bringing change to life transforming
a culture through a passion for design Bill Scott Sr. Director, UI Engineering ! MXConference March 16, 2014 San Francisco, CA ! @billwscott twitter | linkedin | gmail | facebook | paypal | about.me

culture = (norms of behavior)
+ (underlying shared values)

paypal vs netflix

outside-in culture continuous customer feedback
(get out of the building - GOOB) customer metrics drove everything think it. build it. ship it. tweak it fail fast. learn fast. lots of experimentation... build/ measure/learn

example: ps3 launch 4 different
“applications” launched the same day ! 16 different test cells ! 2 different tech blogs were simultaneously reviewing different experiences ! focus was on build/measure/learn

In 2011, even a simple
content copy change could take as much as 6 weeks to get live to site

inside-out culture roll your own.
disconnected delivery experience. culture of long shelf life. inward focus. risk averse.

change is hard

organizations contain anti- bodies that
resist change

behavior is deep seated and
reinforced

so, how can you bring
change to your team, to your company?

two essentials
to bringing change

persistence

persistance is based on strongly
held principles

but persistance is not
stubborness

improv

improv is based on humility
to listen and adapt to what you hear

but improv is not just
‘winging it’

seven steps
to bringing change

believe something deeply
1

believe something deeply
1

believe something deeply
1

believe something deeply make the
customer the foundation of your principles. 1

believe something deeply make the
customer the foundation of your principles. don’t confuse principles with programs or processes. 1

believe something deeply make the
customer the foundation of your principles. don’t confuse principles with programs or processes. never abandon your principles. 1

believe something deeply make the
customer the foundation of your principles. don’t confuse principles with programs or processes. never abandon your principles. these principles will sustain you when everything goes wrong. 1

believe something deeplysome of my
principles 1

believe something deeply shared understanding
some of my principles 1

believe something deeply shared understanding
deep collaboration some of my principles 1

believe something deeply shared understanding
deep collaboration continuous feedback some of my principles 1

understand the culture
2

understand the culture
2

understand the culture
2

understand the culture listen first.
there is wisdom in the crowd. 2

understand the culture listen first.
there is wisdom in the crowd. formulate hypothesis for change and verify them by testing. 2

understand the culture listen first.
there is wisdom in the crowd. formulate hypothesis for change and verify them by testing. never abandon your principles. 2

understand the culture listen first.
there is wisdom in the crowd. formulate hypothesis for change and verify them by testing. never abandon your principles. don’t start with a recipe, process or program. 2

understand the culture listen first.
there is wisdom in the crowd. formulate hypothesis for change and verify them by testing. never abandon your principles. treat this like designing an experience. it is contextual. don’t start with a recipe, process or program. 2

understand the culture listen first.
there is wisdom in the crowd. formulate hypothesis for change and verify them by testing. never abandon your principles. treat this like designing an experience. it is contextual. don’t start with a recipe, process or program. know your user. 2

understand the culture 2 culture
of a long shelf life instead of a culture of experimentation

fix the pain points
3

fix the pain points
3

fix the pain points
3

fix the pain points change
will not work if it is about you self- promoting. 3

fix the pain points change
will not work if it is about you self- promoting. start solving the key problems in the organization. 3

fix the pain points change
will not work if it is about you self- promoting. start solving the key problems in the organization. embrace the problem, not the solution. 3

fix the pain points 3
tangled up technology stack that prevented build/test/learn

rally the troops
4

rally the troops
4

rally the troops
4

rally the troops as you
interview & listen you will find like- minded souls. 4

rally the troops as you
interview & listen you will find like- minded souls. they will often be the ones closest to the real problems. 4

rally the troops as you
interview & listen you will find like- minded souls. they will often be the ones closest to the real problems. make them your allies. 4

rally the troops as you
interview & listen you will find like- minded souls. they will often be the ones closest to the real problems. make them your allies. you will also find the weary, the complacent and the perpetrators. route around them. 4

rally the troops as you
interview & listen you will find like- minded souls. they will often be the ones closest to the real problems. make them your allies. you will also find the weary, the complacent and the perpetrators. route around them. sprinkle in new DNA from the outside. 4

prototype the change
5

prototype the change
5

prototype the change
5

prototype the change find a
way to fail fast, learn fast. 5

prototype the change find a
way to fail fast, learn fast. a sandbox is a good way to engage a pilot project. 5

prototype the change find a
way to fail fast, learn fast. a sandbox is a good way to engage a pilot project. measure success. 5

prototype the change find a
way to fail fast, learn fast. a sandbox is a good way to engage a pilot project. measure success. bring your allies (and detractors) through the change experience. 5

prototype the change find a
way to fail fast, learn fast. a sandbox is a good way to engage a pilot project. measure success. act your way into right thinking. bring your allies (and detractors) through the change experience. 5

prototype the change find a
way to fail fast, learn fast. a sandbox is a good way to engage a pilot project. measure success. act your way into right thinking. bring your allies (and detractors) through the change experience. create a story of success. 5

prototype the change whiteboard to
code code to usability product/design/engineering teams usability/ customers lean ux in action 5

tell a story
6

tell a story
6

tell a story
6

tell a story from the
success formulate a story. 6

tell a story from the
success formulate a story. use the success (or learnings) to reinforce your principles. 6

tell a story from the
success formulate a story. use the success (or learnings) to reinforce your principles. early on bring in experts from the outside that reinforce your story. they legitimize your efforts. 6

tell a story from the
success formulate a story. use the success (or learnings) to reinforce your principles. early on bring in experts from the outside that reinforce your story. they legitimize your efforts. make a meme to tell the story. 6

tell a story from the
success formulate a story. use the success (or learnings) to reinforce your principles. early on bring in experts from the outside that reinforce your story. they legitimize your efforts. make a meme to tell the story. create ‘tweetable moments’. 6

tell a story 6 the
hermes project allowed us to tell a new story.

keep iterating
7

keep iterating
7

keep iterating
7

keep iterating what worked last
year probably won’t work this year. 7

keep iterating what worked last
year probably won’t work this year. organizations are always changing. improvization is your friend. 7

keep iterating what worked last
year probably won’t work this year. organizations are always changing. improvization is your friend. don’t give up. 7

keep iterating what worked last
year probably won’t work this year. organizations are always changing. improvization is your friend. don’t give up. keep repeating all of the previous steps. 7

keep iterating 7 with the
full agile rollout, we are rebooting our leanux methodology (v2)

bringing change is similar to
the design process

bringing change requires persistance &
improv

questions? http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Penny_pennies_coins_copper.jpg http://www.flickr.com/photos/cornellfungi/1874403581/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/37217398@N02/3442676067/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/hongiiv/4151964823/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Punishment_sisyph.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DsDNA_antibodies.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Exposed_mango_tree_roots.jpg http://www.flickr.com/photos/weesen/3589258380/sizes/l/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/weesen/3588454913/sizes/l/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/atoach/2464747591/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/janed42/5033842895/sizes/z/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/9619972@N08/1350940605/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanenglish/483251259/sizes/z/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/giesenbauer/4092794246/sizes/l/ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tangled_cables_mrbill.jpg http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_books_by_bionicteaching.jpg http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtl_shag/262471645/ credits