Your level-up for product and team

Disappointing digital projects: is it down to mindset?

Most digital projects that fall short of expectations don't do so because, say, people turn out not to like a design. They more likely do so because an elaborate solution was delivered from outside that the internal team can neither maintain, develop further, defend nor sell internally. On top of that, the solution may come with loads of research findings that end up in the PDF graveyard. Everything is shiny and new, but just not nice – and at the next relaunch, it probably all starts again from scratch.

If you and your team have been through something like this, rest assured: you're neither the first nor the only ones. The problem – a very expensive one, by the way – is well known, and has been for decades (see Robert N. Charette: Why Software Fails, IEEE Spectrum, 2005).

At the heart of the problem lies a mindset: the attitude towards user-centred thinking and design. Treat UX as a one-off commission and you're buying a result that starts to age and water down the moment the team is left to its own devices. But see user-centred thinking and designing as a skill that ALL team members can apply, and you're laying a foundation on which anything you can imagine can grow. User-centred design is a process, not a project – that's where the magic happens.

How does the Truly XD process change a team's mindset?

Instead of forcing design onto a team, the Truly XD process offers maturity-minded experience design and strategy. Maturity-minded means: we start where your team actually is today. Realistic excellence rather than an idealised picture. The process works in two layers.

First, the foundation: the team develops user-centred thinking; recurring friction disappears thanks to data-based decisions and clear templates. And on top of that grows what it's really all about: a confident team, a better product and room for genuine innovation. The Truly XD process is a framework that moves teams and products forward for the long haul.

The Truly XD capability-building series was designed so that teams can learn actively – by anchoring user-centred thinking and design in their own processes and adopting a mindset that drives products forward in the long run. More on the Truly XD design process.

Who the series is for

The capability-building series is ideal for NGOs, universities, public institutions and value-driven businesses that are responsible for digital products and …

… have little or no experience with user-centred design so far, but want to change that

… don't want to depend on outside help forever

… have had disappointing results in the past, for example with relaunches, without really knowing why

… want to build a foundation for genuine innovation

In other words: if you recognise yourselves in any of these sentences, you're in the right place:

'We've had an audit, but we don't know where to go from here.'

'The design we were shown looks great, but somehow the build doesn't quite match it.'

'It was only at the end of the project that we realised we'd been talking about different things.'

'We need support that goes beyond the design phase.'

Four building blocks: the products at a glance

Four building blocks that work on their own and together form a learning curve – from the first honest reality check to ongoing support.

UX Maturity Snapshot: the starting point.

A UX maturity check that leads to concrete decisions. It assesses strategy, process, culture and outcomes, and delivers a prioritised roadmap matched to your team's actual UX maturity. It comes in two versions: Snapshot S for a compact overview in one week, and Snapshot L, which also includes stakeholder interviews across different roles and makes gaps in perception visible.

Find out more about the Maturity Snapshot

Product Strategy Workshop: your team learns on its own product.

One facilitated day (or two half-days) that lets you experience user-centred design first-hand, following the principle of 'principles before pixels'. At its heart are three questions – WHO, HOW, WHY – which you'll be able to answer clearly by the end. Ideal if there's no research data yet and an interdisciplinary team is just getting started.

Find out more about the Product Strategy Workshop

Design System Starter Kit: settle the fundamental debates once instead of rehashing them forever.

Maximum accessibility included. Within a few days, you get a ready-to-use framework of design tokens, components and accessible design to WCAG 2.2 AA – for brand-new designs as well as organically grown legacy ones. A solid basis with the European Accessibility Act in mind, too.

Find out more about the Design System Starter Kit

Maturity Retainer: for everyone who wants to learn and grow.

Ongoing support on a monthly basis, in three tiers from 'Arriving' to 'Implementing'. The goal is deliberate: not dependence, but independence. By the end, you should need us less, not more.

Find out more about the Maturity Retainer

Two things your team gains in the long run

1. Actively learning, establishing and anchoring user-centred thinking and design within the team – as a skill that stays long after the project ends.
2. A basis on which innovation can grow. Because innovation rarely fails for lack of ideas; it fails for lack of a foundation – and that's exactly what this series builds and expands.

Further reading

• Robert N. Charette: Why Software Fails, IEEE Spectrum, 2005: spectrum.ieee.org/why-software-fails