![[Experiment]
Goals
Write down 3 developments you
want to see in your UX practice
within 5 years. Think about...
•
Your role
•
Your team
•
Products you put into the world
•
Your success stories
•
Who your allies are
•
Education (yours and others)
•
Where you work
•
How you work
•
The culture you create &
contribute to](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/practicebuildingfortheuxteamofone-uxlx-110512091942-phpapp01/75/practice-building-for-the-ux-team-of-one-uxlx-17-2048.jpg?cb=1669231141)
![[Experiment]
Challenges
Write down all the challenges that
are currently standing in the way
of your ability to do good UX work.
Think about...
•
Your role & responsibilities
•
Your team
•
Your company
•
Your strengths & weakneses
•
Prejudices and biases](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/practicebuildingfortheuxteamofone-uxlx-110512091942-phpapp01/75/practice-building-for-the-ux-team-of-one-uxlx-23-2048.jpg?cb=1669231141)
![[Experiment]
Challenges
Now, working as a group, put
all your stickies together, and
create logical groupings. Think
about...
•
What challenges naturally go
together?
•
What challenges stem from the
same problem?](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/practicebuildingfortheuxteamofone-uxlx-110512091942-phpapp01/75/practice-building-for-the-ux-team-of-one-uxlx-24-2048.jpg?cb=1669231141)
![[Experiment]
Methods
Working as a group, pick one team
What How it of one profile. Brainstorm 3 new
it works methods to help them deal with
Tactics &
looks
like
their common challenges. Think
about...
Stinvolved gies
How it gets others
rate
✔
•
Methods that address a common
✔
✔ problem
✔
What questions it •
Ways to adapt existing methods,
answers but take less time
✔
✔ •
Methods that involve others and
build buy-in
•
Methods that are self documenting](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/practicebuildingfortheuxteamofone-uxlx-110512091942-phpapp01/75/practice-building-for-the-ux-team-of-one-uxlx-48-2048.jpg?cb=1669231141)
![[Experiment] Your
Plan
Your Personalized Plan Take 10
Within the next 18 months, what do I want to achieve? minutes to fill
out your
My basic strategy/approach is: Three methods that will help me are:
personal plan.
Think about...
If I get everything I want from my plan, the impact will be: If I get the bare minimum that I want, the impact will be:
•
Ways to
adapt your
Some reasonable objections that people might have are: Two possible alternatives that I would be happy with if
things don't go quite as a I planned:
goals without
compromisin
g your
values.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/practicebuildingfortheuxteamofone-uxlx-110512091942-phpapp01/75/practice-building-for-the-ux-team-of-one-uxlx-51-2048.jpg?cb=1669231141)
Practice building for the ux team of one uxlx
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These slides were presented in a workshop at UX London 2011. The workshop covered the methods, soft skills, and strategies to help UX teams of one build their own careers and do their best work in a resource constrained environments. Includes an overview of different "types" of teams of one, challenges, and some useful methods.
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Practice building for the ux team of one uxlx
- 1. Building a Practice Leah Buley · May 11, 2011 · Lisbon Portugal
- 2. The UX Team of One Philosophy
- 3. The UX Team of One Philosophy 1. UX is good.
- 4. The UX Team of One Philosophy 1. UX is good. 2. The world needs more of it.
- 5. The UX Team of One Philosophy 1. UX is good. 2. The world needs more of it. 3. You can make that happen.
- 6. Our goal This workshop will guide you in making an 18-month plan for your UX practice, and help you identify specific tactics and strategies to get you there.
- 7. Today... 9:00-9:45 Goals. What motivates you? What are you working towards? 9:45-10:30 Challenges. What obstacles might you encounter? 10:30-11:00 Break. Don’t you want coffee? I know I do. 11:00-12:00 Methods. Tactics and strategies for a variety of situations. 12:00-12:30 Plan. What are your next steps?
- 8. Caveat: We are all figuring this out—together.
- 9. How about What do you want to learn today?
