UX CEO PLaybook GE

Growth : Service & Software
Draft
05/16/2011
GE Center of Excellence
2011 Edition
User
Experience
Playbook
Prepared by
Draft
05/16/2011
GE Center of Excellence
2011 Edition
User
Experience
Playbook
UX Playbook
UX at GE 4
Principles 11
The core user experience attributes we seek to
deliver with our products and services
Process 15
The common process steps, tools and templates
for crafting a great user experience
Skills 59
The core competencies and role of user experience
practitioners within a product development team
Certification 83
The process for evaluating the quality and brand
consistency of our UX Design Process
Resources 93
A directory of resources for internal and external
guidance and support throughout the user
experience design process
Contributors 102
UX Defined
Great user
experiences
are powered by
Who are GE’s users? customer and User Experience is… User Experience is NOT…
Anyone who interacts with our products
and services, including those who: user-centric • The perceptions and responses
someone has when they interact with
•
•
Just about the user interface
Only about technology (it’s about people)
• Use our digital services and solutions thinking in all GE’s products and services. Formed
during:
• Just about usability
• Influence customer purchasing • Easy to design well
decisions aspects of design - Selection and purchase
- Delivery and packaging
• Expensive to design well
• Support the customer
• Are internal or external to GE and development. - Installation and configuration
• The concern of only one person or
department
- Training and ramp up • Static
- Operation via the user interface
- Support and services
- Maintenance and upgrade
- De-installation and disposal
• Influenced by form, function and
business architecture
• A strategic driver of business growth
4 GE CoE User Experience Playbook - Draft May 2011 5

UX Vision Drive revenue and growth by
creating preference for GE
branded software and platforms.
Where are we going? A GE User Experience will be…

The UX CoE is leading GE towards a new future where: • Identifiable as GE
• Customers and users both prefer and can identify our • Responsive to user needs
products over competitors’ • Delivering more than expected
• Our user experiences are globally recognized for • Developed in partnership with the user
innovation and excellence
• Developed by all disciplines at GE
• Our businesses save time and money by leveraging
UX efficiencies
• All our businesses embrace good UX design
Then Initial versions of Expert on Alert,

myEngines, Smart Patient Room.
Now Pilot versions of Expert on Alert,
myEngines, Smart Patient Room.
Future Concept visualization for a unified experience with
Expert on Alert, myEngines, Smart Patient Room.

How to Use This Book This document provides a structure to
addressing our needs and achieving
our vision.
We need... I want to... The UX Playbook... See
Consistency • Deliver consistent GE user experience

• Access a central repository for sharing solutions or
• Defines high-level values to guide GE user
experience design Principles
standards • Introduces UX Central, a web portal, with
standards, templates and reusable assets
User Contact • Benefit from more direct access to users and

customers
• Champions cross-functional understanding
of customer needs based on first-hand Process
• Uncover the user needs that underlie feature requests contact
• Understand the end user as well as the customer • References user-centered research methods
Innovation • Decrease the likelihood of lost sales due to poor user

experiences
• Provides examples where outstanding user
experience will grow sales Pilots*
• Surpass the user experiences offered by our • Provides consistent best practices that
competitors will ensure that GE is seen as a leader in
* Existing pilots provide the
software innovation examples in this document.
Expertise • Increase the number of user experience professionals

on my team
• Defines the skills needed in all business
units to deliver great UX Skills
• Improve consistency of results by working with user • Promotes best practice sharing
experience experts
Value • Have a clear understanding of how successful my

software product is and how that rating maps to our
• Provides a Certification Scorecard
that provides clear measurement and Certification
profits understanding of UX contribution to GE profits
Awareness • Increase awareness of user experience value, process

or benefits
• Advocates cross-company passion and
pride for GE software Resources

Principles
The experience attributes GE
products must strive to deliver
to users
10 11
UX Principles GE’s design principles are the fundamental attributes
that we seek to achieve in all elements of the user
experience. These principles drive decisions for
the visual, interactive and business architecture
components that influence users.
Welcoming Confident Meaningful Delightful

Our experiences are friendly and inviting. We Our experiences guide our users in moving Our experiences generate value for our Our experiences thrill our users by exceeding
keep them straightforward so our users can through information to complete their goals. users. We make our users smarter and more their expectations. We innovate for our users
easily get started. We create intuitive navigation through clear productive by giving them the means to to live our brand and differentiate GE.
metaphors and actionable cues.
Expert on Alert ? discover new insights and efficiencies.
Frank Barryson 12
Maps KPIs Fleets Shops Asset 28
GE Brand Attribute Overview Cases Data Notes
Approachable Leader
Current Cases Dynamic Innovative
Case Solutions Rules Assigned To Created On Status
03/29/2011 03/29/2011
K12569 Saturation Incidents on Multiple Inverters 3 Parker Hutchinson 15:34:57 16:05:32
(+2) (3d 4hrs 32min)
03/29/2011 03/29/2011
(+2) (3d 4hrs 32min)
Alternate Solutions: FA TC MSDC: Case History Show: Everything
Saturation Incidents on Multiple Inverters 38% 48 789 03/15/2011 07:00 AM

Took a look at engine data only, but didn’t have time
Preturbine Sensor Temp. Differential (poptest) 88% 48 789
to look at cooling systems to reach a full conclusion.
Turbo Intercooler Water Too Hot Fault 88% 48 789 Submitting back to the queue.
Posted by Michael Callaway
Select Other Solution
03/15/2011 07:00 AM
Flag for Knowledge Engineers Took a look at engine data only, but didn’t have time
Send Solution Drop Case Return to Queue Close Case Compose note…
03/29/2011 03/29/2011
(+2) (3d 4hrs 32min)
Examples of each will be available on UX Central when the site launches. 03/29/2011 03/29/2011
(+2) (3d 4hrs 32min)
Asset History
The concept and implementation for any GE product should begin
Case Solutions Rules Closed By Closed Date Status
with these four principles, in addition to being informed

K12566 by business
Saturation Incidents on Multiple Inverters 3 Firstname Lastname 03/18/2011 OK
objectives and customer needs. These principles will be

K12565 ATSset
SystemandNo Communication 4 Firstname Lastname 03/18/2011 NTF
measured alongside the critical-to-quality metrics (CTQs).

