Does the “Designer team of one” create the best product?

I recently saw a presentation that talked about a UX Team of One that I am going to blab about.

http://www.slideshare.net/ugleah/how-to-be-a-ux-team-of-one?type=present…

I was first struck by the title, “team of one”… Sort of weird, but I will let that go. This presentation was well put together and pretty well thought out. However, I have yet to see one person, so good that they didn’t need at least a second pair of eyes on a project. I just think that for the sake of the product, there should be a team of several.

I think that this presentation sounds like it would work just fine with “resources”. I think that this process would work fine if these “resources” didn’t have skills or weakness. My issue with the term “resources” is that what actually makes things are PEOPLE. People actually have strengths and weakness’s; people get tired, people need inspiration, and people deserve more respect than to be called “resources”. So in the world of “resources” the team of one might theoretically work.

I feel that a generalist that attempts to be a Team of One, is not going to have the specialization in any one area enough to truly flush out that piece of the product. So, with a generalist Team of One, you could probably get a generally ok product. It my be functional, it may work Ok and look Ok; but is that how to make the best product? More importantly, is that is what is best for the user?

I am of the opinion that to make the best possible products, that people enjoy using and that make the company making them look good; is to have an actual team who’s skills complement each other. This team is best outlined by Coopers methodology. I like that Cooper looked to the process of Extreme Programming, and applied the concept successfully to design. What I feel is successful about the Cooper methodology, is that the team isn’t so vast and silo’d that pieces are moving independently of each other. It takes into account of personality and skills, and clearly defines their roles in a project.

Sorry, Team of One I feel that you have the wrong idea about what is best for the user.

Kudos again Cooper, we need more people striving to define process’s that create fantastic products.

www.cooper.com