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For years, parallels between industrial engineering and user experience (UX) strategy have silently existed when applying human-centered design thinking in product development. UX Design teams have struggled to measure their operational impact directly beyond user satisfaction, usability studies, or conversion rates. For UX designers, some analysis techniques used within industrial engineering have gone silent as they are unknown or perceived as overly technical and mathematical to be included in a creative role. However, if we view experience design as simply a design of a workflow, a career in user experience (UX) design, traditionally not considered for industrial engineers, suddenly transforms into a viable discipline for work design expertise. To better engineer UX strategy models that show influence on overarching organization business model metrics, merging some industrial engineering concepts into the design thinking process can aid leadership in seeing clear ties and impacts. Techniques associated with measuring workflow productivity and activity-based costing ideas, for example, can demonstrate the operational expense savings that UX solutions provide and facilitate a more informed and connected UX strategy model that has not been previously available to design practitioners. This study perspective concludes that altering the design thinking model with industrial engineering elements can transform the UX value proposition and increase career opportunities and the body of knowledge for industrial engineering in user experience design and research.
Abstract
For years, parallels between industrial engineering and user experience (UX) strategy have silently existed when applying human-centered design thinking in product development. UX Design teams have struggled to measure their operational impact directly beyond user satisfaction, usability studies, or conversion rates. For UX designers, some analysis techniques used within industrial engineering have gone silent as they are unknown or perceived as overly technical and mathematical to be included in a creative role. However, if we view experience design as simply a design of a workflow, a career in user experience (UX) design, traditionally not considered for industrial engineers, suddenly transforms into a viable discipline for work design expertise. To better engineer UX strategy models that show influence on overarching organization business model metrics, merging some industrial engineering concepts into the design thinking process can aid leadership in seeing clear ties and impacts. Techniques associated with measuring workflow productivity and activity-based costing ideas, for example, can demonstrate the operational expense savings that UX solutions provide and facilitate a more informed and connected UX strategy model that has not been previously available to design practitioners. This study perspective concludes that altering the design thinking model with industrial engineering elements can transform the UX value proposition and increase career opportunities and the body of knowledge for industrial engineering in user experience design and research.
Keywords
User Experience, Industrial Engineering, Design Thinking, Work Design, Software Development
1. Introduction
User Experience (UX) Strategy is a planned approach that uses UX design, a "process design teams use to create products that provide meaningful and relevant experiences to users" to align with business strategy [1]. Practitioners aim to design experiences that meet the needs of both the user and the business, playing a crucial role in the company's success. Like industrial engineering, these roles are strategically positioned to enhance an organization's UX maturity, increase product (or service) satisfaction, boost productivity and efficiency, and positively impact revenue, thus effectively contributing to the significant achievement of business goals and the company's value proposition.
Traditionally, user experience strategy has struggled to accurately identify direct contributions from user experience design regarding cost savings and revenue growth. For UX designers, some analysis techniques necessary to assess the incremental changes in a design experience are either unknown or considered too complex and mathematical for a creative role. Nevertheless, the measurement plan is a crucial component of a UX strategy model [2]. Design leaders often rely on web traffic, conversion rates, and customer satisfaction scores to meet this demand. Without effectively evaluating how an organization's UX design team affects the bottom line, product successes are frequently misattributed to the software development teams instead. In some respects, the emphasis on continuous delivery and release streams has silenced the UX teams, particularly in agile environments. The lack of awareness regarding how to measure changes in work for a product or service fosters a perception that design is episodic, which can undermine the advantages these teams provide to an organization. However, with a slight conceptual shift in design thinking, user experience design can harness knowledge familiar to industrial engineering in work design measurement to achieve the long-term objectives of UX strategy. This research proposes that integrating the work design measurement concepts of industrial engineering with user experience design can be transformative for the industry, influence UX strategy, and create opportunities for industrial engineers to transition into UX designers.
