Eric Swenson — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:58:24 GMT

Great article, thanks. I’m going to share with some past colleagues and a client – with context. As a consultant who is often called upon to perform project rescues, I feel that I should point out that I have, indeed, spent considerable time (and watched clients spend a lot of money) fixing projects that have resulted only from surrogate data. These instances have resulted from logic that is similar to the primary driver logic referred to herein (typically, executives who refused to honestly answer the question of what NOT doing proper UX integration would cost in the long run). I have been in the business long enough to be able to empathize and sympathize with the rationale cited for resorting to the Extreme method. I’m NOT saying its destined for failure. But I want to add my voice to the cautionary ones on this thread.

My personal recommendation might be disputed by a statistician, but I would argue for forced dilution across multiple axes vs. taking a purely “Extreme” route. In other words, if you can only interview 15 users and 45 surrogates, the 15 end-user samples could result in exponentially more unique insight than otherwise. Also, there is a third axis I’d like to add here: 1) “Real” end user; 2) Surrogate (as cited); 3) (NEW!) Victim Surrogate. What’s a Victim Surrogate? A third-string actor affected by the poorly designed system but who is more obscured in the workflow.

This invites a deeper conversation than a comment board has room for, but it points to the need for examining the site from the perspective of public-facing front end; back end (admin interfaces frequented by say, call center personnel); and downstream tangential actors (anyone ranging from high level executives who only care about analytics to warehouse personnel who process printed or electronic order slips; this is always case-specific).

I’m all for radical solutions to radical/extreme problems and think this Extreme approach is well-developed. But for those of us who are teachers, consultants, etc. let’s make sure our clients/bosses/students don’t take this lesson home karaoke style for a quick fix out of laziness vs. Extreme need/externally driven desperation. Thanks.

Boxes and Arrows: Comments by Eric Swenson