- 10. * Goals *
- 11. My horoscope on August 27, 2009
- 13. ✘ ✔ ✔
- 14. This is
- 15. This is Strategies & Roadmaps
- 16. This is Strategies & Roadmaps World Domination
- 17. [Experiment] Goals Write down 3 developments you want to see in your UX practice within 5 years. Think about... • Your role • Your team • Products you put into the world • Your success stories • Who your allies are • Education (yours and others) • Where you work • How you work • The culture you create & contribute to
- 18. *
- 19. Hol a basic f din Ke uilding ding o ep gM in B No yG gU erstan Pr rou und pW oc nd % es UX 17 ith Territory s the Disputes 5% Ind Challeng Status us Quo Getting try 5% permission t o do Creative Is the work 13 olation % 6% Communic ating/ selling ide No as 12% Strategy 7% Just Trying Politics to Do 7% Time Good 8% Work 12%
- 20. Challenges We Face The usual human stuff Fear of A Fight- change rapidly Territory changing i-ness disputes Little industry strategy Plus the Lack of politics understanding/ support for UX But there’s too much to do. Not enough Foundation time. No permission to do user research / UX So you just try to do what you can Tactics Process Leah Buley |
- 21. How change “I’ve been working on earning the confidence of others to trust my judgment and apply my design / 'suggestions'. Prior to myself, the company had a UX team of zero. The confidence was gained over time as my input continually improved product development. It is/was a difficult path that has proved to be rewarding.”
- 22. B Be up there, not down here.
- 23. [Experiment] Challenges Write down all the challenges that are currently standing in the way of your ability to do good UX work. Think about... • Your role & responsibilities • Your team • Your company • Your strengths & weakneses • Prejudices and biases
- 24. [Experiment] Challenges Now, working as a group, put all your stickies together, and create logical groupings. Think about... • What challenges naturally go together? • What challenges stem from the same problem?
- 25. * Methods *
- 26. Types The Crossover of The Doer The Builder The Independent
- 27. The
- 28. The Crossover Crossovers bring passion and fresh perspective. They’re helping to spread UX. Challenges - Permission to Focus - Getting in Touch with the User - Finding Ways to Do Good Design Strategies - Find Good Partners - Do DIY Research - Steal Inspiration Wherever You Can
- 29. Method: Heuristic Markup How it works 1. Start at the beginning of the site or service 2. At each step, take screenshots or pictures 3. Write directly on the image what’s confusing How it gets others involved Creates a very visual document that you can send around to raise awareness of Slide from presentation by MAYA Design design issues http://www.maya.com/portfolio/carnegie-library What questions it can answer Basic awareness questions. What kinds of issues does UX address? What opportunities do we have for improvement?
- 30. Method: 5-Second Test How it works 1. Show users a design for 5 seconds 2. Take it away 3. Ask them some questions about the design 4. See what they can remember How it gets others involved Invite team members to watch. Invite team members to participant. Best if you can get users involved too, of course. What questions it can answer Do we all agree on the goals of what we’re trying to accomplish? Where to learn more uie.com/articles/five_second_test fivesecondtest.com
- 31. Method: Collect Examples How it works 1. Go to a site that collects good examples. (I like The Webbys). 2. Create screenshots of everything you think demonstrates the qualities your product should have. 3. Do a quick analysis on what design choices make it seem that way. 4. Send around the screenshots to others in your company, sharing your thoughts. How it gets others involved Turns critique into an open dialogue. Invites a culture of sharing ideas for how to improve the product. What questions it can answer What design principles and aesthetics can be a foundation for product changes.
- 32. The Doer
- 33. The Doer Doers make things happen. But they can be under-appreciated, and adrift in their organizations. Challenges - Building Consistent Support for UX - Communicating the Value of Design - Coming in Too Late in the Process Strategies - Connect Professionally - Focus on Relationships - Offer Your Services
- 34. Method: UX Health Checkup How it works 1. Schedule a recurring meeting 2. Make a spreadsheet 3. Break the site into sections (e.g., search, registration, etc.) 4. For each section, choose relevant comparators 5. For each section, grade how good it needs to be vs. its comparators 6. For each section, grade how good IT IS vs. its comparators 7. As a group, discuss the gaps How it gets others involved Invites others to regularly assess how the site/ service is doing What questions it can answer Where do we need to focus next? For more information http://www.slideshare.net/livlab/ux-health- check-phillychi
- 35. Method: Product Definition Workshop How it works 1. Schedule a meeting 2. Everyone draws their vision for the design 3. Everyone talks about their design 4. Everyone throws away their drawings, and draws again 5. Everyone talks about what they drew 6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 7. Final designs should be closely aligned toward shared group goals How it gets others involved Everyone gets to share their vision for design, and has to listen to others What questions it can answer What are outlying ideas for the design vs. core shared expectations
- 36. Method: Lunchtime UX How it works 1. Brainstorm a list of the people who you need to or would like to partner with. 2. Invite each one to a one-on-one lunch. 3. Ask your lunch date to talk about what their working on. Probe to understand their goals, challenges, etc. Ask about their frustrations or concerns. Listen more than you talk. 4. Save time to ask your lunchdate about their vision for the project or product. How it gets others involved It sets a precedent for positive working relationships, and gives your partners a chance to share their perspective outside of the context of formal meetings. What questions it can answer Where are there opportunities for UX to help. What are the reasons why it sometimes faces opposition.