K12564 Solution Title Name One 2 Firstname Lastname 03/18/2011 OK
K12563 Solution Title Name Two 1 Firstname Lastname 03/18/2011 NTF
K12562 Solution Title Name Three 5 Firstname Lastname 03/18/2011 OK
K12561 Solution Title Name Four 2 Firstname Lastname 03/18/2011 NTF

Process
The framework for crafting a
great user experience
14 15
Process This playbook will reference methods and tools that
have been used successfully at GE or other businesses.
Regardless of the size or type of program you
undertake, the same core process steps apply.
Iterative Collaborative
This process is inherently iterative, both within each phase The UX process relies on the collaboration of a cross-
and throughout the definition, design and development of the functional team throughout all stages of Discover, Design
product. It also relies on a continual process of learning more and Produce. You can find these details in the Skills
about customer needs and wants as you work towards your user section of the playbook.
experience deliverables, whether those are product concepts, user
interface designs or off-line business processes.
Discover Design Produce Evaluate

Identify user needs and opportunities to Create experiences that meet needs Collaborate for excellent UX Measure user experience, impacts &
design the right product for users and the business delivered on target on-going value
• Research & Immersion • Concept Generation & • Design Specification • End User Feedback and
• Data Analysis & Problem Framing Prioritization • Iterative User Testing Collaboration
• Insight Synthesis & Opportunity • Wireframing & Low-fidelity • Vision Ownership & Collaboration • Ongoing Scorecard Creation &
Areas Prototyping Benchmarking
• Release 0 Testing & QA
• UX Requirements Engineering • Visual Design
• User Validation
• Business Architecture

1 Discover
Identifying user
needs to design
the right product

Process Discover Design Produce Evaluate
Research & Immersion
Objective Example : myEngines

Methods
Identify core problems, criteria and • Site visit protocol
• User research plan and reports
constraints from the user perspective.
Direct research
Direct engagement with users to understand (in field, 1 required)
• Exploratory interviews
the product “As-Is” to inform what the • Contextual inquiry
product should be. Expert led (at desk)

• Secondary and market research
Lead cross-functional teams in conducting • Competitive and analogous
experience landscaping
user research. • Expert reviews and task analysis
• Cognitive walkthroughs
For Aviation, a cross-functional team of • Heuristic evaluation
technologists and designers conducted expert • Think-aloud protocol
reviews, shop visits and customer interviews,
Requires the ability to as well as analogous and heuristic reviews to
better understand the needs and behaviors Tools
• Plan and conduct user research
that underlie the MRO and workflow processes • Audio and video recording
• Collaborate with the project team equipment
myEngines impacts.
• Observe the product or service with an open mind, free from existing product • Permission and release forms
constraints • IRB approval workflows
• Represent GE to the customer with respect, courtesy and utmost
professionalism
• Identify customer motivations and value chain, end user goals and existing
business architecture

Data Analysis & Problem Framing
Objective Example : Digital Collaboration

Methods
Analyze data gathered during user research • Project ‘war rooms’ for
collaborative working and
to identify the core needs from the user’s thinking
• Concept maps
perspective. Investigate what users do, not • Data analysis (affinity, theming
and pattern mapping)
just what they say, to understand needs they • Business motivation modeling
cannot articulate. • Business process analysis

• Lean Six Sigma
Analyze observation, interview and user

Tools
data to contextualize needs to the work • BPMN
environment and business context. • BMM Standard
After conducting global, direct user interviews
with GE employees from across the businesses,
the user experience team at frog (see page 101)
Requires the ability to analyzed the data to uncover the affinities and
patterns driving user behavior throughout the
• Swiftly organize and categorize data
GE business.
• Analyze qualitative, quantitative and business data
• ‘Get off the screen’ and externalize data in a collaborative space
• Identify affinities and patterns
• Visualize emergent patterns and user mindsets
• Prune and refine relevant data
• See the user as part of a system and relate his or her needs to the needs of
the customer

Insight Synthesis & Opportunity Areas

Methods
Extract actionable insights and frame • User archetypes
• Journey maps
opportunity areas to design products and • Workflow diagrams
solutions that meet user needs. • Product vision roadmaps

• Mental modeling
• Opportunity maps
Define baseline user experience measures • Customer scenario mapping
that will reflect whether user needs are met. • Business process modeling and
simulation
Requires the ability to

• Filter data and patterns to identify the most compelling areas
Through direct user contact and business
• Expand thinking and provoke ‘out of the box’ perspectives
analysis, the cross-functional team identified a
• Re-frame user needs into opportunities and guiding insights key scalability issue with the existing myEngines
• Package insights to be relevant for the team and stakeholders app structure. The team developed a new
• Communicate the value of these opportunities to the customer and to GE service structure centered on user behaviors,
• Create clarity and structure out of user research findings resulting in user needs becoming the foundation
of the application design.
• Define user experience measures

UX Requirements Engineering
Objective Example : Energy Connect

Methods
Launch an iterative process of documenting • User feedback plan and report
• Requirements reviews
and prioritizing requirements that will scope • Agile modeling methods
and guide the design process. • Conjoint analysis
Identify all applicable principles, standards Tools
and constraints that apply to a product • Blueprint

• TopTeam
or service. • UML
• Industry standards
Create a feedback loop with the user. • The business analysis body of
knowledge
Energy Connect maintains requirements

records in TopTeam. All records are linked and
Requires the ability to traceable.
• Understand the full systems

• Communicate clearly and succinctly in spoken and written form
• Negotiate among stakeholders
• Establish an operating rhythm for ongoing validation with stakeholders and
end users
• Develop requirements that are unambiguous, actionable, testable and clearly
related to user, customer and business justification.
• Return to users and customers with the insights gained to ensure their needs
have been correctly identified

2 Design
Creating
experiences that
meet needs

Concept Generation & Prioritization
Objective Example : Experts on Alert

Methods
Transform user insights and opportunity • Concept generation
• Sketching
areas into product concepts, collaborate with • Scenarios & storyboarding
teams to identify business and technology • Feature prioritization (user)

• Prioritization workshops (team)
requirements and lead prioritization. • User experience requirements
definition

• Generate light-weight concept explorations expressing user needs
• Direct collaborative teams in concept generation
Once the team understood the use cases for
• Separate concept generation from prioritization
this RM&D data, they quickly explored multiple
• Integrate business, technology and user requirements in down-selection interface directions with hand-sketched
wireframes, then collaboratively selected the
best directions.

