UX STRAT USA 2017 presentation by Ruth Buchanan, Design Research Lead, Dropbox

1. Building Design Strategy at
Dropbox: Co-Designing with
Customers
UX STRAT USA • SEPTEMBER 18, 2017
Ruth Buchanan • Design Research Lead • Dropbox

2. Hi! 👋

5. This talk is about a
participatory approach to
design as a way to do strategic
research.

6. Enabling designers & non-designers to
concept, develop, and evaluate ideas.
A DEFINITION

7. …all people are able to bring
creative contributions to
design processes.
– Liz Sanders, Convivial Toolbox

8. Let’s talk about making a cake. 🍰 🍰 🍰 🍰🍰 🍰

9. How do I know what kind of cake I should
bake for you?

10. I could identify
what you think
and say
Yellow cake is also pretty
delicious.
I think my favorite is
chocolate with cream
cheese frosting.
I hate nuts in my desserts.

11. I could identify
what you do
Self-reports rarely buying
desserts of any kind.
Buys a lot of coffee ice
cream, fewer quantities of
pre-made baked goods.
Buys cake decorating kit
and leaves abandoned in
cupboard

12. But…

13. I could identify
what you know
and feel and
dream
Which ingredients
would you choose?
What shape of cake?
What kind of decorations?
What flavors would
you combine?

14. This is especially good for learning what
and who people aspire to be.

15. Let’s talk about Dropbox.

16. Our research team is a little different.

17. We’re investing in the methods and the
mindset.

18. If we go back to that cake metaphor…

19. So, what kind of cake do we bake?

20. A CASE STUDY IN 4 PARTS
1 2 3 4

21. A CASE STUDY IN 4 PARTS
Identifying opportunities: What are the key problems people want to solve?
1 2 3 4

22. A CASE STUDY IN 4 PARTS
Creating solutions: How might we alleviate the issues we identified?
1 2 3 4

23. A CASE STUDY IN 4 PARTS
Enabling mutual benefit: Why are we doing this, and why are our customers?
1 2 3 4

24. A CASE STUDY IN 4 PARTS
What we’ve learned: How we’re using what we learn to bake this into our processes
1 2 3 4

25. Identifying opportunities in
customer workshops
1 2 3 4

26. 💡 🏁

27. We asked them to highlight areas of
difficulty that they wanted to resolve.

28. People silently reviewed one another’s
maps, noting any phases they shared with
a small dot.

42. What are the reasons that area is red?
What are the problems or opportunities
to address?

43. People described
the impact these
opportunity areas
currently had on
their work.

44. We narrowed in on the key problem or
opportunity to innovate around

46. Developing concepts based
on opportunities
1 2 3 4

47. Sensitization and reflection enables
better participation when we reconvene

48. Silent brainstorming helps avoid group
dynamics, and generates a lot of ideas.

49. Screenshots – how it works/features included
App nameLogo
Tagline
Key benefits/features
Reviews (different roles)
“ “
– _____________
“ “
– _____________
APP STORE LISTING
This app is for ____________________ who has ____________________________. It’s a _______________ that ____________________________.
[target customer(s)] [need] [category of app] [one key benefit]
Unlike ____________________, this app __________________________________________________.
[competition] [unique differentiator]

54. It’s about understanding their goals and
their dreams – and the ways they want to
execute on them.

55. Enabling mutual benefit for
teams and customers
1 2 3 4

56. Benefits for Dropboxers

58. Artifacts designed for fast, meaningful
synthesis

59. Opportunities and concepts prioritized by
impact to people’s workflows – straight
from the experts themselves.

60. Benefits for participants

61. For people seeking out ways to work
better, meeting with like-minded peers is
an exciting reward.

62. Learn a new approach to problem-solving
and experience our design process first-
hand.

63. What we’ve learned and
where we’re going with this
1 2 3 4

64. 1. Give people time to prepare (sensitize).

65. 2. Metaphors are a superpower.
Embrace them, even if they’re weird.

67. Tell me about the start of the relationship.
Did it start on a good note, or did you know
it was doomed to fail from the start?
💔

68. 3. Tactile UI kits let people communicate
their goals through a common language.

70. 4. Generative research isn’t appropriate for
every project, but a co-creative mindset is.

71. 5. Be generous about what you’ve learned,
and who you invite to design with you.

72. We’re intentionally building
this process for design
strategy.

73. It’s about enabling the people we design
for to have a say in how they work, and
how they use tools.

74. It’s about letting people speak for
themselves, and have greater agency.

75. It’s also about minimizing risk and
reducing the chances that our concepts
aren’t valuable to people.

76. It’s about reaching deep, tacit knowledge,
and learning what people know, feel, and
dream

77. Life’s too short to eat
mediocre cake.

78. Thanks!
ruthb@dropbox.com • @ruth_buchanan