Читать книгу The User Experience Team of One - Leah Buley - Страница 9

In June 2011, this message appeared on the Interaction Designers Association (IXDA) discussion list:

I am at a point in my life where I know I want to do UX design after doing Web design for so long and then reading about usability testing, etc., 6 years ago. But my issue is I’m tired of working for orgs who say they care about their customer but don’t do testing to even know what their customers want from them... I’m kind of fed up with working for people who don’t get it.

This frustrated plea perfectly sums up the challenge that many passionate user experience professionals face. Many organizations have only a modest understanding of user experience. Some have none at all. In such an environment, if you are the key person driving for a more user-centered way of working, you are a user experience team of one. (And that’s true whether it’s your official job title or not.)

But this is about more than just professional frustration.

While this book is intended to be a practical resource for people who do user experience design without the support of a large UX team, I’ll tip my hand right here at the beginning and confess that I believe that being a UX team of one is much more than just a job. It’s also an important avenue for doing good in the world. The UX team of one is as much a professional circumstance as a constructive philosophy. And here are its founding principles:

• UX is a force for good. In an increasingly technological world, designing products with real people in mind helps us make sure that technology integrates in our lives in a human way. It’s a voice of reason, arguing that products and technology can support and even enrich our fundamental humanity.

• The world needs more of it. As the boundaries continue to blur between the technological world and the analog world, everything that we buy, use, and do will need this user-centered perspective. Companies that never thought of themselves as being in the user experience business before will realize that they are now. We all are. This field can only grow.

• You can make that happen. Yes, you. The person reading this book right now, whatever your job title, whatever your career aspirations, you have it in your power to spark an awareness of the “user’s perspective” in the work that you do and with the people that you work with.

This book can help you spread the growth of a new and exciting field, one person, team, and company at a time.