1.1 Design Thinking
For UX designers and researchers, the first step is a widely used method known as design thinking. Centered around empathy for users, design thinking is rooted in problem-solving to facilitate the creative production of tools, software, and experiences that meet consumer needs. Its methods were initially developed in the 1970s and are now embedded in study programs and certifications for user experience design. This problem-solving model is foundational for engaging with target audiences (potential users), gathering data, making informed design decisions, and creating quality designs. The design thinking process includes the following steps: (1) Empathize, (2) Define, (3) Ideate, (4) Prototype, and (5) Test, as shown in Figure 1 below.
Understanding the key differences between user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) is crucial for engaging in design thinking. User experience design pertains to how users interact with a product or service, focusing on strategy and structure (e.g., the user's journey). Simultaneously, UI concerns itself with what is visible on the screen (e.g., buttons, fields, icons, color theory), emphasizing visual touchpoints [3]. Although both aspects work together to create the overall experience, UX is essential for planning a 'seamless experience' [3].
Nevertheless, this iterative process leads to user-centric designs, innovative solutions, and improved usability, and when done well, it can increase a company's competitive advantage. Companies adopt this methodology to support business strategies focused on "operational effectiveness" and "competitive convergence"-seeking to increase revenue through improved satisfaction and reduced operational expenses through efficient solutions [4].
2. Problem Description
Over the years, the challenges in user experience have been twofold: (1) UX designers often avoid the complexities of process measurement within task analysis or are unaware of their capabilities, instead relying on usability study measures that typically test future design iterations rather than provide comparability to the current state process, and (2) due to misconceptions that design requires being a skilled graphic artist, industrial engineers have historically overlooked UX design as a viable option. These attitudes result in lost design opportunities, leading to performance gaps, undocumented process inefficiencies, skill deficiencies in measurement, unmet user needs, and fewer opportunities to demonstrate a significant impact on business strategy. Consequently, this fosters a culture in which businesses view design teams as episodic rather than as sustainable capabilities within their organizations. For effective measurement, UX must incorporate behaviors not traditionally present in design culture, such as a holistic measurement of process efficiencies. Understanding the quantifiable differences between the original and future design states adds value by reducing designer-developer dissonance, strengthening the UX team's role within the organization, and maximizing the impact of the design thinking process. This paper proposes that the infusion of new methodology based on industrial engineering principles in design thinking can improve the ability of UX teams to close gaps between UX and business strategies.
3. Concept Approach
3.1 Merging Industrial Engineering (IE) Concepts
The industrial and systems engineering field is one of the most versatile disciplines for engineering. Even though it requires the same strenuous math and physics as others, the integration of the people (or users) and systems helps it stand out for the world of user experience. Within the traditional role of manufacturing, the Industrial Engineer is focused on work design and how to produce a product (or service) most efficiently. Software design is similar to a solution for a process problem or an automated solution. Before there were computers, there were machines. These machines were the 'software' of the time. Founded in the early 1900s, industrial engineering was likely the basis for UX, lean principles, and many other techniques we use today in design and was ahead of its time.
Being familiar with the effort required to complete tasks before design transformation can be crucial to user experience professionals. Providing evidence-based value and uplifting the proposition that design strategies have the potential to drive and influence business strategy moves the discipline forward. However, let's consider that the core structure of designing an experience is equivalent to creating a workflow or a sequential set of tasks performed, as demonstrated in Figure 2. The conjoined nature of design and work measurement gains more clarity from the industrial engineering perspective and invites other disciplines into the design world. In addition, likening the user interface to 'real estate' or a production floor layout adds a new perspective as well (e.g., spaghetti diagram).
