UploadLanguage (EN)Support
BusinessMobileSocial MediaMarketingTechnologyArt & PhotosCareerDesignEducationPresentations & Public SpeakingGovernment & NonprofitHealthcareInternetLawLeadership & ManagementAutomotiveEngineeringSoftwareRecruiting & HRRetailSalesServicesScienceSmall Business & EntrepreneurshipFoodEnvironmentEconomy & FinanceData & AnalyticsInvestor RelationsSportsSpiritualNews & PoliticsTravelSelf ImprovementReal EstateEntertainment & HumorHealth & MedicineDevices & HardwareLifestyle
Upload
Sign in
UX STRAT, profile picture
Uploaded byUX STRAT
PDF, PPTX413 views

UX STRAT Europe 2021: Ashley Smith, Spotify

This document summarizes a presentation about using research insights to inform excellent product design at Spotify. The presentation covers: - Understanding the business context, including key metrics, strategies, strengths, and priorities to ensure research aligns with business needs. - Considering macro trends in demographics, infrastructure, the economy, politics and technology that may impact users. - Continuing to deeply understand user needs and behaviors through research. - Bringing together insights about the business, world, and users to identify opportunities that solve for both business and human needs.

Design◦
Download as PDF, PPTX
1 / 33
2 / 33
3 / 33
4 / 33
5 / 33
6 / 33
7 / 33
8 / 33
9 / 33
10 / 33
11 / 33
12 / 33
13 / 33
14 / 33
15 / 33
16 / 33
17 / 33
18 / 33
19 / 33
20 / 33
From Research Insights to Product Design Excellence at Spotify 8th September 2021 With Ashley Smith
Hello! I’m Ashley Smith I lead the R&D Insights team for Freemium at Spotify. We are a team of user researchers and data scientists focusing on user behavior and needs.
We build user value and the user journey. My team is responsible for understanding what existing and future users want and need and how that translates into driving overall business goals like user growth and revenue. We focus optimizing existing experiences and identifying new value. We oversee the entire user journey for our Spotify customers, ensuring we are focused on their needs every step of the way.
We operate at the intersection of business outcomes and consumer experiences
Humans’ needs should influence strategies
How you can represent business needs and authentically represent human needs Today, I want to share with you: The importance of understanding the business context you operate in How understanding your business context can amplify your strategic impact
Let’s get this party started!
Let’s start by aligning on why we are all here. We want to make great things for users, consumers, humans. We strive to understand them and to be their voice and advocates. We want to make everything possible for them.
And...
We operate in a business landscape with strategies, priorities and constraints that influence what is possible and viable. To begin shifting those strategies and priorities to be more user centered, we must understand them.
Understanding your business
Know your numbers ● What are your business’ priorities? ● Are those priorities stable or changing? ● What are they key metrics for your organization? ● Does your work drive those metrics? ● Does your work lead to a viable ROI?
Know your strengths ● Is your brand strong and established/ forming and flexible? ● Are you the competitive market leader? Or leading with a specific audience? ● Do you have technology advantages? ● What unique advantages exist to lean into?
Know your strategies ● What key strategies exist in the organization today? In the next 5 years? ● What are the long term goals for your organization? ● Are there deeply held beliefs that are hard to change? ● How do those support or strain the opportunity space you are working in?
Understanding the world
Macro trends What do we mean by a Macro Trend? A Major Emerging Change in Consumer Behaviour that will last In the Foreseeable Future. That is driven by Shifts in Foundational Market Dynamics and changing Consumer Expectations. What is happening in the world today that will impact the way your experience is received when it gets to your users? Anticipating large changes helps you plan for them and incorporate them into your solutions now, vs when they come.
18 A G E D I V E R S E H H W E A L T H T I M E U R B A N L A B O R H E A L T H 5 G I O T A I P A Y C L I M A T E P O L I T I C S B I G T E C H Demographic Shifts Infrastructure Dynamics Geopolitical
Timing it right ● Target emerging and maturing trends to capitalize on momentum ● Avoid, but be aware of waning trends
Most people tend to overestimate the rate of change that will occur on a 2 year basis, and underestimate the rate of change that will occur over 10 years. - Bill Gates
Understanding your users
Our sweet spot As UX practitioners, this is our expertise and our most important role. What do we know to be true for humans based on conversations we have with them, understanding their needs and behaviors? What are the opportunity spaces we see for humans in the world that may or may not already use our products.
Everything else is context As a researcher, I believe that the more context you have the more powerful your work becomes. With this context, you are more likely to ask the right questions. In turn, developing robust user centric solutions that incorporate business needs and the global context. While we aim to leverage this context, we must not compromise on what we believe our users need to drive business outcomes. A healthy business is not possible without delivering real value to humans.
How do we bring all of these together?
A user centered approach to finding new opportunities will solve both user and business needs.
What’s happening with humans? What needs do people have that will influence your experiences? What is happening in the world? What larger macro trends are happening in the world that might influence your experiences? What’s happening in the company? What strategies or tailwinds exist within your company that might impact your experiences?
Strengths User Insights Macro Trends Sweet spot
These are positive constraints...
That position your work for long term strategic impact.
Skate to where the puck is going, not where the puck is today.
● Optimize your solutions to support success of key metrics and align your ideas with where the organization is headed. ● Leverage competitive, technical or other advantages your organization has to strengthen the viability of your solutions. ● Understand what has changed or is changing in the world that will impact your organization and users. ● Continue the great work of understanding humans’ needs and build great experiences for them - incorporating the context you have about your organization and the world. In summary: ● Design for your business ● Understand your World ● Advocate for your users
Thank you. Questions?!
UX STRAT Europe 2021: Ashley Smith, Spotify