This story reminds me why I don't blog as much as I'd like to. I read the response by Mr. X - NOT as a vindictive diatribe on the ails of his large company - but as a letter I have almost written several times. It's from a guy who sees his company's (and his own) work slashed in public, and feels the need to speak out about it. He felt guilty - both that his own work wasn't more apparent in his company's web site, and that his company can't move as fast as his impression of smaller, leaner companies.
For the record, many small companies (I've run the gamut from 5-guy startups to 120K multi-nationals) have many of the same issues as large ones, just on a different level and scale. All companies have too few resources, not enough budget, too many ideas, and too few executioners. The greatest mistake I ever made, working for my first big company (70K employees back in 1996) was thinking they were big enough to have solved all of the little problems. I couldn't have been more wrong. It took 4 years at that company, and another 4 at my next big one (120K folks) before this sank into my thick head: "Both large and small companies not only suffer from similar problems, but they repeat them over and over again - because every company is comprised of human beings, all of whom want to leave their own mark on their respective organizations." Over time, I have evolved a few mantras that (for me, at least) ensure my design work makes it to production intact: * Always assume, despite all evidence to the contrary, that most people want to deliver quality work * If you feel your company is too slow in delivering quality, most likely, everyone else does, too * If you hear "that's impossible", you're not providing enough of a solution * If you hear "we don't know how to do that", you need to show them how * If no one else will do it, figure out how to do it yourself * If you get pushback from management, marketing, sales, support, operations, development, or the PMO office, then you're not involving them in your design process * If you don't like the bureaucracy, figure out how to change it * Never bash your own company/department/colleagues in public. * If you disagree with a group or person in the way of progress, talk to them about it, or drop it and move on * The folks who drive real change in large companies don't do the leg-work. If you want to make a difference, climb out of the cube, talk to people, and claw your way to a level where you can affect real change. If you're not up for that, stop complaining. Yes, this can take years (and has). It's far too easy to criticize from the outside, or from your own small silo in a very large company. Actually doing something about it is actual work. I have no idea why Mr. X was fired, but it seems highly unlikely that it was for caring. Big companies are very finicky beasts, and there are a whole host of reasons why they control all communications very tightly. I'm sure AA's marketing and legal departments are filled with folks whose career is to protect the company's integrity and stock price. Bryan Minihan -----Original Message----- From: discuss-boun...@lists.interactiondesigners.com [mailto:discuss-boun...@lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of Brian Mila Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 7:06 AM To: disc...@ixda.org Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Dustin Curtis, UX Design, and American Airlines Indeed. If you want to design in a large corporation, you need to master back office politics. Everyone has their own agenda and thinks their own stuff is the most important and they will have all their reasons to back it up. A much more informative article would be one that shows the steps needed to get real change. I'm guessing it would take probably one to two years to get there. Maybe start small with some usability testing, argue the on the front of improved customer satisfaction and fewer complaints. If you can build a solid base to work from, then you could begin to change things, one piece at a time. I don't know. But if someone has done it I know I would love to know how. Brian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=47591 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... disc...@ixda.org 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 ....... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
