Emperor's new clothing designer

August 11, 2008 1:20 PM

PromotionFilter: What's the best way to convince the company that they need to create a new position - and that I'm the person to fill it?

I work at a small software company (less than 50 employees) that creates industry-specific database applications - the kind of company that sells its products for hundreds of thousands of dollars and by necessity involves a long RFP process for each sale. Since our software is not sold to the public, we have no standards for design: the software works well and fits the specs of our clients, but the user interface is unintuitive, hard to use, and looks like it's from 1998. Our developers are the sole 'designers', with no one else having any input in what the software looks like (or even caring).

I am employed in a technical capacity, but I have what I feel is a good eye for design. I have complete confidence that, given a bit of time, I can bring the company's software from 1998 to at least around 2005: not cutting-edge or progressive in its design, but at least clean and modern instead of dull and clunky. This would be my dream job in the company: a chance to be creative, and a chance to contribute to the company something that no one else can do. (I like my current position, but I'm not passionate about it.)

The problem is that I have only been here two years, and this is my first job out of college, so I don't have prior work experience in a professional capacity. I am also a full decade younger than the average age of the people who work here, which stacks a few more cards against me. Any way I approach this, it will be hard to avoid coming across as critical or pretentious just because of these factors.

I have a lot of supporting materials to make my case: numerous examples of other related things I've done for the company in order to showcase my attention to quality and detail, as well as a very long list of specific things that I'd change for each application, which I've been compiling for the last few months. I did some estimating, and I figure that I have a little over a year's worth of work mapped out just right now, to say nothing of how plans and priorities change over the course of a year. That is, it would take a year just to bring them up to date, but I anticipate still having plenty to keep me busy after that, so I wouldn't be working myself out of a job.

I do have the benefit of small business on my side: I would have no trouble talking directly to the VP or even the president of the company about these issues, and they both know me personally so it wouldn't be out of place.

So my question is this: What is the best way for a junior employee (both in job position and age) to convince the higher-ups that we need a new position at the company AND that I am the person for the job - all without sounding brash or pretentious?

posted by relucent to work & money (11 comments total)

Just do it? Mock up a 2005ish design for one important screen and show it to the VP or President. The danger in a small company is that they'll love it and ask you to do it while maintaining your current responsibilities, and with no increase in pay.
posted by COD at 1:43 PM on August 11, 2008

The answer to these questions is always money. Spell out how the outdated design and interface are losing the company money and/or how a new design and interface would make the company more money. It's only if you can't show them this that you will come off as brash and pretentious ("C'mon, these screens look like they're from 1998!" is not a business case). Your attention to quality and detail will be relevant only if the company thinks there's profit to be made in revamping both their design process and product after spending (more) money on someone (you) to do it.
posted by cocoagirl at 2:18 PM on August 11, 2008

COD: I left out a bunch of details in the original post because it was already getting too epic, but one month ago I did exactly that. He absolutely loved it, and loved my initiative, and wanted to implement it - but just for the program I mocked up. He didn't quite understand that the mockup was just an example of the kind of thing that needed to be done for each of our programs.

It was this encounter that inspired me to come up with my estimate of the time needed to do everything that needs to be done. I haven't followed up on our meeting yet, but I plan to sometime next week... but how do I produce a compelling argument?

Some more details, for what it's worth:

- We just completely redesigned our company image a couple of months ago, and even with my overly critical eye, I think it's incredible (and modern!). But our software doesn't match up in the least, and there is no current plan to synchronize the look of our product with the look of the company.

- Our company is doing quite well despite the economic situation, and could afford to promote me and put someone else in my current position.

- In my mind, it is very preemptive: I know they will realize on their own in the next year that it's a big problem, but it will take another year from the time they start caring about it to get it completed. We can't start soon enough!

- I would be far cheaper than anyone else, and since I have worked with this software for two years, I have a lot of knowledge about the product itself (and what parts of it are the most important to the customer) which an outside hire wouldn't have.
posted by relucent at 2:23 PM on August 11, 2008

(The sad part is that because I work in IT I can think of many companies you might work for. It's not FrontRange, is it?)

I think you've already outlined several points that are building toward making a very good case for yourself. Throw in what cocoagirl recommended and you might just have a winning proposal on your hands. I think it would be very important for you to include the part about you being passionate about getting the software design up to snuff. "Passion" and other similar terms are becoming buzzwords in corporations these days, so you may have some success with this.

