Re:Netflix Pulls the Plug on Feature Designed to Get Kids Ad...
by Mtinie on Monday December 24, 2018 @08:18PM
(#18755269)
All the morals in the world are meaningless when there is no agency.
I’ve yet to find a UX team I’ve worked on with enough political capital to win any conversation which results in a net-decrease in profits, regardless of the ultimate benefit.
Too many quarter to quarter direction to overcome the profits-today-at-all-costs momentum which grips management.
Re:Netflix Pulls the Plug on Feature Designed to Get Kids Ad...
by TeMPOraL on Monday December 24, 2018 @08:24PM
(#18755293)
Yup.
I have my differences of opinion with most UI/UX teams I worked with (in particular, I don't buy the trend of making software as easy as possible at all costs; it leads to dumbing down and reduced utility). But I'm not blaming UX people for this. They have as much to say in this topic as developers about third-party JS bloat - i.e. we can all complain all we want, out of practicality or morality, and ultimately the decisionmakers don't care.
Others say "hire competent UX people", but I don't think it's necessary, and I don't think doing that will help.
Even the best UX person won't help you if management - or processes they set up - push for microoptimizing profitability at all costs. If the competent UX person doesn't have morals and ability to push back based on that, they'll either leave, or - worse - implement the bad things that much more efficiently.
The way I see it, companies must realize where their profit/growth optimization borders on user abuse, and then not cross that line (or be made to not cross that line).