“I can’t identify the people doing the best work,” says Jesse James Garrett in a Boxes and Arrows interview. “Everybody says Amazon’s interaction design is a big factor in the company’s successâwhy don’t I know the names of any of the people responsible for it? Why do most consultancies hide their talented staff, whose expertise makes their success possible, behind a faceless corporate identity?”
Jesse answered his own question: If a corporation’s staff is faceless, it is the company itself that has the expertise, not the individuals, who may come and go. Why externally hype someone? If the person leaves, the company takes a public-relations hit, and all the accolades walk out the door.
Still, this is intriguing. I’m not promoted externally by The Economist, yet it is known that I design Economist.com. Here’s a better question for Jesse: Does Amazon prohibit its employees from publicly mentioning where they work, and if so, is that a bad thing? Anytime I see an Amazon staff member mention something in public, it’s always with an “I’m not supposed to tell you this but…” disclaimer.
Part of Amazon’s success is its continual, and faceless, excellence. Jesse mentions it with negativity, but I don’t know if it is a bad thing.