I love movie trailers… Especially older trailers, because A) they didn’t reveal the entire movie’s plot in 2 minutes time and B) they had the BEST voice-overs. Orson Welles, for example, did the voice over for the first trailer for Star Wars. But no one could top Don LeFontane. He was the “In a world” guy. Here’s a “mashup” of some of his work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjWKE-IJ4R8
I start this post by bringing up movie trailers in order to cite the new trend in trailers – “The World is Changing” I’ve noticed this used in several trailers the past year, and it’s become a running joke for my wife and I. The joke, of course, is the world is ALWAYS changing, because the only constant in the universe IS change.
And change is definitely happening regarding how Enterprises view, and apply, user centered design.
More investment, more work done inhouse
This report on The State of UX in the Enterprise from UserZoom is quite illuminating and reflects much of what I have seen in my project engagements with large companies the last year. Here’s a notable chart:
This chart on the number of employees that are UX practitioners show that the bulk of Enterprises surveyed have at least SOMEONE who does this work in-house, and you can see that over a third of the companies represented have more than 20 UX designers. This jibes with what I have seen (as well as job listings in the Atlanta area). Companies such as Coca Cola, Suntrust and Home Depot are building their teams and, in turn, going to UX design agencies and vendors less and less. When you look at the hourly rate of contractors versus “owning” the design resource – even with benefits, many execs in corner offices are investing in UX talent instead of farming the work out to contractors.
UX is now “table stakes”
The report notes that 52% of the company’s CEOs note UX as a key differentiator in analyst calls. This is a very very good thing, since a decade ago the struggle leaders in the field was to get people to even UNDERSTAND what “UX” was. Still a ways to go, but the fact that UX is cited by the people in charge of these large organizations means that UX is now “table stakes” when it comes to products and services for many companies. Again, progress.
Integrated UX processes and teams
While the survey still shows that UX teams tend to be “siloed” in most organizations, it also notes that the larger companies tend to have more integrated and agile teams. This reflects my experience as well, and embedding UX allows for better execution of the final product. I can see this trend (which reduces handoffs and “friction” to continue .
Increased UX skills in non-UX roles
This is not reflected in the survey, but my own experiences: More and more non UX-practitioners are learning and demonstrating design skills. In part, this is a natural response to higher demand for UX: Smart workers learn skills that help keep them competitive. This is also a reflection of the collaborative nature of user-centered design projects, in that the more projects developer work on the more they sharpen that UX “saw.” While more insecure design folks might be worried about these type of people “moving into their territory”, I welcome it – the more people who apply UX skill son projects, the better the resulting experience for the end user. A rising tide, as they say, lifts all boats.
“UX maturity” is increasing
While this chart is somewhat discouraging, I dare say that if you had looked at where Enterprises were five years ago you would be quite happy to see the results. I am, because I worked with such companies then , and still do today. To double down on my earlier cliché, the rising tide of successful UX projects and products will result in more and more companies “getting on board” to catch that particular wave. Nothing succeeds like success, and companies large and small are putting UX and a mature user centered design process in place. A good thing for end users, and my career.
Closing
I urge all UX practitioners to get this report – it’s free, and quite encouraging. The world is definitely changing, and it’s for the better when it comes to user experience design.