The bigger problem is that if I am not providing updates to other people than it is likely I am doing a bad job keeping track for myself. That really should be the central reason for doing it in the first place but without external accountability I’m just a lazy ass.

Today I had 5 minutes so I decided to write my boss an email just to give him a glimpse into where I am with things. I used this model:

I am working on 7 projects at the same time right now at different stages of development so I wanted to give him just a taste of what is going on where.

Project name and a one liner about the last thing I accomplished was the bare minimum I thought was necessary. Two bullets indicating what is going to happen next and what risks may be incurred seemed to be the additional two most relevant pieces of information.

Finally, the red/yellow/green flags are really just to make the one page scan-able so he can see that I have 2 projects on green, 1 on yellow and 4 on red and without my whining – but knowing what the issues highlighted are – see that there are blockers or resource problems making that happen.

How do you keep people up to date about what you’re working on on a regular basis? How do you provide project updates to your peers and bosses?

Let’s say you are working on a project and your main goal is to solve an information access problem: “audience X does not have access to Y data sources which would help them do their job better”. The value of the information they would draw from these data sources is indisputable.

You know from some preliminary interviewing that audience X is made up of people in different roles that share the overall problem but are interested in different parts of those data sources available. You also learned that while access is the first barrier, other barriers to use are: domain knowledge (understanding that data, knowing what to do with it), language (different segments speak about the same data in different terms) and lastly, some tool knowledge issues: the majority of people feels overwhelmed by the poor ways this data is accessible today (reports, databases, online systems, etc) when/if it is accessible to them.

From that, you feel sufficienctly confident to say you need to do something that is not just optimizing the solutions that (sorta) exist for these people, rather, you have enough information to justify that a good candidate solution to this problem is to make it easier for people to get to these data sources by creating a mechanism that democratizes access (aka provides them with a starting point to the many sources, at the very least), simplifies the consumption of said data (using plain language, removing decorations, providing relevant visualization, making it clear what the sources are, etc) and make their use of this data more pleasurable, understandable, meaningful, usable, and that ultimately becomes part of their day-to-day work (at the most ambitious).

So you are ready to go for that: How do you actually plan this “product”? (will use this term to make it easier to describe the solution). How do you make the leap from this cursory understanding to a level of “this is the stuff we need to build”? I generally have many answers for this question, but here’s where I’m stumped:

• This is an internal project and I don’t have many resources at all to get started with (thought I know that once some success is shown, I can get more resources). That includes time for the type of research I would normally like to do for this.
• The volume of data available is just insane. Simply building a “flexible” system that could accommodate any and all scenarios would be a very stupid idea and I know would not accomplish any of the goals above.
• The audience I’m talking about doesn’t know what they want. They definitely expressed all the values and attributes of what they want, but this doesn’t exist and they never had anything that did this for them, so I don’t have good hints as to what are the pieces of this puzzle I need to put together (read: features).
• In my mind, if I had a mental model map where I could align features to user tasks, I would have the right tool to be able to select what to start building first in order to make some headway. I, however, don’t know how to go through the process of creating a mental model from thin air (or my preliminary interviews). I can’t really think of how I would structure the research interviews that I would use to comb tasks from. Also, never done that for something that is entirely new (nothing to validate against).

In short, I can’t think of a better way to get from “knowing about these people pains, desires and expectations” to “here are my priorities for what to build”. I am seeing this is a new product management challenge for me in addition to UX problem to solve. Not only do I have to figure out how to create a solution that meets those goals, but I have to do this over and over for a long long time, because the success/failure of this effort = my success/failure, which is very different accountability than solving someone else’s problem. I am really enjoying that challenge, but need to learn how to bridge the gap in my own expectations and tools I would normally use to resolve this.

So, what do you think? I may not have given all the information that would help resolve this, but ask away and I’ll clarify any points.

Am I lacking tool or perspective?

[I'll update this with a link once it's published]

My question is an old concern about how new practitioners are being introduced to User Experience Design and Research practices by being fed a multitude of methods and not given much support about how to decide the right circumstances to use them.

It is not sufficient just to know how a certain method works. It is also not sufficient having used that method once or twice. What is it about our experience as practitioners that makes us better or worse decision makers? How do we choose to dedicate time and money to an 8-week long project to produce personas instead of a different approach?

What distinguishes the practitioners that not only choose methods and know how to apply them, but choose the methods that are most effective for a given problem?

A few years ago, Jared himself told me a story about an experiment where two distinct research teams (unaware of each other I believe) were given the exact same research goal and employed the same methodology to achieve it, and came up with different results and findings.