Business Architecture Design
Objective Example : Controls Connect

Methods
Collaborate with program managers and • Business motivation modeling
• Business process analysis &
systems engineers to develop business Partnership Organization
modeling
• Information modeling
architecture. • Use case modeling
• Gap analysis
Provide user requirements and advocacy • Change Acceleration Process
(CAP)
in the design and evolution of strategies,
organizations and business practices. Tools
Commercial Process • OMG Business Motivation
Advocate for “One GE” and the elimination of Strategy Engineering Modeling Standard
• BPMN
silos in customer engagement. During development of a customer-facing • Business Process Modeling tools
portal, the Controls Connect team identified • Enterprise Architecture tools
important gaps in GE Energy’s current capability
to keep the knowledge base current. Working
with business stakeholders, the team designed
Requires the ability to and rolled-out new knowledge-centered support
• Identify all customer and user touchpoints for a product or service throughout
(KCS) practices that merged with the commercial
the customer lifecycle. rollout of the portal.
• Quickly learn the operational characteristics of a customer
• Examine the business process, including user, operational and technology
contexts
• Be a change agent: Identify and find ownership for changes that will provide
value both to customers and to GE
• Provide a holistic vision for the business system that supports users

Wireframing & Low-Fidelity Prototyping
Objective Example : Expert on Alert

Methods
Express selected concepts in tangible form • Card-sorting (open and closed)
• Site map/application map
for communication with the development • Workflow diagrams
team, business team and users. • Low-fidelity prototyping

• Research plan and reports
Tools
Currently available
• GE UX Principles
• Express the concept and desired interactions in a structured format
To be developed
• Evaluate various interaction models and identify the most appropriate for the
user and system need • Standards library
• GE Wireframing toolset which
• Develop navigation and light-weight explorations to test with users The Expert On Alert team used low-fidelity supports GE-wide standard asset
• Develop an information architecture wireframes to lay out the information and sets and light-weight prototype
• Define the product in collaboration with designer and developers interaction architecture for the next version of generation
their remote monitoring and diagnostics user
interface. These easy-to-change prototypes
do not distract evaluators with visual design
questions.

Visual Design
Objective Example : Smart Patient Room

Methods
Express the information architecture and • User landscape reviews
Original
system interactions in a branded design that
Tools
is clear and appealing to users. • Visual design application
• Standards Library
• GE UX Principles
• Business/product specific GE DLS

Visual
• Understand user needs and translate into an effective visual design mock-ups
• Design for user needs with awareness of technical implementation
• Collaborate with UX expert, prototyper and product team
Current
The GE Smart Patient Room Hand Hygiene

prototype team explored multiple design
concepts before selecting the most effective
visualization strategy. Selection involved a
cross-functional team and both customers and
representative users.

User Validation

Methods
Validate interaction and visual design • A/B testing
• Usability testing (may include
directions with users throughout the process Validation Best Practices time-on-task, task completion,
eye-tracking and other methods
to ensure appeal as well as identify usability to evaluate performance as
needed)
issues prior to robust development. • Qualitative usability reviews and
Think Aloud
• Concept evaluation workshops
• Research plan and report
Requires the ability to Tools

• Scope, plan, produce and run user validation sessions • Remote testing tools
• Select methods within available time • Eye tracking
GE Energy used the GE process to develop a
• Moderate user research sessions • GRC facial recognition and
customer-facing self-service knowledge portal.
• Analyze and synthesize data into tangible recommendations and strategies for affective modeling system
From initial paper prototypes through the live
implementation prototype, user evaluation was part of each
• Access end users iteration. A cross-functional team of UX experts,
business leads and engineers collaborated on
the project

3 Produce
Collaborating
for excellent UX
delivered on target

Design Specification

Methods
Translate the user experience into formal • Written functional specification
(including behaviors, case logic
documentation for use by the development and state definition)
• Visual specification
and business team. • Experience prototypes for
functional specification
Design specification is often done with
Tools
text narrative and experience prototypes,
To be developed
showing the interactions and behaviors most • GE standard wireframing tool
challenging to express on paper. • Standards library

• Requirements repository
• Specification templates
frog (see page 101) created both a visual and
interaction design style guide, and a functional
proof-of-concept mobile web app for iPhone
used to test integration and design viability.
• Develop detailed documentation in text, as well as, experience prototypes for Together, these elements formed the first
features, functions and interactions stage of design specification for the myEngines
• Plan for agile sprints application.
• Compose specification to enable efficient post-sprint modification
• Update user experience measures to reflect the final experience direction

Iterative User Testing
Objective Example : insideGE

Methods
Participate in agile development processes • Representative user reviews (only
when significant user research
by incorporating quick user input sessions for exists)
• Remote walkthroughs
key sprint cycles. • ‘User Fridays’ (scheduled reviews
with 2-3 users every other week)
• Usability testing
• Research plan and report

• Integrate testing cycles with agile sprint cycle
• Plan and conduct feature-focused testing
• Provide recommendations that maintain the product vision and user needs
The latest iteration of insideGE introduced a
new, clean design based on extensive research.
To make sure they got it right, the team involved
employees and stakeholders throughout the
development process. The team rolled out
the alpha to 500 employees, and the beta to
60,000 and encouraged extensive feedback.
The service won a prestigious Nielsen Norman
award in 2009.

Vision Ownership & Collaboration
Objective Example : Expert on Alert

Methods
Allocate UX experts to the product • Frequent collaboration and
contact with team members
team throughout the process to speed • Product vision roadmap and
documents
development and collaboratively solve • Project ‘war rooms’ / co-location
challenges while maintaining the concept • User archetypes and workflows

• Cognitive walkthroughs
vision and delivering on user needs. • Prototyping

• Own and defend user needs and concept vision throughout process To keep the team aligned on the vision for the
• Creatively respond to barriers to achieve an optimal solution Expert on Alert system throughout the process,
• Communicate with engineers, developers and business leads
the user experience team at frog (see page 101)
created a roadmap that mapped the current
• Frame user needs in business value
experience to the future experience the team
was designing.

