Managing change as a designed user experience
Everyone has stories to tell about badly managed change, particularly with the introduction of new technology into the work place. Complaints are often about the lack of thinking and consideration in how the change was conducted resulting in negative experiences for staff. This presentation is a case study with a difference – the entire change process was a designed user experience.
Design of the user experience is typically focused on the technical user interface of new product or service. So what does the user experience look like when applied to an organisation-wide ‘change process’? This session will present key factors addressed when designing the user experience to introduce new ways to manage business information.
The organisation making the change was a 200-employee water utility. The 2-year project included the introduction of commercial-off-the-shelf software that would be configured, and where necessary customised, for local business requirements. The ‘change process’ for the project holistically addressed stakeholder engagement, communications and promotions, business solution development, staff learning and support, and business deployment.
The imperative of design is utility and fit-for-purpose. The purpose of a change process is to produce changed behaviours in people. Staff undergoing change are having an experience. Designing the change process to be an effective and affective experience, can increase the likelihood of initial adaptation and sustained adoption of change.
To deal with the intangible nature of the change, the design of the change process was characterised with participative and conceptual approaches. Staff were participants in the design and execution of the change process as well as the ‘business solution’. The business solution was conceived as two components:
- desired staff behaviours and practices that would serve organisational objectives
- fit-for-purpose tools that would support and guide sustainable user practice
The presentation will also be a designed user experience formatted as a quasi-game show.