The truth about what I do as a UX consultant (it’s not what you think).

For the past 20+ years, just about every week of my life, I work with teams and departments made up of product managers, UXers, product designers and developers. And by extension, executives. And while the reason I initially get a call for help is that a product is underperforming in some way, what I spend 90% of my time doing with all of these folks (as recently as four days ago) is something very different:

Helping them turn combat into collaboration.

Why is that my focus? Because products or services that suck didn’t get that way because of anyone’s lack of talent, skill knowledge or ability. The features and functionality that users and customers are frustrated with or working around or not buying isn’t because these folks don't know how to do their jobs. The UXers and product designers certainly know their shit, as do the developers and programmers and database architects. The product managers are well-informed and have clear goals and desired outcomes.

So why, then, is the combined outcome of their work failing to meet user and customer expectation? Failing to hit the do-or-die KPIs the executive suite has mandated? In nearly every organization I have ever helped, there is a common, ubiquitous, widespread reason that’s happening:

Product managers, department heads, developers and UXers and Product designers all spend an inordinate amount of time talking AT each other instead of WITH each other.

Staking claims and defending positions instead of asking questions and inviting help. In some places those battles are very obvious and very public; in others it’s more of an underlying hum of simmering resentment. But in either case, what I know to be true is this:

Nothing is gonna change unless I can get them to drop the defenses and work together differently.

Nothing will get better if I can’t do that. Not for them, not for the business, not for the customers or users they’re sworn to serve. And while folks in my profession don’t like to hear this, it has to be said:

One of the biggest lies that we tell ourselves in this profession is that everybody cares as much about good UX and good product design as we do.

I’m here to tell you: they don’t.

What those product managers, department heads and executives do care about, however, are very specific business outcomes. Very specific performance-related, bottom-line results. Why? Because that’s their job. It’s what they get paid to care about. Their entire system of incentive, reward and responsibility is based on those specific outcomes.

So they don’t care about the “right” way to do UX or user research?— they care about hitting their numbers.

They don’t care about how the current UI breaks the rules of proper UX — they care about seeing the sales curve go up.

They don’t care about why you think the features and functionality they’re dictating doesn’t serve users —?they care about meeting the KPIs that dictate whether or not they’ll still have a job in six months.

Now, that’s not to suggest that these people are barbarians who don’t give a shit about anything. Not at all my point.

My point here is that in any number of ways, they don’t have a choice. They got hired to achieve these things and they are being held directly responsible for these outcomes. So of course that’s what they care most about. Companies, in this way, are quite literally designed with built-in diametric opposition — set up across departments in every type of organization you can think of — because of this dynamic. It’s normal; it comes with the territory.

We don’t talk about this nearly enough — which is why UX struggles in corporate environments.

From university degree programs to bootcamps to YouTube to social posts and online courses, UX and product design professionals are not taught, explicitly, how to deal with and manage and succeed within the business reality I just talked about. The direct result of that silence is that we all walk into corporate environments expecting to be an equal partner with the business and development sides of the house.

We expect that everyone understands and recognizes what we’re there to do, along with how our work can ensure they actually hit those targets they’re after.

This unfair, untrue expectation is why, as a profession, we spend an inordinate amount of time bitching on social media about how unfairly we’re treated, how our profession is disrespected and being ruined by this, that and the other thing.

Now, some of that complaining does serve a purpose. The purpose of raising an alarm, after all, is so other people see the consequences of what’s happening before it hurts them. But at the same time, there’s a point of diminishing return that arrives rather quickly: if those people you’re hoping to enlighten don’t care about or don’t fully understand the consequence, or can’t see it as clearly as you do... your warning is taken as opposition.

And as such, opposition is what you get from them in return.

I help the UX, product and business sides of the house bridge those gaps in understanding.

Over the last few years, I’ve found that this work has become the majority of what I do: running workshops that help folks build bridges over the canyons where neither side understands just how much they need the other’s help. I show them ways to modify their current processes and their means of communicating and relating to one another. I help them see that it’s entirely possible for everyone to do less work — with less friction and frustration.

