Utopia - An imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its citizens. - Wikipedia UXtopia- An imagined work environment that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for UX teams. Based on input from UX professionals, we’ll explore the facets and qualities that lead to a satisfying work environment and positive experiences for customers/users, such as: • Team Structure • Process • Strategy • Market Position/Impact • Community Contribution • Career Development We’ll also take a look at some steps that both UX leaders and individual contributors can take to create the work life they want. Is it really possible or necessary to reach perfection? Maybe not. But if you can’t imagine it, you can’t even get close.

1. THE SEARCH FOR
UXTOPIA

2. HELLO!
I am Mandy Cornwell
15 years in UX
5 years in leadership
@mandyco

3. startup
large
company
large
agency
boutique
agency
mid-size
agency
large
company
large
company

4. What is UXtopia?
An imagined work environment that possesses highly
desirable or nearly perfect qualities for UX teams.

5. “
Perhaps the greatest utopia would be if we could
all realize that no utopia is possible; no place to
run, no place to hide, just take care of business
here and now.
Jack Carroll

6. If you can’t imagine it, you
can’t even get close.

7. Team User Design Organization CommunityYou
Career
Development
Structure
Coverage
Insights
Journey
Strategy & Vision
Guidelines &
Process
Environment
Impact & Value
Strategy
Involvement
ContributionCulture

8. CAREER DEVELOPMENT
▫ Opportunities for growth and career
development
▫ Organization focus on employee growth
▫ Ability to attend training/conferences
▫ Clearly defined career progression
You
Tips
▫ Take control
▫ Develop your own career plan/goals
▫ Share with your manager & ask for help
▫ Look for free training (i.e. local events,
Coursera)

9. CULTURE
▫ People you enjoy working with
▫ Your work adds value to the business
▫ Aligns with your values
▫ Leadership you believe in
▫ Alignment with manager
▫ Stability
Team
Tips
▫ Do your research up front
▫ Ask a lot of questions
▫ If possible, don’t accept an offer you
aren’t happy with

10. STRUCTURE
▫ Mix of disciplines, including core
disciplines
▫ Range of skill levels
Team
Tips
▫ Lack research? Build skills
▫ Lack a content writer? Ask marketing or
technical writing to help out.
▫ Pair/balance senior and junior

11. COVERAGE
▫ Appropriate size team for
products/projects supported
▫ Support customer facing and internal
tools
▫ Alignment across business
Team
Tips
▫ Prioritize work
▫ Communicate limitations clearly
▫ Make a case - get some stats
▫ Create a network with other teams across
business

12. INSIGHTS
▫ Access to users and time to do research
▫ Organizational support
▫ Personas
User
Tips
▫ Test with coworkers/friends
▫ Invite partner teams to research
▫ Search for third party data (i.e. Pew)
▫ Check for company accounts with
Forrester, eMarketer, etc.

13. JOURNEY
▫ Design end to end experience going
beyond digital
▫ Contacts and influence throughout
business
▫ Journey maps
User
Tips
▫ Create a simple journey map and get
feedback from colleagues
▫ Talk to customer facing teams
▫ Ask to shadow calls, visit stores,
talk to sales people
▫ Create a network of contacts
▫ Provide value back to those teams

14. STRATEGY & VISION
▫ Clearly defined UX strategy and vision
▫ Aligned with business and leadership
▫ Design roadmap
Design
Tips
▫ Conduct competitive reviews
▫ Gather metrics/analytics
▫ Understand stakeholder needs
▫ Align with business needs

15. GUIDELINES & PROCESS
▫ Consistency
▫ Style Guides
▫ Pattern library
▫ Clear UX and delivery process
Design
Tips
▫ Find out what is right for your
environment
▫ Communicate/collaborate with partner
teams
▫ Ask what is and isn’t working

16. ENVIRONMENT
▫ Physical environment conducive to
design
▫ Design constraints are reasonable
▫ Supports collaboration
▫ What is built/launches matches design
Design
Tips
▫ Look for a space you can claim as the
design area
▫ Set expectations
▫ Promote collaboration - show the benefits
▫ Test the build

17. IMPACT & VALUE
▫ Clear purpose
▫ Provides value in people’s lives
▫ Inspires passion
▫ Competitive advantage and strong
market positionOrganization
Tips
▫ What impact can UX make?
▫ Use the user insights, journey maps,
competitive research, etc.

18. STRATEGY INVOLVEMENT
▫ Involvement and influence in defining
business strategies
▫ UX representation in company’s
leadership
▫ Leadership understands the value of UXOrganization
Tips
▫ Ask to be involved
▫ Don’t be critical
▫ Get some wins, add value

19. UX CONTRIBUTION
▫ Attend local events
▫ Host events
▫ Contribute to blogs/host a blog
▫ Develop new techniques
▫ Share research findings
Community
Tips
▫ Share events with team members
▫ Write blog posts on Medium/LinkedIn
▫ Teach/Mentor

20. GET STARTED
list
revisit
pick top 3 you can impact
identify actions

21. “
Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase
perfection, we can catch excellence.
Vince Lombardi

22. THANKS!
Any questions?
You can find me at
mandy.cornwell@gmail.com
@mandyco