When that sort of thing happens, I wonder: Can we really trust our methods? But more importantly, if we accept that our methods are not really scientific and that we can’t really have a high level of confidence about the results we end up with, how do we choose one over another?

Somehow we just do. But some do better than others. Some do MUCH better than MANY others. If you have the opportunity to work with practitioners with enough experience and knowledge, you see excellent arguments for why to do A versus B for a given set of circumstances. So yes, only experience will help one make better choices, but everyone’s experiences are different. As a way to try to educate new practitioners we coach and mentor by teaching the methods and also giving advice such as “be flexible” and “don’t marry a particular process” and “figure out what kind of problem you are trying to solve first”, which are all excellent advice, but not strategic enough and often not practical enough that it can really help someone make a decision when they are faced with a new challenge.

Jared’s opinion is that our field is still too young and we haven’t yet been able to articulate the criteria we use in that decision-making process. I agree, however, it worries me that many think they are advancing in their practice because they know more, when in fact, they just learned new methods, but don’t really have the skills to assess risks, and benefits, between choosing one over another.

Being a runner gets you to the finish line, knowing which way to run wins the race. I really hope we become better equipped to pass on knowledge about how we make choices and why because, paraphrasing Jared, knowing a lot of recipes a restauranteur does not make.

Yes, you read that right: I’m not going anywhere, yet, I’m going forward!

Coming to Comcast was a great opportunity for me – I wanted to work for a large organization and experience the trials and tribulations that my clients expressed when I worked as a consultant. I also wanted to manage a larger team and experience the challenges of long-term people management. Comcast welcomed me with an opportunity to do all that and more. Not only to manage people, but to start and build a team from scratch; not to just be in a large corporate environment, but establishing a new competency (information architecture and usability) across a very large organization.

This was a very enriching experience and I’m extremely satisfied with the outcome. What a learning experience! Fortunately for me, realizing that I reached this point didn’t mean I’d come across a dead-end at Comcast. Comcast Interactive Media is continuing to grow and so we came up with the Principal position, allowing me to keep growing and focus on new strategic challenges.

As Principal of Information Architecture I’ll be responsible for evolving the vision and establishing UX best practices across Comcast Interactive Media properties. Those include Comcast.net, Fancast, Ziddio.com, GameInvasion, Chill and all Comcast Cable, High-Speed Internet and Voice services.

I couldn’t possibly do that without passing on the baton of managing team and practice to someone else. That is a hard call to make given that this is “my baby” and I want the very best. Which is why I’m THRILLED that my dear friend Dennis Schleicher stepped in to take on the Director of IA role. Dennis is one of the nicest people I know. I’m not just saying that because we share a love of cheese. He’s also very talented and inspiring to be around – nothing seems impossible or hard when you discuss it with Dennis – you know you are talking to an anthropologist when you start answering your own questions. Welcome Dennis!

I’m very excited about all this so I’ll try and blog a little more frequently to talk about what I’m up to. The last I’ll add today is really the only reason I decided to write this post, to say thanks to the absolutely fantastic team that made this possible for me. Crystal Kubitsky, Eddie James, Austin Govella, Aparna Ramchandran, Paul Kali, Cynthia Hoffa and David Fiorito. You all rock. I hope I have reminded you of that frequently enough and I hope you are as proud of this team as I am. I can’t wait to continue working with you.

Download the recording (52MB, 76 minutes, Mp3)

PLEASE DO NOT LINK TO THE MP3 FILE. LINK TO THIS POST INSTEAD

• [00:00] Olga Howard & folks introduce the organizations that supported the event and panelists introduce themselves
• [09:37] Olga introduces the panel
• [11:12] We talk about what challenges us during recruiting
• [17:44] I talk about how to get a job
• [21:00] What I want to see in a resume
• [47:50] Looking up people online
• [54:17] What we look for in an interview
• [48:12] Relevance of Educational background, transferable skills & how people get into IA
• [64:34] How to get into IA and other Q&A

Here is the resume template (36KB, Word Document) that I mention during the panel. If you read my notes and recommendations for writing a successful resume and getting the job you want while you listen, it will be easier to follow.

I received great feedback from the people who attended the panel and workshop saying they got great value out of it, so I’m extending my offer to you, reading this blog: I’d be happy to review your resume and give you advice. I only ask you to first listen to this recording, read my recommendations and re-write your resume before you ask for help.

Many thanks to Olga for making this happen!

Also, today Crystal asked me if I would be interested in doing another one of these panel/workshops (possibly for PHICHI). I’d be happy to do it again, but are you interested? Let me know (leave a comment)!

