Making judgement calls !

Most decisions are made with analysis, but some are judgment calls not susceptible to analysis due to time or information constraints.

In November 2018, I got a request to revamp our home page to enhance user experience. I was only provided with a video for the hero section, showcasing all 3 models together. However, we had no other information about the features, functionality and their respective behavior on different breakpoints. I had 4 weeks to implement this brand-new solution end to end. I read these signals and sensed that this will demand a judgement call down the lane.

I started working with my UX designer and developer in building a rough prototype. We implemented the video in the hero section, made some layout changes and deployed to dev environment. As I was testing the prototype, I found couple of issues with video and overall experience. This was not the kind of user experience I wanted for the product that is used every day.

Now, the key challenge that arose was either to keep moving forward with the above solution end to end or invest time, energy, resources to invent the right solution and implement it end to end in the span of 3 weeks in coordination with disparate groups. As per my judgement, my decision was to move forward with inventing a better solution to serve our potential customers. I aligned my team members to make them understand why the call was important. I also aligned key stakeholders, inviting their inputs and harnessing their energy to move forward. As a matter of fact, I was able to successfully execute my judgment and produce the desired outcome. My judgement did not occur in a single moment but grew out of a process. Let me walk you through the alternatives I considered and evaluated my overall decision-making process.

Firstly, after testing the prototype, I found couple of issues with the video. I argued that this might bore the user and lose his interest in browsing further. In spite of having limited time to execute a new solution, in my judgement, I still proposed it. I disseminated this information to my stakeholders along with technical details, trade-offs and their impact before the execution. I was able to make them understand that for our website, people (as in potential customers, consumers etc.) are the most important stakeholders and this identification is my framework for making this judgement call. I was successful in harnessing their energy and support to move forward. Now the next step was execution.

So, I started mobilizing resources and my engineering team. We encountered some challenges in our prototype which lead us derive our next possible solution. Finally, after going through couple of iterations, I suggested simulating carousel behavior with shared carousel concept and video. The behavior is that, on loading the homepage, you will see all three models: Model 3 at the center and Model S and X on left- and right-hand side respectively. Then within 1 sec it will zoom into Model 3 with a peek of Model S and X on either side, thereby indicating the user of swipe-able functionality. My team worked on this solution end to end. We had 2 quick rounds of UAT. We addressed few layout changes and also replaced ‘Buy Now’ text with ‘Order Now’ text because ‘Buy Now’ kind of sounded aggressive and less customer friendly.

We made it happen, learning and adjusting along the way and were ready to launch in 5 weeks. I learned that sometimes it may be difficult to go back and change the call, but you can at least change the course during execution if you are open to feedback and committed to follow through. Also, one should consider judgment call as a process and go through the feedback loop and build incrementally rather than considering it as an event and be reluctant to make any changes, there by setting up the team for failure.

Knowing your product, target audience, testing your prototype, having support of your team members, stakeholders and overall execution are vital in improving the likelihood of the call that you make. When it comes to judgement call, the only thing that counts is the outcome. Rest all may help but people remember only outcomes. Therefore, a good outcome is a function of well-thought process, collaborative wisdom and desire to serve our customers.