Release 0 Testing and QA

Methods
Ensure the final product meets user needs • QA testing and validation of user
experience requirements and
and provides a good GE user experience prior workflows
• Final usability testing
to first launch.
Tools
This should never be the first phase of user • TopTeam
contact or usability testing. If adequate UX • Infrastructure QA
involvement has been present and taken

into account, minimal changes should be
necessary during this phase.
Controls Connect performed release testing at
multiple levels:
1. Unit, Integration and Regression testing by

Requires the ability to the development/quality assurance team
• Evaluate that the actual product user experience matches the user experience 2. User acceptance testing with the business
requirements established at the start of the phase analysis team, broad business stakeholders
and a pilot user team from actual and potential
customers who used the application in context

4 Evaluate
Measuring UX
impacts and
ongoing value

Ongoing Scorecard Creation &

Benchmarking
Objective Example : GE Corporate
Methods
Evaluate how user experience affects the Ecomagination Dashboard 2/7-2/13
• Direct user contact
• Voice of the Customer
performance of GE products.
Traffic to ecomagination.com increased by 98% this week, drawing just over 33,000 visits to the site. More than half of these visits
were a result of paid advertising - Google and DailyMotion. Dailymotion, a new vendor to appear as a top traffic source, seems to
have driven an increase in pages per visit. Meanwhile, traffic to the Challenge site remained relatively stable this week. Social
volume and Facebook interactions are down from last week. Traffic to Twitter continues to grow and has reached over 40,000
• Surveys and questionnaires

followers though influence (as measured by Klout) decreased this week. Beth Bond, editor of Southeast Green, a green and
sustainability business website, retweeted a story about a solar power field at Princeton University to her 1,014 followers.
Top Ecomagination Content (page views) Top Challenge Content (page views)
• UX Scorecard
1. Home 53,049 1. Powering Your Home: Ideas 10,841
2. Technologies 24,692 2. Powering Your Home: Home 9,380
Report quarterly on the user experience

3. Projects 20,840 3. Powering Your Home: My Profile 2,478
4. Topics 18,804 4. Home 2,198
5. News 10,574 5. View Idea 1,781
Top Ecomagination Traffic Sources (visits) Top Challenge Traffic Sources (visits)
1. Dailymotion (advertising) 15,600 1. Direct.com 3,574

2. Google (CPC) 6,756 2. ecomagination.com 2,371
3. Direct traffic 3,185 3. Google (organic) 1,923
performance of GE products.
4. Google (organic) 2,793 4. Google (CPC) 895
5. GE.com 2,054 5. Twitter 493
Social
Social
Total social volume
Twitter
1/31-2/6
1,777
@pepsi
2/7-2/13
1,610
@eco
SEM: Content
Total
Google
Views
1,907,499
1,907,499
Clicks
762
762
Conversion
0.04%
0.04%
Tools
Total followers 56,372 40,085
Overall "Klout" score 65 67
RT @ecomagination: 27acre solar field 2 lower Princeton's

energy cost 8% Princeton Plans Largest Solar Field for Any
U.S. University ...
SEM: Search
Total
Views
333,670
Clicks
4,289
Conversion
1.29%
• Quantitative data collection
Retweeted by BethSEGreen 2/7: 1,013 followers
Facebook*
Fans
Pepsi
3,301,189
Ecomagination
1,882
Google
Bing
274,699
58,971
3,256
1,033
1.19%
1.75%
tools/services
Interactions - 15
*Counts relevant posts generated by brand only
Traffic (visits)
36,330 visits 18,359 4.3 pages/visit 1.6 12,362 visits 12,442 3.8 pages/visit 3.6
• Survey application/tool
10% repeat visitors 14% 77% bounce rate 75% 28% repeat visitors 26% 52% bounce rate 53%
• Scorecard tracking tools/service

• Design and implement surveys
• Monitor measurements frog (see page 101) monitors the on-going
• Identify opportunities for improvement performance of key initiatives, such as
• Plan and conduct user input sessions Healthymagination and Ecomagination, to
provide a weekly dashboard for performance.
• Maintain professional on-going relationships with GE product users
This provides leaders the ability to quickly
• Analyze data and extract meaningful trends understand the status of the initiatives via
• Identify opportunities for improvement traditional and social metrics and to target
• Map data to experience and financial impacts meaningful to GE needed changes quickly.
• On-going product benchmark analysis

End-User Feedback and Collaboration
Objective Example : GE Appliances

Methods
Leverage social media, embedded features • Customer advisory boards
and software instrumentation to maintain

an ongoing conversation with users, as well Tools
as capture their feedback and enhancement To be developed

• Online forums
requests. • Social media
• Embedded feedback
mechanisms
• Software instrumentation
• Usage tracking, logging
Requires the ability to • In-product/Online feedback
mechanisms for customer/user
• Engage with end users and customers over time Greg Levinsky and the Home and Business team input to be built into the products
themselves
• Monitor multiple feedback channels dramatically improved their net promoter scores
• Collaborate with product team to understand and evaluate emergent user
and turned 67% of their online detractors to
needs and opportunities neutral and 20% of detractors to advocates for
GE appliances through actively identifying and
engaging in Facebook and Twitter conversations
about GE appliances.

Support Materials
* Most methods, templates and tools apply throughout the process. Groupings represent
initial or primary use.
Methods Templates Tools
Exploratory Interviews Heuristic Evaluation Opportunity Mapping Research Plans & Forms & Process Research Equipment
Discover Contextual Inquiry Business Value Analysis Business Analysis Reports Flows BPMN
Secondary & Market ‘War Room’ & Co- Processes (6Sigma) Concept Map
Research location User Archetypes
Competitive Reviews Benchmarking Journey Map
Expert Reviews & Task Data Analysis & Workflow Diagrams
Analysis Synthesis Product Roadmap &
Cognitive Walkthroughs Mental Modeling Vision
Concept Generation Prioritization Workshop Usability Testing UX Requirements Wireframing App

Design Sketching (team) Concept Evaluation Site / Application Map GE Wireframe Assets
Scenarios & Card Sorting Workshop Interaction Specification Visual Design App
Storyboards Visual Landscape Prototyping Standards Library
Feature Prioritization Reviews UX Requirements GE UX Principles
(user) A/B Testing Engineering
GE & Business DLSs
Experience Prototypes Functional Specification

