I
M
A
G
E
B
Y
E
I
R
E
E
N
Z
/
S
H
U
T
T
E
R
S
T
O
C
K
.
C
O
M
COLUMN THE DESIGNERS’ SPEAKEASY
their value, for either pride or profit.
Sensemaking their agendas, navigating
the pitfalls and inputs along the way,
encouraging allies while deflecting
naysayers—these all involve the varying
crafts of being a designer, such as
making artifacts, storytelling with user
data, facilitating conversations, or even
just having a candid coffee with that
cranky executive.
There is a veritable art in balancing
the direction and magnitude of
influencing each vector in enabling
design-driven success. The varying
levels over time are based upon
observing effects and iteratively
adjusting. Also, remember this is all
happening against the background
of time. After all, you have decisions
to make, deadlines to hit, designs to
deliver. Time is the great common
equalizing constraint across all projects,
regardless of domain. The trick to being
an effective change agent is knowing
how to dance with the dynamics of time
and shifting vectors of influence—
sensing how to pick and choose battles,
applying levels of craft, charming
your challengers, and so on, all toward
being impactful in your pursuits. And,
needless to say, you must also be careful
not to lose yourself in this long game of
mediating balances; you must stay true
to your own north star of achievement
and doing what’s right for the team and
the customer.
In the end, we all entered this field
to improve the human condition, which
is incredibly hard work. Let’s do it by
awakening ourselves to the vectors of
influence as a vital tool for delivering
consequential value, enabling our
pursuit of leadership and having real
impact that enriches our customers’
lives, despite the range of forces
creating friction.
Endnotes
1. Lafley, A.G. and Martin, R.
Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works.
Harvard Business Review Press, 2013.
Uday Gajendar ( ghostinthepixel.com)
has been a prolific UX designer and leader
for more than 15 years, shipping designs
for Pay Pal, Facebook, Citrix, Adobe, and
others. He also enjoys coaching startups
on UX fundamentals.
→
udanium@gmail.com
a generalizable, flexible model of
activity for others to actually want to
participate in, because they see value
for their own selfish goals (again, those
quarterly metrics and bonuses), while
seeking moments to stretch and try
new things.
Culture is the final vector and
absolutely the most difficult to shape—a
bit like cutting cubes from clouds.
It’s terribly ambiguous, evolving as
different people come and go through
the organization. Culture generally is a
reflection of the behaviors and attitudes
of the people, shaped by the principles
and values both explicit and implicitly
held, reflected in habits, reactions, and
so on. It’s not something to be dictated
per se from the higher ups, as in:
“Monday at 9 a.m. we will have a new
culture of human-centered design!”
Instead there’s a subtle transformation
of actions and attitudes guided by what’s
best for everyone. It’s really enabled
by your influence on relationships,
those personal and professional ties
with the right people at the right time.
And yes, it requires deep empathy
for your stakeholders, learning their
issues and goals and figuring out how
to support them. Thus, culture takes
the truly longest time to affect, thanks
to... people! Our habits and attitudes
just take time to evolve and respond,
as we are creatures of comfort and
skeptical of new things. But building
those relationships, amplifying your
credibility and respect, will enable your
designs and strategic HCI philosophies
to be more well received.
Consider these vectors to be
opportunities on which to pull or
push in getting change to happen or
a new design direction to be adopted
by a perplexed, stubborn stakeholder
resistant to what’s possible. Keep in
mind there are countervailing forces
working against you! Not from malice,
of course, but simply from basic human
traits like selfish ambition. Everyone has
an agenda arising from that basic need
to self-justify their existence and prove
DOI: 10.1145/3137111 COPYRIGHT HELD BY AUTHOR
