The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/67910
best practices UX at Irell and Manella LLP Irell and Manella LLP is one firm that has embraced the idea of user experience advocates. According to Executive Director Mark Hanson, support used to be a necessary evil to be utilized on an as-needed basis, and there was a predisposition to be disappointed. The IT group tended to dictate instead of listen to the firm, and nobody looked forward to training. There was quite a bit of distrust and hostility. Mark says that when Irell decided to change that, they sat down with users and told them what this new, upgraded profile for support staff meant and why they were changing it. To provide a higher level of service and response, and to allow its in-house support staff to focus on what they do best, Irell outsourced its helpdesk. With this very robust tier-one support group available 24/7, training and support staff onsite can concentrate on individual, face-to-face interactions. The new approach at Irell is holistic, where training is just the beginning of the user experience. The idea of one-size-fits-all training and support is gone, replaced by a commitment to help all users by finding out how people use technology and what they need. Mark compares Irell's IT training and support staff to doctors. When you go to the doctor, you don't want the doctor to criticize your lifestyle, you just want the doctor to heal your ailments. Irell's IT training and support staff strive to give users an experience that makes the most of their skills. The goal is to be able to answer "yes" to the following questions: • Have I contributed to the user's overall proficiency? • Have I solved the user's problems? • Have I made things easier and more pleasant for the user? • Have I made the user happier? Irell's philosophy is to invest in every person who walks through the door, and to become a "destination employer" because of the training and experience all employees receive. The result has been a remarkable transformation. The sense of separation and defensiveness between users and IT has been replaced by a sense of teamwork. There's a new energy, with people very enthusiastic about going to training. Asked what he would tell a firm that wants to rebrand its training and support staff, Mark said, "Have a really good vision of what you want and where you want the rebranding to go, and support it from the top. You can't compromise. If that's what you want, you have to be consistent. Once people see the benefits, they'll get behind it." sure your feedback and that of your peers is being heard by the decision makers." Decision makers will need to be open and willing to receive feedback collected by UX advocates. How they choose to act on that feedback is their prerogative. As Whitehurst said, "A voice doesn't mean decision rights. It doesn't mean you have any say in the answer. But at least you have a vehicle for an opinion to be heard." That said, decision makers will also need to be open to explaining why a suggestion is rejected, and trust the UX advocates to relay those reasons back to end users in a way that won't make the decision makers sound like they don't understand or care what users want. These changes will need to come from the top down. Without management's support, trainers might change the way they think about their jobs, but users won't be open to giving the feedback that's needed to improve ROI. And it won't do anything to help users feel that decision makers care about their needs. The Key = Trainers As UX Advocates According to experts, user experience is a nebulous concept, and UX varies from user to user depending on a variety of factors. But one thing is certain, making sure users have a better user experience can improve any law firm's bottom line, and user experience advocates are just the folks to make it happen. Michael Barshinger is the Founder and CEO of Profiscience Partners, a leading provider of performance management solutions to law firms. Profiscience's flagship product is UniversitySite, a learning management system used by half of the top 200 law firms in the United States and around the world. The combination of UniversitySite and its SharePoint Learning Kit add-in enables organizations to rapidly deploy social networks for learning in SharePoint. Michael can be reached at michael.barshinger@profiscience.com. Claudia O'Neill is a Senior Consultant with Profiscience Partners and a member of the team that created SkillSite, Profiscience Partner's assessment management system. With almost 20 years of experience as a legal training consultant, Claudia helps implement skill assessment initiatives and prescriptive training programs for clients, and works on designing new SkillSite assessment products. She can be reached at claudia.oneill@profiscience.com. 22 Peer to Peer