Remote UX, let's continue!

With some UX-Designers from the team, we had imagined offering you a workshop dedicated to user-centered design work in “full remote” during our UX-Conf 2020 scheduled for March 19, and which will finally take place on October 1. in Paris uxconf.io. 
The news caught up with us incredibly quickly, putting almost the whole country into forced teleworking, and questioning companies, our customers, to rethink their operating methods or decide to put certain projects on hold.
For years, we have been supporting design projects remotely, either because the teams are spread over several sites, particularly internationally, or because the users of the solutions we design are also remote. 
We were able to test many workshop formats from classic UX-Design, Lean UX or Design Sprint methods, with different tools that we offer directly or that our customers choose.
 

 

# The methods we have the opportunity to put in place : 
  • Warm up in project launch, simplification of lean UX canvas, kick off project
  • Interviews in the exploratory phase
  • Brainstorming 
  • Mind map
  • Card sorting
  • Design studios (Crazy 8 or 6-to-1)
  • Live prototyping
  • Design review / criticism
  • User tests
  • Design and development front-end review 

 

# The tools that our experts use (the list is not exhaustive) : 

 

# Our lessons and good practices drawn from this feedback : 
  • block recurring slots sharing with stakeholders and users (“rituals” and UX/UI methods).
  • Plan as much of workshops that we would do it face-to-face, especially during the framing phase (set working times in the calendars, even if it means withdrawing it later if we don't have a subject that can be the subject of a workshop for example or reacting to a problem).
  • For collaborative workshops with people who do not know each other, invite people to introduce themselves, if possible by turning on their webcam (even when working remotely). Then ask to deactivate the webcams so as not to affect the fluidity of the connection.
  • Respect the good practices of a physical workshop (explanations of the rules, free expression, space to ask questions, respect for time, allow equal time for expression, etc.).
  • Communicate when preparing the workshop with the stakeholders involved. Before the workshops, it is good to have the format validated by the Product Manager and/or the Product Owner, in particular to ensure that we are aligned with the priorities and objectives.
  • Send a refund, from meeting notes after the workshop to the event mailing list with next steps. The objective is to keep a trace accessible to all of the workshop. If there is a common Drive, for example, leave the documents there. 
  • Create moments of sharing / decompression, to promote human connection (e.g. ice breakers, jokes). For example, on Mural, there are animals that represent people who enter anonymously, it's often a good ice breaker. 
  • In an international context, master english is of course a prerequisite.

 

Thank you to all our customers who trust us and allow us to always learn at their side : 

Givaudan, Airbus, Amco Solutions, Navblue, BlaBlaCar, Le Monde, Betclic, Véolia, … and many more!

Dear customers, continue to call on the experts of UX-Republic and let yourself be guided by our remote experience. ! 

 
 
 
Laetitia Faliere, Director UX-Republic Bordeaux @UX-Republic,
Anne Pedro, UX-Designer, coach and trainer @UX-Republic,
Jean-Sébastien Frère, Lead UX-Research and trainer @UX-Republic
 
Must read
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/remote-ux-work-nng-case-study/
https://uxdesign.cc/remote-collaboration-and-the-successful-design-team-714e5d2ad78f
https://library.gv.com/how-to-run-a-remote-design-sprint-without-going-crazy-840c23eef8a9
https://uxdesign.cc/how-to-brainstorm-with-your-newly-remote-team-9f8456becbf
Nice to read
https://www.uxpin.com/studio/blog/best-practices-remote-teams-12-principles-guide-everyday-work/
https://medium.com/@rrhoover/the-problems-in-remote-working-1a6f165585d