My First Article for The Next Web

Maximilian SpeicherLeave a comment

"It was during my Bachelor’s thesis that I first came into contact with user research; and after that, I fell in love with anything usability and UX design. Today, I’m a UX Manager and take care of a wide variety of design topics. But when you simply look at my diplomas, you wouldn’t expect any… Continue reading My First Article for The Next Web

Product Discovery ‒ A Systematic Approach for Customer Research Methods

André Morys1 Comment

There is a plethora of customer research methods out there and it can be difficult to stay on top of things when it comes to choosing the right method for a given research question. Specifically in the realm of product discovery, when it comes down to being able to decide whether an idea generates business value or not, certain methods lack validity or are not properly applied. In this article, André Morys provides an overview over when to use which (combination of) methods(s) for product discovery.

Successful E-commerce Personalization in 3 (Relatively) Easy Steps

Maximilian SpeicherLeave a comment

An effective personalization strategy should be treated as a design problem with a structured framework of ideation, implementation, and evaluation. Co-creation workshops are used to brainstorm audiences and personalized content based on credible hypotheses, which are then implemented and continuously monitored to assess the performance of the personalization strategy and individual campaigns. A good strategy focuses on UX while helping with achieving business goals.

How to Build and Lead User Experience (UX) Teams

Maximilian SpeicherLeave a comment

This article presents 9 guidelines for building and leading UX teams. They are based on what I learned from the people who led me as well as my own experience: recruit diverse talent; set up a process (and iterate); involve other teams from the start; be fair; have regular ceremonies; pass on knowledge; have a vision; ask questions (a lot); and make UX visible.

More Design, More UX … And More Books

Maximilian SpeicherLeave a comment

I know I was a little negligent of my blog in 2018 and 2019, and I didn't write nearly as much as I would have liked to. But I'm very determined to improve on this again. (As you might have noticed based on the last three articles I published in pretty quick succession before they… Continue reading More Design, More UX … And More Books

Jobs To Be Done in a Nutshell

Maximilian SpeicherLeave a comment

The theory of Jobs To Be Done explains that too much focus on socio-demographic data and correlations hurts companies. Rather, you have to gain a deeper understanding of your customers, who "hire" your product to help them do certain jobs under certain circumstances. For instance, you don't buy a video game console because you're male and over 30. You hire it to, e.g., do the job "connect with friends".

5 Design Methods I’ve Successfully Applied as a UX Manager at C&A

Maximilian Speicher2 Comments

Depending on the environment you have to navigate, it's not always easy to try and apply all of the awesome design methods that are out there, be it due to daily business or a lack of management buy-in. In this article, I describe 5 methods that I have successfully and effectively applied in C&A's eCommerce department: Design Jams, Storyboards, Crazy 8s, 4×4×4, and Buy a Feature.

What’s a Design System, Design Language, and Design Language System? And what’s the Difference?

Maximilian Speicher1 Comment

Depending on who you ask, a design system and a design language might be the same thing or not. Regardless, the important point here is that both a system and a language go beyond a simple pattern library. They have to include a set of rules and guidelines to give the included components structure and meaning.