Influencing decision makers - selling usability

A couple of interesting podcasts from usability professionals talking about how best to raise the profile of usability and user centred design with managers and decision makers.

Selling usability - Gerry Gaffney interviews John Rhodes, author of Selling Usability: User Experience Infiltration Tactics.

I particularly liked this point:

Companies don’t really care about user experience and usability any more than, for example, they care about... electricity. A company doesn’t care about electricity. Usability is a means to an end for companies...

Selling usability - UXPOD interview with John Rhodes (mp3 download and interview transcript)

Turning HiPPOs into Allies: How to Connect with Powerful People in Your Organization - a presentation by Samantha Starmer

HiPPO stands for Highest Paid Person's Opinion.
Sarah says that to find success in moving the practice of user centred design forward in both individual companies and in the larger world of business, we must learn how to manage HiPPOs and turn them into allies. She offers her insights and several ideas about how to effectively connect with your HiPPO.

Presentation overview - Turning HiPPOs into Allies

Turning HiPPOs into Allies presentation by Samantha Starmer (audio download)