- 37. The Builder
- 38. The Builder Builders have been doing UX work in their organizations for a while, and are starting to see real progress from it. Often, they’re on the verge of starting full-fledged UX teams. Challenges - Process - Politics - Relationship Management Strategies - Align With Business Goals - Strategic Planning - Pyramid Evangelism - Build a Case to Grow Your Team
- 39. Method: Internal Survey How it works 1. Send around a survey to internal stakeholders 2. Ask them about their goals for the product, what parts need improvement, and their understanding of users How it gets others involved Invites others to share their expertise and vision for the site/service. Creates a starting point for further conversations (people will want to hear what you found) What questions it can answer How much support for change is there? What business goals do people expect the site/service to serve?
- 40. Method: Case Studies How it works 1. Create a one-sheet overview of a major project you did. 2. Include images of the outputs, and a brief write up of the goals, and what you’ accomplished. 3. Share with others, or simply keep the stories well memorized in your back pocket. How it gets others involved It makes it easier for you to explain the value that UX provides, so others can see it too. Can also be an opportunity to highlight the involvement of colleagues. What questions it can answer What are the results of UX work? Why might we want more of it?
- 41. Method: Pre-Meetings How it works 1. Prior to an important meeting, list key participants. 2. Think about senior decision makers, people with informal influence, and the people most likely to have reservations 3. Set up a pre-meeting with each of them to preview the design work and invite their one-on-one feedback. 4. If the reviews go well, you're golden. If not, consider delaying the meeting. How it gets others involved It gives them time to think and ask questions. It also makes them feel special. What questions it can answer What concerns are there? Where does the support lie?
- 42. The
- 43. The Independent Independents are lone guns – people who work for themselves, but contract with other organizations or groups to provide UX services. Independents are the literal teams of one. Challenges - Building Business - Contracting - Being Positioned to Do Good Work Strategies - Promote Yourself - Get a Lawyer - Set Your Terms
- 44. Method: Project Brief How it works 1. Create a one-page overview of the project 2. Include vision, functional requirements, and design principles or user goals 3. Setup a meeting to review and “redline” with others How it gets others involved Puts the goals of a UX project in an appealing summary and invites people to think about what you’re trying to accomplish What questions it can answer Do we all agree on the goals of what we’re trying to accomplish?
- 45. Method: Have a Contract How it works 1. Talk to a lawyer. 2. Have them write a good contract. How it gets others involved Well, this one’s not so much about involving others as protecting yourself. But that sets you up to do more work with more people in the future. What questions it can answer How do I protect myself in my business. For more information F*ck You. Pay Me. http://vimeo.com/22053820
- 46. Method: Share What You Know How it works 1. Think about your work experience. What are the topics that you have hte most expertise and passion for? 2. Establish a practice of regularly writing about them. 3. When you do, tweet it. 4. If you’re feeling bold, submit ideas to conferences to share what you know with others. How it gets others involved You share your knowledge with others an invite them to see you as an expert in your area. What questions it can answer Is there demand for this topic? What else should I be learning about and sharing?
- 47. Caveat: We are all figuring this out—together.
- 48. [Experiment] Methods Working as a group, pick one team What How it of one profile. Brainstorm 3 new it works methods to help them deal with Tactics & looks like their common challenges. Think about... Stinvolved gies How it gets others rate ✔ • Methods that address a common ✔ ✔ problem ✔ What questions it • Ways to adapt existing methods, answers but take less time ✔ ✔ • Methods that involve others and build buy-in • Methods that are self documenting
- 49. * The Plan *
- 50. Let’s put it all together. Goals + Challenges + Methods Tactics & Strategi ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ es ✔ ✔
- 51. [Experiment] Your Plan Your Personalized Plan Take 10 Within the next 18 months, what do I want to achieve? minutes to fill out your My basic strategy/approach is: Three methods that will help me are: personal plan. Think about... If I get everything I want from my plan, the impact will be: If I get the bare minimum that I want, the impact will be: • Ways to adapt your Some reasonable objections that people might have are: Two possible alternatives that I would be happy with if things don't go quite as a I planned: goals without compromisin g your values.
