Experience, Effort, and Expertise
Senior Practitioners are smart investments; manage them carefully.
If you want a combination of Speed and Precision with a smirk, look no further than a Senior Designer or Researcher. Designers and Researchers are craft-based individuals who likely have skills challenging to understand for those who haven’t delivered value in that position. If you haven’t done the job, then you may have a difficult time getting performance evaluations out of a system designed for…..anyone but a ‘Creative.’
I recommend thinking about the contributions of a Senior Practitioner through the dual lenses of Experience and Expertise. If you find one without the other, you have someone that is either lazy (Experience without Expertise) or is a bullshit artist (Expertise without Experience). Not everyone is in their career for skills growth, and some people interview really, really well.
Experience means we can trust them to deliver. Expertise means we can have faith in the quality of their delivery. Allow me to elaborate further.
The Wisdom of Experience
Move along with the landscape
Senior UX Designers and Researchers must thrive in the ever-changing landscape of UX challenges. The technology landscape moves fast, and they need to be conversational about what drives the zeroes and the ones behind the pixels. And speak for the end users’ needs, behaviors, and goals. Finding people who can quickly adapt and be comfortable in their discomfort can be challenging.
The judo of complexity
They can approach complex user interaction issues with a calm, methodical, and solutions-oriented mindset. Then, they can deliver solutions that allow users to feel empowered yet not overwhelmed. Drawing (pun intended) from their extensive career journeys enables them to do all of this without breaking a sweat.
Spin plates with efficiency
For Managers overseeing UX teams, Senior Practitioners can handle their tasks and timelines. It’s a relief to be able to focus efforts elsewhere. Their capacity for time and client/partner/collaborator management ensures that UX projects run smoothly, meeting deadlines and budget requirements consistently.
If you are a Manager with a balance of Senior and Junior Practitioners, I recommend you look at the team’s aggregate years of experience to measure how much confidence you can put into their ability to navigate constraints, address complex use cases, and deliver on multiple projects. There will always be cursed features and last-minute client requests—-with enough Senior staff, you can shift your focus on those. If you are a Senior Practitioner with a new or junior Manager, keep in mind that you have evolved a working style that likely varies from theirs. Take the time to bring them into your process to drive transparency.
The Value of Expertise
Component Curators
Senior Designers and Researchers are living libraries with quick-draw knowledge of UX principles, research methodologies, and best practices. They are likely to specialize but have a solid foundation of artifacts ranging from usability testing to heuristic evaluations, wireframes to prototypes, and user personas to customer journey maps. They know what to leverage to drive outcomes.
Nurturing isn’t always gentle
The mentorship and collaborative skills of Senior UX professionals contribute significantly to team growth and project success. They serve as mentors and guides, as they benefitted from the assistance of others when they were starting out. They provide direct feedback, as they have likely solved similar problems. They can drive a collaborative spirit, fostering an environment that is psychologically safe, collegial, and drives innovation.
Pixel-level Quality Assurance
You won’t transition from Junior to Senior Practitioner without attention to detail. Whether tied to header alignment or bias reduction, the details are everything. The details ensure that every interaction is not only visually appealing but also highly usable. Senior Practitioners’ commitment to craft results in with care drives business goals without ‘UI Bugs’ that tend to be de-prioritized before they are logged.
If you are a Manager with Senior Practitioners, feel free to suggest alternatives to solutions, but don’t be surprised if they were already explored. No one will solve a UX challenge precisely how a Manager or Director would, at least not every time. Remember, this is the value of hiring Senior resources. They will approach an opportunity from another angle, and we want them to. If you are an experienced Designer or Researcher, remember that when peers and Managers ask about what drove your decisions, it's an opportunity to educate. Your approach to creative problem-solving is something others can learn from. Remember that you achieved your position with the benefit of others.
Invest in Senior Practitioners
The presence of senior UX designers and researchers on your team offers numerous advantages:
Quality of Delivery: Their expertise results in user experiences that are not just user-friendly but also empowering, driving value.
Quantity of Outcomes: Senior UX professionals orchestrate multiple efforts, work faster, and can deliver quick fixes while balancing larger projects.
Innovation: Their adaptability and experience allow them to ship new capabilities and integrate new technology in ways that work around legacy constraints.
Team Growth: Their mentorship and collaboration reduce churn, focus on craft, and create a work environment that drives personal and professional growth.
Trusting Senior Designers and Researchers can result in User Experiences that exceed expectations. Projects will benefit from their wisdom and user-centric approaches. Place trust in your Senior Practitioners and have confidence in their abilities to drive the best possible outcomes given the constraints of time and technology.
Value experience and expertise. The capital investment in Senior UX Designers and Researchers has a high return. 🪄✨
