[Sigia-l] Help! New job ... terrible knowledge management

[kuss]

> second, after years in a web agency, I am a bit freaked out to find
myself in a place where
> no one has the slightest understanding of usability. I have to somehow
establish credibility
> and convince people that I actually know something about this sort of
thing; that I'm not
> just there to be a pain in the ass; and that the programmer should not
be
> given free rein to totally organize everything. I am the new person,
so although I'm
> horrified at what is being built, I can't march in and say we have to
chuck it all out
> because I said so.

poor lucie!  every new job comes with its own wrinkles, and you've got
some good ones to iron!!

cooper does a great job of explaining how to bridge the gap between the
programmers' culture and user needs in The Inmates Are Running the
Asylum.  as an interaction designer/IA, you got to have "skin in the
game," he says -- i.e., convey to the programmers that *they're* not to
be held responsible for a failed knowledge management app; *you* are.
you then can't be accused of sabotaging a project through stubborness or
incompetence.  not that i'm accusing you of either.  :)  

also, expressing your recommendations through the use of specific
personae might translate your recommendations and strategies into
language programmers can understand -- once you get them to accept the
idea of personae in the first place, of course!

HTH.  good luck!

kris kuss