Making Sense of Enterprise UX
Summary
John Maeda has been around the block a bit. Long enough to have almost forgotten that he started off, many years ago, in… enterprise UX. Since then, he’s bounced around many corners of the design world, from higher education to venture-backed startups. In his closing keynote, John will view enterprise UX through the lens of his varied career to help us make sense of where it’s been–and where it might go.
Key Insights
-
•
Enterprise UX requires aligning diverse stakeholder perspectives, especially when leadership might not initially value design.
-
•
Design can sometimes create desire for unneeded products, a concern raised by a startup VP's CFO.
-
•
Listening to what is unsaid in research can unlock more profound innovation, as Amal insightfully noted.
-
•
Leaders like eBay’s John Donahoe show that CEO care for design is key to truly integrating it in organizations.
-
•
Followership holds enormous untapped power, enabling leaders to amplify impact by those who choose to follow.
-
•
Designers are often 'mutants' who straddle engineering and artistic mindsets, a unique hybrid not taught in traditional schools.
-
•
Creative professionals benefit by letting go of the stigma around money and embracing financial literacy and business education.
-
•
The history of computing and design often overlooks women pioneers who shaped today’s technology landscape.
-
•
Change management in creative institutions often involves brutal mistakes but rewards persistence and listening to key constituencies.
-
•
Future design leadership means more designers founding companies, joining boards, and speaking the language of business and tech.
Notable Quotes
"I really don’t like when we design our systems so well, because it makes the consumer think they might want it, and so they take too long to decide they actually didn’t want it."
"It’s the innovators who can listen to what is unsaid where research has the biggest impact."
"Followers believe they don’t have power, but actually hold enormous power to enable leadership."
"Design is a poorly designed word. It’s tough because it’s noun and verb and everything in between."
"Money is not an evil thing. Creative people should accept that money is okay."
"The best leaders lead so quietly they barely exist. When their work is done people say we did it ourselves."
"You’re all mutants, straddling engineering and design schools and feeling like the island of misfit toys."
"If you could tell students: you can do the thing your parents want and do what you want, that’s powerful."
"When Jack Dorsey launched Square, people hated it at RISD. Two years later, it was everywhere on campus."
"Graphic design profession wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for laws requiring public companies to publish annual reports."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Scaled Agile felt at first like a step backwards—design looked like just the finishing touch, not a key ingredient."
Erin HauberDesign is Not the Frosting on the Scaled Agile Layer Cake
October 24, 2019
"Thoughts cause feelings, and feelings motivate actions. Changing thoughts changes everything."
Megan KiersteadYou Are a Badass at UX: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
March 10, 2021
"We created a self-service UXR hub to empower teammates with research fundamentals amid downsized research teams."
Maggie DieringerCreating Consistency Through Constant Change
January 8, 2024
"All negative outcomes in legacy modernization can be traced back to not bringing product thinking to the table."
Meaghan Waters Fotina KoutropoulousLack of Product Thinking will Doom Your Legacy Modernization
June 9, 2021
"Brand is not just what you say, it’s what you do — your product and design live and breathe the brand."
Jemma AhmedBringing together market and user research
October 17, 2019
"Trust is a major enabler for tacit knowledge sharing because people must feel safe to be vulnerable and share their knowledge."
Maria TaylorKnowledge is Power: Managing the Lifeblood of the Design Org
October 3, 2023
"Getting accessibility integrated into all company processes is essential because accessibility is a culture change."
Sam ProulxUnderstanding Screen Readers on Mobile: How And Why to Learn from Native Users
June 6, 2023
"I wanted to create a model that let us rapidly increase our value within the business."
Catherine BlizzardUsing Integrated Insight to Drive Growth
March 10, 2022
"I put down my question guide and just talked with Carol."
Randolph Duke IIWar Stories LIVE! Randy Duke II
March 30, 2020
