Was SXSW 2019 a winning event for UX pros?
Absolutely! With dozens of inspiring sessions focused on UX design, branding and marketing, this year’s SXSW Interactive wasn’t all about machine learning and artificial intelligence. It was great to see packed presentations from user experience professionals covering all sorts of topics.
What follows are some highlights from my perspective as a UX researcher.
My top three key takeaways from this year are as follows:
· The drive for quantitative measurement of everything was met with some resistance from a few presenters who expressed why qualitative research is still a critical influence on their decision making process.
· Get ready for ride sharing and grocery shopping experiences that will incorporate short form video, VR options and screens in places where you haven’t seen them before.
· The value proposition for UX in terms of understanding why it’s so important to the success of brands and startups seems to have finally reached a broad audience. Hearing the debate about how to best implement and research user experience initiatives was refreshing.
Here are the best sessions I caught in-between all the schmoozing, BBQ brisket and nighttime parties.
How Adaptive Design is Transforming Brands
According to the panelists from Zappos, Runway of Dreams, JAG Models and Ottobock, the disabled persons marketplace represents over $1 billion in fashion purchasing power. They explained how brands like Nike and Tommy Hilfiger are designing new products for this marketplace that look great and take into account specific physical challenges. Closures, arm holes and button alternatives are all being explored during the design process.
Molly Kettle of Zappos described how they do user testing with the target audience and empanelled an advisory board. She also explained that companies shouldn’t be afraid to stumble at first. It may take a few rounds of an adaptive design approach to arrive at customized fashion solutions, but the audience of disabled and chronically ill will become customers and brand advocates.
The Future of Supermarkets and Retail
As digital savvy shoppers we may be under the impression that online grocery sales are a significant part of overall supermarket sales. However, Kerry Liu of Rubikloud Technologies described online grocery as just over 2% of the market! I’ve explored some other stats and the highest I’ve seen is 6% — either way, the traditional grocery business isn’t going away anytime soon. Terms like BOPUS — buy online pick up in store — are going to join our common lexicon soon.
At the end of the day, customers care about loyalty, convenience and an omnichannel experience according to Lui. His firm’s AI tools can help with new product rollouts, promotional planning, improved channel marketing and supply chain issues. He envisions a world where AI helps to reduce food spoilage and waste while enabling retail grocery chains to tailor their customer experience to individual neighborhood stores.
Media and Entertainment for Autonomous Vehicles
Noelle Lacharite of Microsoft, John Gauntt of The Augmented City Podcast, and Brent Friedman of Artifact Technologies provided spirited descriptions of how we’re all going to get around in a few years. With connectivity and autonomy cited as the two biggest trends, the panelists asserted that the “passenger economy” is arising with an estimate that by 2030, people will have an extra hour to consume media. With advances in VR and inside the vehicle technology, our commutes will transform into time spent engaged with immersive entertainment, education, gaming or socializing.
There are several big unknowns such as how will advertisers get involved? Will short form videos like Quibi take the lead? How will the financial transaction models work? Questions from the audience arose about who will perfect the value proposition — firms like Lyft or the original equipment manufacturers? From my UX research perspective, the immersive experience is what will need fine-tuning in terms of how people adapt and interact with all the new autonomous vehicle offerings.
The Future of Healthcare, Really
It was somewhat depressing to hear from physician panelists David Feinberg of Google and Clay Johnston of Dell Medical School that Cuba has better patient outcomes than the United States. The two also explained that our zip codes have more to do with our health than most other methods of analysis. This is due to how underserved low income communities are by our nations healthcare system.
The good news that came out of this fascinating discussion was that Google and the Dell Medical School are using AI and new approaches to physician training to move the system in a positive direction. In fact, Dr. Feinberg explained that a Google team recently figured out that retina scans can reveal our gender and predict treatable health conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. When looking to solve big healthcare problems, the utilization of AI will help lead to less costly patient testing and more informed treatment strategies.