Produce Remote Walkthroughs Visual Specification
User Panels
User Fridays
QA Testing & Validation
Metrics Collection Scorecard Report Survey App/Tool

Evaluate User Input Collection Scorecard Tracker
Service
User Feedback Service

Skills
Building teams to craft great
GE user experiences.
58 59
Skills The best UX design comes from a diverse set of experts
skilled in user-centered design methodologies.
These experts will be actively engaged in the GE user
experience community and seek continual process
improvement.
Expert Systematic
We need an expert team to achieve our vision. The UX practitioners To build the practice, they will articulate the business value
will lead cross-functional teams to understand end users and own of systematically creating good user experiences in GE
creative delivery to drive innovation. software.
Cross-Functional Prototype Measure

Know Your User
Team & Iterate & Extend
• Communication Across Disciplines • User Insight for Unmet Needs • Prototyping Before Locking • Identify Measures for User
• Collaboration & Facilitation • Create & Value User Experience System Design Experience
• Systems Thinking Requirements • Prototype Testing with Users • Track & Score User Experience
• User Product Lifecycle Modeling • Prototype Iteration & Measures
• User Requirements Advocacy
• Competitive Auditing Requirements Specification • Share Reusable Solutions for Speed
& Consistency

Skills / Cross-Functional Teams
A
Communication Across Disciplines
Objective
Skills to Hire
The best user experience • Strong communicators
• Experience in cross-functional
teams blend UX experts, environments
business strategists, creative

technologists and engineers.

• Communicate effectively with team members from
other disciplines
• Understand the needs of the technology,
engineering and business team members
• Translate business, technology, user needs and
Cross-
design issues within the team
Functional
Teams
Leveraging all skills
for great UX

Skills / Cross-Functional Teams Skills / Cross-Functional Teams
Collaboration & Facilitation Systems Thinking
Objective Objective
Skills to Hire Skills to Hire
For GE to lead in user • Creative leadership User experience leaders must • Business analysis
• Facilitation of group reviews and • Systems engineering
experience design, teams discussions see the user as part of a • User experience service or
must be staffed to support • Experience integrating user
experience requirements with contextual system that includes systems delivery
business, engineering and

collaboration between the developer requirements assets, information, people and
disciplines throughout product • Experience translating needs
into terms meaningful to other processes. They must leverage
disciplines
development. the expertise from multiple
disciplines to find solutions that
optimize the system.
• Build rapport and trust within the team and among
disciplines
• Guide creative collaboration and maintain team Requires the ability to
balance • Map and model systems
• Lead group facilitation activities
• Diagram and model system influencers and drivers
• Facilitate cross-functional teams to develop a
common understanding of how system components
impact each other
• Identify, dissect and challenge assumptions about
how systems work
• Understand and clearly communicate the high-level
system view, as well as the detailed system elements
• Analyze models of a system to trace root causes of
problems and identify patterns of behavior

Skills / Cross-Functional Teams
B
User Requirements Advocacy
Objective
Skills to Hire
UX experts must act as the • Evangelists
• User insights specialists
advocate for the needs of • Storytelling and visual
the user throughout product communication
planning, conceptualization,
design and development.

• Develop materials that communicate and
summarize user needs effectively
• Communicate user needs to express the value to
different business stakeholders
• Link needs and concepts with product design and UI
decisions
• Maintain a high-level vision that informs detailed
Know
design decisions
Your Users
Ongoing user
insights generation

Skills / Know Your Users Skills / Know Your Users
User Insights for Unmet Needs Create & Value UX Requirements
Objective Objective
In order to deliver products • Design research The UX expert must ensure • Strong design research and
• Research facilitation and synthesis experience
with great user experiences, GE moderation that user needs are aligned • Ability to create user experience
requirements
must discover and synthesize • Experience balancing business
concerns with gathering user with GE business innovation • Experience tracing insights from
input initial research throughout the
insights and concepts based • Leadership in developing long- and engineering requirements. development process
term user contact channels with • Customer segmentation
on the unmet needs of the user. customers/B2B environments They will create and manage
• Ability to craft innovative
methods to fit opportunities models that align user needs
with market opportunities
• Plan and deliver great user research sessions that
build customer trust in GE’s approach throughout the software
• Build rapport with account management needs and
concerns
development lifecycle.
• Discover and synthesize user experience insights
• Conduct research and synthesize user insights
• Conceptualize user experiences based on design
research and insights
• Document user experience requirements
• Drive development of prototypes to explore and
express requirements
• Marry business and user needs into opportunity
areas for GE

Skills / Know Your Users Skills / Know Your Users
User Product Lifecycle Modeling Competitive Auditing
Objective Objective
Beyond generating insights • Journey mapping To generate a compelling user • Trendscaping
• Moments of Truth identification • Heuristic analysis
for user needs today, and communication experience, the UX expert • Cognitive walkthroughs
the UX expert needs to • Experience modeling

• Service design must be able to look at the • Segmentation and behavior
analysis
develop a strategic vision • Product strategy
• Product lifecycle modeling
wider context of software and • Product/experience landscaping
for the evolution of the user service experiences, as well

experience over the product as interaction patterns and
lifecycle and business strategy, opportunities.
and work with the full team to
tier the rollout and evolution
• Describe the product space from the user and
of features. customer perspective by analyzing competitive and
analogous experiences within, and outside of, the
product category
• Identify relevant experiences
• Develop a strategic vision for customer interaction • Clearly document findings and recommendations
• Prioritize features into a multi-stage model
• Communicate the long-term product strategy based
on addressing the most important user needs

Skills / Prototype & Iterate
C
Prototype before Locking in Design
Objective
Skills to Hire
In order to gain the most value • Creative development
• Agile prototyping
from investment in interactive • Iterative design
prototypes, these prototypes • Design agency experience

• Divergent, creative thinker
must be designed before
the system architecture and
features are locked, so that
flexibility to integrate findings
remains.

