We’ve previously looked at the role of Chief Customer Officer (CCO), through the eyes of someone in the role. But what can be learned about this up-and-coming job title through surveying multiple people? Forrester’s Paul Hagen stepped in to find out. →

Establishing the value of design in today’s large-scale enterprises is a difficult challenge. Inflexible IT structures, a change-resistant organizational culture, or perceived cost might all be to blame. An external player with clout and authority is one way to get it done, and a new approach promoted by Deloitte is doing just that. →

Customer journey maps provide insight into a customer’s interaction with a service over time, and present that information in a clear, chronological view. But the right approach is crucial in order to get the best value out of these maps. →

Recently we looked at UX management, and the characteristics that bring success to the activity. To continue that theme, we decided to look at the role of the “UX Manager” itself, and see how the role is described in job listings. What can be learned from a quick survey? →

Previously on this blog, we’ve looked at the growing trend of user experience and customer experience representatives at the highest echelons of organizational structures: The “CXO” role. More common, however, are dedicated UX managers. This post explores their roles in some more detail. →

On 26 September 2012, “The Web and Beyond” conference took place in Amsterdam. The theme of this conference was “‘Momentum’: How do I get my organization obsessed with customers?” Here is a trip report written from the perspectives of a content designer (Barbara) and an UX designer (Luc). →

I have recently created an information poster which visualizes the approach that I described in a series of ten posts on design and change on this blog. I have combined the eight-step change process of John P. Kotter with the five colors of change of Léon de Caluwé leading to five different goals and ambitions. →

Its origins as a simple search engine long a dusty memory, Google now offers its products and services across just about any digital touchpoint you could name. So when it comes to research and recommendations on what today’s “multi-screen” world means for businesses, their findings make for interesting reading. →

Even though the term content strategy existed before Kristina Halvorson’s “Content strategy for the web” was published, its usage only really took flight after that. Like all hot topics, it is used far and wide and for different purposes, but with a clear core message: content rules the web, for better or for worse. →

The experience economy is a reality. Many organizations are in need of significant improvements of their customer experience. But that doesn’t happen automatically, so design thinking is mandatory, and organizations need to raise their design IQ; they must change. With the preceding series of posts, I have tried to indicate what the synergy between UX design and change management can accomplish. →

In previous posts in this series, I described a holistic approach to raise the design IQ of an organization. In this approach certain measures were identified to create more structure, such as design processes, design roles and departments. Furthermore, I outlined the creation of a learning organization, with feedback loops, customer panels, prototyping and providing design training and frameworks to employees. Now, let’s dive into the mechanisms of a motivated organization. →

I wondered if the title of this post shouldn’t have been “Solving tough problems permanently”. Often, tough problems are related to deeply-embedded bureaucratic or political behaviors in organizations influencing the quality of products and services negatively. New ways of working and organizing, or emerging insights, can contribute to “raising the design IQ of an organization”. →

For many individuals in organizations, user experience or user-centered design is a complete novelty. Some might already be a little familiar with the practices through presentations from the UX team or from an external UX consultant. But UX or UCD will only become really tangible when successes of real projects become visible for most employees or important executives. In this post, I’ll outline a few best practices contributing to their success and visibility. →

An important step towards successful change is the creation of support, which can be done in two ways. Remove the obstacles for change, such as systems or ways of thinking that people have become accustomed to and offer tools so people can act according to the vision. In this post, I’ll outline both activities and their relation to design work. →

There are many kinds of ways to communicate a UX vision: meetings, presentations, intranet posts, etc. I’m not going to describe all possibilities, but I’m going to provide some noteworthy examples from the literature. →