Operations as a UX problem
When you trace a workflow back to its origin, you usually find a person, a clipboard, and a habit.
Most "process problems" aren't process problems. They're interface problems that have been routed through a person.
Look at a team's "we always do it this way." Trace it back. There was once a tool that almost did what was needed, and somebody filled the gap with a manual step. The gap calcified. The manual step became the process. The tool stayed almost-right.
That's a UX failure, not a discipline failure. The fix is rarely training. It's almost always: redesign the interface so the manual step disappears.
What this looks like in practice
Three signals that you're staring at a UX-shaped process:
- It involves a shared spreadsheet. Spreadsheets are load-bearing UI when no one designed the UI.
- Onboarding takes longer than it should. New people are absorbing the workarounds, not the work.
- The fix everyone proposes is "more training." Training is what you do when the interface refuses to change.
The interesting work is usually one layer down from where the complaint shows up.