Stop Explaining UX and Start Doing UX by Kim Bieler.
I started reading this post for the UX comments and got hooked when I read the “external validation model:”
The problem with this strategy is we’re stuck in step 1—endlessly explaining, getting nowhere, and waiting like wallflowers to be asked to dance.
I ought to know—I spent years as a consultant fruitlessly trying to convince clients to spend money on things like the discovery phase, user interviews, and usability testing. I knew this stuff was important because I’d read a lot of books and articles and had gone to a lot of conferences. Moreover, I knew that I couldn’t claim to be a “real” UX designer unless I was doing this stuff.
Here’s the ugly truth: I wanted clients to pay me to do user research in order to cement my credentials, not because I truly understood its value. How could I understand it? I’d never tried it, because I was waiting for permission.
The problem with the external validation model is that it puts success out of our control and into the hands of our clients, bosses, and managers. It creates a culture of learned helplessness and a childish “poor me” attitude that frequently manifests in withering scorn for clients and executives—the very people upon whom our livelihood depends.
Does any of that sound familiar?
Kim continues with great advice on an internal validation model, but you will have to see her post for the answers.
Read those, then comment here.
Thanks!