Business

Linknote — 27 December 2018 — 89 words

Dirty dealing in the $175 billion Amazon Marketplace

A fascinating article about the various dirty tricks and scams that independent retailers are playing on each other on Amazon Marketplace.

For sellers, Amazon is a quasi-state. They rely on its infrastructure — its warehouses, shipping network, financial systems, and portal to millions of customers — and pay taxes in the form of fees. They also live in terror of its rules, which often change and are harshly enforced…

Sellers are more worried about a case being opened on Amazon than in actual court…

Linknote — 19 December 2018 — 109 words

Architecture — Business — Human-centred approaches — Society

Thoughts on vulnerability

This is a really enlightening and enjoyable article about how vulnerability can sometimes be a strength.

What I’ve realized is that sometimes being vulnerable is a really powerful feeling, like being bilingual: being present and making clear decisions in a meeting while rocking a baby, or confidently stopping someone mid-presentation to ask what an acronym means. Or having my waters break and calmly finishing a meeting. Like, that’s bad-ass, right?

But what struck me most about this article was the point about how a thoughtless office space design in a less-than-diverse workplace created an unforeseen problem for a woman who needed a little privacy.

Article — 12 December 2018 — 376 words

Resources for becoming a better speaker

Business

I already thought I was quite good at presenting, but recently I’ve had to up my game. These two resources have helped me do that.

Linknote — 10 December 2018 — 87 words

Business — Human-centred approaches — User experience

UX past, present, and future

An enjoyable and informative history of user experience. Some familiar themes, but not entirely your standard take. A reminder that people have been doing something like user-centred design for longer than we sometimes think.

…UX is not really a new thing. It might seem new to your organisation and its design process, but in fact it’s been emerging since before the dawn of the internet, back in the 80s, and people have been looking to solve similar problems for almost 140 years.

Linknote — 28 November 2018 — 68 words

Business — Human-centred approaches

Nine ways to unlock creativity in your organisation

A reminder why finding the right problem is often more important than finding the right ideas.

[M]ost of our organisations don’t suffer from a lack of ideas, they suffer from a lack of process that identifies the ideas worth having…

Creativity is not innovation. Creativity is a prerequisite for sure. Innovation, however, is the practical application of creativity.

Linknote — 25 November 2018 — 140 words

Business — User experience

Making work meaningful: A leader’s guide

McKinsey report on how to engage employees.

> People who find meaning at work are happier, more productive, and more engaged. Four practical interventions can help make the search more likely to succeed.

I am struck by how two of the four interventions listed are fundamentally about understanding your users better.

> ### Reduce anonymity
> Talk with employees about who their customers are, and encourage each employee to connect with one.
>
> Build regular, face-to-face interactions with customers into existing processes, stimulating employees to learn who is most affected by their work.
>
> ### Help people grasp the impact of their work
> Invite customers who have had the best—and worst—experiences with your products to talk with employees in person so your team can see how their work affects customers.

Another reason why user experience is worth it.

Article — 20 November 2018 — 478 words

“Do you have any questions for us?”

Business

Whether I’m the interviewee or an interviewer, I find this section of a job interview one of the most interesting and telling moments.

Article — 11 November 2018 — 1,015 words

How to get results in the ultimate agile environment

Business — Technology

How lessons from how Formula 1 teams are managed could apply to other businesses.

Linknote — 8 October 2018 — 215 words

Business — User experience

6 mistakes that prevent UX teams from having boardroom influence

A good list of don’ts when you’re trying to set up an effective user experience function.

In particular, the pitfalls of “cargo cult usability” could do with being more widely understood. But I also enjoyed this point about being too insular.

Newly formed UX teams have a tendency to quickly turn inwards and focus heavily on their own practices, tools and methods: heads down, working in a vacuum, doing great work that doesn’t actually influence anything. As a result, we hear frustrated stakeholders say things like: “I don’t involve the UX team because they always seem too busy”. We’ve even heard UX team members themselves complain that, “We’re so busy and so mired in the day-to-day that we don’t have time to work alongside the development team.”

This reminds me of the (hilarious but true) story of the Staffordshire UK bus company. In 1976 it was reported that the buses on the Hanley to Bagnall route were not stopping to pick up passengers. People complained that buses would drive right by long lines of waiting passengers. The complaints prompted Councillor Arthur Cholerton to make transport history by stating that if the buses stopped to pick up passengers it would disrupt the timetable!

Linknote — 1 October 2018 — 89 words

Business

Does benchmarking really save companies from failure?

Why comparing yourself against your competitors often leads to mediocrity.

Best practice and benchmarking are often just a race to be first at being average. The chances of someone else’s best practice working in a different environment is unlikely.

Not only is it unlikely but the very act of best practice and benchmarking can drive standards down. It encourages all organisations to think alike. At sector level it creates groupthink, and we all know groupthink is the avowed enemy of innovation.