
� Strategy topics must be relevant on corporate level (e.g. corporate style guide)
� Must be mission critical for company‘s success (to be proven)
� Must be financed by the company (no cross-charging)
� Should be tangible for the whole company and for deciders
� Concentrate on top priority delivery
� Choose places to win
� Delivery shall partly x-finance also strategy or new future initiatives
Source of illustration: Deutsche Telekom Design
COMMUNICATION
Communicate what you do (also
your services) and the benefit of it
Create, claim & communicate
successes
Become owner of a trend / topic
Communicate internally as a
designer: create desire by using
videos & demos, mockups, etc.
Use externals in the right way
(press, blogs, social, …)
Participate in awards (even you
hate to do it) & communicate them
TECHNIQUES
CHOOSE
THE RIGHT
PEOPLE
Create definition of „right“
“Right” may not mean “like”
Created success earlier
OR convinces by brain /
intelligence
Trust your stomach
No compromises
AGREE EARLY WHO DECIDES WHAT
AGREE ON COMMON AMBITION & KPI
1,520 Ratings
3.8
Google Playstore
1,437 Ratings
Apple Appstore
4.5
Is this good or bad?
Depends on what
was planned, or?
DO NOT PLAN 100% OF YOUR TIME
Plan reserves for future development
Plan enough time to keep creativity
Plan time to organize yourself
Plan time to document & communicate
CRY ON CUTS
LEARN & SPEAK THE LANGUAGE
CAPEX
OPEX
GM1
TMN*
SAC
ARPUEBITDA
WACC
RoI
* little trap to identify people who claims to know everything: “TMN” stands for “this means nothing” ☺
ARGUE TEAM UP ESCALATE PUBLISH
SOLVE THINGS STRAIGHT & RIGHT
Be cautious: This step
can be understood as
not friendly.
The rational way. The emotional way. If you mean it serious
escalate together to
the next level. This is not a bad move in
large organisations.
INVEST & DE-INVEST OR
PLACE YOUR BETS RIGHT
CONTACT
XING https://www.xing.com/profile/Mark_Koenig
Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/pub/mark-k%C3%B6nig/0/286/424
