Thread by @joenatoli

OK kids, #UX story time ;-)

I was in a meeting once where there was a religious argument between groups of developers, database folks, product owners and executive managers.

The topic: why a certain report screen was taking so long to load.

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It was a report clients were asking for; they log in, enter their credentials, enter a date range, set some filters — and then the system would literally take up to three full minutes to fully load the report.

You literally got a blank screen for several minutes.

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The database folks are barking: "our infrastructure prevents us from doing this any other way, dev needs to do things differently." #Developers fire back: "it's a needlessly complex data structure." #UX folks are angry with both groups: "we TOLD you this would happen."

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Things are getting heated.

I usually let people get their stuff out on the table before I speak. If I pipe up before everyone's had their moment to defend themselves, nobody listens. So I wait to interject, interrupt and calmly redirect the conversation.

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There was a young developer who hadn't said anything for the past hour...and before I could open my mouth during a lull in the argument, she beat me to it.

First, she raises her hand — and they totally ignore her.

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After 15 seconds, she's not having it — she stands up and walks to the center of the room. She waits for everyone to shut up, puts her hand down, looks around and drops a BOMB:

"How do we know anybody wants all this stuff in the first place?"

Silence. Jaws open.

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Uhhhhhhhhh..oh. Uh. Oh.

See, nobody thought to ask that question.

They were all too busy defending their positions, mired in their egos and their own "right way" of doing their job, to take a step back and THINK.

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Fast forward: the team digs into that question for a couple of days and actually starts talking to customers — and in doing so, they learn that all customers really want wanted were three or four summary data groups.

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They ALSO learned that anyone who actually *needed* the full report didn't even want to see it onscreen — they wanted a PDF file that they could download and print out.

Entirely different process; a LOT less load on the system.

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Put together a document behind the scenes, email a link to folks who need it. Instead of making them wait three minutes for a whole lotta stuff they don't really want to see in this format anyway.

Good UX means asking hard questions.

Which often takes courage.

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Like the courage of the young lady in my story here.

Here's the lesson:

Despite what you may think, no one in that room is smarter than you are.

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Their experience or position doesn't remove the blind spots we all have. You're there to help them recognize and recover from those moments; they are there to do the same for you.

But none of that happens unless you find the courage to open your mouth.

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