User Experience is maturing, and with maturity we need self-awareness. The explosion in contexts to which we can apply our skill can only be compared to the emergence of web development technologies. The one man and his computer with HTML capability is now a multi-billion pound service industry with extreme expertise in every corner. The time of the generalist who can do everything from basic usability testing to enterprise service design is gone, that UX approach is dead. However, now is the time for more widely adopted user-centric business strategy, design and development. Now is the time where we establish key specialisms that we didn’t realise we needed before. Now is the time that I introduce you to your long term career prospects. Long Live UX.

1. Death of a UX
Salesman
UX is dead, long live UX
or
@LolaOye lola.oyelayo@headlondon.com

2. After all the highways, and the trains,
and the appointments, and the years,
you end up worth more dead than alive.
“ Willy Loman, Act II, Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

3. 80s sometime, I became the
resident technology expert in my
household
Late 80s, my habit of watching
people allowed me to learn
Spanish in 2 months
Early 90s, we got our first
computer and I become obsessed
with it, and Prince of Persia
2000, I was part of the inaugural
class for Interactive Systems
BEng at Birmingham University
(hint: I was rubbish at Electronic
Engineering)
Started as a Business Graduate
and eventually became a Business
Analyst at an engineering firm
2005, I horrified Rachel and Anne
with my inability to do the required
reading for the HCI-E course
Several glorious UX generalist years
working at Flow & UBS bank
Professional UX Hacker, member of
Agile is Best Club, running a team of
7 at Head

4. General UX Capabilities
Research Strategy Service Design Interaction Design
CreativeRational
Electronic Engineering
Computer Science
Front-End Development
Project Management
Social Sciences
Product Design
Architecture
Art
Graphic Design
Cognitive Psychology
Behavioural Psychology
Ergonomics
Library Science
Information Design
Interactive Media
Example feeder disciplines

5. www.evolutionoftheweb.com
In 1991, web development had:
• A small number of development languages
• A small world of ‘qualified’ professionals
• A low barrier to entry
• No patterns and very little standardisation
Today, the web design industry is:
• An industry worth ~$150-200billion globally**
• Even easier to access with many DIY & off the shelf-tools
• More complex than ever with new interfaces and technologies
• Democratic, when you need a specialist you find one
** No definitive source, based on extrapolation of US Web Design Industry Analysis, 2013

6. The pace of
digital change is
accelerating

7. Desktop, mobile
and web don’t
mean much
Smart TV
Wearables
Tablets
Apps

8. Quant now
equals Qual
Big Data
Smart TV
Wearables
Analytics
Tablets
Apps

9. Digital inequality
is on the rise
!
Legacy Technology
Big Data
Smart TV
Wearables
Analytics
Tablets
Apps
Real-time web technology

10. 10
Three reasons general UX is
losing relevance:

11. 11
Three reasons general UX is
losing relevance:
Research takes too long and is expensive
Ten year old assumptions on test validity are not being
challenged and updated in line with agile practice, so
research looks and feels like a long-form outdated activity.
The value of qualitative insight is being marginalised over
rapid quant.
1

12. 12
Three reasons general UX is
losing relevance:
User-centred design is a buzz-word
To have “UX” is seen to be enough, but there is little
evidence that organisations are fully embedding user-
centred focus across the board. Digital products are still
bought and sold as “apps” and “websites” not products and
services.
2

13. 13
Three reasons general UX is
losing relevance:
We don’t have the right skills for the emergent
business & technology context
We have all gravitated towards lean UX, but we haven’t
taken rigour and research with us, nor have we adapted to
include business change in our toolkit!.
3

14. Big Data Research & Design Cross-device Interaction Design
Digital Change Management Product Ownership

15. Big Data Research & Design Cross-device Interaction Design
Digital Change Management Product Ownership
‣ Designing quant studies to infer behaviour
‣ Mathematical awareness
‣ Data analysis skills
‣ Defining compelling narratives
‣ No graphs & charts!

16. Big Data Research & Design Cross-device Interaction Design
Digital Change Management Product Ownership
‣ Designing quant studies to infer behaviour
‣ Mathematical awareness
‣ Data analysis skills
‣ Defining compelling narratives
‣ No graphs & charts!
‣ Adaptive eco-system design
‣ Defining collection, notification and
interaction strategies
‣ Technical awareness, early adopter
‣ Hacker mentatility, all things are possible

17. Big Data Research & Design Cross-device Interaction Design
Digital Change Management Product Ownership
‣ Designing quant studies to infer behaviour
‣ Mathematical awareness
‣ Data analysis skills
‣ Defining compelling narratives
‣ No graphs & charts!
‣ Adaptive eco-system design
‣ Defining collection, notification and
interaction strategies
‣ Technical awareness, early adopter
‣ Hacker mentatility, all things are possible
‣ Designing for the internal user
‣ Business analysis & process design
‣ Training development & coaching
‣ Changing by making

18. Big Data Research & Design Cross-device Interaction Design
Digital Change Management Product Ownership
‣ Designing quant studies to infer behaviour
‣ Mathematical awareness
‣ Data analysis skills
‣ Defining compelling narratives
‣ No graphs & charts!
‣ Adaptive eco-system design
‣ Defining collection, notification and
interaction strategies
‣ Technical awareness, early adopter
‣ Hacker mentatility, all things are possible
‣ Designing for the internal user
‣ Business analysis & process design
‣ Training development & coaching
‣ Changing by making
‣ Business owner of the vision
‣ Vision is commercially oriented & user-
centred
‣ Prioritisation based on value add
‣ Managing up, down and around!

19. “The path to the CEO's office should not be through the CFO's office, and it should not be
through the marketing department. It needs to be through engineering and design.
Elon Musk (Co-founder of Paypal, Founder & CEO Of SpaceX & Tesla Motors)

20. Thank You
@LolaOye
lola.oyelayo@headlondon.com