This document discusses how UX skills can help professionals advance into leadership roles and transform organizational culture. It provides examples of how Mindbody applied UX techniques like research, collaboration and problem solving to define new core values for the company. By taking a design thinking approach and gathering diverse perspectives, Mindbody was able to simplify and refresh its values to make them more relevant and accessible. The document encourages UX professionals to look for opportunities to apply their skills to broader business problems in order to expand their influence within an organization.

1. Level Up!
Transforming Organizational Culture with UX
Amaya Weddle, Ph.D. Senior Director, Research & Experiences
Beth Leibovich, Senior Manager, User Research

2. Leadership
2

3. Leadership is on the rise in UX professions
3
52% of
professionals
are in a Senior
level or above
position
UXPA professional survey, 2018
21% are in a
supervisory
position

4. 4

6. Hi, I’m Amaya.

7. Hi, I’m Beth.

8. Key Takeaway: UX Skills position you for leadership success
8

9. 9
…it’s a matter of shifting your focus from small(er) design problems
to bigger business problems.

10. And often… stakeholders aren’t going to know to ask you to help
with problems outside of traditional UX projects. (That’s your job).
10

11. Craft
Knowledge/
Experience
Influence
UX
Leadershi
p

12. Some UX Craft Skills Transferrable to Leadership
12
CollaborationObservation Interviewing
Prototyping Empathy
Root Cause
Analysis
Simplicity Synthesis
Stakeholder
Management

13. What other UX skills do we have
that our organizations need?

14. Case Study: MINDBODY Core Values
How we applied UX skills to transform the organization

15. 15MINDBODY

16. 16

17. 17

18. 18
Wellness, fitness, beauty and health businesses
use MINDBODY software to manage their
business in 130 countries and territories.
67,000+

20. 20
Intended to be a barometer for:
• How we hire, fire, and assess
performance
• How we navigate difficult or
challenging situations
• How we show up for our customers

21. 21
Takeaway
Sometimes, your
craft gets you in the
door. It’s your job to
reframe the
conversation.
Core Values Task Force: What we did

22. 22
Vision & Purpose
(aspirational)
Research & Insights
(empirical)
C
What does our
company stand
for?
What do our
customers
need?
Not Your Typical UX Problem
Core
Values

23. 23
Kick-off DeliverDefineDiscover Design Deploy
Develop a deep
understanding of
current state.
Gather diverse
viewpoints and
perspectives.
Synthesize findings
into themes, patterns,
begin defining trends
and strategic
direction.
Explore possible
solutions and new
iterations. Open
up ideas from
many places.
Align on new
directions.
Determine ways to
deploy, communicate
and initiate
transformation.
Design Thinking Process

24. Core Values Task Force:
Finding Representative Participants
24

25. 25
Working
Groups
All
Moderator
Team
Prep Training Synthesis/
Debrief
Session 1
Fieldwork
Session 2
Synthesis/
Debrief
Shareout/
Check-in
Session 3
Training Synthesis/
Debrief
Define &
Writing
Kick-off Rollout & Define
Initiatives
Fieldwork
Session 4
Program Design + Timeline

26. Campfire Activity
Tell a story about a time where a
fellow employee exemplified a core
value, and the impact it had on you.

27. 27

28. A member in the
exec building
grabbed a roll of
paper towels and
helped me clean it
till the end. All he
said was, "I got
you."

29. 29
Build a Leader
Work together to define
attributes of a great leader.
What values did they embody?

31. 31
Fieldwork Assignment
Interview 3-5 people you work
with about the Core Values.
Take notes in your field
notebook.

33. 33

36. 36
What does it all mean?

37. Top Findings

38. What We Learned
38
Our team is passionate about MINDBODY, and the Core Values
really matter to them.
People come to MINDBODY and stay at MINDBODY because of
how we live out these values in the workplace.

39. What We Learned
39
The Core Values needed to be distilled into a simpler essence
that were more accessible in the day-to-day.

40. What We Learned
40
Humble & Helpful
Caring & Happy
Continuously Evolving

41. What We Learned
41
Environmentally Conscious
Accountability, ownership and commitment to great work

42. 42
Recommendations
42
Revisit/Refresh
Core Values
Core Values Rollout
Departmental
Deployment
● Simplify
● Update
● Re-invigorate
● Gap analysis
● Refresh digital assets &
training materials
● Align with employee survey
● Workshops with
individual departments
and remote offices
● Make Core Values
relevant to all team
members

43. Our Core Values

44. 44

45. 45

49. The Big Picture

50. Craft
Knowledge/
Experience
Influence
UX
Leadershi
p
Somewhat Hard:
Learn more
about your
business and
products
Pretty Hard:
Gaining the
trust and
respect of peers
and company
leaders

51. One More Examples…

52. 53
Delivering UX into other business processes

53. 54
Problem: M&A “Due Diligence Interviews”

54. Some final thoughts...

55. 56
Not my job
#NMJ

56. Interactive Discussion

57. 58
How have you ventured out of your box to
provide value more broadly?

58. 59
What challenges occur when UX takes on
broader organizational or business-level
problems?

59. 60
How might your commitment to the “Tribe of
UX” be holding you back?

60. Thank You
Continue the conversation:
#uxpa2019 #levelup
amaya.weddle@mindbodyonline.com
beth.leibovich@mindbodyonline.com