Innovation

Organizations, and their leaders, are struggling in the years after the pandemic to define their return-to-office playbook. What is the right narrative that will bring people back into the office? What are the benefits of working in a collocated space that outweigh the costs of the commute and loss of flexibility in the work day? In our readout to leadership, in early 2023, the FoW taskforce offered several answers to those questions, including the value of simply running into each other.

One of the workplace activities we rarely notice—bumping into people in the hall on our way to and from other places—turns out to be an unsung hero of innovation. As we find ourselves coming back to the office, many of us are rediscovering the delightful serendipity of this seemingly insignificant interaction. But don’t be fooled by its apparent lack of importance. Random collisions are anything but minor players in driving innovation across the enterprise. They are one of several antidotes to address remote-only workplaces (which, if left unattended devolve into siloed organizations). I was reminded of their importance in a…

I argue, in the initial articles of this series, that a UX architecture exists. I argue that it is akin to Architecture itself even if UX architecture doesn't share the strategic position of its older and more established relation. I've also suggested that UX architecture will eventually get a seat at the strategy table because otherwise the costs will be prohibitive. Enterprises will either be replaced by competitors that leverage UX in their strategies, or they eventually evolve to leverage UX themselves. With the business and operational contexts sketched out in the prior set of articles, I turn your attention to…

In the first set of articles, I’ve argued that Architecture is both strategic and political. These are two ways in which it differs from design. I suggested Architecture isn't just design on steroids: it's a broader activity, extending beyond the brief to which any specific design responds. Architecture is both the context within which a design must operate, and a contributor to any given design. In the most recent article, I proposed that Architecture, and UX architecture are also responsible for the processes by which they operate. Unless the organization understands the value of Architecture in financial terms, it won't be willing to…