Engagement for the UX community UX strategy working group

UX is far more than just making digital products easy to use: It has substantial potential for creating business value. As leader of the UX strategy working group (German UPA), I contribute to establishing UX as a strategic value of organisations.

In a nutshell

Challenge: UX strategy is a vital step to establish UX in organisations, but its complexity makes it difficult to approach
Solution: Building a German UPA working group for UX strategy
Result: Various publications, workshops, and other outcomes

Our honorary German UPA working group contributes to establishing UX strategy as a connection between user experience (UX) and business, aiming at raising awareness for UX strategy, collect insights on UX strategy, and develop strategic methods.

Approach

UX strategy graphic: Building on the business vision and business mission, UX strategy puts experience in the center of the organisation, the humans, and the technology. It is iteratively improved and builds on ethics and sustainability. The concrete, daily activities then realise the strategy. — What is UX strategy? – Example of one of our work group results

As a working group leader, I organise the work sessions (roughly every two weeks), facilitate workshops, and contribute to various outcomes of the working groups. Building on collaborative Miro boards, Discord, and Google Drive, each work sessions is comprised of networking, content work, and discussions.

Participants during a workshop — The UX strategy working groups has a strong collaborative approach, building on workshops and Miro boards

Example of our Miro board — The UX strategy working groups has a strong collaborative approach, building on workshops and Miro boards

Our working group has a strong empirical focus: We collect data about current trends and practices in UX strategy (e.g., the current state of UX strategy, good practices, and required skills) through surveys, interviews, and co-design sessions, mostly in the German-speaking UX community.

Quote by one participant: UX strategy is too much of an exotic topic, only measured and evaluated in closed circles. — Examples of our empirical approach

MaxQDA interface with coded interveiw transcripts — Examples of our empirical approach

Results

We publish working group results at German UPA events and media, for example as a paper and presentation at Mensch & Computer 2023, Rapperswil (only available in German):

Current projects

Currently, our work concentrates on publishing the results of our UX strategy survey, sharing UX strategy good practices, and identifying a skills framework for UX strategy. A list of current projects is available on the German UPA website.