User Advocacy Potentially Straying in Corporate Settings?

User evangelism, a strategy that focuses on advocating for the user experience within an organisation, can deliver significant business benefits when executed effectively. However, it's crucial to approach this tactic with careful consideration to avoid potential pitfalls.

One common challenge is information overload, which can confuse employees about their role within the company. Over-involving everyone in a company can lead to information overload, causing confusion and inefficiency. As such, it's important to target user evangelism efforts towards those who can impact the user experience directly.

Focusing on securing a real commitment from top management is more effective than continuing with user evangelism alone. A verbal commitment is not enough; it needs to be backed up with action. Ignoring suggested improvements based on user research by top brass can undermine user evangelism efforts, making it difficult to drive meaningful change.

On the other hand, involving everyone in everything is not a sound strategy. Not all employees need to be informed about user experience programs. For instance, those who perform support roles such as cleaning or filing may not require this information.

It's essential to question those involved in user evangelism before rolling out the program. This ensures that the initiatives are clear, deliverable, and powerful to be well-received by the audience. Wasting time on user evangelism when the company is not committed to users can be counterproductive.

Involving all managers within an organisation, including top management, product managers, department heads, and customer service leads, is vital. Their decisions, culture, and priorities shape how users interact with products and services on all levels. Improving user experience can benefit both the company and the employees by fostering a more positive and productive work environment.

In conclusion, user evangelism, the role of pushing a focus on users, can be beneficial in an organisation. However, it's crucial to target efforts effectively, secure top management commitment, and ensure that initiatives are clear, deliverable, and powerful. By doing so, businesses can harness the power of user evangelism to drive positive change and improve their user experience.