“Sigh… That’s Gonna Be a Hard Job.”

The 5 P’s: Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance

Following this famous adage sounds simple enough. But modern ways of working require so much multitasking that it is sometimes difficult to really plan and even more difficult to take action on something that you know is going to be difficult. The key to success, though, is that, if you plan properly, doing something may still be hard, but you will be able to accomplish the work.

Unfortunately, in the UX arena, we often see a lack of planning. Clients continually ask me whether, instead of planning a proper UX strategy or program, I can somehow just bless a design through a serious of random, infrequent, one-hour meetings. During these meetings, I am asked to “just look at some screens” and expected to have a clear understanding of the business requirements and design constraints and considerations, immediately digest the screen designs, and come up with alternative designs if problems arise.

This happens so frequently that I can almost anticipate the request before it happens. It’s almost always necessary for me to reset expectations about what clients are going to get out of such meetings. The first step is to understand that the real desire behind these requests is not to get UX design on the cheap. Instead, it results from the fact that software development projects require very smart and capable people to do much more work than it’s possible to execute properly—let alone plan properly. So clients look for the quick-and-dirty solution to check a box that they’ve gotten something done. Then, when things blow up, they can point to the fact that a UX person blessed a particular design.

A lot of the UX professionals who I know feed into this dysfunctional approach. And why not? We are no less busy these days than anyone else. Plus, as a design exercise, it is very easy and even fun to take a look at an existing design, break it down, and suggest new ways of doing it—without our ever having to consider the business needs that went into the original design.

Doing the hard work means creating a UX design strategy, proposing it and getting it approved, and actually implementing it. That is the work that usually needs doing. Waiting to do this does not make things easier.

Planning a UX Engagement

For an engagement to be truly successful, you need to spend anywhere from 15 to 25% of your time planning. Plan for contingencies. Plan how your work meshes with that of others. Know how your work fits in with the overall strategy for the project you’re working on. Most important, be flexible in your planning. Too many UX strategies and program plans fall apart in the face of unexpected adversities. In my next column, I’ll discuss some specific ways in which you can go from lamenting all of the hard work that you face to your being properly prepared for success.