Read on Twitter
OK, let's talk explicitly about UX designers' ownership of design judgment for a minute
1 https://twitter.com/dahankzter/status/947080625324023808
1 https://twitter.com/dahankzter/status/947080625324023808
As a UX designer, I am happy to lose a thousand arguments over what the UX of the product should be because of other considerations.
"Let's make this compromise to the UX so we can have it ready in time for the Big Trade Show."
2
"Let's make this compromise to the UX so we can have it ready in time for the Big Trade Show."
2
As a UXD, I may think any number of decisions that compromise users' experience in the name of technical convenience, marketing advantage, or whatever are wrong, but okay, balancing those competing priorities is not my job.
(It IS product management's job, BTW)
3
(It IS product management's job, BTW)
3
Indeed, heaven forbid UX designers always get their way in shaping the product. That would be unbalanced and wrong.
https://www.cooper.com/journal/2001/10/putting_people_together_to_cre?
4
https://www.cooper.com/journal/2001/10/putting_people_together_to_cre?
4
But I do hate losing an argument over what actually serves users best. If a PM overrules me saying, "no, the users will like it better if we do X instead," that is a deep professional insult which is bad for the development process.
5
5
That does not mean I don't want others to bring their UX design ideas to the table. I have proudly stolen UX ideas from programmers and PMs and marketing folks and others countless times.
But saying "y'know, that IS a better way" is MY call as designer.
6
But saying "y'know, that IS a better way" is MY call as designer.
6
If judgment about what is the best UX is not located firmly in designers' hands, that diffusion of authority means spending organizational energy on discussion and persuasion and "spinning" about it, instead of the other hard work and hard decisions which must be done.
7
7
I am not claiming designers' judgment is perfect. You should be implementing UX in a spirit of experiment, looking to learn where that judgment was surprisingly right and wrong.
But spending energy second-guessing it is a bad mistake.
8
But spending energy second-guessing it is a bad mistake.
8
If your designers' judgment really is weak enough that trusting their judgment is too risky, then the remedy is that you fire them and hire someone else.
9
9
Even if your designers don't have superior skill and talent to the rest of your team (which they should!), they are the only ones spending all day every day thinking about their domain. That should mean they can be trusted to be more reliably correct about it.
10
10
Apropos of a point from @dahankzter, UXDs need to be forthright in discussing implications of UX options.
"If we do this to make it easier to build, that's a usability sacrifice on mobile, but users should be understanding about desktop being better for this function."
11
"If we do this to make it easier to build, that's a usability sacrifice on mobile, but users should be understanding about desktop being better for this function."
11
A UX designer who is a proper pro will not sandbag, saying every little compromise to UX is the end of the world.
Equip product management with a clear appraisal of what is most important; deciding among compromises to shape the product is their job.
12
Equip product management with a clear appraisal of what is most important; deciding among compromises to shape the product is their job.
12
OK, let’s talk some more about why it is important to give UX designers in your organization ownership of UX design judgment
(and can we register my incredulity that this is a thing I even need to say?)
13
(and can we register my incredulity that this is a thing I even need to say?)
13
First, in the long run it leads to better results if UXDs own design judgment.
Sure, there will be occasions when other people in the org turn out to have been right when the UXDs were wrong.
But most often UXDs will be most right about UXD. Play the odds.
14
Sure, there will be occasions when other people in the org turn out to have been right when the UXDs were wrong.
But most often UXDs will be most right about UXD. Play the odds.
14
Second, and more importantly, when you do not simply accept UXDs’ judgment in their own domain, you have added something to their job: persuading everyone on the team that they know what they are talking about.
15
15
If UXDs must persuade stakeholders not just that good UX is good for the product but also that it is good for users, they will devote their time & energy to persuasion instead of design:
stakeholder involvement theatre, user research theatre, slick presentations, et cetera
16
stakeholder involvement theatre, user research theatre, slick presentations, et cetera
16
I don’t want to confuse UXD communication with UXD persuasion. Making clear how and why a UXD solution works the way it does is a demanding and important part of the work.
