Norman: "Advice on how I might "prove" that interaction design and
developer is not the same role if this ever gets to court."
Norman,
whatever the outcome, be prepared for a blessing in disguise.
The first thing that stands out to me in regards to the differences between
an interaction designer and a developer is the interpersonal, interactive
transactions between all involved delegates for the purposes of extracting
information.
When I think 'interaction designer' I think of someone who is seeking to
install a vision and bring business value-add by developing relationships
with BAs, clients, customers and our client's customers. IDs are usually the
master of all trades and jack of none.
Upon hearing 'developer' I think of someone who receives approved
information for the purpose of preparing a platform for this vision to be
built upon.
Focus on the many levels and facets of queries that are needed to complete
your job.
It is my experience that developers usually stay late at work above most job
types because of the complex issues they have to deal with to find a
solution for the vision. I don't see any extra time allotted from developers
for the purpose of contributing to an agile process of design (with no
one-person in place for this).
Norman: They want to work in a more "agile" fashion with all developers
doing the design and working with customers.
We obviously don't buy this.
You may have to get your hands dirty on this one. Try to develop a persona
on developers. One item that is very powerful in court is a person's
reputation.
*<Grain of Salt>*
In my personal opinion, I don't see developers having the savvy
interpersonal passion to link hearts with clients to see their (the
client's) vision come to pass. Our trade is very unique. We stand in front
of clients with tissue boxes and then try to justify their (the client's)
cries to the rest of the team.
In the process of doing this, part of our justification is to make a
sacrificial offering to developers to get them to see things the 'client's
way' (approach developer department with pizza boxes, Coke and Coffee, place
on ground in front of door, knock and run away).
While taking Human Factors with the Waterloo Regional Police Association,
one thing that I discovered among online all online predators was their
'Target Fixation' and extreme detailed knowledge about their victims and/ or
targets.
What blew my mind away was that the exact same M.O. (Method of Operation)
that these predators had, were the exact same of most developers- *a serious
lack of 'People Skills', 'taking advantage of their prey's/client's
ignorance' and a very 'offensive type of Arrogance*'. (The kind of arrogance
that always want's the last word, and thinks their smarter then everybody
else and desires to prove it.)
Norman you are the champion for your company's clients. Without you, there's
no way in hell that developers are going to suggest alternative solutions
for what the clients are saying or requesting ('Alternative' meaning
'better'). Developers 'usually' look for easier solutions or pre-made ones.
(I AM NOT SAYING ANYTHING BAD ABOUT DEVELOPERS. I AM STATING MY OBSERVATIONS
AND THAT WHICH I HAVE LEARNED IN MY FIELD. DEVELOPERS ARE BRILLIANT PEOPLE
AND HAVE A PASSION TO PLEASE THEIR EMPLOYERS AND HACK-OUT SOLUTIONS.)
*</Grain of Salt>*
Norman: I wouldn't in a million years fire me or someone like me :))
This is true. But in all honesty this is a blind-sided statement. No one in
their right mind would fire themselves even if they knew they were lacking
in certain areas. We all have our faults. As we go down the road of life, we
check out mirrors to make sure we're doing fine....however, we still have a
bind-side. We're great in our own eyes, but to everyone else, the weakness'
are *blaringly obvious*.
We can be brilliant in our craft but it still doesn't change the fact that
we're fat and overweight and toot our own horns at pub meetings without ever
making an effort to go to the gym. We all have areas that need improvement
whether it is directly related to the field or not.
Take the time to investigate your own weakness'- then make strides to
correct them and have the evidence to prove your assertive actions to
correct them.
Here are a few more steps for you to act upon.
1. Construct a list of every possible solutions you have introduced to the
company and how they add value (with proof).
2. Develop some personas and/or scenarios of UxDs, Devs, and clients and
show how UxDx are the only qualified ones to bridge this gap.
3. Call upon expert witness'. There are many on this very group. An expert
witness' testimony counts as 3 people.
4. Display the level of detail of information required to conduct your job
and how may hours are involved in this info gathering process and how it is
impossible for full-time developers to retrieve this info on top of their
already busy work schedules.
5. Do a before and after gap analysis on the product and show the strides
that were made upon your arrival to the company. Show where they were
lacking, how you brought them out of the depths of Sheol, and your future
plans of destination.
6. (This is dirty but I've been to court too many time plus my wife is a
lawyer) get the low-down on any dirt that you possibly can on your opponent.
Court's hate sleezeballs, rip-off artists and 'The Man' who oppresses the
little people.
7. If this goes the distance, be prepared to act. You must look like the
victim and act like one. Courts are sympathetic to emotional pleas.
8. Don't become evil, take it personal, or bad-mouth the company, there's a
saying in law enforcement that I have heard many times. "There are 3 side to
the story, yours, the other guy's and the truth."
You email is simply 'Your side'. It doesn't mean that your right or that
your even telling the truth (I'm not saying that you are lying). But it is
simply 'your side' of the 'story'. Whatever the company is doing, may very
well possibly be in the best interest of the company.
Remember, as much as I strongly believe that developers lack the skills to
take the lead on an agile design process for this situation, there are many
areas where we as IxDs lack the skills to to have a holistic point of view
in regards to connecting the dots on the backend.
All the best.
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