For years, management science, often referred to as decision analysis, and industrial engineering professionals have built a foundation for this ideology in manufacturing and corporate environments [8]. More recently, the design industry has begun to recognize the importance of UX metrics. For instance, consider the straightforward activity of making an appointment. With some technology involved, users can search for a business online, locate the phone number, and call to schedule an appointment. This task would require a certain amount of time based on what is feasible, along with other potential delays, such as agent availability and phone interactions. However, applying divergent thinking along with measuring the duration of each step could generate new ideas and user interface (UI) solutions, such as the capability to book online or call with a single click on the displayed phone number driven by the idea of least cost through work measurement. Although this example is simplified, and these concepts could stem from a brainstorming session, UX practitioners have not been known to highlight time savings or cost reductions in this context consistently. UX practitioners typically measure elements after implementation or solely during usability testing for future designs, but measuring before the ideation process is neither standard nor widely practiced. In a landscape where companies are reorganizing and streamlining operations, these teams must identify and promote their significant contributions to leadership stakeholders. Increased value add is present in the idea that designers or researchers could state, 'by altering the process, the user could save 2 minutes per call ' or assign cost value to various parts of the designed process. Measuring value enables businesses to directly connect the worth of user experience (UX) roles to overall business success [9, 10].
According to Lai-Chang Law et al. [5], attitudes toward UX measurement demonstrated some hesitation related to challenges in scope and operationalizing. In 2018, the Nielsen Norman Group reported, "71% of teams report performing some kind of quant UX research at least sometimes, and almost everyone reported struggling with challenges to get quant research done" [6]. With many designers and researchers not having a quantitative background, some may be intimidated and perceive this addition as a shift from the creative arts to mathematical science and resist its inclusion [6]. In many organizations, departments with the skillset to optimize operations in this manner are separated from design and have similar goals. If UX practitioners viewed the prototype as more of a solution that automates an optimized process [7], the synergy between these two areas would be increasingly acknowledged and paired for enhanced product quality and a stronger relationship to effectiveness measures found in strategy models. Yet, the design thinking process has been traditionally limited to feedback, errors, and task completion rates in later phases of the model. These measures are nearly insignificant in business strategy metrics hierarchies. Using industrial engineering work measurement concepts can help design practitioners answer those questions, such as 'what return can be directly associated with the experienced design?' and convert findings to costs beyond conversion that are more directly associated with the UX-specific team.
Work design measurement methods, which include leveraging activity-based costing, highlight the significance of comparative measurement between current state performance and the enhanced measurements of the future state. With numerous metric opportunities identifiable through process analysis, these methods have proven successful in manufacturing and other operations research-oriented facilities. Activity-based costing (e.g., a systematic way to calculate how long a task takes, accounting for human factors, that can be reused) is most commonly linked to the measurement of the current state. Summing the costs of performing work at a specific level creates opportunities to uncover and reduce waste. Although costing implementation requires specific skills, these challenges can be addressed quickly through team collaboration and integrated training.
4. Proposed Framework
4.1 Altering Design Thinking
The proposed concepts may initially raise questions about where and how these techniques can be applied. For these concepts to have the most impact, it is best to use them while UX practitioners learn about the problem and process, and gather information about the users. This indicates that this experience should be integrated between empathize and define (see figure 1). In management science, it is crucial to have a clear set of data transformed into information before the ideation or identification of alternatives begins. Tongskulroongruang et Al. [7] suggest involving certain personnel can benefit data analysis in strategic planning for digital transformation. This inclusion can continue to foster human-centered design while aligning with the inclusion of IE methodology regarding work measurement.
How can we adjust design thinking to benefitfrom IE techniques? As shown in Figure 3, integrating the methodologies to alter the framework by adding a new step called 'Measure' before design ideation enables designers to gain a fuller, more holistic understanding of user needs and insight into potential business strategy outcomes, which is our ultimate goal. Conducting work measurement during the 'empathize' or 'define' phases of design thinking can offer valuable information regarding which measures are significant drivers of change and influence business effectiveness goals. These metrics can be transformative for rebuilding UX strategy models. UX practitioners should prioritize understanding and documenting how their work contributes to organizational OKRs and KPIs, further justifying growth in these teams.
