starting and running a customer design advisory board

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Starting and Running a Customer Design Advisory Board

MARY BETH RAVEN, Ph. D.Oracle CorporationUXPA Boston 2017

Confidential – Oracle Internal/Restricted/Highly Restricted


Design Advisory Board

• A form of participatory design to actively involve users in the design process to help ensure the results meets their needs and is usable

• Dedicated set of users who provide feedback on a product on a regular basis

• Most effective with NON-consumer products

• Early involvement! Can include feature prioritization

• Consistent legal/confidentiality agreement


Example Design Advisory Boards

Technical Product Collaboration Product

Participants ~20 companies, ~35 people ~300 companies, 500+ people

Recruiting Existing User Group Existing user group, support community, blog, Twitter

Commitment •90 min every ~ 3 months •Meet once a month, one company at a time, 5-7 companies each month

•Meet 1 hr every week, everyone invited• Additional usability testing 1x1 monthly 5-7 customers/month

Session types •Persona validation•Remote usability testing

•Persona validation•Product demos•Show alternate designs, discuss, vote

Legal NDA for each session Yearly blanket NDA for all sessions

Maintenance UX team tracked NDAs, participation and reward (3 iPad minis)

Product management maintained


Design Advisory Board provides feedback on the featuresand UI design of upcoming versions of the software

Participate in Usability Tests,Focus Groups, and Feedback Sessions

Prioritize Featuresand Participate in Surveys

Host Site Visits


BETA TESTEven fewer people, but they start

later in the design process andhave deep participation

including installing and usingthe product over

a period oftime

Design Advisory Board Compared to Other Programs

DESIGN PARTNERSFewer people, start early in the design process,

regular participation

USER GROUPSMany people, small participation


Recruiting

Get them• Invite user group members, Customer

Advisory Board Members• Post invitations in support communities• Post invitations on social media – Blog, tweet,

Facebook• Incentives: several give-aways at the end of

each product release (iPad minis, Starbuck’s gift certificates

Keep them• Demonstrate that you listen!• Improve the product based on their feedback• Explain why you did NOT make some of the

requested changes (technical, business etc.)

Incentives


Work with Your Company’s Legal Team

Different companies have different legal requirements

Company A Company B Company C

Participants sign a Non-disclosure (NDA) for every session

Participants sign a yearly NDA

The participant’s COMPANY signs a “Customer Participation Confidentiality Agreement” (CPCA)

NDA was an online survey they went to, checked a box and typed their name and date

If they signed and NDA as part of a user group or Customer advisory group, then they were already covered for the Design Partner Program

This agreement broader than an NDA. If a participant has a good idea and you implement it, the participant cannot expect any revenue recognition.


Maintenance

• Have an official “Design Advisory Board” administrator

• Can be part of other jobs

– User Research

– Product management

• Foster Community

– Arrange in-person meetings

– Appreciation events ( at yearly conference or user group

meetings)

– Tie to “Champion” or “Elect” programs

• Have a set begin and end

– Yearly

– Per release