Imagine a future where siloed departments and legacy workflows don’t stand in our way. Today’s content is complex, interconnected, and needs to be ready for devices we haven’t even dreamed of yet. Tomorrow isn’t going to get any simpler. Successful outcomes demand a new kind of collaboration. For the past three years, Rebekah Cancino has studied how successful teams collaborate on content decisions, and helped transform the way content strategists, designers, and developers work and produce together. In this session, you’ll hear what she’s learned about making effective cross-discipline collaboration possible, and leave with actionable approaches you can use to unite your team and workflow, too.

1. CONTENT STRATEGY AND DESIGN
Better Together
CS FORUM 2016 - @REBEKAHCANCINO

3. Tens of thousands of ideashttp://www.fastcompany.com/3027135/lessons-learned/inside-the-pixar-braintrust

6. “I realized the most exciting thing I had ever
done was to help create the unique
environment that allowed that film to be
made.”
- Ed Catmull, Pixar Co-Founder & CEO

7. Everything is content.

8. 2001 called, it wants its workflow back

10. http://cdn.softlayer.com/innerlayer/IBM370.png
And yet here we are...

11. Still disconnected

12. Collaboration should
give more than it takes

13. The value of effective collaboration
Create alignment
Remove politics
Reduce rework
Boost morale
Create alignment = deliver better outcomes
Remove politics = launch faster
Reduce rework = decrease costs
Boost morale = increase productivity
@REBEKAHCANCINO

14. Latching on to someone else’s process or
finding the next shiny tool that will save
the day.
It’s not about...
@REBEKAHCANCINO

15. IT’S ABOUT CREATING THE
ENVIRONMENT FOR OUR
OWN PROCESS TO emerge.
@REBEKAHCANCINO

16. How can we set the stage for
our own magic?

17. An unspoken prerequisite:
WITHOUT OPENNESS, WE
CAN’T HAVE EFFECTIVE
COLLABORATION.

18. Open by design

19. What’s inside a culture of openness?

21. An open mindset and personal belief system
grounded commitment to equality and
respect for fellow collaborators. This
personal lens of openness defines how you
see
everything else.

22. “Humility is a critical strength for leaders and
organizations possessing it, and a dangerous
weakness for those lacking it.”
- Dusya Vera Ph.D., Strategic Virtues: Humility
as a Source of Competitive Advantage

23. http://rlv.zcache.com/neon_open_sign_framed_in_a_heart_shape_in_a_wind_postcard-
r921910cb3db84ba9992f161fd2a5b51c_vgbaq_8byvr_1024.jpg
Being open to the ideas of others lets
others know we’re down to collaborate

24. FAUCET FUNNEL
Suspend judgment
Go for quantity
YES, and…
Embrace the unusual
Let go of ego
Accentuate the positive
Think strategically
Align to goals/objectives
Check for feasibility
Avoid default decisions
First faucet, then funnel

27. Good questions
EMPOWER
“How would you approach this?”
CREATE INCLUSIVENESS
“What do you think?”
CHALLENGE ASSUMPTIONS
“And why is that?”

28. Asking questions creates opportunity

29. 3 easy ways to practice personal openness
1) Include someone you normally wouldn’t
2) Suspend judgment
3) Stop pretending, just ask

31. Active openness is putting personal
openness to good use. It’s when we channel
our open mindset into courage, curiosity,
and care for the whole outcome.

32. “Content doesn’t belong to content. Design
doesn’t belong to design. Code doesn’t
belong to dev.”
- Nicole Fenton

33. Just jumping in helps you
add value where it counts

34. This is Chris@CHRIS_CORAK

35. IDEA
METRICS
PEOPLE
GOALS
BUSINESS
CASE

36. METRICS
PEOPLE
GOALS
Approach value and benefits
Supporting facts and data
Players involved and their role
Business goals and user needs met
Building your business case
IDEA

37. trust
Building a business case for
collaboration builds and
uncovers hidden .potential
@REBEKAHCANCINO

38. BUT IF YOUR BOSS SAYS NO,
ANYWAY.just do it

39. Meet Nicole@NICOLESLAW

40. Broad knowledge, deep expertise

42. 3 easy ways to practice active openness
1) Ask a teammate about their work
2) Build a business case
3) Diversify your education
@REBEKAHCANCINO

44. Outward openness is an exercise in empathy.
It’s when we try to put ourselves in the shoes
of those we are working with and designing for
to create solutions that are right for them.