17
17
Nor should we confuse discussion of what UXD is right for the PRODUCT vs what UXD is right for USERS.
What is right for the PRODUCT is a contentious question which is informed by multiple stakeholders, owned by product management; UXDs must confer with the team about it.
18
What is right for the PRODUCT is a contentious question which is informed by multiple stakeholders, owned by product management; UXDs must confer with the team about it.
18
And yes, it is insulting and demoralizing to present design work that took a few weeks of skullsweat to prepare and have someone look at it for ten minutes and say blithely, “No, we are going to do it another way because I have an idea which I am sure is better for users” ...
19
19
... but I would counsel that designers swallow their pride and roll with having their expertise disrespected if I thought it was better for users or better for product success.
But it isn’t. Designers serve the organization when they demand ownership of design judgment.
20
But it isn’t. Designers serve the organization when they demand ownership of design judgment.
20
Again, I think UX designers should advocate for how they should own judgment about what serves users best ... and should advocate for product managers owning what UX actually gets built into the product
21
21
So back to where I started:
— — — —
When you say:
“EVERYONE on the team is responsible for X”
I hear:
“nobody on the team has ownership of X
and
expertise in X is not valued”
22
— — — —
When you say:
“EVERYONE on the team is responsible for X”
I hear:
“nobody on the team has ownership of X
and
expertise in X is not valued”
22
It astonishes me how often people read me as arrogating some kind of godlike wisdom and power to designers when I am advocating for nothing more than giving EVERY role in the team ownership of their appropriate domain
https://twitter.com/wwalmink/status/1126145246012870661?s=21
23
https://twitter.com/wwalmink/status/1126145246012870661?s=21
23
It is also fascinating to me that people have a hard time hearing me make this distinction
https://twitter.com/miniver/status/1126145394537259008?s=21
24
https://twitter.com/miniver/status/1126145394537259008?s=21
24
I'm not even half joking about this.
People seem to think that I am advocating designers isolating themselves from the rest of the team. On the contrary, I am advocating deep engagement with an expectation of professional respect. https://twitter.com/miniver/status/947141318823723009
People seem to think that I am advocating designers isolating themselves from the rest of the team. On the contrary, I am advocating deep engagement with an expectation of professional respect. https://twitter.com/miniver/status/947141318823723009
Why I harp so often on the distinction between designers’ ownership of design judgment and PMs’ ownership of product design https://twitter.com/PavelASamsonov/status/1317130120801431552
This is a very good point about why many people resist the kind of role clarity which I advocate https://twitter.com/mulegirl/status/1326590015233687554
This is why I say that designers need authority over design judgment but not over design CHOICES. Product managers must decide what design to build.
(Note that revenue is not the only product success target. Clearly naming what “success” you want is executives’ job.) https://twitter.com/berkun/status/1326576670455685120
(Note that revenue is not the only product success target. Clearly naming what “success” you want is executives’ job.) https://twitter.com/berkun/status/1326576670455685120
It is very easy for designers to confuse their correct frustration at having their design judgment dismissed by the organization with a need to get positioned to control product decisions, but this is a very destructive error https://twitter.com/miriamisaacdsgn/status/1354071039786053632
An engineering team will be severely compromised by a sandbagging culture. Engineers hate lies and will feel constantly disoriented by it.
A design team will be crushed by a sandbagging culture. We cannot deliver if we cannot tell the truth.
via @cwodtke https://twitter.com/dtrinh/status/1354563229620596737
A design team will be crushed by a sandbagging culture. We cannot deliver if we cannot tell the truth.
via @cwodtke https://twitter.com/dtrinh/status/1354563229620596737
An instructive example of UXD vs PM ownership of design decisions.
Prioritizing conversion is a PM call informed by product objectives set by executives. How to achieve that is UXD work.
But UXDs must stay open to proposals! This question responds well to testing, so … test! https://twitter.com/cwodtke/status/1354910077061275649
Prioritizing conversion is a PM call informed by product objectives set by executives. How to achieve that is UXD work.
But UXDs must stay open to proposals! This question responds well to testing, so … test! https://twitter.com/cwodtke/status/1354910077061275649
