An Interview with Bo Lora

What do you mean you have seen much of the evolution in the internet?

I actually worked on the ArpaNet which was the predecessor of the Internet. I went around Europe hooking up offices in military bases with modems. The first application that was used was email which most people didn’t see the sense in it. Then I began to experiment with ASCII text based applications using C script to create date entry forms to VAX databases to generate reports and do simple workflow applications. I was at Motorola just after the web made its splash. Backgrounds on web pages were all gray and I remember the dreadful day the first animated gif image hit the web. Early on I started to work with PERL scripts and created a content management system that managed over 300 pages.

So how did you get involved with web design?

While I was in Europe I was a Mac enthusiast. Our company (BBN) had nothing but Macs or Sun work stations. At that point, all macs were black and white. I bought a program called Painter (which was like a monochrome PhotoShop) and PageMaker a desktop publishing program. With the two I became a pretty good desktop publisher volunteering to create flyers for the base theater and yearbook for the ski club. After coming back to the states I started a boutique ad agency where we got involved with many small projects in logo design, brochures, catalogs, etc. By 1995 some of our customers were wondering about this “web” so we got into the web business. The new work was so much easier not having to worry about four color separations and printers.

Can you tell us about the early days of web design?

There wasn’t much established discipline. Much of the work was done in production and we basically built pages for customers and they reviewed live pages. They were live but not connected to anything.

Up to about 1997 it was the wild west, anything went. Then the websites I was working on started to become more complex involving IT teams. That’s when I started to work with a more rigid environment (requirements, IT testing, etc.). At Motorola Semiconductors we had to build a product catalog that had lots of data points. “Parametric search” became a big word and I started dealing with companies like InfoSeek, Vignette and IBM (Websphere). Customer service on the web was also beginning to realize and I created a web interface for PureDDTS a bug tracking workflow. Later I was involved with a Siebel/IBM Websphere implementation. The more technical these projects got the more we got into doing flow diagrams, site maps and wireframes.

By 2000 I was involved in an effort called DigitalDNA.com which was a 100% Flash site that was geared for helping the new Motorola brand. We used wireframes and comps to visualize early concepts. We partnered with a design agency out of Dallas (Group Baronet) and did some innovative things. We also worked with some of Mark Cuban’s friends at a company called Broadcast.com later bought out by Yahoo! Late 2000 we were streaming mp3s of engineers talking about embedded semiconductors 3 years before “podcasting” surfaced in the internet lingo.

When did you start working with traditional web design deliverables?

I used various methods of conveying requirements and interaction notes throughout the years but I can remember when I read O’Reilly’s first “Information Architecture” book (The polar bear) by Peter Morville and Louis Rosenfeld in 1998. I began to use Visio to do diagrams and wireframes and developed templates and stencils. Then I joined a company called USAA and they were doing the same type of diagrams. However, USAA was not traditional in their approach. While we used Visio to do information architecture documents and site flow diagrams, they were starting to use content models (stand alone prototypes) instead of Photoshop comps.

So how do you feel about the approach of prototype vs. Photoshop comps?

At first it seemed like a lot of effort to go through. When sitting in front of a client I needed to convey a visual picture really fast. I struggled with needing to create something in between that wasn’t as high fidelity as a full color Photoshop comp but was better that a sketch. We developed Visio stencils with common artifacts from our website and it worked for some projects. The larger or more complex the project got the tougher it was to do that. I also tried the same thing with PowerPoint but either option became tedious especially if the client wanted a wholesale change in 20+ screens.

So what works best Photoshop or prototyping?

Over the years I’ve come to the conclusion that some things work best than others FOR ME. For you or somebody else another method could be better. The nature of the Internet and its dynamic nature dictate a dynamic approach to its development. At USAA we went through a long exercise of trying to develop a matrix with logic to determine what kind deliverables a certain project would be required to do. For example, Project A needs a wireframe; Project B needs a fully functional prototype, etc. I think decisions like that can’t be left to simple logic. I know that makes project managers nuts but the best approach is to have a large bag of tricks and use whatever gets the point across to your client.

So are you saying that it is hard to create any structure in a web design process?

Not really. I believe structure is critical. The idea is that early in design you want to have a creative environment that has little structure and boundaries. We need to get visual as soon as possible and if you have a napkin handy over lunch it’s better using it rather than telling your business partner “I’ll think about it and call you when I have an idea ready.”

When you begin to interface with IT and developers then it serves very well to have a mature structure that organizes all the creative work before it enters the rigid realm of IT.

Tell me why you talk about SixSigma in your resume? That seems unusual in the world of user experience.

SixSigma was invented by Motorola because of the high degree of failure in their manufacturing process especially in the semiconductor sector. It’s roots came from the Japanese Auto industry who created Total Quality Management or TQM. TQM was embraced by HP and proliferated throughout corporate America in the late 80’s. While at Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN) we did lots of TQM initiatives and used some of the common SixSigma tools such as Ichakawa diagrams and process swim lanes.

While at Motorola I was then exposed to Six Sigma which was more extreme in terms of measurement and analysis. I also interfaced with some of the organizational development folks at Motorola where I learned more about process engineering and systems thinking.

Midway thru my USAA tenure they brought in a black belt from GTE to implement a process engineering mindset in the company. The culture of the company had to transform itself from stove pipe and silo mentality to a process driven system. The introduction of SixSigma into USAA was not the typical application because USAA is not a widget factory. USAA’s main product was service and this required a modification of pure SixSigma. This is when I started to learn about the techniques but most importantly how to apply them to a service environment as supposed to manufacturing.