46. Empathy is the secret behind
high-performing teams

47. THINKING
DOINGFEELING
Start with context @danieleizans

48. Talk to real users, find ways to
better fit into their lives

49. USER + NEED + INSIGHT
An anxious mother
sending a grad gift
To feel
good about
her gift
choice
Once she sends the
berries she worries
about if her niece
will be there to
receive it, will they
spoil?
Uncover insight

50. Formulate a problem
statement, together

51. We believe that ___________ has ________________
and that ______________may solve this problem by
____________________ and _____________________.
We will know we have succeeded when
___________________and/or ____________________
reaches ___________________.
(USER) (PROBLEM)
(THIS SOLUTION)
(THIS ASPECT) (THAT ASPECT)
(QUANTATIVE MEASURE)(QUALITATIVE MEASURE)
(THIS LEVEL)
(Based on Lean UX by Gothelf & Seiden)

52. @PATTY_CAKE
This is Patricia

53. Empathy for internal teams is just as
important as empathy for users

54. INTERNAL
NEEDS
BUSINESS
GOALS
CUSTOMER
NEEDS

55. 3 easy ways to practice outward openness
1) Think “with” not “for”
2) Take your best idea off the table
3) Empathy map (internal and external users)
@REBEKAHCANCINO

57. Exponential openness happens when cross-
discipline teams come together to co-design
something greater than any one person could
on their own. This is where the benefits of
collaboration increase rapidly.

59. Hey, Joe!
@WORKJOESTEWART

60. MAKE SURE
INVITED.
everyone’s

61. ALL THE DIFFERENT PEOPLE
WHO UNDERSTAND ALL THE
DIFFERENT PARTS OF
WHAT’S GOING TO MAKE A
PROJECT SUCCESSFUL.

63. “Part of why we’re actually able to undertake such
a big process so successfully is that we didn’t have
a wall that we tossed things back and forth over. It
was really very tight feedback loops. Very
collaborative.”
- Dean Cookson, VP CIO Virgin America

65. Pairing up is powerful

66. A SECOND PERSPECTIVE
MIGHT CUT THROUGH
PROBLEMS IN MINUTES
THAT WOULD TAKE HOURS
TO SOLVE ON YOUR OWN.

67. COLLABORATION
IS NOT
A SERIES OF
ONE WAY
CONVERSATIONS

68. Map the workflow

69. Critical areas for collaboration

70. Smart meetings allow us to
talk, listen, see, and do

71. Remote teams, F TW

72. 3 ways to encourage...
1) Pair up when possible
2) Map critical moments for collaboration
3) Design meetings differently
@REBEKAHCANCINO

73. And so...
JUST TO WRAP THINGS UP

74. COLLABORATION AND
CO-DESIGN ARE
TO BUILDING THE
INTERCONNECTED
EXPERIENCES OF THE future.
essential
@REBEKAHCANCINO

75. A CULTURE OF
SETS THE STAGE FOR
SUCCESSFUL
AND .
openness
collaboration
co-design
@REBEKAHCANCINO

76. 1) PERSONAL OPENNESS be humble
2) ACTIVE OPENNESS just jump in
3) OUTWARD OPENNESS start with heart
4) EXPONENTIAL OPENNESS join forces
Ways to champion openness
@REBEKAHCANCINO

77. Let’s do this

78. @REBEKAHCANCINO
Thanks, y’all!
ONWARDAND.CO