January was the last Calgary UX Book Club meeting as autonomous entity (we have since been merged into the Calgary UX Group) and we ended on a high note by chatting with author and IA guru Russ Unger. We had heard that Mr. Unger was a lively speaker and he did not disappoint! We talked through the process both authors endured to get their book published as well as the good and not so good moments of the book. Russ explained and defended his work well and gave sound reasons for making certain decisions. I left the meeting feeling good about reading the book and, more importantly, hearing Russ’ point of view.
The premise behind “A Project Guide…” is to introduce the reader to the basics of user experience (UX) and the various methodologies, deliverables and phases of UX project work, and based on this assertion, the book is well-written. The first four chapters layout typical UX project ecosystems and serve as a great high level overview of what needs to happen in the very early stages of a project. The rest of the book is then dedicated to the key methodologies typically used in UX design work. The book deliberately did not go into much detail, and because the language used was very conversational and easy, the choice to keep the book as a high-level introduction was a suitable match for the writing style.
The best part of “A Project Guide…” is the fact that you can hand this book to almost anyone involved in a UX design project and they will find some value in it. The book’s subtitle—For user experience designers in the field or in the making—gives a clear demarcation as to the experience level of the intended audience (anyone from newbie to intermediate level UX designer) but the audience for this book is larger and that is where its strength lies.
Seasoned Pro
Make no mistake, if you are a seasoned pro who has been cranking out wireframes, doing card sorts and gathering user requirements for years you may not see the value in reading this book, unless you need a refresher on certain methodologies every once in a while (not every project goes through the same cycle of deliverables and methodology and I am certain I will be picking up this book again). There are also some chapters that I found to be a pleasant surprise. The chapter on SEO was quite interesting and refreshing, simply because I had never seen it discussed in a UX book before and it generated a good conversation in our book club as well 
Newbie
If you are brand new to the UX field, looking for a great “how-to” manual “A Project Guide…” is a great find. Although the overarching theme of the book is ‘overview’, the author’s use of categories (Surfing, Snorkelling, Deep Diving) for additional information allow the reader to find out more on certain topics based on how much time a reader wants to invest; each category has an associated time allotment assigned to it with Surfing being quick and Deep Diving being longer. This system in itself is a great example of the exceptional thought being given to the user/reader and is a nice touch.
Management
I think the most interesting (and difficult to reach) audience for “A Project Guide…” would be those who don’t necessarily know and/or understand the various methodologies and deliverables typically involved in a UX design project but have been tasked with improving some facet or instance of a customer/user interaction for their company. This audience wouldn’t need to read the entire book front to back, but having a high level understanding of what to expect from a UX team wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing… (Project Managers, Directors, VPs I’m nudging and winking at you!) Imagine a project where all the key decision makers understood what the UX team/person was doing and why—can you say utopia! I guess the trick now is how to get non-UX people to read this book…
One of the most interesting discussions during our book club meeting with Russ Unger was a conversation we had around what we want our job title to be. One of our members answered, “CEO, Chief Experience Officer.” Russ quickly responded to this with, “No, I think you mean Chief Executive Officer.” He then went on to explain his vision of the CEO of the future who will be well versed in experience design and understand the value and necessity of understanding the motivations, goals, constraints and challenges of their customers. It may sound lofty, but I think once people start to really understand the value and competitive advantage of UX design we will see more and more companies start to embrace our practice, and I think Mr. Unger is correct in his vision that if this new way of thinking starts at the top, then the entire culture and mindset of a company can be affected. Rome was not built in a day and “A Project Guide…” is a great way to get the wheels in motion towards building a business around the people who matter the most, your customers.