Prototype • Generate multiple concepts to provide a range of
options
& Iterate • Quickly develop prototypes that represent the user

experience (even if they are on another platform
than the final implementation)
• Swiftly gather and synthesize research and iterate
Fast concept prototypes
creation and
evaluation

Skills / Prototype & Iterate Skills / Prototype & Iterate
Prototype Testing with Users Prototype Iteration and Requirements

Specification
Objective Objective
To prevent downstream costs • Test design To ensure usability and that • Collaboration and
• Usability testing communication skills during
and wasted efforts, both low • Concept evaluation user needs are met throughout production
• Sketching and iteration
and high-fidelity prototypes • Research protocol design
• Research facilitation
the details of the production • Understanding of technology
capabilities of the field/industry/
should be tested with users. • Testing for agile development process, UX experts should be business
• Research moderation
Light-weight testing often a part of the ongoing review of
integrates well with agile production deliverables.
development. Requires the ability to
• Collaborate with the production team
• Engage user inputs throughout the process
• Identify and prioritize research questions
• Develop appropriate testing processes to answer • Interpret interactions and collaborate on solutions
key questions
• Develop concept prototypes to address core
questions

Skills / Measure & Extend
D
Identify Measures for User Experience
Objective
Skills to Hire
To track the success of user • Measurement of UX impacts
• Data analysis for user experience
experiences, measures • Quantitative study design
must be identified during • Qualitative study design
the requirements definition

process and measured
throughout the product
lifecycle.

• Define user experience requirements
Measure • Identify and prioritize key interactions for the user

experience
& Extend
• Develop measures for key interactions
• Refine measures over time
Proving value and

building a single
source

Skills / Measure & Extend Skills | Measure & Extend
Track & Score UX Measures Share Reusable Solutions
Objective Objective
User experiences should be • Quantitative research Deliver great experiences • Knowledge management
• Data analysis • Interaction design
measured over time to identify • Trend identification faster by reusing proven
areas for improvement and solutions.
to benchmark ongoing user Contribute to the growth of
experience updates. consistent GE solutions by
sharing assets and patterns
• Gather data over time
with the GE community and
• Analyze results reusing proven solutions.
• Manage data in a consistent format across the
company
• Generate insights and recommendations from
research • Understand the GE product ecosystem to identify
solutions with broad applicability
• Communicate findings
• Identify and communicate solutions
• Prioritize documentation and sharing
• Integrate reuse of solutions into the design process

Skills
Proposed Staffing Roles

To deliver strong, consistent GE user experiences that
meet the unique needs of each business and industry
we serve, we recommend that each business hire
at least one full-time leader in most of the following
roles.
Visionary Leader* Project Manager

Lead the business UX. Evangelize broadly and at the C-level Manage special UX projects and vendor relationships
UX Knowledge Manager* Evangelist

Own the primary GE UX content and standards Own internal advocacy, award programs and other advocacy for UX
Research Specialist** Training Lead

Lead user research practice Lead training on UX and professional development for staff
User Experience Specialist**

Lead interaction design practice
Visual Design Specialist**

Lead visual design practice and standards
Prototyping Specialist** * Minimum required effort and investment per business and major software platform (e.g. Proficy)
Lead prototyping and tech integration practice
** Recommended per business and major platform, but which can also be outsourced to
qualified vendors (Qualified vendors must be willing to integrate with GE UX standards and tools
and provide assets for GE knowledge management)
Other roles are recommended to support the overall growth of UX in the business

Certification
Auditable checkpoints for
compliance with our UX
Design Process and for
measurement of outcomes
82 83
Certification Auditable checkpoints during each phase
drive process compliance.
Consistent Measurable
Certification drives consistent improvement in our software user The certification process generates both GE-standard and product-
experiences by creating an auditable and repeatable process specific experience measures to track throughout the life of the
connected to measurable outcomes. product to demonstrate the impact of user experience decisions.
Discover Design Produce Evaluate

Conduct user research and integrate Design GE experiences that resonate Collaborate on specification and Measure user experience and the
findings with the product plan with users and leverage GE standards delivery of the product impacts on product value over time
UX is involved & part of team from start Concepts are analyzed for GE Final specifications are created Post-launch data is collected into
design patterns and standards based on GE standards the UX Scorecard
Design research is performed with users
Experience prototypes are created Summative testing is done with Product scorecard is benchmarked
User archetypes are created for key roles
key user archetypes prior to and analyzed for improvement
User insights and key principles are Experience prototypes are tested
product release opportunities
documented for the product with users

Certification Certification
Discover Design Produce Evaluate Discover Design Produce Evaluate
Objective Objective
Delivering great user experiences requires that UX experts work closely with the business, design
UX experts and users be an integrated part of the and development teams to ensure that meaningful,
process from concept through delivery and ongoing consistent user experiences are developed and
maintenance. tested with users throughout the process.
Goals Certification Points: Goals Certification Points:
UX is involved and part of the team from the start UX lead allocated in the project Concepts are analyzed for GE design Pattern analysis inventory
plan for the full duration of the patterns and standards
project
Experience prototypes are created Experience prototype(s)

Design research is performed with users User roles are defined
Research plan created
Research conducted and Experience prototypes are tested with users Research plan
analyzed Sessions conducted
Requirement
User archetypes for each key role are developed recommendations
User archetypes
based on current user research
User insights and key principles are documented User Insights brief
for the product
indicates a step for which a template
document will be created.

Certification Certification
Discover Design Produce Evaluate Discover Design Produce Evaluate
Objective Objective
UX experts integrate with the production process by Working with the product manager, the UX expert
creating user experience specifications and testing maintains an ongoing relationship with the
against them. product to measure outcomes and ascertain that
user experience targets are met.
Goals Certification Points: Goals Certification Points:
Final specifications are created based on GE Updated pattern analysis Post-launch data is collected into the UX UX Scorecard
standards inventory Scorecard
Product is benchmarked and analyzed for Benchmark report

Summative testing is done with key user Research plan improvement opportunities
archetypes prior to product release
Scorecard created
Research report and
recommendations

