Tristan Naramore — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:07:42 GMT

What is it with UX people with film backgrounds? I too studied film (at UCSC) but found my career swept up by the dot.com craze. Follow the money, I guess…

Anyhoo, I thought this article was fantastic and most timely. Yesterday, I had this great “a-ha!” moment with my client (a very large bank) when a theme suddenly emerged out of some rather frustrating discussions around a poorly defined product. I kept asking stakeholders, “So, what is this product actual for and why does it need to exist?” No clear answer came until a BA working on requirements documentation said to me, “This is to make your boss’s boss’s boss happy.”

Everything fell into place. What had been an ad hoc collection of features suddenly became a clear statement of the product’s implicit value to its users. I don’t know yet if I’ll end up explicitly stating this in a strategy brief, but it’s mighty tempting.

Boxes and Arrows: Comments by Tristan Naramore