About the Author

Karen Bachmann is the Manager of the STC Usability and User Experience Community.

STC UUX Community Newsletter
Usability Interface

Epiphany in the Trenches

By Karen Bachmann

I’ve been very busy in a fast-paced, demanding project where I’d hoped to do things the “right way.” As I look back over the blur since the project began in early 2005, I see a lot of sometimes-painful lessons learned through things done the “wrong way.” I am also now able to look at a nearly completed product (it deploys within weeks) that generates excitement and eagerness whenever users see it in testing, training, and review. So far, the client is happy, the users are enthused, and the project is a success—despite the fact that the “right way” went right out the window early in the project. Again.

As someone who has extended formal training in technical communication into usability through less formal methods of selected readings, training and conferences, and, of course, community and mentors, I sometimes chafe at my lack of formal training and credentials in usability. I read job descriptions that require Masters and higher and lament that my attempts to return for that formal education and the opportunity to learn the “right way” to do what I do daily have been cut short as I am too busy applying my self-taught skills. I regret that I have never used a formal usability lab. I wonder how the dream of a large representative sample of users might improve my analysis and designs.

At this point, I realize that I’ve fallen into a trap of thinking that there is one “right way.” The truth is that having one right way to implement usability just a myth, perhaps even a delusion. The most dangerous part of the myth is the insistence that one right way exists at all. This is rarely true in any endeavor. It also strikes me how apt the phrase guerilla usability is. Consider the two armies in the American Revolution: The well-trained and equipped British redcoats who knew the “right way” to fight a war versus the ill-trained and poorly equipped revolutionaries who ultimately learned that the right way to fight was the one that would win the war.

Like the American revolutionaries, I have to deliver results. Finding the best way to do that for my current situation is always the true right way. To extend the analogy to war, contributing to a successful delivery of a product gains you ground so that you can pick better battles and more strategic positions in subsequent wars, er, projects.

But with my current project especially, I saw how success required that I apply all the lessons I’ve learned in my guerilla training and from my technical communication background. I also saw how insisting on right ways might be counterproductive. In short, what I’ve learned is what works in environments where usability was unknown and sometimes openly distrusted. I’ve learned to adapt the skills and formal training I do have to meet the needs at hand and to engage in just-in-time learning where and when I need additional skills. I’ve had to make compromises in techniques and methodology that sometimes diverged grossly from what I’ve heard was the “right way,” straying from more formal practices in the firm belief that something is better than nothing.

I’ve also had to learn when and why to make reasonable compromise that does not sacrifice user goals yet supports achievable delivery of the end system. I’ve had to pick my battles carefully and strive to lose only the ones that had a lesser prize. And not grudgingly but with respect for the responsibilities and issues facing my team mates. Despite the inevitable challenges, each success teaches me that the right way is usually in the eye of the beholder, who is often a project manager or developer and not a usability person or an end-user. This reality stems from the difficult requirement to serve all of the “users” we work for, both direct clients and their customers. (Of course, the best outcome is to convince the client that the customer/end user need is their need, using convincing and complete communication.)

I’ve also learned (many thanks to one of my mentors for reminding me) that the right way isn’t possible without the right circumstances—which, of course, almost never happens in industry. Good, even great, usability can happen even when under funded, short on time and resources, and not given full or adequate support. I’ve heard too many stories of success against the odds to think otherwise, even if I get frustrated when going through exactly these circumstances.

Of course, I’m not suggesting that formal practices and training aren’t valuable. Nor am I suggesting that we should not advocate using the best techniques and tools possible. Still, I learn daily how valuable training in the trenches, adaptability, and a little strategic and creative thinking can be. If you’re still in the trenches with me and wondering whether you’re really where you need to be in your usability journey, make a point to view each step in the process as ground gained, the right battle won, and possibly the only “right way” to success. Recognize the many paths to success and be prepared to forge your own if needed. You may find at the end of your “wrong way” happy clients, satisfied users, and a successful and delivered system.