UX to Avoid Risks. Avoid Risks to UX.

Description

How UX can drive risk management and how UX can adapt: Lessons from Heidelberg Materials. In today’s fast-changing business world, UX must act as a shield against organizational risks while also recognizing that it is itself at risk. This session explores UX’s dual role: how it can proactively minimize organizational risks and how it must adapt to stay relevant. Attendees will learn practical ways to use UX as strategic tool for risk management and tackle current challenges facing the field. While UX and UX Research are known for improving products, their value in managing risk is often overlooked. This talk demonstrates how UX can help identify, mitigate, and even leverage risks for growth. We’ll discuss threats to UX’s relevance such as being sidelined, restructuring, shifting priorities, and resource cuts. It will outline strategies like re-branding, re-positioning, and strategic collaboration. After nearly seven years, the Heidelberg Materials UX team was 'shut down,' a move that threatened to erase their influence. However, in a case study this talk will show how through strategic transformation, the team re-emerged as the Experience Strategy Team by taking on high-visibility topics and partnering with Senior Leadership through Tribes and quarterly tribe sprints. Their journey illustrates how adaptation, focus, and collaboration can turn risks into opportunities for greater impact.