I like the track that Jay is on here. So at the risk of stating the obvious, my experience has so far been that those organisations that have recognised the intrinsic value of (online) UX in helping to differentiate them from the competition will input the most resources.
To illustrate that, online banking - in which I have been heavily involved in the last few years - is a particular area in which I have noted some of the most sophisticated in-house UX operations. In-house is in many ways more interesting to me, because a) all decent agencies should be capable of being considered UX experts anyway and b) orgs have to make a considerable effort to integrate such an "alien" species into their business cultures in a way that demands considerable creativity when thinking about how to achieve accountability, measurability and billability (sic). As I mentioned in a previous post on this subject, building a UX team to fit organisational expectations, including a quality standard such as ISO9001:2000 or recognised process models (e.g. RUP), can be real challenges for design managers. This sort of integration can and should be encouraged and I consider myself fortunate to have been involved in initiatives like these because they're a two-way street. Artefacts that might seem at first glance fairly unrelated to our field (e.g. feedback loops, sales paths and iterative business modelling) are capable of being adapted and used in UX work itself, indeed they often already inform it. And while much of our work is experimental, these are things that will help us with our daily management responsibilities. Put simply, you can learn a lot from accountants, lawyers and salespeople because their roles have been around a lot longer than ours and we can generally learn a lot from their experience. Or to borrow from Dean Gooderham Acheson, it's not good policy to be an isolationist. Besides, anyone who has run or is running a consultancy will know that you can no longer consider yourself exclusively a designer or whatever. In fact, you're a Photoshop composite of all of the above and you will be a better professional for it. Thx, Mike Padgett www.mikepadgett.com >Great inputs from all. > >Another item I want to throw into the mix here, is, where in the >organization are you and how much sponsorship for UX ? That alone >would set the tone to how the team should be created and the kind of >skills you need etc...etc...etc > >Are you a cost center or a revenue center? , that is another major >differentiator which would lead to what a good team should be made up >off..... > >Cost centers & revenues centers in my experience needs different types >of experience and skill levels ...... > >Regards, > >Jay Kumar > > > >On Fri, Nov 21, 2008 at 5:02 PM, Linda Yoon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Hello everyone, >> I am interested in learning / hearing about building UX teams. What makes a >> ³good² UX team? Have you been part of a ³great² UX design department? How >> would you go about building an ³excellent² UXD team? >> >> If you will share your stories and ideas, I¹d appreciate it greatly. >> >> Thank you in advance!! >> ________________________________________________________________ >> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! >> To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe >> List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines >> List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help >> >________________________________________________________________ >Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! >To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe >List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines >List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