Often, design leadership is unaware that a process is not optimized before creating interactive software prototypes. Prototypes can create a visually appealing illusion for a poorly organized process. Identifying costs and optimizing tasks in the proposed manner between empathizing and ideation can mitigate redundancy when the product moves into build phases and reduce the negative impacts of automating flawed processes or inflating customer product support costs. Thus, ensuring we are designing value-added experiences upfront becomes a key activity.
5. Results
Integrating work design measurement into the design thinking process could significantly enhance its effectiveness, drawing on its proven methods from industrial engineering. This approach poses an opportunity to enrich the design thinking problem-solving framework by adding a structured measurement step that aligns with IE concepts. However, there are notable limitations, particularly concerning the training of UX designers in measurement techniques at this level. To facilitate successful implementation, the measurement step needs to be simplified, ensuring it remains complete, accurate, and timely as it folds into an already lengthy process. It is normal to anticipate some hesitation around design teams, especially when faced with greater complexity. This reluctance is further compounded by findings from a recent survey indicating that 29% of designers feel unprepared to conduct or analyze quantitative research, another complex method that is typically performed by user experience researchers within these teams [6]. Such gaps in knowledge may lead to pushback against an evolved design thinking process that incorporates measurement, highlighting the need for targeted training and support in this area.
Nevertheless, the downstream impact of measurement-driven design could lead consumers to invest in products that effectively get the job done. Utilizing these techniques would enable UX teams to better 'engineer' strategic planning with increased confidence, allowing them to justify a direct impact and engage with corporate leadership levels. This proposal is a step forward in an interdisciplinary solution.
6. Conclusions
Integrating industrial engineering concepts into the various phases of UX design offers significant potential for enhancing design outcomes and aligning UX teams more closely with organizational goals. By introducing a "Measure" step in the design thinking process, teams can adopt a measurement-driven approach that elevates their work and strengthens their strategic importance within the organization. Moreover, incorporating more industrial engineers as UX practitioners can facilitate meaningful change through their work design and measurement expertise. This collaboration can ultimately upskill current UX designers, allowing for the development of more effective UX strategy models that contribute to overall business success. By embracing this interdisciplinary approach, organizations can ensure their UX practices are innovative and grounded in measurable results.
7. References
1. Interaction Design Foundation - IxDF. "What is User Experience (UX) Design?" Interaction Design Foundation - IxDF. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/ux-design (accessed Feb. 9, 2025).
2. Nielson Norman Group. "UX Strategy: Definition and Components" https://www.nngroup.com/articles/uxstrategy/ 2018. [Accessed Feb. 9, 2025]
3. M. Soegaard. "UX vs UI: What's the Difference?" Interaction Design Foundation - IxDF. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/ux-vs-ui-what-s-the-difference [Accessed Feb. 9, 2025].
4. Porter, M.E. "What is Strategy?" Harvard Business Review. November-December, pp. 37-54, 1996.
5. Lai-Chang Law, E., Schaik, P. & Roto. V "Attitudes towards user experience (UX) measurement." International Journal of Human Computer Studies. Vol.72, no. 6, pp. 526-541. 2014.
6. Nielsen Norman Group. "Quantitative UX Research in Practice." https://www.nngroup.com/articles/quantresearch-practice/ Sep 2018. [Accessed May 26, 2023]
7. Tongskulroongruang, T., & Chutima, P. "Creation A Strategic Plan for Supporting Digital Transformation." MSIE 2020: Proceedings of the 2020 2nd International Conference on Management Science and Industrial Engineering, pp. 110-114, 2020.
8. Agresti, W.W. Software engineering as industrial engineering. ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Notes, 6(5), pp. 11-13.1981. https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/1005928.1005930
9. Allen, A.M. "Measurement-driven design thinking: Using activity-based costing concepts to engineer UX strategy models" unpublished, Course HCI 522 UX Strategy and Metrics, Depaul University. 2021.
10. Allen, A.M. "Measurement-driven Design Thinking" unpublished, Course TAL 706 Design of Formal Learning Environments, University of Miami. 2023.
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