Talk given by Amy Buckner Chowdhry at UXPA2018 on Tuesday, June 26, 2018

1. 5 Strategies to
Maximize Your UX
Influence
@AmyBucknerChowdhry
@AnswerLab
CEO & Founder

2. 2
2

3. 3
3

4. 4
How would you rate your UX team’s
influence in the organization?
1 10
6
7

5. 5
Obstacles
to Influence
Obstacles
to Influence
Structure Maturity
Visibility

6. Structure
6
Design led
Product led
Engineering led
PMO led
What type of
Org are you?

7. Maturity
7
How mature is your UX culture?
Low
Maturity
High
Maturity

8. Visibility
8
Work Publicly Socialized
Executive meetings
with UX team
Support and Acknowledgement
of UX team
How is UX socialized
in the company by
the CEO?

9. 9

10. You don’t have to be in the
driver’s seat to have
influence.

11. Q:
What influencing challenges
are you facing?

12. 12
5 Strategies to Maximize
Your UX Influence
12

13. The minimum amount required to
play a hand of poker.
Also, the minimum amount of
effort your lazy ass needs to
expend to compete at work, in
relationships and basically all
facets of life.
- Jack Dawson, Urban Dictionary
Table Stakes
13
13

14. What are table stakes in UX
influence?
14

15. Having and growing
empathy
What are table stakes in UX
influence?
15

16. Having and growing
empathy
What are table stakes in UX
influence?
16
Being an exceptional
storyteller

17. Become a
Trusted
Advisor
17
Strategy

18. The Great Irony:
UX teams, who do not want
to be considered services
functions, focus on delivering
exceptional service.
18

19. 1 2 3
Anatomy of a Trusted Advisor
19
Considers
self in
service to
stakeholders
Conducts
discovery on
stakeholders

20. “What you need to be doing
is finding out what keeps
them up at night and then
you say, I can solve that.”
- Senior UX Leader, Salesforce
20

21. 1 2 3
Anatomy of a Trusted Advisor
21
Considers
self in
service to
stakeholders
Conducts
discovery on
stakeholders
Nourishes the
relationship
Creates
strategic wins
for shared
success
Aligns activities
with stakeholder
KPIs

22. 22
Gatekeeper vs. Trusted Advisor
• Motivator: Control
• Process, rules
• Authority, hierarchy
• No, but. . .
• Motivator: Influence
• Solution-oriented
• Collaboration, cooperation
• Yes, and . . .

23. 23
“There’s a lot to be said about
building trust from the
beginning...how you do that,
obviously depends on the
individual, but I think sometimes
the way you do that is by saying
yes.”
– Director, Slack

24. Being a Trusted Advisor:
Suggested Reading
24

25. Create
Emotional
Journeys
25
Strategy

26. Meet people
where they are,
not where you
want them to be.
26

27. Journey from Bugs to Reorg
27
Videos Quant Storyboards
Surprise Fear Inspiration
Bug Fixes Bought in
Reorg into
journeys
1 2 3
Insights
Emotions
Outcome

28. Journey from Bugs to Reorg
28
Videos Quant Storyboards
Surprise Fear Inspiration
Bug Fixes Bought in
Reorg into
journeys
1 2 3
Insights
Emotions
Outcome

29. Journey from Bugs to Reorg
29
Videos Quant Storyboards
Surprise Fear Inspiration
Bug Fixes Bought in
Reorg into
journeys
1 2 3
Insights
Emotions
Outcome

30. Journey from Bugs to Reorg
30
Videos Quant Storyboards
Surprise Fear Inspiration
Bug Fixes Bought in
Reorg into
journeys
1 2 3
Insights
Emotions
Outcome

31. Compare to
Convince
31
Strategy

32. 3232

33. Agency
Partner Help1. • Introductions
• Thought leadership
• Knowledge of other companies
33

34. 34
Agency
Partner Help1. • Introductions
• Thought leadership
• Knowledge of other companies
External
Research2.
• Interview UX leaders
• Uncover their journeys
• Benchmark org structure and
processes
• Culture & tactics

35. 35
Agency
Partner Help1. • Introductions
• Thought leadership
• Knowledge of other companies
External
Research2.
• Interview UX leaders
• Uncover their journeys
• Benchmark org structure and
processes
• Culture & tactics
Internal
Roadshow3.
• Share gaps
• Demonstrate ROI of internal
investment
• Help over the emotional hump

36. “I think it was the peer
pressure that other
companies are doing it and
they wanted to be playing in
that space.”
- Director, FedEx
36

37. NO ONE
WANTS
TO BE A
LAGGARD.
37

38. Carefully
Design
Conversations
38
Strategy

39. Key
Components
Use design thinking to plan your
conversations
39

40. Key
Components
Use design thinking to plan your
conversations
40
Meet them
where they are

41. Key
Components
Use design thinking to plan your
conversations
41
Always set
expectations
Meet them
where they are

42. Key
Components
Use design thinking to plan your
conversations
42
Always set
expectations
Carefully craft
supporting data
Meet them
where they are

43. Key
Components
Use design thinking to plan your
conversations
43
Always set
expectations
Design the
environment
Carefully craft
supporting data
Meet them
where they are

44. Carefully Design Conversations:
Suggested Reading
44

45. Give Your
Ideas Life
45
Strategy

46. 46

47. 47

48. 4848

49. Become a Content Marketer
49
Broadly
socializes
strategic work
of the UX team
with push and
pull strategies
Integrates
content to
stakeholders’
workflow
process
Tailors content
to the
audience
segments; no
one gets
irrelevant info
Writes
tantalizing
subject lines
that make
people want to
open email;
writes sound
bites

50. “I tell my team constantly to
focus on the outcomes not
the outputs.”
- Director, Schwab
50

51. Give Your Life Ideas:
Suggested Reading
51

52. 1. Become a trusted advisor
2. Create emotional joureys
3. Compare to convince
4. Carefully design conversations
5. Give your ideas life
5 Strategies
Recap
52

53. Discussion
CONFIDENTIAL
What strategy
from today could
use to solve the
UX challenge you
identified earlier?
53

54. 1. Become a trusted advisor
2. Create emotional joureys
3. Compare to convince
4. Carefully design conversations
5. Give your ideas life
5 Strategies
Recap
54

55. Thank you.
amy@answerlab.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyebuckner
@amybucknerchowdhry
55

56. 56
Join Me?
Rally
Saturday, June 30
11:00 am
Lafayette Square
Washington, DC
(or check your home town)

57. Happy
Hour
57
Wednesday, June 27th
5:00pm - 6:00pm
Ocean Terrace
We’re hiring!

58. Thank you.
amy@answerlab.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyebuckner
@amybucknerchowdhry
58