The New Consumer-Centric Approach to Insights
For big consumer packaged goods firms, the old approach of learning from and marketing to target audiences is changing dramatically. Ryan Barry of Zappi, Michelle Gansle of Mars Wrigley, and Tim Warner of Pepsi explained that big business isn’t in control anymore as the new consumer expects speed and transparency from their brands of choice. With segmented audience channels, using one creative approach for a brand is just not sufficient.
The panel described how democratization of internal data is a challenge faced by larger CPG firms. There’s tons of relevant siloed information but sharing it across internal brand teams and ad agency partners is often overlooked. Both Pepsi and Mars are starting to think of research data as a strategic asset, and create repositories of information that can be accessed by all decision makers. Data analysis also can’t be uniform for all situations. Many smaller brands are able to gain market share via a consumer centric model that allows them to move more rapidly and adeptly than the big guys.
Talk to Me: Voice Recognition & AI in Healthcare
A mix of healthcare panelists spoke about how voice recognition is at the early stages of helping HCP’s and patients. There’s a lot more to come in the future, and Dr. Michael Docktor of Boston Children’s Hospital elaborated on how voice recognition could help his team spend less time dealing with data entry and more time helping patients. Shawna Butler, a tech innovator and data savvy nurse described how nurses are at the front lines of healthcare and should be asked for user feedback during development of any new AI or software tools. Others on the panel agreed that voice interaction should definitely lead to better care and patient outcomes in the coming years.
KITE Corporate Innovation Leaders Brunch hosted by Fjord
This was a terrific event hosted by Fjord and lead by KITE, an enterprise software platform that allows companies to manage process, resources and intelligence around a variety of innovation activities. CEO Mark Silva facilitated an insightful discussion with innovation and product development leaders from about 25 global firms.
From the perspective of a small business founder like me, it would seem that industry leaders with billions in revenue would have an advantage developing new product offerings, but that’s not always the case. One leader spoke about how they spent over a year developing a new personal care product that works great, but when the roll out and marketing were handed off to a team that wasn’t entrepreneurial, sales never gained the momentum they expected.
The key challenges among larger firms seem to be how to make innovation work on several levels — financial, product and internal team organization. Success comes from setting realistic milestones, learning from past mistakes, having autonomy within the company, and establishing regular communication with the CEO.
Black Mirror and the Power of Speculative Design
Casey Hudetz & Mick Champayne of Digitas delivered a dynamic presentation about speculative design, which they defined as “a way of imagining and anticipating the future while simultaneously providing a lens through which to see ourselves more clearly.” They referenced “Black Mirror” on Netflix, a series that deals with the unexpected consequences of technology and social behavior in a connected world.
Casey and Mick presented “what if” scenarios as they might apply to UX or product design, challenging us to think about the potential negative impact of our ideas. While almost every designer wants their work to have a positive impact, the key takeaway was that designers should not be afraid to ask speculative questions about the long-term impact of their creations. Asking uncomfortable or challenging questions can lead to safer and more user-friendly digital products & services.
An Anthropological Approach to Reaching Customers
This panel discussion with Alisa Stern of Intersection, Gigi Taylor of Luminosity Research, and Louisa Wong of Carat USA was one of my favorites. With all the talk of numbers and how to quantify almost everything, it was very refreshing to hear three industry leaders talk about the need for qualitative research, which is what I do most often.
While big data was seen as extremely helpful, the panel explained that it cannot be the only resource used for smart decision making. Analyzing culture, ethnography and actually listening to people explain their perspective is “thick data,” a term you’re likely to hear more often. Thick data facilitates understanding of customer motivation and enables marketers to put ideas into context. The panel asserted that this contextual comprehension should have a huge impact on how to develop advertising that moves the needle. Since you “can’t quantify culture,” data scientists should be working with anthropologists to understand the shifting perception of brands via qualitative research.
Many of the sessions from the interactive series were recorded and are available at https://schedule.sxsw.com/2019 It’s always energizing to learn from some of the smartest people in technology and the world in general. For my conference budget, SXSW excels at creating a fantastic atmosphere of camaraderie, education and business opportunities.
Lon is the Founder & Principal UX Researcher at First Insights. Thoughts, questions or feedback are always welcome @lontaylor or www.FirstInsights.com