So when I say SixSigma in the user experience world, I’m talking about instilling a passion for discovering what is wrong before you go off and fix it. I’m talking about figuring out what is a valued added proposition for the customer and what is critical to quality.

Before this transition at USAA there was always a running joke during meetings, The CEO would always show a three legged stool with three key drivers of the company (I can’t think of what they were). Anyway, in meetings someone was always bound to say, you have Time, Cost and Quality; pick whichever two you like. Quality was always the first option to throw out. Someone would always respond with, “so much for the three legged stool!”

So back to the question: I refer to SixSigma because I like an approach to user experience design that follows the following basic process:

· Figure out what is the problem you are tasked to fix. (Problem Statement)

· Conduct a root cause analysis (Ichakawa Fish Diagram)

· Develop a good sense of the audience and their characteristics. (Personas)

· Collect voice of customer (VOC)

· Analyze VOC and determine the needs that are critical to quality. (CTQs)

· Match customer needs to business objectives. (Metrics)

Wow, you mean you like to figure out what the problem is first?

It’s my big pet peeve in this industry. I’ve been in tons of projects where people don’t really understand what problem or customer need is they are trying to address. They are just marching along with orders to implement a solution.

I remember the first time I drove across the 520 bridge in Seattle. At some point in 520 there are bridges that go to nowhere. It is a good example of just building out a solution without figuring out what the problem is. Perhaps I don’t know the full story but it just reminds me of the kind of waste that happens when people blindly implement something without asking the right questions.

You like to ask a lot of questions in the web design process?

Yes and sometimes project managers hate that. Their job is to keep an eye on a checklist and mark those things off diligently. To stop a project and ask “why are we doing this?” is an evil thing for many project managers. But I’ve been fortunate to have worked with some awesome project managers. Other project managers rather that you just stick to their list of tasks and move along. In other words, “shut up and color.”

It’s been a while since you were involved with Globalization consulting. What do you think about it now?

There has been a lot of consolidation in the market. I found the work to be fascinating. I worked on a HP project where they had their support site running on Vignette and we installed a server to look for changes in the content database and as soon as one was detected the system would check against already translated material (Translation Memory) and then automatically send out the partially translated material to approved vendors. The workflow status console allowed the HP Content manager to approve bids when they came back and automatically send a message to selected vendor to translate the material. The system handled translation to 7 other languages. This was Uniscape’s first implementation of the system but unfortunately we were right in the middle of the dot bomb implosion.

Obviously your survived the dot bomb implosion.

Yeah, remember that it all began right after some dot com companies spent incredible amounts of money on Super Bowl advertising. I got laid off twice because the companies I was with didn’t get their expected round of funding. It was terrible and when I had finally scored a couple of interviews 9/11 happened and I didn’t hear back from those people. Somehow by the grace of God I was hired on the last day of 2001!

How has technology changed your lifestyle?

I’ve always been on the human side of things. Give someone a choice and they rather have human contact with someone than deal with a machine. But that’s certainly changing now and I think it is actually a little scary. When I was growing up I remember my parents going to the store to resolve an issue. You didn’t call the store and complained; you drove to the store and personally talked to the manager.

I think about kids nowadays, they have no idea what is like to drive up to a gas station and not even leave your car while it is serviced. Now, for the sake of convenience you can do it all yourself and pay at the pump?

Recently our microwave went out and my wife and I set out to buy a new one. We researched on the net but felt compelled to find an appliance store to buy it. The days of appliance stores where you have a totally knowledgeable person are over. We were really left on our own to know and find what we needed.

On the other hand however, today I can grab my blackberry and within a few keystrokes add some money to my son’s debit card. Totally cool.

I can also easily keep track of what my friends are doing.

What do you think about the whole buzz of social media?

I’ve recently been foraying into the world of social media. I have over 300 contacts on LinkedIn and Facebook but I’m just beginning to tap the surface. I think this whole buzz is a reflection of how our culture is moving from a world of information overload to a way of parsing information. On one side of the coin I see a culture losing its grip on the human touch, on the other side I see a culture gaining its grip on the human touch.

As a culture, America has lost its sense of community. Anyone in suburbia could literally live in a house for ten years and not even know his own neighbor. However, nowadays those two people could find each other online and meet with common interests they didn’t even know.

The component of social media I find interesting is friends updating their status. People emitting random or not so random thoughts that let all their friends know what is going on. Just recently I saw the iPhone ad with the application that gives you a map that lets you know where your friends are. A little freaky but between good friends, why not?

Do you think web design for portable devices like the iPhone are the wave of the future?

No. It’s not in the future, it’s already here! I just heard about this 9 year old kid that invented an iPhone application! There are a lot of cool gadgets in iPhone apps but businesses will get in the game and start thinking of really interesting innovative ways to solve their business problems.

So what’s your ideal job?
That’s a tough question. Not because I don’t know what my ideal job could look like but because there are so many great places where I would love to work.

I’ve worked with start ups, mid size companies, I’ve owned companies, and I’ve worked in Fortune 100. I like a place where innovation is the driving force. I believe that no matter the market, there is always room for innovation. Just when you think everything is figured out, someone comes up with a novel idea to improve it.

Having said all that, I like working in large companies best. Behind large organizations, there is always a cadre of entrepreneur minded people enacting change and innovation. I like the challenge of being a change agent in a place that sometimes may seem allergic to change itself. It can be frustrating at times yet very fulfilling.