Situational Awareness: A Superpower for UX Designers

UX designers are increasingly asked to help set the direction of a product or company and to decide which user needs to focus on. To do that well, you need to understand where you are now.

In this talk from UX Brighton 2017, Simon Wardley, the creator of Wardley Maps, presents his method for gaining situational awareness: an understanding of the landscape that lets you take control of your company’s future instead of reacting to it. He describes Wardley Maps as a graphical, user-centred business tool, starting from user needs and mapping the components that serve them.

The talk suits designers and product people who are moving into strategy work and want a structured way to discuss where to invest and what to leave alone.