Overcoming Obstacles

If your organization is not already accustomed to user-centered design, your greatest challenge may be to presenting your proposal to upper management in a manner that emphasizes how conducting customer visits can promote and expand company growth.

A typicalcommon challengeYour greatest challenge may be winning over Technical Marketing Engineers (TMEsS) and Managers concerned with maintaining the quality of their established business relationships. They may be hesitant to let anyone tamper with their business relationships for fear that it may affect the bottom-line. These TMEsS are usually the company’s gatekeepers, concerned with ensuring that there is no risk involved if one of their users is chosen to participate in a usability study.

Because end-users’ opinions are of such primary importance, management will usually expect you to discuss the specifics of your usability study before a panel of managers, engineers, and other interested members of the organization. When presenting your proposal, include benefits, costs, and a description of how the project will increase the team’s understanding. Be sure to mention how knowledge-sharing between team members will immediately impact the development of the increase the effectiveness of the product,product in the long r un, while encouraging a better overall understanding of the user’’s needs. which will have an immediate impact on development..

Source:

User-Centered Design for the Real World; March 20th 2003 STC Willamette Valley Chapter Program Meeting. Presenters and Panelists: Carol Carmick, Matt Yurdana, Jenny Greenleaf, and Kris Dinkel.