8 comments

  • Diego LafuenteDiego Lafuente, over 9 years ago (edited over 9 years ago )

    Yes, pretty much.

    UX involves research, follow-up, data and design processing.

    If your bosses think UX is just 3 interviews with people, watching every 3 o 4 days Google Analytics, they're getting it wrong.

    4 points
    • Russ BrownRuss Brown, over 9 years ago

      I couldn't agree more

      0 points
    • Adam MichielsAdam Michiels, over 9 years ago

      Agreed as well.

      More and more one of my roles and responsibilities is to advocate for the value of my own job... That is, until I work on projects with UX-naive team-members. At that point, it would seem, they get it.

      I think the value of UXers really comes through once everyone gets to dig into a project together, seeing the role unfold in practice rather than in theory.

      Unfortunately, that's a hard thing to sell to the higher-ups who don't get their hands dirty in project work.

      0 points
  • Gabriel ValdiviaGabriel Valdivia, over 9 years ago

    I don't think so. If you rely on one person (or group of people) to work on the UX of your product then you've already lost. In my opinion, UX should be a prefix to every job title; UX Sales Manager, UX Engineer, UX Designer, and most importantly UX CEO.

    0 points
  • Adam MichielsAdam Michiels, over 9 years ago

    I remember reading Leisa's article, and it's good. But, I think organizations differ so greatly that UX roles will necessarily differ accordingly.

    Everyone always needs to be responsible for UX - I'll always agree with that. However, what seems to get lost in these conversations is other roles crucial to UX: information architecture, content strategy, managing marketing vs users (ie Client concerns), and so on. UI and UX designers aren't the only game in town - especially when working on massive, enterprise level projects.

    I've always viewed a formal "UX" role as one of leadership, those responsible for ensuring good uptake of UX through an organization, and managing UX work regardless of who's doing it, including the less glamorous fields like IA, etc. (relative to the singularly sought-after UI designers).

    I think it's actually a pretty linear relationship between size of org and requirements for UX: the larger the organization, the more stakeholders needing management, the greater the need for Client-facing points of contact, the greater the need for UX roles.

    In early-stage startups, everything is so run and gun the whole team is going to be responsible.

    0 points
  • Sjors TimmerSjors Timmer, over 9 years ago

    Leisa Reichelt wrote a good post in this: http://www.disambiguity.com/there-is-no-ux/

    If you have a digital organisation with both researchers and interaction designers it sometimes becomes a bit blurry who is exactly the UX designer and it would be better to see UX as something that everyone is responsible for

    0 points
    • barry saundersbarry saunders, over 9 years ago

      it's useful to think in terms of focus. Everyone is responsible for creating a good user experience, but it's the UXer's primary focus. Just like it's everyone's responsibility to meet project deadlines, but it's the PM's primary focus.

      It's good to remember that good work often comes from productive tension. The software engineer's focus is on creating working, maintainable software. This can be at the expense of the user experience, but it's in those negotiations that good software emerges.

      0 points
      • Russ BrownRuss Brown, over 9 years ago

        "The software engineer's focus is on creating working, maintainable software. This can be at the expense of the user experience, but it's in those negotiations that good software emerges."

        -- I think this is THE most important thing to be aware of. If you have a team that can have productive and open discussions about these things you are half way there.

        1 point