Practicing UX at a Company Where the User is King
Although all web services companies say the user is king, and set out to design web applications with the user in mind, the end result doesn't always reflect that intent.
Ironically, even after a successfully validated design is completed, one of the inhibiting factors that sometimes contributes to the missed end result, can be the very technology chosen to achieve the goals of the end user requirements.
It is for this reason that Optaros has been a refreshing company to design and assemble usable web applications with. Developing with open technologies and standards has exponentially decreased the long days of frustrating or cumbersome workarounds, and the disappointment that ensues when hearing, "but the technology wasn't designed to do that, and we can't change it 'cause the source is closed...."
To be fair, no technology is without its limitations or frustrations, but practicing UX design and production with full access and control of the components has made all the difference in the speed and quality in which we deliver, for maintainability and control for our clients, and best of all, with an end result that much more closely reflects the business goals and end user's needs. A happy user, means a successful client.