- 52. * Q&A *
- 53. Thanks! Slides: http://www.slideshare.com/ugleah Info: http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/ux-team-of-one/ Me: leahbuley@gmail.com · @ugleah · www.ugleah.com
Editor's Notes
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- This was my horoscope on August 27, 2009 (courtesy of Rob Breszny and freewillastrology.com):\n\nWhat life will you be living at noon on September 1, 2014? Who will you be? How thoroughly will your dreams have come true? What kind of beauty and truth and love and justice will you be serving? Will you look back at the time between August 27 and September 21, 2009 and sigh, "If only I had initiated my Five Year Master Plan at that ripe astrological moment"? Or on September 1, 2014 will you instead be able to crow, "I can truly say that in these past five years I have become the president of my own life"?\n\nAs you might imagine, that was a kick in the ass.\n\n\n
- So here’s what I did what it. I spent a little time, and I tried to write down what I wanted to be different about my life in 5 years. I did it pretty quickly and I didn’t put a lot of thought into it. And the list that I came up with sort of surprised me.\n\nI discovered that my goals were slightly different than I thought they were.\n\nI also discovered, interestingly, that by being explicit about the change that I wanted, I made it happen much faster than 5 years. It’s not about 18 months later, and most of the things on my list have been crossed off, one way or another. You can probably guess what I’m working on next.\n\nThis got me thinking about how to trick yourself into being honest about your own ambitions and intentions, not only in your personal life, but in all aspects of your life -- and, for our purposes today, for your career in UX.\n\n\n
- So here’s what I did what it. I spent a little time, and I tried to write down what I wanted to be different about my life in 5 years. I did it pretty quickly and I didn’t put a lot of thought into it. And the list that I came up with sort of surprised me.\n\nI discovered that my goals were slightly different than I thought they were.\n\nI also discovered, interestingly, that by being explicit about the change that I wanted, I made it happen much faster than 5 years. It’s not about 18 months later, and most of the things on my list have been crossed off, one way or another. You can probably guess what I’m working on next.\n\nThis got me thinking about how to trick yourself into being honest about your own ambitions and intentions, not only in your personal life, but in all aspects of your life -- and, for our purposes today, for your career in UX.\n\n\n
- So here’s what I did what it. I spent a little time, and I tried to write down what I wanted to be different about my life in 5 years. I did it pretty quickly and I didn’t put a lot of thought into it. And the list that I came up with sort of surprised me.\n\nI discovered that my goals were slightly different than I thought they were.\n\nI also discovered, interestingly, that by being explicit about the change that I wanted, I made it happen much faster than 5 years. It’s not about 18 months later, and most of the things on my list have been crossed off, one way or another. You can probably guess what I’m working on next.\n\nThis got me thinking about how to trick yourself into being honest about your own ambitions and intentions, not only in your personal life, but in all aspects of your life -- and, for our purposes today, for your career in UX.\n\n\n
- When I mention goals, it’s normal to think that this is about strategies, and planning, and creating a roadmap for your work. \n\nIt is, in a way. Strategies and roadmaps are very important and they’re probably essential to many of your in your jobs. But, ultimately, they're about products and programs. What about your practice?\n\n\nReally what I’m talking about, though, is world domination. World domination is why we do user experience work for a living.\n\n\nWorld domination:\nThis is about the creative satisfaction of knowing that you’re putting interesting moments into the world.\nThis is about being the change that you want to see in the world, as ghandi says.\nThis is about asking yourself what are your values and how can you, in your work, make them more prevalent in the world?\n\nThe index card game can be a good way to get honest with yourself about what exactly you’re trying to accomplish in your job.\n
- When I mention goals, it’s normal to think that this is about strategies, and planning, and creating a roadmap for your work. \n\nIt is, in a way. Strategies and roadmaps are very important and they’re probably essential to many of your in your jobs. But, ultimately, they're about products and programs. What about your practice?\n\n\nReally what I’m talking about, though, is world domination. World domination is why we do user experience work for a living.\n\n\nWorld domination:\nThis is about the creative satisfaction of knowing that you’re putting interesting moments into the world.\nThis is about being the change that you want to see in the world, as ghandi says.\nThis is about asking yourself what are your values and how can you, in your work, make them more prevalent in the world?\n\nThe index card game can be a good way to get honest with yourself about what exactly you’re trying to accomplish in your job.\n
- So, now it’s your turn to play the game. Write down three things you want to be different in your work in 5 years. Some things you could think about:\nYour position in the org\nStaffing\nTypes of products you work on\nSuccess stories that you make possible\nCulture you create/are a part of\nWho your allies are -- enemies who’ve become allies\nEducation (yours and others)\n\n
