Going deeper: UX for good

- So I was thinking the other day about lawyers. Lawyers have billable time like I have billable time, and they also do pro bono work. They also fill in kind of gaps in their schedule. They do good for the community by doing this pro bono work for perhaps clients that either can't afford the lawyer, or it's just some way that they're just doing good to the community. In some ways, I was wondering, can we build an experiment around that for UX? Can we kind of build a movement of people who are doing UX for good with extra time? I think about anybody really. Anyone who does UX can be doing good work. But I'm thinking a little bit differently, more in the pro bono model. But that said, it's really kind of saying cost-neutral at most. So if a project has costs, I mean, usability study has inherent costs. It doesn't mean the UXer should be absorbing the cost or the business should be absorbing the cost. Rather, achieve a cost-neutral or have a situation where someone can't afford a higher rate of kind of a senior-level UXer, but they can afford X amount so at least it's not a billable loss or that significant a billable loss. But really kind of thinking about this experiment, saying is this something I could do? When I have extra time on my hands, can I put up a little sign somewhere and say, and have some structure to the sign, "I've got time now. "I will help you. "What do you need help with? "Explain to me how this does good in the world "or how this does good for you "or how this does good for people in some way." And as part of this experiment, is it possible to structure for me, for other people to say, "There is downtime. "What do we do with that? "How do we do good? "How do we make a difference? "How do we help?" And we don't have to save the world, just have to help. Help in some small way, in a way that isn't as revenue-generating or isn't revenue-generating at all. How can we make a difference? So it's interesting to think about what it means to be doing kind of this low-paid or no-paid pro bono kind of work. And so on the one hand, so for example, I spent a lot of my time involved in UX leadership, UXPA, both in my local community and the larger organization. And really it was all voluntary time, but it felt really good about with helping other people simultaneously. Really anyone anywhere who is in any city in the world can go through and can go and build community, build UX community, and UX community helps other people. It helps practitioners. It helps people who are new to the field of UX. There's so much good that can be done there. In addition, sometimes maybe this could be a little more structured. And I'm really just starting to think through this now, saying, well, how can this be more structured? So can you put up a little sign? Hold the sign and say, "Hey, I've got two free weeks," because that happens to me. Even I'm really probably, I have probably three months of non-billable time over the course of a year in my freelance role, and that's just the cadence of project work. And I'm working is it possible to just kind of put up a little sign and say, "Hey, I'm available, happy to help," and then kind of find out and let people come and say, "Hey, I've got this good project for you. "I've got this thing that you could really help on," and maybe we can't afford to hire a senior-level UXer. Maybe it's an entirely non-funded thing that's just helping people in some way. And then I was also thinking an extension of this thought is that why just me? I have talked on the phone with other freelancers. I've talked in person with other freelancers. And they say things like, "I'm bored. "I don't know how to get work. "I've made reasonable money for six months now, "but now I've got a month off. "That's okay, I know that's part of the deal, "but I don't know what to do with myself." And I feel the same way too. I know for me, I feel good. I feel good when I can feel about myself, I've done something good for other people. And simultaneously I'd say anyone should be able to do this, should have a license to say, "Okay, well, I'm not adding revenue value "to the business right now," because of whatever cadence or whatever project or whatever or something that someone's on. So what can I do instead? How can i help people? How can I make myself feel good? How can I build my skills doing something similar to what I'm doing but not quite? And how can I liven up my work a little? I've got this job. Maybe by day I do this thing day after day, and maybe it's getting a little boring. So now I can even liven up my job, have a little adventure at my work by doing UX for good.