The UX-14 Staffing Model
Monday, October 24, 2011 at 10:38PM Anyone who has tried to hire UX professionals within the past two years knows the field is becoming increasingly competitive. Worse, the job description "UX Designer" varies wildly from company to company, ranging from the practice of pure information architecture to hands-on UI coding in Java. So, if you are a UX Director, how do you even begin to find the people you need and cost-effectively staff a department?
Contrary to popular belief, UX Professionals who possess all three major skill sets (effective information architecture, decent visual design, and solid presentation layer code) are not "unicorns.' They are rare, but they do indeed exist. However, it is almost impossible for anyone to be a deep subject matter expert in all those fields.
On the other hand, there are also very few "purists" left. Every visual designer or presentation layer coder with more than a few years experience has filled the role of Information architect, helping define a site's structure, doing usability testing, and writing documentation. Conversely, very few information architects have not created visuals nor written code for prototypes.
Based on these logically overlapping skill sets, I've created a staffing model which defines, what I feel is, the ideal Enterprise UX team. I call it "The UX-14 Staffing Model" as it is based on a team of 14. Of course, the actual number of staff members can go up or down so long as the ratio within each group remains about the same. Here is the breakdown:
1. Three UX "purists" with highly specialized skills: One high-level IA/usability expert, one amazing graphic designer, and one incredible presentation layer coding wizard.
2. Three combination IA/Visual Design Experts: These are designers who can produce award-winning visuals and have logical organizational skills, but who do not write code.
3. Three combination IA/Presentation layer coders: These are experts in site structure and standards, who can not only organize the content but also code all the interchangeable components that keep the site both usable and easy to maintain.
4. Three combination Visual Designers/Presentation Layer Coders: This is the group that thinks up amazing new visual interactions and ways to present data, yet also know how to code the page to bring those innovations to life.
5. Two All-Arounds: This group could build a complete website all by themselves that is logical, beautiful and well-coded.

Let's look at the flexibility a UX-14 team provides: At the beginning of a project, during the conceptual and planning phases, this team can put as many as 9 experienced information architects to work solving problems - permitting the Pure Information Architect to act as lead and solve really difficult issues. During that phase, the 5 visual designers and coders are available to create prototypes and AB test modules. As the project moves into visual design phase, again, 9 people possess the skills necessary to keep work moving ahead, with a Pure Visual Designer taking the creative lead. And finally, when it time for coding, 9 people are standing at the ready to write HTML/CSS -- all of whom are already intimately familiar with the project.
There are a also number of important secondary benefits to the UX-14 Team composition. First, the staff ends up cross-training one another as projects move through the shop, eliminating risks associated with centralizing critical project knowledge among only two or three employees. Second, this organization naturally lends itself to creative brainstorming, effective peer reviews, and Agile development environments. And finally, it is good for morale, as it utilizes the full skill set of each of your employees, permitting them to grow and expand their skills and gain respect among their colleagues.
So, if you are looking to build a new UX practice within your organization, or reorganize your existing team, hopefully you will find this staffing model helpful. Please feel free to write with with comments, improvement suggestions, or other feedback.


