Copied from UnderstandingClients.com, which I took down. In-person meetings are my best window into how the client organization works. I am always looking for the risks in the room. I could assume the best, but that hasn't tended to help in the past. Sometimes paranoia pays. Phone meetings still frustrate me. I don't know which is …
Article Review: Leadership Meanders, but a Good Start
Copied from UnderstandingClients.com, which I took down. It's exciting to see an article discussing the need for UX leadership, especially as part of a series on UX Management. The article attempts to cover a lot: there are probably 3 or more articles in here. And as much as I adore Jim Collins, some references to …
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Managing Experience Conference: the Videos
Copied from UnderstandingClients.com, which I took down. Go. Go now: http://vimeo.com/channels/mxconf on Vimeo for the 2014 MX conference videos. Yes, I'm 8 months late to the party but I'm so excited I don't care. I attended the MX conference in 2013. It is an amazing event hosted by Adaptive Path. I hope that this conference is …
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More Design Managers Need to Stop Designers from Designing
Copied from UnderstandingClients.com, which I took down. Just watched Des Traynor from Intercom's talk on Product Design. This is one of the best summaries of the current state of digital product design I've seen, primarily because it is helping my synthesize my thoughts why I am frustrated with the current state of user experience design. …
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You Deserve a Good Job
Copied from UnderstandingClients.com, which I took down. Recently, I was talking with someone who told me, “I won’t take on a UX contract if I have all the accountability without the authority.” That’s an awesome position to take. Too many people don’t ask, then take what’s offered and complain forever more. I’ve also talked with …
Powerlessness
Copied from UnderstandingClients.com, which I took down. Addiction recovery programs are based on admitting the illusion of control over the addictive behaviour, the harmful things done as a result, and releasing yourself from the need to control. We, as User Experience practitioners, demonstrate a lot of issues with control. We often want to control everything …
Measuring the Impact of User Experience
Copied from UnderstandingClients.com, which I took down. Most of us work in an organization where measurable outcomes matter in allocating headcount and operating and capital budgets. Don’t sideline your UX practice as a nice-to-have by not measuring your outcomes. The main challenge, as I see it, is that many UX practitioners don’t know how to quantify …
Mea Culpa; Learn From My Mistakes
Copied from UnderstandingClients.com, which I took down. With this post, I am exorcising the ghosts of mistakes past and present frustrations. The future will be perfect; it always is. I’ve been at this for 20 years, as part of the first wave of Web UX professionals in Canada. Statistically, I’ve earned the right to make …
Creating Organizational Influence Is a Design Problem
Copied from UnderstandingClients.com, which I took down. Have a look at this article by Luke Wroblewski: on Factors Limiting the Organizational Influence of Design. themes emerged: organizational imbalance, lack of shared understanding, resource constraints, and market dynamics. I was saddened and heartened by how consistent other designers' experiences are with my own. Saddened because …
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Why Digital Products Need Business Analysts
(first published December 2007, edited in 2015) Here's my little tap dance on BAs. It's not so much "here's why we're so great", but "here's the evolution of the need for them in Web projects". I originally wrote this as an email explanation for some one who was coming from an environment where she'd managed …
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Effective by Design 