Thread by @danachis

Great design is a competitive advantage.

Every company is going through this, not just tech companies.

@jmspool
@gbcacm

Every organization is competing for gene same pool of UXers. A *small* pool.

@jmspool
@gbcacm

The problem with selling on cost is that there’s a floor —you have to recover costs. But selling in quality has no ceiling.

Product quality is directly correlated to UX capability.

@jmspool
@gbcacm

In Seattle, time from a candidate entering the market to receiving an offer: 3 days

@jmspool
@gbcacm

Your industry competitors are not just industry competitors for UXers. You’re actually competing against every organization that is hiring UXers.

@jmspool
@gbcacm

Practically every hiring process is an act of self-sabatoge.

The hiring process is not actually designed to hire people.

@jmspool @gbcacm

Job ads are generic
Interviewers are not prepared
Interviewers ghost candidates
Design activities eliminate POC
No definition of success
Requiring portfolios

... and more are ways we sabotage the hiring process

@jmspool
@gbcacm

Design exercises push away the best candidates.

@jmspool
@gbcacm

We have to treat hiring as a service design problem.

@jmspool
@gbcacm

Almost all hiring is designed for people actively looking for a job.

But the best candidates are not currently looking for work. They need different information.

@jmspool
@gbcacm

When you require 7 years of experience, are you looking for someone who has grown, or someone who has done the same 1-year job seven times?

@jmspool
@gbcacm

We treat UXers if they are interchangeable.

If you need 3 senior designers, will they each be doing exactly the same things? Probably not.

@jmspool
@gbcacm

We have to rethink what specializing means. Each job needs specific skills being the generic set of UX skills. Those are baseline.

@jmspool
@gbcacm

Hiring a team of T-shaped people is a mistake. Real people are not t-shaped.

They’re broken-comb shaped.

Teams often don’t share an understanding of what they are hiring for.

@jmspool @gbcacm

Organizations can deliver better quality products by hiring better.

By treating hiring as a design problem.

@jmspool
@gbcacm

Start by writing a thank-you note for what the new hire will have done a year from now.

Then establish clear assessment criteria.

(No gladiator voting.)

@jmspool
@gbcacm

Thank you note > performance profile with objectives > assessment criteria with a rating system > job ad > interview questions > ....

This designing what we are going to build before coding and knowing ahead of time what “done” means.

@jmspool
@gbcacm

Collect comparable experience. Don’t ask people what they’re process is.

Ask them what they’re process WAS for a related project.

Understanding where the compromises come from is the relevant part.

@jmspool
@gbcacm

The key to delivering better products than your competitors is hiring better than your competitors.

@jmspool
@gbcacm