Presented on 3/16/2014 as Keynote for the MXConference.
Change in an organization is really hard. This is especially true when a company that was once on the forefront of innovation finds itself having lost that luster through its own growth & success. The last couple of years there has been a transformation happening at PayPal that is touching every part of the organization to make it innovative again. At the heart of this change is a new, close partnership between design and engineering.
Can your organization be changed? From Bill’s experience at Yahoo!, Netflix, PayPal and consulting with numerous companies he believes there are some core principles you can employ to drive transformation that are all centered around the customer. The question Bill will explore is “How can design be the catalyst for that change?” While this talk will be inspirational, it will take an honest (and humorous) look at what has worked and what hasn’t worked so well in trying to scale change.
1. 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
4. 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
5. 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
6.
7. In 2011, even a simple
content copy change could
take as much as 6 weeks
to get live to site
8. inside-out culture
roll your own.
disconnected delivery
experience. culture of
long shelf life. inward
focus. risk averse.
25. believe something deeply
make the customer
the foundation of your
principles.
don’t confuse
principles with
programs or
processes.
1
26. believe something deeply
make the customer
the foundation of your
principles.
don’t confuse
principles with
programs or
processes.
never abandon
your principles.
1
27. 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
36. understand the culture
listen first. there is
wisdom in the crowd.
formulate hypothesis
for change and verify
them by testing.
2
37. 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
38. 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
39. 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
40. 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
45. fix the pain points
change will not work if
it is about you self-
promoting.
3
46. fix the pain points
change will not work if
it is about you self-
promoting.
start solving the key
problems in the
organization.
3
47. 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
48. fix the pain points
3
tangled up technology
stack that prevented
build/test/learn
52. rally the troops
as you interview &
listen you will find like-
minded souls.
4
53. 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
54. 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
55. 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
56. 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
61. prototype the change
find a way to fail fast,
learn fast.
a sandbox is a good
way to engage a pilot
project.
5
62. 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
63. 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
64. 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
65. 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
71. tell a story
from the success
formulate a story.
use the success (or
learnings) to reinforce
your principles.
6
72. 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
73. 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
74. 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
80. keep iterating
what worked last year
probably won’t work
this year.
organizations are
always changing.
improvization is your
friend.
7
81. 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
82. 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