You Cannot Not Design UX: A Three-Step Mitigation Plan for BA’s
Paul Watzlawick, a famous psychologist and communication theorist, once said: “You cannot not
communicate!” The same accounts for a user’s experience. You cannot not design user experience (UX)!
Your final product or service is always going to create one. Yet, its design either happens intentionally or
by accident – with the results coming across accordingly. In many cases, especially when dedicated UX
personnel is absent, business analysts (BA) happen to be the UX designer by default often without even
realizing it. Their natural focus is the business need where users and their needs are not always part of
the picture. The results range from tremendous amounts of user errors to users protesting or refusing to
work with a newly implemented system. UX even has a perceivable Return-on-Invest (ROI) which should
be part of your business case – so why not making it part of the picture?
This talk will outline a three-step plan for business analysts to make the most out of their situation as UX
designer by default: the first step includes becoming aware of the BA’s impact on UX. The second seeks
to control and optimize this impact while the third step focusses on delivering proof and spreading the
word. While the overall goal of this approach is not for the BA to take over as UX designer, this
presentation creates the vision of UX-sensitive BAs that encounter problems and needs (business and
user) in very early stages and that know how to craft user experiences carefully by themselves or in a
joint effort with UX specialists.
Download the presentation here (username and password needed).