The purpose of the list is for UX Managers to talk about the things closest to their hearts; developing teams, individuals, themselves and UX practices within their organizations.

I’m really excited about this discussion list because I’ve been feeling a little without peers lately. Being among IAs is great and I always feel like I’m among family, but it’s like being the oldest kid among all your cousins; when you’re a teen you don’t really want to have every conversation with 8 year-olds. They just don’t “get” you anymore.

Mags facilitated a great workshop during the IA Summit titled UX Management: developing and growing yourself and a team of user experience professionals, which was excellent. It was a unique opportunity to talk to my peers about things that are 100% relevant to my day-to-day, so now we get to further that conversation on this new list.

During the workshop we discussed the idea of peer coaching (which Mags experienced very positively at the BBC). The group coaching could be done using something like Skype allowing a group of 4-5 people to have a phone conference once a month for an hour. Each person would bring a problem that the other members of the group would coach them through. I love the idea and I’m looking forward to making it happen.

If you manage any type of UX professionals, please join us.

How to get a job

• Have a sense of purpose
• Have a truthful resume that promotes you
• Have a portfolio (online preferably)
• Build professional networks

How to write a resume

• Use a plain, 10 point Serif font.
  Resist the urge to design your resume.
• Name, address, phone, personal email, portfolio and URL.
  Centered and bold at the top.
• Write up your job history, presented in reverse chronological order.
• Each job has Start-End Dates, Your Title, Company Name and Location.
• Follow with 2-3 sentences describing responsibilities.

  Answer the question, What job did you have? For example, “Responsible for conducting user research for e-commerce and financial clients”, “Responsible for managing team of 27 information architects and researchers across 3 satellite offices in Mumbai, New York and Sidney, as well as coordination of $1MM research budget for remote and in person usability testing”.

• After responsibilities, list your major accomplishments using bullet points.

  Answer the question, How well did you do your job? This describes how well you fulfilled the responsibilities you spoke of before. Example: “Drove satisfaction metrics up 10% over redesign goal by utilizing a fast iterative approach to collaboration with developers”, “Nominated for the IA Institute board of directors by my boss for my leadership and community commitment”, “Nominated most valuable contributor across design teams worldwide in ‘04-’06″, “Improved efficiency by creating reusable patterns with Visio stencils and training all IAs across the organization to use them”.

• Lastly, two lines for your education. Degree, Year and Institution

Note: A GREAT resume is one-page long.
Here is a template I put together (Word document).

Tips on what to include in the responsibilities:

• How large was the audience for the work you did – hints to the kind of impact you can make and how comfortable you are working with large scale initiatives
• How large was the group you worked with – hints to the types of interactions and demands you are subject to depending on size of team
• How large was your client (for consultants), employer (for in-house employees) Example: “Fortune 50”, “$200MM annual revenue” – hints to the level of business challenges you’re exposed to and the risks you were subject to while working with them

Tips on what to include in your accomplishments:

• Activities that resulted in cost saving and efficiency gains (better performance, less people/hours on projects, etc)
• Activities that resulted in increased value (explicit satisfaction score gains, increased revenue and profit margins, etc)
• Company and industry recognition (awards, nominations, remarks from annual reviews, etc)

Anything else you may want to promote about yourself goes in the portfolio. Anything else you may want to say about what you want and expectations for future jobs goes in your cover letter.

Interviewing to get the job

• Ask Name and title (responsibility) of the people who will interview you
• Google their names and learn about them before the interview
• Learn about the company and their current situation before the interview
• Dress professionally
• Be on time
• Bring your portfolio (preferably printed).
• Prepare questions about the things that are important to you in working day-to-day (you should be interested in the company and work dynamics)
• Be honest

You’d think that dressing professionally, being on time and being honest were obvious. You are right, they are. But it’s because we don’t re-state the obvious assumptions that people forget them and then I’m faced with a guy in flip-flops telling me some story about being late to the interview.

When I return from the panel and workshop I will elaborate a little more on some of the points.

This Saturday morning April 21, 2007 from 10am to noon, I’ll participate in the first IA Roundup, a panel/workshop to discuss successful resumes for information architects.

With increasingly blurred lines across disciplines in the UX world, how should information architects present their work and experience to potential employers?

The User Experience Network, DC-IA, and UPA-DC will facilitate a panel discussion and workshop to help distill what makes this challenging and what can make it successful.

Bring your resumes for one-one-one feedback from panelists and event volunteers

Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center
4805 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814

Online registration is recommended.
$5 donation welcome to support space and refreshments.