In My Experience
Author

Rick Monro

Rick has led and managed design teams in agencies in Ireland, provided UX consultancy for both public and private sector clients and is currently User Experience Lead with Contrast. He is also a syllabus consultant and lecturer for the Digital Marketing Institute and organiser of UX Belfast.

UX Belfast, February 2021

By Rick Monro
In Community, UX
February 19, 2021
1 Min read

Lockdown has added some new dynamics to meetups, not least converting local groups into potentially global events. I saw this first-hand, hosting UX Belfast this week, as attendees signed in from across Europe, North America, and UAE.  This shouldn’t have been a surprise given our guest author was Susan Weinschenk, speaking to us from Wisconsin. Susan pioneered the incorporation of...

Read on

Your product’s biggest competitor may not be what you think

By Rick Monro
In Design, Innovation, Product
December 14, 2020
4 Min read
Yoghurt maker in a gift box

Several years ago, I was given a yoghurt maker as a Christmas gift. A (nameless) relative had been quite astute, having heard me remark on at least a couple of occasions “yeah, we take yoghurt on our breakfast now…”  Maybe they had heard it too much. Having identified what appeared to be a need, they presented us with a shiny, new yoghurt maker.  Sadly the gift went unused. The...

Read on

Embrace failure: inform research using a Pre-Mortem

By Rick Monro
In Innovation, Product, Research, UX
July 27, 2020
6 Min read
A pipette fills multiple test tubes ahead of experiements

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” — Thomas A. Edison One of the most effective ways to kick off a new initiative is to identify how it might go wrong. Similarly, when planning research goals and methodologies, awareness of potential weaknesses can help to establish immediate learning goals. The Pre-Mortem is a well-established facilitation tool for...

Read on

Unlock innovation with an outcomes-first approach

By Rick Monro
In Innovation
July 1, 2020
5 Min read
Drill bits

Some recent reading showcased two simple and powerful ways to boost organisational innovation. Both are proven in their own right; combined, they can offer a robust, end-to-end method for exploring the opportunity space. I first encountered Amazon’s ‘Working Backwards’ process in this Inc.com piece last year, which I stumbled across again last week. The Working Backwards framework articulates...

Read on

Alignment above all

By Rick Monro
In Innovation
May 21, 2020
3 Min read
Gears in an engine

Technology may change rapidly, but the fundamentals of effective communication not so much. The role played by clarity in achieving successful results should not be a surprise. What is surprising is how often it can be overlooked. Regardless of its nature, the success or failure of any initiative will rely to a large extent on the degree of alignment amongst those involved. The question...

Read on
In My Experience

About

In My Experience is the personal blog of Rick Monro, a designer & researcher in Belfast, N. Ireland

@monro on Twitter