Certification
Scorecard
The UX Scorecard is a formal tool to systematically
understand customer and business outcomes, which Scorecard Elements
result from our GE user experience efforts. Universal Measures Universal measures are
based on our GE User
GE UX Principles • Welcoming Experience Principles,
Key features:
• Confident which are common to all
• Systematic collection of UX • Meaningful products.
measures into an online scorecard • Delightful
• Formal tool for analysis and

identification of opportunities for UX Basics / SUS • Intuitive Navigation
point release improvements • Visual Appeal
• Enables peer comparison and • Content Clarity
release 0 testing thresholds
Product Measures Product-specific
Connecting our Per-User Self- • Satisfaction with top 5
measures are created
from user requirements
Archetype reported capabilities
design efforts to (as derived from Data
identified at the end of
the Discover phase.
user research)
customer outcomes. • Success rate
Observed
Data • Time to completion
• Usage & task productivity
Existing Product Performance Measures Correlating UX

measures with existing
• Net Revenue
Assumed in Use product performance
• Net Sales
measures will highlight
• Sales Growth achievements and
• Market Share opportunities for
Concept for Scorecard
• Differentiated Value Proposition improvement.
• Net Promoter Score

Resources
Existing and planned tools
and teams, which will deliver
on our UX vision
92 93
Resources
UX Center of Excellence
Our Mission How We Help
The UX Center of Excellence provides GE businesses with the knowledge, methods and tools
to create welcoming, confident, meaningful and Hodelightful
w To’s user experiences that will drive
ards
tand
revenue and growth by Screating preference for GE branded software and platforms.
Standards
Visual Design
ric
s Interaction
Design Lead Lead The UX CoE team develops and maintains GE UX principles, processes and tools. These
et Prototyping
Lead assets are constantly under review and are updated to reflect state-of-the-art design
M
Research
uage How solutions for GE through active dialog with the GE UX community and investigation of
Lead
Lang To’s
sign &F Knowledge
De Desig oru Manager global trends.
n As ms
plates set
n Tem s/
Th
tio
ted
em
ca es
Support
Sta
ok Self S
fi
bo Tools
rti
ing
erv
Ce
ice
Gett
s
Pla
se We provide both direct and self-service support to the businesses. Our experts maintain
Sup
Sp
Visionary
es Ve
Project
eci
Leader
nd active discussion threads, and develop How-To’s and other materials to support
port
Manager
al P
oc
or M
rds Sup recommended processes and ongoing professional development. Through strategic
Pr
s
roje
iple
da
atch
projects and UX vendor qualification and matchmaking, we help all GE products move
Dir
cts
les
UX Princ
making
po
n
toward UX excellence.
ect
Princip
Sta
rt
UX
CoE Advocacy
Emerg
User exp gy
Inno
PR
Techn
s
cy
Mark
ation
To support the GE culture in embracing a user-centered mindset when developing digital

l
rna
ca
ing
tio
olo
ets es
erie
vo
va
solutions, we will conduct training and internal PR on GE UX processes, successes and

blic
Innovation
ws
Ad
e
Lead
n
nc
Int
opportunities. We will also integrate with new hire and executive training, as well as build
sho
/P
Gl
ba
ds
expert groups and professional development opportunities.

ad
o
l
ar
Ro
Evangelist
Aw
Bus g
nin
Be
Tr
ds
spe iness Trai
en
ha
cific
vio
s&
s
Innovation
r
Ne ng
ed Pla efi
s tfor e Bri s
mG tiv op
Cr uidanc
e Execu ksh
oss o r As a cross-business organization, the UX CoE members will be charged with identifying
-Bus s/W
Th
iness roup innovation trends, synergies and opportunities across the company. They will also
d
Expert G
ink
te
Trends
ar
Ta
Research
k actively engage with the wider UX community globally and develop special reports for the
St
ng
n
Knowledge Mgr.
tti
Ge community about market trends that impact our clients, industries and services. Beyond
Training identifying market movements, the UX CoE will also pursue propriety GE innovations in user
Lead
experience.

Resources
UX Central
A Single Source for Standards, UX Expertise and Outcomes
Training internal PR and leadership will get the UX word out, while UX Central provides a Growing and gardening the content on this site will be a major, ongoing responsibility of UX
dedicated source for all GE UX content. The website is currently being scoped and designed. It CoE staff, as the site must be active and continually reacting to changes and needs in the
will provide core reference and learning materials, official standards, process explanations and business and the market.
access to key trends and opportunities for the businesses.
Getting Started How To’s Standards Metrics ThinkTank Discussion Support
UX standards, the value Provide guidance and Enables cross-business Enables comparison Expert identification of Encourages GE UX dialog
of outstanding user access to key tools and sharing of standards and of outcomes and internal and external UX and access to qualified
experience and the templates. user interface and code measurement of trends. vendors and UX CoE
process to achieve them assets. financial impacts of UX. support.
at GE.
Content Types Content Types Content Types

Content Types Content Types Content Types
• Scorecard data • CoE & expert articles • Discussion threads
• Guiding vision • Detailed methods • CoE pattern libraries
• Benchmark data • Emerging topic • UX CoE staff
• UX Playbook • UX topics • Code and UI elements
• Trend visualization coverage • CoE pilot program
• UX Principles • Best practices • Definitions and links to
• Measurement tools • Trend coverage standards and
• Compliance process • Tutorials tutorials and examples
application
• Templates • Searchable reference
• Vendor directory
• Examples • Vendor standards

Resources
UX Central
Standards Content Example Landing Page Example
1. Provides access to reusable templates and code to drive consistency. 1. Provides step-by-step materials for each phase.
2. Guidance in evaluating the application of the standard. 2. Primers and detailed instructions help experts and novices refine skills and access templates.
3. Includes links to associated information. 3. Provides social presence for UX leaders to grow the GE UX community.
1 3
1
3

Resources Resources
UX in the GE Businesses Directory of External Partners

A Place to Start UX Vendor Qualification and Matchmaking
With more than 6000 GE employees focused on non-embedded software, many people at GE To support GE businesses in delivering the best GE experiences, particularly prior to full
are invested in making great user experiences. Key leaders and small teams of user experience staffing, the UX CoE will develop a directory of qualified GE user experience vendors and advise
experts exist within some businesses and are able to lead the processes and foster the skills on matchmaking.
recommended in this playbook.
This is an initial survey of user

