[Sigia-l] Usability Prank

[gunnar]

And now you think your earned the bragging rights too?

Your prank may be understandable, but do you think that you deserve our
admiration?

(Excerpt from "Langemark's best practice tips for consultants"*: Bringing your
assistant to the brink of tears is not a good sign of people management skills
or leadership, many companies will hesitate to hire you.)

*Fictional advice site imagineered to this occation...

Anyway; Probably I should've just ignored your post - or perhaps mailed you
personally - but I can't resist doing this in public - making me no better
than you.
;-)


Best
Gunnar



> Usability Prank
> I was conducting a Usability test as an outsourced consultant. The 
> lab setup consisted of a single computer, to be used by the 
> participant, and two additional monitors connected to it, one for me,
>  the moderator, and another one for my note-taking assistant, who 
> was my client's regular employee. The point was that we all had to 
> see the same image on the screens.
> 
> Between sessions, I'd ask him to turn off his monitor, so I could 
> check my e-mail - otherwise, he'd read everything, of course. 
> Needless to say, he didn't.
> 
> So I decided to write his boss an e-mail.
> 
> Yes, the tests were going fine, but I needed him to send me a new assistant
> asap. The current one was well below minimum quality standards for 
> the job, his observation skills were poor, his writing skills, even 
> worse. How could he have hired such an incompetent fool?, I asked -
>  well out of line, of course. Was he a shareholder's relative or 
> something? Nevertheless, whoever he was, it was my job to ensure the 
> quality of the test and its results: a Usability test is as good as 
> its note-taker. I had been really nice to him and hadn't voiced my 
> concerns yet, after all, he was not my employee, but I needed him 
> replaced asap, or I would be forced to abandon the project altogether.
> 
> After sending the message, I went to the adjoining room to say hello 
> as if nothing had happened. The poor boy had teary eyes and barely 
> replied when I told him I was off to lunch. I let him brood over 
> this for an hour, then told him all about it.
> 
> There's a guy who's never going to peep at someone else's e-mail again.
> 
> Read more: http://blogdeusabilidade.blogspot.com/
> 
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Gunnar Langemark
gunnar at langemark.com