On the occasion of the UX Strategy training by Jaime Levy on March 28-29, 2019 at UX-Republic, I took this opportunity to ask the author of the best-selling UX-Strategy a few questions.
Jaime Levy is one of the most influential contemporary personalities in UX-Design. The discovery of its methodology has enabled many Designers to formalize this persistent intuition of the link between a company's marketing and sales strategy and Design.
I let you discover an extraordinary, atypical, humanist and definitely visionary Designer.
Why did you become a Designer?
I became a Designer because it was a profession that I had to learn to do Software / Interface Design.
I had studied cinema and television, I had learned how to produce and edit videos. But it was really only during higher education that I understood that my interfaces were not “professional”. Indeed, I knew nothing about Graphic Design.
So I took a course in typography. Which helped me. But, in the end, I actually learned Design by making “tons of products” (first my disk magazines), then asking a Designer roommate to tell me how to make them look better.
And, at the same time, Macs were becoming popular for their digital editing solution. Thus, it is by realizing for several years the layout of magazines and advertisements that I had the feeling of making my interfaces symmetrical and minimal.
I also became obsessed with David Carson and Raygun magazine. Seeing what he was doing (even without classical training) made me want to make interfaces that push the limits. For example, having buttons that turn on and off to grab your attention in sync with industrial noise samples.
So for me, all my work in the 90s was about combining music, animation, games, Graphic Design into interfaces cool which finally got recognized by the time I did WORD.com (featured in the NY Times).
What were the main stages of your career?
THE NEW MEDIA ERA (1986-1993)
When I was in University to graduate, it was experimental video and performance who inspired me to become an artist using technology rather than a traditional feature filmmaker as I had planned.
I graduated from New York University in 1990 and defended my master's thesis on a DiskMagazine in five issues, an electronic book, then the disc for Billy Idol.
At that time, I was a software designer and an innovative entrepreneur in my own right. But I had no idea of the businees. For me I was just one gen-ex kid making crazy art that reflected pop culture hoping that one day I'll be professional… if only there was a means of distribution for digital content.
THE DOT COM ERA (1994-2000)
The first web browser came out and I was working as a prototype/interface designer at IBM.
As soon as I saw Mosaic I quit my job and learned all I could about HTML. I was also starting to get pretty famous for my early jobs and had tons of job offers in New York.
So I got into WORD.com (online pop culture magazine). But I found myself on my own and had trouble finding creative projects.
Fortunately, a business angel gave me $500.000 to start my own company: Electronic Hollywood. We were creating content online and by making websites. It was an amazing time for everyone in San Franscisco and New York to be creative and not worry about business model I did get to do so much during that time… However, I knew the money was going to disappear because of the stock market speculation. And it happened. And like every other .com company, I had to fire everyone who worked with me and find myself a new future that maybe wasn't on the internet…
PROFESSIONAL FAILURE / FOCUS ON MYSELF (2001-2005)
Randomly, I made a friend who told me he was an “Information Architect”. I soon realized that this role was something I could do if I could teach myself how to make sitemaps.
So I made blueprints of all my old websites and met people all over LA trying to get jobs as an Information Architect or Interaction Designer.
REINVENTION AS A UX DESIGNER (2005-2010)
I was back! Work within leading interactive agencies who lead UX teams on large-scale entertainment and e-commerce websites. I climbed the ranks from UX-Designer to Senior UX-Designer then Lead UX-Designer.
Once I reached the position of Lead Designer, I had the opportunity to do the UX Strategy (then called Discovery Phase) for Oprah and realized what I wanted to do with my life.
I was also teaching part-time in a college: courses on UX-Design and eventually on UX strategy. I met a student who was a writer. She started convincing me to write a book….
UX STRATEGIST, LEAN STARTUP FREAK, ENTREPRENEUR, AUTHOR (2010 to date)
I started my business and only took on ui clients letting me do the UX strategy phase before doing the UX design. I succeeded because I wanted to do product definition, competitive analysis, user research, etc.
So I developed my own UX Strategy toolbox to do product strategy. And, I contacted O'Reilly Media to offer them a book on UX strategy. I then took two painful years to write it… And this student/writer that I had met became my editor and made a well-written and convincing book.
Sarah Dzida, my editor, taught me how to write, understand structure, and tell stories.
The book was released in 2015 and within a few years became a bestseller. I traveled the world continuously from 2015 to 2018 doing trainings and workshops. My business was booming. People were booking (and still do) conferences…
During the time I wrote my book, I was afraid it was a waste of time. That no one would care about UX strategy. But it turned out that I was wrong. Now my book is used worldwide as a framework for this practice.
Last week, someone from IDEO called me to discuss a collaboration with me. He told me my book was on their shelves. I was so happy...
Today, after 30 years of inventing and designing software, I'm still as passionate about it as when I was 22.
How would you describe the relationship between Business and UX?
UX strategy is the intersection of UX-Design and business strategy. Ultimately, a product must win by differentiating and being better than existing solutions.
UX-Design is about differentiation.
Look at Uber…it's just an interface to connect customers with drivers. But all of a sudden, people get into strangers' cars or let strangers into their cars; people who would never hitchhike or pick up hitchhikers. That's because Uber changed our mental model about a "scary" activity using an interface, reviews, etc.
So it's that mental model that we need to identify, that's what we're trying to change with UX, but it needs to have a business model to support it.
Do you think the board of directors of a company is a good place for Designers?
If the board of directors is where the company makes decisions about the direction of its products or services, then yes, a Lead Designer should be present (“have a seat at the table”). When I talk about Lead Designer, I think of a professional who has evolved with business acumen and who has a vision for his company.
What advice would you give to a young Designer?
Take on as many diverse projects as possible, even if they are unpaid or underpaid.
It is not necessary to have a university degree in UX-Design or UI-Design to succeed in this field. There are plenty of books, online resources, events, meetups, conferences, and workshops for networking with people and listening to talks.
Malcolm Gladwell said it takes us 10 hours to be surprising in an activity. Well, if you work 000 hours/week for five years, you will reach your 40 hours. So design 10 hours/week, even if part of the time is at night or on weekends, and stop whining. The journey is the reward. Find a mentor. Do internships where they'll give you some creative control and do some product strategy.
Do you want to add something?
Be mindful when making products that do good versus bad.
We are at a terrible time in history, both politically and technologically, where madmen can use our tools to do very bad things.
The inventors of Twitter never intended this to happen. Sometimes, as a designer of a product, you never know how people will use it, so be aware of how it could be used to hurt people. I recommend reading Douglas Rushkoff (Team Human, Throwing Rock at the Google Bus).
Finally, I will advise you to stop using your phone in restaurants or during social activities with your friends and relatives. Talk to them! Connect to humans!
Explore more!
Thanks to Jaime Levy for giving us this interview. It was a pleasure and a chance to exchange with such a rich and intense personality of Design.
If you want to know more about the UX Strategy methodology, Jaime Levy, will lead a training at UX-Republic on March 28 and 29, 2019 at our premises in Paris.
Sébastien Faure, Learning & Development Manager @UX-Republic
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