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Let’s clear the air about a few things.

First, I never said that UX’ers were STUPID. In fact, I implied quite the opposite. UX’ers are freakin’ brilliant. I love them. Hugs, and all that.

(Don’t put words in my mouth. See, I say enough stuff that confuses people without outsiders clouding the waters.)

By the way, to set the record straight, most marketing folks are dumb as rocks. Big, stupid rocks.

Those big, stupid rocks don’t mind being stupid as long as they make a lot of money. And, they don’t mind getting smacked around a little. In fact, it’s part of The Angry Monkey Game.

By the way, let’s clear up something else –

UX’ers *do* make good money. I don’t question THAT…

The numbers don’t lie. A blind man can see that. So, I don’t deny that UX’ers can make a good living. My point is that they have a hell of a time making a GREAT living.

Allow me to use some fancy pants words: UX’ers have a limited ability to make extraordinary income. UX’ers don’t tend to get crazy bonuses. They don’t tend to get paid on commission. They’re income is linear not exponential. Put another way, UX’ers get paid for their time, not their true bottom line VALUE.

The high end compensation ain’t there.

** Ouch. **

The market says this, not me. Throw turds at me if you want but you’re just throwing turds at capitalism. Good luck.

But all that is kind of boring. Here’s what really matters…

And, this keeps us on topic…

UX’ers tend to look inward. UX’ers are naturally introspective. And, they’re mostly a passive lot. Fight this if you want, but UX’ers tell me this. They validate this every time shuffle around and stare at their feet in social situations. Most UX’ers are wallflowers. Most UX’ers are deep thinkers — they care about other people, but at arms length.

Nothing’s wrong with that, and look, I don’t have an incentive to make this stuff up. I’m not slamming UX’ers, if that’s what some of you might be thinking. Hell, I am a UX’er 50% of the time. Or more. I’m not going to poop on myself that much. What I’m doing is spitting out a stereotype that most UX’ers will agree with, if they have the guts to do a self assessment.

‘Nuff said.

OK, next. Let’s do a little contrasting –

Marketing and sales folks look OUTWARD. The Angry Monkey is an engine of creation because he sees the world for what it is — brutally competitive but also full of opportunity. The Angry Monkey sees people in the world as PROSPECTS not USERS.

Sales and Marketing folks focus on building value for *customers* and then extracting cash.

Sales and marketing folks are highly focused on money. Yeah, I’m saying they’re much more greedy than UX’ers. (How controlversial.) They’re ANGRY they don’t have more money. Well, maybe not “angry” but they tend to care an awful lot about the cash. Wink wink, nudge nudge.

That’s also why they call bullshit so often…

I suppose I could give some personal examples of how the Angry Monkey is different than the average UX’er. But, that would be rather disingenious. Plus, I don’t kiss and tell. How freakin’ rude. If you, my dear reader, cannot see the difference between the Angry Monkey and the UX’er, then you need to leave a comment and get it off your chest.

~ John S. Rhodes

p.s. Let me know (publicly of privately) if you want me to talk more about marketing. I’d be happy to share.

I just finished reading a long rant by a marketing genius about complexity. I’m going to extract two lessons for you. Leave me a tip when you pay the bill on the way out…

First, marketing folks are just as angry about complexity as usability professionals. They are human, afterall. The difference between “them” and “us” is that they express their anger, analyze that anger, and turn that anger into an opportunity.

Let’s get all fancy pants with a little quiz. Here’s the question –

Do you see complexity as a problem to be solved or an opportunity?

The difference is profound. It’s why that junior marketing executive is making $187,674 (before the fat, year end bonus) and you’re still making under $100K.

Waaay under $100K.

“But it’s not about the money!”

OK. If you say so.

In that case, let’s move on… That is, if you’re interested in this stuff. If you’re not, that’s cool. I know that many folks reading this think marketing is dirty. (I get it. Usability folks like to poop on me when I talk about marketing.)

The second lesson is HOW this marketing wizard expressed his frustration…

The Wizard was talking to a guy about poorly designed smart cards. And, how the whole process is broken. The rocket scientist — literally, a NASA rocket scientist — didn’t understand the pain. He talked about the elegance and convenience of these pay-as-you-go cards.  The Wizard simple said:

“That’s bullshit!”

He clearly explained that every new smart card requires a new learning curve. You have to LEARN again and again. No matter how simple each card is, you have to learn how to use it. You have to learn the process. If there’s learning involved there probably isn’t enough simplicity. Instead — there’s PAIN.

Marketing guys speak the language of the Angry Monkey…

Any time YOU are frustrated, you are the Angry Monkey. The difference between great marketers and usability professionals is that the great marketers call bullshit when they see it — that’s the language of the Angry Monkey.

The Angry Monkey is HONEST about feeling pain. The Angry Monkey doesn’t have time to put up with bullshit so the Angry Monkey tells you about it. Openly. Instantly. Emotionally.

The Marketing Wizard shared one more thing: We crave simplicity. We crave EASY. We’re starving for it.

Is this an opportunity to you?

Or, is this just something else to research?

Question: Are you hunched over solving problems or do you provide solutions to the starving crowd? I’ve already told you what puts more green in your wallet… Now you know why.

An Angry Monkey,

~ John S. Rhodes