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- As background for the book that I’m working on, I recently conducted a survey. In it, I asked people to share a little information about their working situations — specifically, what’s most satisfying and what’s most challenging. \n300 people very generously responded and wrote very frankly about their biggest challenges. \nHere’s a breakdown of the biggest challenges that people said they give in conducting UX work. \nThe percentages indicate percent of respondents whose biggest challenge fall into that category.\nSo, of a 100% of respondents, 17% said for instance that building a basic understanding of UX is their greatest challenge.\nIf you look at it, the big categories here are\n#1 = building a basic understanding of UX. getting people to see its value, understand what it is, and think it’s a good idea\n#2 = getting permission to do the work. people might like the idea, but that doesn’t mean they’re making time for it in budgets and project plans\n#3 = communicating and selling ideas. how to convey what you see so clearly as an important opportunity in a way that others can see and get excited about too?\n#4 = this is category that I call the daily grind, but really what it means is just doing good design work, delivering on time and on budget, and making complex products. what you’re paid for, basically\n\n
- When you put these big challenges together with some of the smaller challenges that people reported, you can start to see how it all works together as a recipe for frustration\nStarting with a basic lack of support or understanding for UX, it can be very difficult to generate support to actually do the activities of UX (particularly if they look like they’ll add time or cost to the process. So you do what you can, you just try to do good design work everyday, with complex information challenges, and lots of parties to wrangle. But there’s a lot to do, and not much time to do it, plus the politics, which means you’re stretched a little thin and feeling embattled and under-supported as you do it. Add to that all the standard interpersonal human challenges that crop up whenever you have groups of people trying to make something ambitious happen: fear of change, not being quite clear how to achieve specific goals (you might call that lack of strategy), territorialism, ingfightiness. Oh yeah, and the fact that this is still a new and emerging discipline, and the standards and technologies that we work with are evolving all the time. And then you end up back where you started. Little foundation having been established, and still, a lack of understanding/support for UX.\nHere’s the thing: we can’t solve that here today. What we can do is help you come up with a DEFINITION OF WHAT YOU’RE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH -- what is that you’re trying to make possible. If you know that, and can articulate that, you at least have a consistent story to tell and build upon.\n
- When it works well, though, it can be extremely satisfying. \nIn doing book research, I’ve spoken with several people recently who I would characterize as team of one success stories -- people who’ve put a lot of energy into building good working relationships and allowing good UX work to make its own case over time. When it works, it’s a happy feeling, as this quote illustrates. \nI love this quote because it acknowledges something we don’t often say out loud -- you don’t build a UX practice in an organization by doing one good project. You build it by establishing trusted relationships with people over time. And once you have one convert, you move on to the next one.\n
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- I’ve been putting some thought into common types of situations that teams of one find themselves in. It turns out, there are a few patterns that show up again and again.\n\nI’ve given these patterns names--and spirit animals.\n\nThe reason to think in terms of patterns is not because they’re all mutually exclusive. In fact, there’s probably a lot of overlap in what these different team of one “types” experience. But knowing where you’re starting from can help you focus on some immediate challenges and strategies.\n
- Crossovers are the people who, are carrying UX forward, bringing it to new organizations. Learning about user experience can often feel like a discovery. Ah ha! There’s a term for that perspective that I’ve had all along! For many, that moment of discovery can feel like a revelation – like you’ve found your calling. It’s an experience that can ignite a lot of passion and drive, which makes Crossovers fantastic ambassadors for user experience.\n\nFrom a more practical point of view, Crossovers are people who are making a transition to user experience from some adjacent discipline. Some common paths for Crossover are from engineering, visual design, or project management (but there are many others; we’re a diverse community). Many people in these roles become interested in UX precisely because it’s such a central part of their work. Like anybody who is very good at what they do, they develop a richer understanding of the factors that enable them to do their work well – and often included with that is a growing understanding that products that are designed for people are better products. Some Crossovers are hoping to transition their careers completely in the direction of UX. Others just want to incorporate a user-centered design perspective into the work that they’re already doing. \n\n
