Managing workload

- Many of the usability teams…I talk to, seem to have lots of work…but not the type of impact they want.…That suggests they're doing the wrong kind of work,…or at least for the wrong kind of teams.…Do you get approached by teams who want you…to usability test their finished product just before…it goes live?…Do you get developers asking you…to draw some screens for them?…Do your business partners ask you to create the graphics…for the marketing campaign they just created?…If so, and if you're actually doing that work for them,…then you're helping to perpetuate the myth…of user experience being a kind of service agency…which delivers discrete pieces of work…to teams on demand.…

I know how this happens.…We all want to be loved.…And when the user experience team isn't getting the kind…of work they really want, the early-involvement,…problem-solving type stuff, then it's easy…to accept these less impactful projects just…to make a team happy.…So that maybe they'll use you again in the future.…And undoubtedly they will use you again in the future,…