Cosplay

“Users want…” Said by someone senior. In a meeting with no users in it.Personas. Made up in a workshop, laminated, never met.Research to validate. The decision’s already made. Research is the receipt.Insight. A quote picked to back up a slide already written.User needs. Written after the thing was built.Co-design. Everyone gets a pen. The decisions were made last month.Empathy. A day in the life, for an hour.Usability testing. With colleagues. The happy path only.Data driven. Clicks counted. People not asked.A/B test. Better for the conversion. Not always for the person.Edge case. Someone’s whole life.Digital by default. Channel shift to save money, called choice.Self service. The organisation’s work, moved onto the user.Assisted digital. A phone number that’s always busy.Consent. Click to continue.MVP. Minimum for whom? Viable for the deadline.Journey map. Still on the wall. The service changed a year ago.The accessibility audit. At the end. Once.Easy read version. If you’d valued…