112 CASE 6 But the Usability People Said It Was Okay . . . Or, How Not to "Do Usability" "This has come up a few times in the last few months. Someone asks you guys to do some work, and then when anybody questions the design, they say `well, we did usability on it,' and they seem to think that's good enough. People are using you guys like a bat to swat at arguments." "Okay, but we certainly don't represent ourselves that way," replied Ellen. "Doesn't matter. That's the perception. You have to fix it." The Usability Group at Fourier Software Ellen had been with Fourier Software for about 8 years. She started as their second usability person, then grew the group to its current size of 20 people, and was eventually made director of the group. She had learned about user-centered design mostly through on-the-job experience, reading, and taking occasional courses. She'd come to Fourier after building and running a usability group at a more consumer-oriented software company for 6 years. She was professionally active in the usability community and was definitely a practitioner by trade.