Diagnosis: UX Charlatans

@MartinaMitz@MartinaMitz
How to Spot Them Quickly and Stop Wasting
Time, Money, and Nerves
UX Camp Berlin 2017
DIAGNOSIS:
UX Charlatans

THE Plan™
1. Who the F**k Am I to Diagnose?
2. Situation on the Market
3. Diagnosis UX-Charlatans
4. What is UX Then?
5. What to Look for

…Me in the Past Few Years
image: http://thebqb.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/frust3.jpeg

BUT WAIT
Let me tell you where I am coming from…

Hobby
(1999) 2001:
Web Designer
(self-taught, semi user-centered)
confidence level

Education
2001 - 2007:
Certified Psychologist
(Diploma)
confidence level

Profession
2008 / 2009:
Clinical Psychologist
confidence level

…Me at the Time
image: https://nonverbalforte.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Insecure-Photo.jpg
confidence level

Time to Do Something!
WEB-DESIGN
(passion)
PSYCOLOGY
(profession)
ME
(mad?)
confidence level

New Profession
2009 / 2010:
Concept Developer
(Internship + Pro-Bono)
confidence level

New Profession 2
2011 - 2014:
Interaction Architect
(user-centered design)
confidence level

Professional Experience
since 2014:
Senior UX Architect
Senior UX Designer
Lead UX Designer
Lead Information Architect
or simply
UX Designer
confidence level

Currently
since May, 2017:
Product Experience Lead
happiness level

Meanwhile
… on the Market

Buzzwordizing
image: http://www.sparksgroupinc.com/resources/sparks-group-blog/

Growing Demand
But lack of skilled workforce
image: https://nonverbalforte.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Insecure-Photo.jpg

Lack of Official Educational Paths
• UX is more expensive Web/Visual Design
• UX is only User Research
• UX is only digital
• UX is done once
• It is a linear process / it has an end
• UX is like Pixie Dust
• UX is some magic
• UX Designers are Unicorns ;)
Makes the spreading of very wrong understandings easier:

Summary
Market Situation:
UX has become trendy
✶ BUT actually in a misunderstood way
There is a higher demand for skilled experts
✶ BUT it is hard to know who the right one is
UX is more and more involved
✶ BUT usually at the wrong stage of the process
 A Perfect breeding-ground for charlatans
graphic: http://granitegrok.com/wp-content/uploads/charlatan.png

9 Symptoms
of UX Charlatans

1st Symptom
ONLY USERS ARE IMPORTANT
 Dismissing business/stakeholder needs,
pains or questions
 Getting lost in User Research
 Not creating any valuable outcomes
“it’s all about the users”
 The business (+ other stakeholders)
should also be your users
 We all won’t have a profession if it
wasn’t for them and their needs/pains
USERS BUSINESS

USERS
2nd Symptom
DO WHAT BUSINESS WANTS
 react only to the direct demands of the
business or other stakeholders
 do, do ,do - deliver, deliver, deliver
 no critical thinking
 care more about “networking” and their
salary/title, than the product/service
“it’s all about the money”
 being reactive, rather than proactive
doesn’t help the business at all
 + empowers them to repeat mistakes
BUSINESS

3rd Symptom
KNOW-IT-ALL
 Trust-me attitude + strong ego
 Know all the answers straight away
 Give solutions, rather than uncovering
different solution-paths
“we have to do ‘Agile’, it’s what Google
and Netflix are doing”
 no one alone can be in possession of
the ultimate truth!
 you can only strive to uncover it in an
objective, informed way
 collaboration and iteration are key
BUSINESS USERS

USERS
4th Symptom
SWEET TALK
 Say things that sound right
 Make strong and confident statements
 No substance – no practical coverage
of their words, no reality-check
“I have over 15 years experience in the
digital area”
 If you want to change mindsets then
you’ll probably need practical examples
 You’ll also need to talk about the
bad/hard stuff and about fails
“Hype vs. Change = Talking vs. Doing”, Rupert Platz
BUSINESS

5th Symptom
MASK IT WITH JARGON
 when sweet talk is not enough they
tend to hide behind jargon
 they seem to feel more expert and
it raises their ego, when no else
understands them
“we definitely need Contextual
Inquiries to get the User Profiles”
 If no one understands you, then no
one will see your value either
 Better to explain, than to only state
“the right way to the truth”
MVP BIZ

6th Symptom
JUST RETURN THE BALL
 They are good at delegating and/or
fishing for information and ideas
 They are better in adapting into the
current situation, but have hardly the
experience to take well informed
decisions or make predictons
 Can’t say “I don’t know”
“Remind me again what CTA was?”
 Asking further/deeper questions will
make a Charlatan insecure.
 Count on your logic, not on buzzwords
CONFIDENCE EGO

WIRE-
FRAMES
7th Symptom
UX IS ALL IN THE TOOLS
 Strong advocates of specific tools
 Usually, don’t like trying out new stuff
 Only concentrating on tangible
outputs, not on outcomes
“I use Axure and Photoshop”
 one should be interested in and
consider long-term strategies and
solutions, rather than just quick fixes
 it’s useful to have a wider range of
tools to chose from, depending on the
different user/business needs
BUSINESS

8th Symptom
UX IS JUST DIGITAL
 Also, only concentrating on tangible
outputs, rather than solution paths
 Acting only on one channel/touch-
point in isolation, rather than looking
at an overall journey
 “We are only resposible of the
platform/website”
 the experience, is the front stage of
the entire product/service –
everything that the user interacts with
 …and the user is an actual human, not
a predictable robot or algorithm
USABILITY

9th Symptom
WORKING WITH/FOR UX DESIGNERS IS ENOUGH
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Summary - 9 Symptoms
If 3 or more of the following symptoms appear on more than 3
encounters, you are probably dealing with a UX-Charlatan:
1. ONLY USERS ARE IMPORTANT
2. DO WHAT BUSINESS WANTS
3. KNOW-IT-ALL
4. SWEET TALK
5. MASK IT WITH JARGON
6. JUST RETURN THE BALL
7. UX IS ALL IN THE TOOLS
8. UX IS JUST DIGITAL
9. WORKING WITH/FOR UX DESIGNERS IS ENOUGH

BUT WHAT IS UX THEN?
I will let the “father of UX” explain…

Don Norman
video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BdtGjoIN4E

WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Similar traits in great UX Designers

Some UX-Mindset Observations
Great Design-Thinkers:
• Will hardly give you a direct solution – probably rather ask you
questions about the problem and context
• Don’t feel comfortable jumping into decisions/commitments without
enough context or insights
• Learn to be comfortable with being proven wrong
• Become modest with time, egos vanish
• Realize that collaboration is key, as they can’t know everything in detail
• Have ta ability to zoom out and look at the bigger picture
• Are analytical and empathetic
• Are NOT F***ING UNICORNS!

Martina Mitzieva-Veglia
UX Designer & Psychologist
martina.net@gmail.com
web, skype, twitter: Martina Mitz
currently:
Portsmouth, UK
Thank You!
UX Camp Berlin 2017

Diagnosis: UX Charlatans

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