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- One lean method that takes less time and really directly connects the product with the issues that you can identify is something I call a heuristic markup. It’s a lot like a heuristic review, except it’s quick and dirty, and it aims to remind people what it’s like to experience your product for the first time (or with limited knowledge of it). \n\nWhereas as typical heuristic review approach things from the realm of best practices, this aims to illustrate what would be confusing a user, and when. And it’s simple. Here’s how it work:\n\nYou a common use case or happy case scenario, and you start at the beginning, taking screenshots and annotating right on top of them anything that’s unclear as you go.\n\nThis picture comes from the firm MAYA Design, which did a project to improve information services at Carnegie Libraries in Pittsburgh. Starting at the beginning of the application, they made notes on everything that simply didn’t make sense or provoked questions. \nThis gets others involved by being an engaging, related guide through a familiar system in a new voice -- that of the user (or a proxy for the user)\n\nLike a heuristic review, it can raise basic awareness and illustrate opportunities for improvement, but unlike a heuristic review, it has a bite sized purpose (to see it like a user might) and it’s a self documenting process.\n\n
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- Doers are people who have a lot of UX responsibilities, but not necessarily a lot of support. They are often positioned at a relatively low level in their organization, but they get a lot done. Doers are interested in and usually very knowledgeable about the nuts and bolts of UX work. But they can be somewhat adrift in their organizations, taking on an overwhelming variety of projects, and even moving from department to department as the work warrants it. Organizations get a lot of value out of doers, but ironically, they don’t quite know where to place them or what to make of them. Doers often find themselves in organizational structures that don’t yet have a place for UX. This requires the UX team of one to care out a place for him or herself in a structure that doesn’t necessarily afford a lot of wiggle room.\n\n
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- This is a technique that was developed by Livia Labate and Austin Govella. I think of it as thumb-in-the-wind ROI. It’s a great method for teams of one because there’s so little overhead to get it started, but it helps you quickly establish a baseline to measure against going forward.\n
- This comes from a process described by Olga Howard. It’s also often called Braindrawing. Here’s how Olga described it:\n\n\n“1) Everyone draw what you think the site homepage might look like.\n\n2) Each stakeholder talked about what they drew and we discussed who the\nfocal user was in each drawing.\n\n3) Toss the drawing and do it again based on what you heard others say.\n\n4) Again, everyone talked about what they drew. This time we talked about\nhow the focal user is being served.\n\n5) Toss that drawing and do it again.\n\n6) By the time we were on the third drawing there was consensus on what was\nimportant. And who the focal user is.”\n\n\n\n
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- Builders are people who have been doing UX work in their organizations for a while, and are starting to see real progress from it. Often, they’re on the verge of starting full-fledged UX teams. I call them Builders precisely because they’ve built the relationships, the success stories, and the organizational understanding that give UX a foothold for future growth. Builders are in a way the success story of the team of one. They’ve been able to do what we’re all trying for.\n\nIf Crossovers are idealistic, Builders are pragmatic, and they’ve usually gotten that way through much trial and error. I spoke to one team of one – a classic Builder – who liked to talk a lot about how he used to be versus how he is now. He used to be idealistic, visionary, resistant to the details, he’d “ask for the moon and hope to hear yes.” Now, he’s inclusive, practical, and focused on compromise. The same team of one says, “probably the most important thing I’ve learned over the years is that the design isn’t mine.” \n\n
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- Another method that can be used in assessment that can help get at some of the foundational business questions is to send a site survey to your stakeholders. It’s not uncommon to send a survey to your users, but the same technique can be used to quickly poll information from the various stakeholders who influence a site to understand what they as its purpose and needs.\n\n
- Take the time to articulate what you’ve done and turn it into a story that you can easily re-tell to others. I like the idea of creating case study one-sheeters that you can send around to people, if you need to, or that can just serve as reminders for yourself.\n\n
- I was on a project once with a manager who set up pre-meetings with all of her senior executives prior to the big “design reveal” meeting. At the time, it seemed to me like a lot of unnecessary conversations, but it had a magical effect on the big meeting. When we pulled out the designs and started explaining our logic, the senior execs smiled knowingly and nodded their heads in the affirmative. There weren't any of the puzzled “I'm thinking about it” expressions that I was used to in these sorts of meetings.\n
- Independents are lone guns – people who work for themselves, but contract with other organizations or groups to provide UX services. Independents are literal teams of one, so while they deal with many of the same challenges that the other types do, they have the some added difficulties.\n\n
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- Within the next 18 months, what do I want to achieve?If I get everything I want from my plan, the impact will beIf I get the bare minimum that I want, the impact will beSome reasonable objections they people might make are…My basic argument/strategy/logic is...Three possible alternatives that I would be happy with if things don’t go as plannedThree methods that will help me are...\n
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