Challenge and Selection  I work for an IT company and have been leading the User Interface CoE (Center for Excellence) for a  while. We build websites, and often times, the designs are provided by external agencies that are closer  to the clients. One of the core responsibilities I have is to address (and resolve ) the look-and-feel  related issues. Many a times these issues are arrested during testing phase, but at times, the product is  delivered with defects, or Bugs, as we call it; and that is where the ‘escalation’ starts.

This look-and-feel or the User-Experience-Design, as it is termed commonly, is very important for  Designers as the Brand is considered as Religion, and any disrespect to the design is seen as a sinful-act.

The tool that I prefer to get to the root of problem is Visualization or Visual Thinking. Since there are  multiple stakeholders involved, it helps me better understand: their activities, expected-inputs and  deliverables at the individual and/or at team level. Thereafter I can conveniently connect the dots and  work towards the solution.

Application  Yet another case of that sinful-act was reported a few days back. We came to know that the website we  built was not adhering to the designs provided; and then the blame game started.

I started my journey by hearing out the story from management team. They were seemingly of the  opinion that the development team is incapable of delivering quality output. The task at hand for me  was to validate if the perception built with management is correct, if not, what is the root cause for this  debacle. I started visually depicting individuals and teams, in the form of boxes and straw-figures, and  mapped the inputs, outputs and the activities, considering as if we are living in a perfect world.

Thereafter, faced the real world. I casually started talking to the developers; scheduled formal meetings  with project managers and business analysts; also evaluated the defect-lists shared by the designers.  Last, but never the least, I also spoke to the client if they had any additional inputs on the top of what  they had already shared.

Insight and Approach  I used to record the discussions and map it against the ideal inputs/outputs/activities that I mentioned  in previous sections. I was surprised to know that the major reason for this debacle was not the inability  of developers (as perceived by the management) rather it was the lack of process and governance.

Few important questions, I asked the developers—

  Question: What is a definition of a good output for you?  Answer: To make sure that webpage looks “similar” to the design.   [Remarks: Answer is largely okay, except the fact, “similar” should be replaced by “exact same”]

  Question: How do you ensure that the webpage look similar?  Answer: I manually compare the design with webpage (Eyeballing).   [Remarks: Since he is doing it manually… he is making assumptions, and there are high chances that  assumptions about Colours, Fonts, Spacing etc. can go wrong]

  Question: Is there any Single-Source-Of-Truth defined for Good-Quality between you, your Project  Manager, Quality Analyst, and Client?  Answer: ~~puzzled~~ hmm… just the webpage should look same as per the design.  [Remarks: There’s no single-source-of-truth defined here by Project Manager, and hence everyone  has a different perception about the good quality deliverable. BTW, there’s something called “Style- Guide” which serves this purpose. This document was neither asked by PM, not provided by  Designers, which makes developer assume things and work towards it]

As an outcome, I created as-is and to-be diagrams and presented it to the management team which  emphasized the loopholes in the current process and how can that be fixed to avoid future such  instances. When discussed in detail with client, they also realized that a part of mistake was from their  side, and when rectified, we delivered the expected quality. This not just restored the faith amongst the  client but also boosted morale of the development team, which was singled out and criticized earlier.


Challenge and Selection I work for an IT company and have been leading the User Interface CoE ( Center for Excellence ) for a while . We build websites , and often times , the designs are provided by external agencies that are closer to the clients . One of the core responsibilities I have is to address ( and resolve  ) the look - and - feel related issues . Many a times these issues are arrested during testing phase , but at times , the product is delivered with defects , or Bugs , as we call it ; and that is where the ‘ escalation ’ starts . This look - and - feel or the User - Experience - Design , as it is termed commonly , is very important for Designers as the Brand is considered as Religion , and any disrespect to the design is seen as a sinful - act . The tool that I prefer to get to the root of problem is Visualization or Visual Thinking . Since there are multiple stakeholders involved , it helps me better understand : their activities , expected - inputs and deliverables at the individual and/or at team level . Thereafter I can conveniently connect the dots and work towards the solution . Application Yet another case of that sinful - act was reported a few days back . We came to know that the website we built was not adhering to the designs provided ; and then the blame game started . I started my journey by hearing out the story from management team . They were seemingly of the opinion that the development team is incapable of delivering quality output . The task at hand for me was to validate if the perception built with management is correct , if not , what is the root cause for this debacle . I started visually depicting individuals and teams , in the form of boxes and straw - figures , and mapped the inputs , outputs and the activities , considering as if we are living in a perfect world . Thereafter , faced the real world . I casually started talking to the developers ; scheduled formal meetings with project managers and business analysts ; also evaluated the defect - lists shared by the designers . Last , but never the least , I also spoke to the client if they had any additional inputs on the top of what they had already shared . Insight and Approach I used to record the discussions and map it against the ideal inputs / outputs / activities that I mentioned in previous sections . I was surprised to know that the major reason for this debacle was not the inability of developers ( as perceived by the management ) rather it was the lack of process and governance . Few important questions , I asked the developers —  Question : What is a definition of a good output for you ? Answer : To make sure that webpage looks “ similar ” to the design . [ Remarks : Answer is largely okay , except the fact , “ similar ” should be replaced by “ exact same ” ]  Question : How do you ensure that the webpage look similar ? Answer : I manually compare the design with webpage ( Eyeballing ) . [ Remarks : Since he is doing it manually … he is making assumptions , and there are high chances that assumptions about Colours , Fonts , Spacing etc . can go wrong ]  Question : Is there any Single - Source - Of - Truth defined for Good - Quality between you , your Project Manager , Quality Analyst , and Client ? Answer : ~~puzzled~~ hmm … just the webpage should look same as per the design . [ Remarks : There ’s no single - source - of - truth defined here by Project Manager , and hence everyone has a different perception about the good quality deliverable . BTW , there ’s something called “ Style- Guide ” which serves this purpose . This document was neither asked by PM , not provided by Designers , which makes developer assume things and work towards it ] As an outcome , I created as - is and to - be diagrams and presented it to the management team which emphasized the loopholes in the current process and how can that be fixed to avoid future such instances . When discussed in detail with client , they also realized that a part of mistake was from their side , and when rectified , we delivered the expected quality . This not just restored the faith amongst the client but also boosted morale of the development team , which was singled out and criticized earlier .