UI/UX Articles and Interesting Tidbits of the Week
November//10//2023
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
1.
Product Strategy Framework. Interesting article from the Dovetail Blog and author Sean Bruce on the topic of Product Strategy. While this may seem like a topic that is not particularly Design affiliated, it bears reading through, since it does shed light on considerations Product professionals prioritize (or should priorititze), when devising a product strategy. The article includes highlights on aspects such as Customer Identification, Understanding Competition, Making Profit, and Macro Environment, all aspects that Designers focus on as they embark on any Product Design journey (yes, monetization considerations are fundamental to be understood by Designers as well). The article also showcases Roadmaps, Success Metrics, to name but a few other aspects worth reading through. Highlight of the article includes:
“A product vision is the essence of the product and identifies its long-term goal. It answers the “why” you’re developing the product, sets the strategy, and aligns the product team. Understanding the reason for the product and the goal you’re trying to achieve can keep the team focused when you hit roadblocks or start straying from the original path. Think of the motivation behind the product to find the vision. Say you’ve got an idea for an app that shows walking trails close to where someone lives. The vision might be “help people exercise” or “help people get out and explore nature.” Take a look at a real-world example. Google is a search engine, but its vision is “to provide access to the world’s information in one click.””
2.
Digitizing for Success, a Case Study. Another interesting case study hailing from the Adobe Blog, this time around focused on the Atlantic Grocery Distributors (AGD) and how Adobe Acrobat Pro played a role in digitizing their workflows and processes. I typically love reading through case studies, and understanding how real problems were handled, ie, how the problems were documented, what and who they were impacting, and how the solutioning process was executed. And typically the best case studies are the ones where the problems being tackled are real , where digital transformation also includes challenges pertaining to users adopting tools and how these impact their habits (and how resistant users are to these). Worth reading through. Highlight of the article includes:
“Introducing digital solutions in a company with a diverse workforce can present unique challenges. AGD’s team is comprised of a wide mix of individuals, some of whom have been with the company for decades. As such, some employees are not naturally inclined toward adopting new digital tools — but Phillips was undeterred. She bridged this gap by personally demonstrating Acrobat’s user-friendly nature, making it a vital tool for all employees. This seamless transition has helped her create a digitized warehouse of institutional knowledge by converting vital files into PDFs and saving them for easy access. This will ensure that, as new operational systems are created or legacy employees retire, others at AGD can come up to speed much faster than before. In addition, says Phillips, “This saves me an estimated hour each week. Instead of finding and sending files to people, they can now search for the documents and print or share themselves.” Acrobat has been critical in optimizing AGD’s operational dynamics, making information sharing swift and efficient while instilling a greater sense of ownership among employees.”
3.
Upcoming Employee Trends. Another article from Qualtrics blog, this one focused on Employee Trends for 2024 (from author Antonio Pangallo). I typically frown at highlighting this type of article, as I believe they sensationalize aspects that are already pretty well know, mostly for click bait type of experiences. However, I did appreciate the author’s take on the role of AI and how workers envision leveraging it in their current tasks. The other trends that are described, namely Frontline workers unhappiness, New-job honeymoon period vanishing, Monitoring of messages/communications and the Hybrid/Office scenarios, are topics that have been regurgitated and beaten down to a pulp at this point. The Hybrid/Office situation in particular, is one ripe for discussion (and a controversial statement), as I’ve usually maintained that it’s a philosophy that primarily works for centrally located organizations (geographically), but ones that have no trouble in pushing offshore teams to supporting roles. Highlight of the article includes:
“In our research, we found that when it comes to implementing AI, employee engagement might hold the answer. We found that the more engaged someone is, the more comfortable they are with using or working alongside AI for work. In fact, 53% of engaged employees reported being comfortable with AI, compared to just 30% of disengaged employees. But organizations also need to balance their desire for efficiency and business success with employee well-being. The reality is that while AI enables employees and many organizations to scale and thrive, the chief concern amongst the workforce is their roles being replaced, or their experience being controlled. For example, we found that while people are comfortable using AI for menial tasks at work, such as writing (61%), personal assistance (51%), and internal workspace queries (46%), they would much rather rely on or engage with a human for more personal, subjective aspects, such as employee performance appraisals (37%) and job interviews (29%).”
