Article Idea:

Q & A with UX Managers

suggested by Seth Gordon on 2007/07/13

A disproportionate number of articles have been written here and elsewhere for practitioners, but manager specific content is still very thin. To help share perspective on management, we propose a QA with an assortment of UX manager types answering a list of questions. Even managers that aren’t ‘formally interviewed’ for the article are encouraged to share their perspective on those topics in the follow-on discussion.

The impetus for this idea comes from being in the very early stages of planning a management track for the IA Summit’08. Margaret Hanley hosted a great pre-conference summit last year, but we’re looking to build on that and move into the general topic track in ‘08. There will be many talk topics, but also an assortment of breakout sessions and lunch table topics where you can connect with other manager-types. A call for papers will be going out in a few months – keep an eye out for it and please consider participating.

In advance of the upcoming conference, we are interested in generating attention around the management aspects of UX.

Article goal: To provide first hand perspective on UX management topics.

Article content The article we’re proposing to research and post is simply a QA with a series of active UX Managers, representing a variety of different fields and perspectives (Innies and Outties, etc). Initially thinking of perhaps 3-4 managers to answer the following set of draft questions that cover career evolution, management style, lessons learned, and advice from the school of hard knocks.

Please feel free to add other questions into the discussion thread.

  • How did you end up in your current role (brief career/ academic history)?


  • When did you know you were ready to transition from practitioner to manager?


  • Now that you’re a manager, what are your job responsibilities?


  • How was that transition? How long did it take to hit your stride?


  • What do you do that makes you an effective manager?


  • What mistakes have you made that others can learn from?


  • Share a favorite anecdotes/day in the life story.


  • One piece of advice you’d give to a new manager?


  • What’s the next step in your career?


    Seth Gordon and Michael Kopcsak

    • Joe Lamantia's avatar

    Joe Lamantia

    166 Reputation points

    Posted 2007/07/18 @ 09:00AM with

    Sound suggestion for an article – it’s a topic that needs consideration.

    Chris Moritz's avatar

    Chris Moritz

    0 Reputation points

    Posted 2007/07/18 @ 09:06AM with

    I agree – as a newly minted UX manager, I’m quite interested in learning more about what others have been through.

    Terry Bleizeffer's avatar

    Terry Bleizeffer

    38 Reputation points

    Posted 2007/07/19 @ 06:05AM with

    Seth – Would this be a live interview with managers or just asking them to write down answers to those questions? I know a manager who would be a good participant (he started as a practitioner before going into management) and would be able to provide the large enterprise view (IBM), but I doubt he reads Boxes and Arrows, so I’d need to recruit him.

    Also, in your list of questions I think it would be useful to ask about the business model they follow:
    (http://www.uxmatters.com/MT/archives/000206.php)

    Another question I have that might not be appropriate for this article is: if you have managed both UX types and non-UX types (a.k.a. “normal people”), what unique challenges did you encounter with the UX types? In other words, what makes managing UXers special?

    Seth Gordon's avatar

    Seth Gordon

    18 Reputation points

    Posted 2007/07/19 @ 17:22PM with

    Terry – planning on doing a written article that is mostly driven by the direct answers from our respondents. If we’re formally selected, I’ll put up another poster asking people to recommend mangers they’d like to hear from. We’ll be sure to include a few open ended questions where managers can ask ones like you’ve proposed. Maybe we’ll just ask ‘what makes you special’. :-)

    -Seth

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