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Introducing SUPA: The Service You Should Be Offering
- 2024/10/03
- 再生時間： 12 分
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あらすじ・解説
Whether you're part of a UX team, running an agency, or freelancing, there's a service you should be offering. I include myself in this too.This realization struck me while preparing for my design leadership workshop next week (and yes, it's not too late to sign up!). I was thinking about how most design teams are under-resourced, as I mentioned in a previous newsletter. We, therefore, need to be more strategic about how we spend our time.One issue is that we often get pulled into projects that shouldn't exist because they don't meet real user needs. We try to advocate for discovery phases to research user requirements, but many colleagues don't grasp what a discovery phase entails. Often, the decision to move forward with a project has already been made.The same goes for those of us working externally. By the time a client reaches out, the project is already defined and approved. We can't influence its direction as much as we should.So, we need to take elements of a discovery phase, combine them with a SWOT, repackage them, and present them as a new service we offer.Enter SUPA: Strategic User-Driven Project AssessmentThis is where the Strategic User-Driven Project Assessment (SUPA) comes in. Yes, I know, another acronym. But bear with me – there's a method to this madness.Why SUPA? Well, in a world drowning in jargon and buzzwords, sometimes you need to fight fire with fire. SUPA isn't just catchy; it's a trojan horse. It's designed to grab the attention of those business analysts and managers who love their TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) and make them sit up and take notice. Plus, let's be honest, who doesn't want to be SUPA at their job?But bad puns aside, SUPA represents a critical service that we, as UX professionals, need to champion more forcefully. It's our chance to get in at the ground floor of projects, to shape them before they become runaway trains of misguided objectives and wasted resources.What is SUPA?In essence, SUPA is a pre-emptive strike against poorly conceived projects. It's a comprehensive assessment that evaluates the potential success of a project from a user-centric perspective, before significant resources are committed. Think of it as a health check for ideas – we're diagnosing potential issues before they become full-blown problems.Now, I can already hear some of you thinking, "But isn't this just a discovery phase by another name?" And you're not entirely wrong. SUPA does incorporate elements of discovery, but it's more focused, more strategic, and crucially, it's packaged in a way that speaks directly to business priorities.Selling SUPA to Your Organization or ClientsThe key to selling SUPA is to frame it in terms of risk mitigation and resource optimization. Here's how you might pitch it:"SUPA is a strategic assessment tool that helps organizations validate project ideas before significant investment. It ensures that we're not just building things right, but that we're building the right things."Emphasize that SUPA can:Prevent costly missteps by identifying potential issues earlyAlign projects more closely with user needs and business goalsOptimize resource allocation by prioritizing high-value initiativesImprove project success rates and ROIFor in-house teams, position SUPA as a way to strengthen your role as strategic partners rather than just executors. For agencies and freelancers, it's an opportunity to add value right from the project's inception, potentially leading to longer-term engagements.What SUPA CoversUltimately a SUPA is delivered as a report or presentation focusing on the following areas:Audience Assessment: This is about clearly defining who we're building for. We need to ask: Is this project targeting a high-value audience for the organization? Do we understand this audience's needs and behaviors? Have we validated our assumptions about them?Need Assessment: Here, we're digging into the 'why' of the project. Does it address a genuine, validated user need? How critical is this need? Are there existing solutions that users are employing as workarounds? This step helps ensure we're not building solutions in search of problems.Feasibility Check: This is where we get practical. Do we have the necessary resources – time, budget, skills – to deliver an excellent user experience? Is the project scope realistic? Are there any technical constraints we need to consider? This step helps prevent the all-too-common scenario of overpromising and under-delivering.Risk Mitigation: Every project has risks, but not all risks are created equal. In this step, we identify potential design risks – things like usability issues, accessibility concerns, or misalignment with UI guidelines. But we don't stop at identification; we also provide concrete suggestions for mitigating these risks.Recommendations: This is where we bring it all together. Based on our assessment, should the project proceed from a UX perspective? If yes, what guardrails need to be in place? If no, ...