| I have an itch to answer these for some unknown reason. - What's your mechanism for bias self-check? Debate. I like debating, I have to admit. It's a great way to sharpen one's logic. But, one has to careful to not get labeled as "argumentative". - If someone gives you specs and you notice that something is off, what do you do? I always have suggestions or questions on any non-trivial spec. I list them up and email them out to the project manager. I do try to be polite in my criticism, though. Example: "I'm concerned that X may confuse users. Here's an alternative to consider." - If you have to solve a problem you haven't solved before, how do you approach it? I try to ponder such longer than normal rather than go with the first approach that pops into my head. I may work on something else while the idea dances around in the back of my head. Sometimes I dream up solutions at night. It sounds cliche, but it's true. - What's your take on accessibility on the web? Managers and users often like fancy UI's that may run into accessibility problems. It's a tricky thing to balance. Eye-candy does "sell" a UI, and accessibility often hampers that. Sometimes I try to find ways to spruce up a UI that don't harm accessibility, such as improving logos or including interesting "side" graphics that don't interfere with the primary function. - What's your process like for deciding that you're at the point in your career where you can mentor others? If I feel I can help somebody without offending them, I will often just jump in and do task-specific mentoring. But I wouldn't want to do such full time. - What do you prefer to do when you see someone else getting nit-picked? I will defend them if their ideas or work have merit. If not, there's probably a reason they create team friction, and to be frank, they probably should change careers into something that's a better fit for them. Often times such people are not "bad", rather just in the wrong field. - You're just about to finish a feature and have a great idea for improving it. What do you do? I'll check with my supervisor. If I'm enthusiastic about the better variation, he or she will typically allow me to go with the better one once they know me. If time is tight, it may have to wait until the next version. I will work extra hours if I feel it's a compelling feature. |