UX Agencies with GE Experience Academic Partners
GE Aviation GE Healthcare experience leaders at GE.
Additions are sought. Artefact www.artefactgroup.com Carnegie Mellon Human
Justin Hendrix Bob Schwartz Brandtrust www. brandtrust.com Computer Interaction Institute
myEngines Global Design Bressler Group www.bresslergroup.com www.hcii.cmu.edu
Aaron Gannon James Maccubbin Brooks Stevens www.brooksstevens.com
Systems Human Factors IT Clinical Solutions
Carbon Design Group www.carbondesign.com Georgia Tech Cognitive
Erika Orrick Cooper www.cooper.com
Engineering Center
IT UX and Customer Collaboration www.cognitiveengineering.
GE Home and Business Echo Visualization www.echoviz.com
gatech.edu
Forest Giant www. forestgiant.com
Chris Melski GE Capital Formation Design www.formationdesign.com
Marketing and Social Media frog www.frogdesign.com
No UX team identified.
Lou Lenzi General Assembly www.productg.com
Industrial Design
Gravity Tank www.gravitytank.com
GE Transportation IA Collaborative www.iacollaborative.com
GE Energy Lextant www.lextant.com
No UX team identified.
The Patricia Seybold Group www.psgroup.com
Ken Ceglia Priority Design www.priotydesigns.com
Software Solutions
VSA www.vsapartners.com
Kristen Martin-Claret
Razorfish www.razorfish.com
Global Digital Media
Redali www.redali.com
Richard Smith www.richardsmithcreative.com
Sapient www.sapient.com
Strategy Product Development www.strategypd.com
User Insight www.userinsight.com
Usability Science www.usabilitysciences.com
Ziba - California www.ziba.com
Universal Mind www.universalmind.com
Whipsaw www.whipsawinc.com


Contributors Get Involved!
UX CoE Steering GE Global Research Outside Share
Committee Great methods, tools and examples at
Doug Forman Contributors
Eofn Williams www.geuxcentral.com/standards*
Tom Gentile The Engelbart

Linda Boff GE Energy Institute
Discuss
Ravi Adapathya Add your voice to the shape of the UX CoE at
Israel Alquindique Justine Aylmer Christina Engelbart www.geuxcentral.com/discuss*
Amy Aragones Robert Donaldson
Vic Bhagat Kristen Martin-Claret frog Learn
Arlene Borokowski Giri Iyer Read and comment on our growing body of methods
Kristina Lindau Alis Cambol
Mike Carlson and process at
Karl Meyer Robert Fabricant
Rich Carpenter www.geuxcentral.com/how-to*
Melinda Flores
Eduardo Cocozza
Daniel Holtzman
Franceso Del Greco GE Aviation
Yoo-Jung Kim
John Powley Contact Amy Aragones to be added to the GE UX
Aaron Gannon Lawrence Lipkin
Jeff Schnitzer expert list. Email: aaragones@ge.com
Alison Starr Turi McKinley
Jude Schramm
Erin Skurdal * URLs are all draft. The UX Central site is not yet
Bob Schwartz
GE Tech Infra Antoine Veliz built. In the interim, please visit http://supportcentral.
Peter Thomas
Angelica Tritzo ge.com/products/sup_products.asp?prod_id=161601
Elizabeth Earley
Paul Weatherbee Art Virgin The Patricia Seybold
Lauren Whitsell Group
GE Corporate Patricia Seybold
GE Contributors James Blomberg
Ronni Marshak
Meg Lewis
Paul Marcum
GE Healthcare Sean A Morton
Kathleen Bauman
Jim Kohli GE Appl & Light
Steve E Linthicum Alessio Palmieri
James Maccubbin
Sampada Marathe
Erika Orrick
Daniel Sloat GE Oil & Gas
Joyce Thomas Elizabeth Earley
102 103

UX CEO PLaybook GE

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Growth : Service & Software

4 GE CoE User Experience Playbook - Draft May 2011 5

Where are we going? A GE User Experience will be…

Then Initial versions of Expert on Alert,

6 GE CoE User Experience Playbook - Draft May 2011 7

Consistency • Deliver consistent GE user experience

User Contact • Benefit from more direct access to users and

Innovation • Decrease the likelihood of lost sales due to poor user

Expertise • Increase the number of user experience professionals

Value • Have a clear understanding of how successful my

Awareness • Increase awareness of user experience value, process

8 GE CoE User Experience Playbook - Draft May 2011 9

Welcoming Confident Meaningful Delightful

Maps KPIs Fleets Shops Asset 28

GE Brand Attribute Overview Cases Data Notes

Alternate Solutions: FA TC MSDC: Case History Show: Everything

Saturation Incidents on Multiple Inverters 38% 48 789 03/15/2011 07:00 AM

with these four principles, in addition to being informed

objectives and customer needs. These principles will be

measured alongside the critical-to-quality metrics (CTQs).

K12563 Solution Title Name Two 1 Firstname Lastname 03/18/2011 NTF

K12562 Solution Title Name Three 5 Firstname Lastname 03/18/2011 OK

K12561 Solution Title Name Four 2 Firstname Lastname 03/18/2011 NTF

12 GE CoE User Experience Playbook - Draft May 2011 13

Discover Design Produce Evaluate

16 GE CoE User Experience Playbook - Draft May 2011 17

18 GE CoE User Experience Playbook - Draft May 2011 19

Research & Immersion

Objective Example : myEngines

product should be. Expert led (at desk)

20 GE CoE User Experience Playbook - Draft May 2011 21

Data Analysis & Problem Framing

Objective Example : Digital Collaboration

cannot articulate. • Business process analysis

Analyze observation, interview and user

22 GE CoE User Experience Playbook - Draft May 2011 23

Insight Synthesis & Opportunity Areas

Objective Example : myEngines

solutions that meet user needs. • Product vision roadmaps

Requires the ability to

24 GE CoE User Experience Playbook - Draft May 2011 25

Objective Example : Energy Connect

and guide the design process. • Conjoint analysis

Identify all applicable principles, standards Tools

and constraints that apply to a product • Blueprint

Energy Connect maintains requirements

• Understand the full systems

26 GE CoE User Experience Playbook - Draft May 2011 27

28 GE CoE User Experience Playbook - Draft May 2011 29

Concept Generation & Prioritization

Objective Example : Experts on Alert

teams to identify business and technology • Feature prioritization (user)

Requires the ability to

30 GE CoE User Experience Playbook - Draft May 2011 31

Business Architecture Design

Objective Example : Controls Connect

32 GE CoE User Experience Playbook - Draft May 2011 33

Wireframing & Low-Fidelity Prototyping

Objective Example : Expert on Alert