And in nearly every case, everyone involved is more than a little surprised at how all the ways they work together, large and small, have been tying one if not both their hands behind their collective backs.

My job is to expose that stuff, get them to untie themselves and find ways to start doing it differently. To abandon the Scrum rulebook or the self-imposed dogma around Lean or Agile iteration and start getting real about what’s working and what isn’t. To help me help them put their heads together to figure out a smarter path forward. Low-risk changes they can try on for a week and gauge the results. Keep what works, you abandon what doesn’t.

Quite often, early on in the workshop, UX teams and managers will tell me “we don’t typically do that; I don’t think that will work here.”

And I get it; change can often feel like staring down the edge of a cliff. But once they try these ideas on in group activities, once that perspective finally starts to shift, I see the light in their eyes switch ON and light up the room. I see the look of recognition that signals they’ve internalized just how much better things will be from this point forward. And by the time we’re done for the day, they feel excited, empowered and a hell of a lot lighter emotionally.

Which, in turn, usually leads to testimonials like these:

"Our organization’s Experience Design team had the pleasure of participating in a full-day workshop led by Joe. He demonstrated a remarkable ability to distill practical concepts into accessible and actionable insights, encouraging a new vision for our team and our role within the organization. The workshop was not just informative; it was a transformative experience that aligned our team's purpose with business objectives, setting us on a path of renewed motivation and cohesion. Joe’s blend of UX knowledge, communication skills, and forward-thinking insights make him an invaluable asset for any organization seeking a seamless integration of purpose and business strategy. I wholeheartedly recommend Joe’s services for those aiming to drive positive change within their teams.”

Nikki Zawol Experience Design Manager, Blue Cross/Blue Shield

“Of the resources we've brought in to elevate UX in our organization, Joe was by far the best…his workshop was exactly what my team needed. Joe led a whiteboard walkthrough that helped us identify and understand our current engagement, and he was able to pinpoint key areas where we could streamline and reduce pain. We didn't erase that diagram for months! For those looking for UX consulting, speaking, or teaching, Joe is the real deal. I look forward to when I can bring him in again!”

Will Sykora UX Designer, CSPO, CSM, T. Rowe Price (former)

"Our time with Joe fundamentally changed the way we approach design. We are able make decisions grounded in fact, not opinions…the practices we now employ are improving every step of our development practice; from prototype to final product. Joe’s influence is evident in all of our work.”

Patrick Toohey Senior Software Engineer, Mettler-Toledo

I’ve built a career on helping teams and departments in opposition move from combat to collaboration. To doing work they’re proud of — and to throughly enjoying mutually supportive relationships “across the aisle.” So no matter how bad you think your situation is — no matter how convinced you are that those managers will never respect you and are never going to be willing to work with you — I can promise you one single unassailable, ironclad fact:

It doesn’t have to be this hard.

Give me a day and I’ll prove it to you. I’ll show you how to dramatically improve your relationship with product managers, department heads and executives?— for good.

Lofty claim, I know.

But here’s the thing: I’ve been doing this with product teams for three decades. In every kind of organization —?including Fortune 100, 500 and government agencies —?across just about every industry.

So when I tell you that I’ve seen things change, that I’ve seen trust, respect and active collaboration rise from the ashes of bloody combat, even in thoroughly dysfunctional environments.

So this is not my opinion: it’s a fact.

It's a reality I have witnessed time and time again over the course of my career.

After our time together, your team will have a very different perspective on the non-design/UX folks they work with every day. And that alone will eliminate a great deal of unnecessary argument, struggle and stress — along with the mountain of re-work all of that causes.

And that, in turn, will cause the folks you’re battling with every week to see you very differently as well. As equal partners instead of pixel-pushers.

If all this sounds like something that can help you and your team, get in touch and let’s talk about it.