Good luck!
posted by joshrholloway at 2:57 PM on August 11, 2008

He didn't quite understand that the mockup was just an example of the kind of thing that needed to be done for each of our programs.

If your boss didn't get it, then you probably weren't making a clear enough case for your idea. Hinting at it is not going to help -- your boss probably has about thirty thousand other things clamoring for his attention. You're the expert on this problem -- so make his life easier by coming up with a good plan and presenting it clearly. Be pithy, be thorough, be prepared to answer the questions he's going to ask. Pictures and examples are helpful, but you'll need to put them into the context of the larger plan. Try to think about it from your boss's perspective, and come up with answers to questions like:

- What is the scope of this project? How long will it take to finish? How much will it cost?
- What kind of return on investment do you expect, and when?
- How will it affect the work of others in the company, in the short and long term? Who will you report to? Who will report to you?
- How does this affect the strategic goals of the company in the short term? How about the long term?

And remember: if this is a small, growing business, there are probably lots of ideas for improvement crowding the stage. To make your idea happen, you're going to have to make a persuasive argument that:

- Your plan has merit (ie, it's a good investment of time and money), and
- Your plan is more urgent than the many other plans that are coming across his desk.

Imagine that, on the same day you're pitching your idea, your boss also received proposals for (1) a new payroll system that will save time and money in the long run but requires thousands of dollars in the short term, (2) a gigantic new sales plan that means hiring two new people, (3) a promising lead for buying a new office building that will probably pay off several years down the line, and (4) your proposal. He can only afford to do one this year. Why should he pick yours over the others? Think about it ahead of time and make a good case for yourself.

I think the more you can imagine this from your boss's perspective, the more success you'll have. And see if there's anyone at the company who'd be willing to critique your proposal before you take it to the boss -- if you've never done something like this before, it's really helpful to have an experienced helper. Good luck!
posted by ourobouros at 3:09 PM on August 11, 2008

The first line of your proposal has to look something like this: "If you pay me $100,000 to do this job, it will increase annual sales by $500,000 and result in $200,000 in savings due to increased efficiency, and save us 1000 man-hours in providing tech support"

Of course I'm just pulling random numbers out of the air. Ditto for the reasons for increased savings/earnings.

Then you spend the rest of the proposal proving it. Don't say anything that doesn't directly support this statement. e.g. Don't merely appeal to aesthetics -- give evidence of how a clean design increases efficiency, reduces calls to tech support, and makes customers more likely to buy more product.

But if you can't give numbers like that in your opening sentence, then you don't have a business case. And if you have a good business case, then that sentence is the whole proposal. The rest is just details.

In addition to the points ourobouros gives, also list the risks involved and how to mitigate them.
posted by winston at 4:47 PM on August 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

oops. I mean person-hours
posted by winston at 4:51 PM on August 11, 2008

I just wanted to chime in and say "Good luck!", it sounds like you have something good going on here, keep persevering.
posted by Vindaloo at 7:27 PM on August 11, 2008

Winston nailed it. The first question a good salesperson asks him/herself is, "What does the customer want?" The customer, in this case, is your boss, and the product you are trying to sell is a new position employing you.

So, what does your boss want? He certainly doesn't want the UI to be updated, and therefore certainly doesn't want to promote you into a new position.

However, good salespeople educate customers about things they never knew they needed. If you can explain how a new UI will either increase sales or reduce costs (enough to cover your new position, assuming they will hire someone, and keep the cost, of doing your old position).

If they don't go for it, well, meh. It's not the end of the world. You can always work somewhere else.
posted by KokuRyu at 7:58 PM on August 11, 2008

KokoRyu: The boss actually has a good eye for design as well, and realizes its importance. He does want the UI to be updated. The problem is that he's the kind of person who likes to do everything himself, but he has zero time to worry about details like UI design since he's too busy with feature design, which means that in the three years he's been here, nothing has been done about it.

Which, as I see it, is a perfect opportunity to create a new position - work needs to be done, badly, and we don't have the manpower to do it. And he's already shown that he loves my work so I know I'd be the candidate for the position - the hard part is just convincing them that it needs to happen now and not just at an unspecified point in the future.

Thanks everyone for all the input. First post on AskMeFi... you folks are great!
posted by relucent at 6:29 AM on August 12, 2008

the hard part is just convincing them that it needs to happen now and not just at an unspecified point in the future

Once you've calculated those numbers (savings, increased revenue), then they're loosing $X for each day/week/month that they wait.
posted by winston at 6:30 PM on August 12, 2008