Yes! No. Yes?

Just finished reading a great article by Whitney Hess over on A List Apart.  In the article she talks about the importance of saying “no” when necessary to help people make good decisions about user experience.

In her How to no section she describes an approach championed by William Ury that could be shorthanded as Yes! No. Yes?.  I’ve used this approach and it really works--here’s an example from a past discussion with a client:

(Yes!) "Finding ways to encourage others to forward/share your content makes a lot of sense and I’m glad you’re thinking that way."

(No.) "But buying an email list, spamming it, and asking users to forward the email will only bring you trouble--and it’s against your own policies."

(Yes?) "Let’s sit down and brainstorm about how you can make better use of your current partner networks to encourage content sharing."

The article provides more detail on how to use this approach effectively. Good stuff!

Thanks also, Whitney, for admonishing me:

If you don’t know anything that no one else on your team knows, then it’s probably time to walk away. But if you do, it is your duty to assert that capability and share your knowledge for the betterment of the final product.

and

As people who create stuff with the hope that other people will use it, it is outright cowardly for us to protect ourselves before defending the needs of our users.

I need to be reminded of that on occasion.