Just days away, this year’s UC Tech conference, hosted by UC Davis from Oct. 27-29, introduces a track on communications and user experience (UX). Some may wonder why these topics are bubbling up at this year’s event and this article aims to share perspectives from folx in IT at UC Berkeley. “Collaboration for Transformation” is the theme for this year’s conference. A great example of collaboration occurs daily when project managers (PM) connect with communications and UX experts to provide the campus community with the best experience possible.
Perspective: Project Managers
Project managers play a crucial role in IT project success by overseeing planning, organization, and execution. Their communication skills are vital, as they spend 75-90% of their time coordinating efforts and ensuring all teams stay aligned (Source: PMI’s Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge). Leveraging assistance from communications and UX experts can help PMs juggle their many responsibilities, and ultimately enhance the campus experience.
Balancing time, resources, and budget constraints between teams can make it challenging to fit all the pieces together. “Technical project teams are sometimes too focused on implementing the technology itself, and forgetting why the project was initiated in the first place,” says Faye Snowden, Director of the Technology Program Office in Berkeley IT. “I encourage my project teams and students to think about the bigger picture, and how users will engage with new systems.”
Perspective: Communications & UX Designers
Effective communication and UX are pivotal in IT organizations, particularly in bridging the gap between campus customers and the technical services they are offered. Great, intuitive UX not only simplifies the use of technology but also makes communicating about services much easier, and fosters robust relationships between service owners and their users. Clear, concise communication helps demystify complex IT services, making them more accessible and user-friendly.
UX ensures services are designed with the end user in mind, enhancing usability and satisfaction. By prioritizing both communications and UX, IT organizations can better address the needs of their campus customers, ensuring that services are not only functional but also intuitive and easy to use. When UX is included early in a project, the scope can be more focused, resulting in less overall effort for the team. While homegrown efforts benefit from UX, vendors have also been receptive to UX feedback from Berkeley, sometimes incorporating feedback within days.
Challenges >> Solutions
Communications
Communication challenges often arise when dealing with services that are not intuitive, user-friendly, or users not engaged earlier in the process to help in change management efforts. In these cases, effective communication becomes even more crucial. Technical teams must hone their skills to communicate directly and clearly with customers, breaking down complex concepts into understandable information. This necessity is highlighted in a survey conducted among IT Communications Directors through EDUCAUSE. The survey revealed that many IT organizations face increased demand for communications support, emphasizing the need for clear, concise messaging. One respondent noted, “Our users often struggle with understanding new services. Effective communication has become essential in guiding them through the process.”
This sentiment was echoed by others, who shared real-life scenarios of users finding it difficult to navigate new systems without proper guidance. Change management is another collaborative effort between project and communications teams that can help a project be more successful by offering training and being proactive about helping users through a shift in services or launching new technology. Iris Chelaru, Director of Communications for Information & Educational Technology (IET) at UC Davis said, “Empowering our technical teams to communicate effectively with customers is key to improving the overall service experience.” In a time when the demand for effective communications continues to increase as resources on communications teams remain limited, these are important aspects for everyone to consider.
User Experience (UX)
In the UX space, the biggest challenge is ensuring the user’s experience is considered early in the design of the service. Ideally, services are designed to be as intuitive and easy to use as possible but in reality, technical or resource constraints may not always result in the best UX. As mentioned, this is where communications can bridge the gap between campus customers and the technical services they are offered.
A rule of thumb is that one hour of UX can save 10 hours of development and 100 hours of overall team time. UX is not only for IT projects and UX solutions may not always involve software or hardware development. For example, the UX of an IT project could be improved through communications or changes to content on a web page.
Continuous improvement in UX can only occur if teams understand what resources are available (and use them). Last year, User Experience Lead Rachel Hollowgrass launched the Berkeley UX Program which continues to gain traction but not 100% adoption. Rachel has been a longtime voice and advocate who also leads the UCUX community which hosts events and workshops throughout the year.
Project Management
In a recent popup poll during a Project Management Community of Practice meeting at UC Berkeley, attendees were asked, “What is your #1 communications challenge?” Responses varied but here’s a summary:
- Time and resource capacity (to do all the communications, get SME input, obtain approvals, etc.)
- Strategy (agreement on who gets told what and when)
- Engagement (of stakeholders and users)
Leveraging team resources from communications and UX colleagues early in project planning can ensure the right audiences are reached at the right time and project outcomes result in the best possible user experience.
Resources
Want to tap more ideas for improving integrating project management, communications, and UX at your UC location? Here are a few resources:
- View the full conference agenda for UC Tech to learn about the sessions available in the Communications & User Experience track.
- Check out these Tools & Tips – Looking for hands-on tools to use, from templates to workflow ideas? We compiled this list which is non-exhaustive, ever-changing, and not meant to promote anything specifically. These resources are what the Berkeley IT project management, communications, and UX teams have been using lately.
- Ask questions in UC Tech Slack – Join the conference channel or create a new channel for your topic of interest.
- Join EDUCAUSE Connect – Research your local UC location for groups already gathering regularly on these topics or start your own! Or you can select a wide range of communities through EDUCAUSE.
Feel free to contact Rita Rosenthal, Director of Communications for IT at UC Berkeley if you have questions about this article or the resources provided.
Author
Rita Rosenthal
Director of Communications, Information Technology
UC Berkeley
Caption: Image of diferent gears working in unison to (to support the customer journey.)