Scott,
Thanks for your thoughts!
3) I see a little bit of buck-passing going on, as a third-party
observer. It seems like the real reason for a 3-person committee is
that no one wants to actually step up and take on the responsibility
of UX lead.
Here's the chain of reasoning that leads me to the "3-person committee" design:
0. We want help getting UX decisions made and reviving the HIG. We think that
the "benevolent dictator" model might work well. However, we're having
trouble finding the right person to be "dictator".
1. To be a good UX dictator, you need competence, time, and trust.
2. None of the people who have adequate competence and trust to be dictator
(i.e., Eben) have the time to do the job.
3. However, we have a small number of people (Gary, Martin, Walter, Eben, and
Christian) all of whom have a few quanta of time, are well-regarded, are
able to work together, and have relevant skills and aptitudes.
4. Since none of the available people can do the whole job alone, we have to
find some way to divide the job up among them.
5. A three-person group seems like the smallest, most lightweight, most agile
arrangement of people that could work.
Thus, what you call "buck-passing", I call "recognition of the human and
political realities of the moment".
Unfortunately, lack of clearly defined responsibility is
the crux of the problem you're trying to solve, so I'm not certain
that splitting the horcrux is part of the solution.
As above, committee-of-three just seems (to me, anyway) like the most
likely-to-succeed way to implement the "clearly defined authority" part.
(Again, I'd vote for "single dictator" too if I could think of someone
appropriate to elect.)
Maybe it would be help to identify a single dictator and lieutenants
Lieutenants are a good idea regardless.
(rather than the committee-of-3) with hat-passing as necessary -- so, for
example, we can have 4 (!) design leads, but each one is ultimate dictator
for one week a month.
Do remember that "continuity of design" is also a goal. :)
That reduces time commitment without diluting buck-stopping responsibility.
A committee-of-three with people like Gary, Martin, and Walter on it will have
adequate buck-stopping capacity, no?
Regards,
Michael
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