The most important challenge for UX managers in 2020

Surprising or predictable? Participants in our UX management circle actually see more opportunities for UX than negative effects from the Corona crisis. This becomes apparent after a quick inventory during the online edition of the circle's 22nd meeting.

Here are eight major changes and challenges directly related to Corona according to participating UX managers:

1. Quick adoption of remote working from home. Online tools that UX already used (eg Miro) are now also being adopted by other departments.
2. Great pressure for organizations on digitization in general. Digital first is the adage. It is now easier to continue digitization in consumer services (less resistance), but also, and unfortunately, less attention to inclusiveness.
3. Depending on the organization, some participants see more budget becoming available for UX. Others fear cutbacks and therefore less UX budget.
4. Increase in remote user testing with a wider spread of test participants (both geographically and culturally). But it also turns out to be more difficult to recruit respondents.
5. Increased productivity among UX professionals in ongoing projects (excluding professionals with small children). Starting new projects, on the other hand, is slowing down.
6. Social aspects and team building appear to be more difficult to achieve. Furthermore, it is becoming more difficult to effectively 'on-board' new team members.
7. There is better cooperation within internationally dispersed teams, more equality in the interests of team members (eg hoka vs non-hoka).
8. An important issue is how to deal with reopening the office or studio. Some employees want to go back to ‘the old normal’, while others focus entirely on the new normal, involving more remote working.

So in all, there are still many challenges and questions left to deal wih, but it is certainly not all misery. Challenges keep you on your toes.

Under the motto 'How do they get through it', UX managers shared experiences and tips. It was another interesting meeting of the UX management circle (edition 23). This time again a virtual round table with the UX managers, with an important topic of discussion: Corona 'the sequel'.

The newspapers Financieele Dagblad, Trouw and De Volkskrant recently published articles in which research revealed that the second Corona wave is experienced as significantly more gloomy than the first. This image was confirmed by the participants in the circle. While in the first wave in March 2020, in addition to disadvantages, advantages were also clearly seen (see above), in this second wave, people seemed to be really done with it.

Of course, meetings can be more efficient, and during some meetings you can just check your mail, or cut the vegetables for dinner. But the drawbacks are dominant.

You can see this, for example, in the Employee NPS (Net Promotor Score), which is significantly lower than a few months ago. There are more concerns about the psychological and physical condition of employees. It is more difficult to gauge how employees are in fact feeling, even the more introverted among them seem to feel the need for physical contact.

There are taks you can perform behind your laptop at home, no problem. But especially for creative sessions, during which you would want to huddle up together, working with Miro or Mural is a poor alternative for the real thing. For some UX managers, travel time has now become work time. You run, as it were, from one online meeting to another. Especially the collegial chats at the proverbial coffee machine are sadly missed. All in all, that makes everyone more sensitive to stress.

So what are the tips, tricks, and solutions?

1. Organize bilateral meetings by phone.
2. Organize chatroulette (you have a conversation with a random colleague).
3. Just return to calling instead of video calling so you can walk around.
4. Force computer and email to be switched off at the end of the workday.
5. Organize a pub quiz, virtual coffee break, inspiration sessions (even if they only work temporarily, because again screen-oriented).
6. Emphasize the importance of proactive communication from senior management. Focus on taking good care of yourself, because that is ultimately good for your customer. Take a vacation, don't sit behind your screen too much, etc. If senior management shares this message, it takes the pressure off a bit.
7. Celebrate successes by sending everyone a (real, not virtual) cake.
8. Or a drink package.
9. Just call each other, without agenda.
10. Agree that you will all keep one day a week 'meeting-free'. So that you can continue working that day.
11. Take the opportunity to undertake specific coaching and learning paths. For example, how can you better deal with critical feedback as a designer?
12. Find a balance between, for example, two days at the office and three days working from home. A number of organizations are in the process of structuring this for the longer term. Surveys are conducted among employees: What do you want to do at home, what at the office? The office is set up for that. Some organizations even have plans to close certain property.

The organization of hybrid sessions in which a physical whiteboard is used (and in which some of the people participate online) are still a mystery. How do you do this right? Tips anyone?