Lead by Example - to Inspire and Influence

Leading from the Trenches:

In a designer role, my job was to create final comps--but we called them wireframes--for the off-shore developers to use as the screen guides for a call center application. The developers had a hard time developing screens that matched these wireframes. I conducted weekly wireframe reviews, similar to an agile demo, with the offshore development team. Although this project methodology was waterfall, I acted as a project sponsor to approve or disapprove the developed screens, and sent defects back for remediation. I was also responsible for mentoring new hires on our team, which proved challenging as everyone worked remotely around the country. I overcame location challenges with the use of technology, such as WebEx.

In another role, most of the individual contributors on the project understood the value of UX and were eager to do the right thing for the user. Morale on the project was at a low when I was hired on, and it seemed this was a self-inflicted situation. Under the direction of the PMO, the prime contractor had spent 4 1/2 years embarking on an project with a 'just build it' attitude, only to have the client displeased with the confusing, cumbersome, and unusable solution. After presenting my own UX designs to the client, and having them tell me "yes, that's what we want", I was told by the PMO that I was actually hired to "sell what we've done as good usability." Knowing I had to find a way to covertly improve the user experience, I led the Human Factors Team and other contractors, along with the development team, to a better experience for the client. One of the development leads said to me "if we can build it with the tools we have, we will." With the help of that development team, we created a user experience that fit the constraints of the vendor systems, as well as provided a better user experience for the government agencies, and the public.

In a research role, I was described as "our rockstar contractor" by the Executive Director, and was tasked with hiring, onboarding, and training new contractors in 2016 and 2017. The biggest challenges were factors outside of my control, such as not bringing candidates in to interview face-to-face (or even Skype) and other due diligence to ensure a culture fit.

A Challenging New Hire:

A recent hire, who did well in the remote interview, arrived on-site for his first day. He had experience and a good education, but I learned after about two hours with him that he had zero humility and a disdain for those not as highly educated as he. I gave him the usual tour of the campus, showed him the usability labs, and explained our role in detail. I described how other contractors cycled through because they couldn't follow the basics, such as: using brand-approved templates, facilitating various usability meetings 'our way', etc. After a few complaints from his peers about the quality of his work, he repeatedly dismissed my reminders and continued doing things his own way. The only authority I had was to let the client know so they could take corrective action.

Speedbumps on the Road to Hiring:

Another challenge that came from the hiring process is timing; the time it takes upper management to make the final hiring decision. Resumés sat for weeks while work was the top priority, instead of getting more bodies. When I'm looking to hire, résumés are the top priority. I don't want my team burning out. Candidates aren't sitting around for weeks on end waiting to hear back--they're looking for other jobs. Another frequently overlooked asset to the hiring process is the HR resource--the hiring manager must give HR all of the tools, information, and decision support possible to help vet candidates and answer candidate questions without being a middleman between the candidates and hiring manager. Companies that take [literally] six months to hire end up taking what they can get from the candidate pool...the good candidates accepted new positions five months ago!