Policy
It can be tempting to talk about the great work you’ll be doing at Obvious. Who doesn’t want to show the world exactly what we’re capable of, right?
But while we encourage learning in public, working with clients has a number of legal facets we absolutely must stick to as trustworthy and ethical consultants. One such facet is not talking about the work we’ve done for various clients while at Obvious.
Reading through this policy will help you become a well-informed consultant and help Obvious to stay clear of any legal quagmires.
To do:
- Understand that our work as a product consultancy involves signing legal agreements with clients to assure them that we won’t talk in public about the work we’ve done with these clients, without their explicit consent. This is binding for current and past employees and applies to all client projects!
- Check with Dhruv or Rahul if you want to know what can be talked about at community meet-ups, Twitter Spaces, conferences and other external interactions. This also applies if you want to spruce up your portfolio or resume with mentions/ case studies/ visuals about the work you’ve done with clients. They’ll give you all the information you need about what can be shared legally and how.
- When showcasing your work, keep the narrative focused on the problem space you were exploring, your thinking, and the solutions. You need to do this without sharing details of the client or project name, or adding any visual details of the project. For example, "In a 6-month project with an Indian fintech startup, I led two design sprints that allowed for clarity on user needs and led to incisive research". This spotlights your abilities while not divulging any data that the client could see as breach of contract by the organisation, its current or past employees.
To avoid:
- Avoid talking about or displaying work with respect to Obvious’ current or past clients, specific names, work content, delivery, and other facets of client work on your social media, websites, resumes, calls or chats with people outside Obvious.
- Once again, if in doubt, check with Rahul and Dhruv before all else.
To understand:
- This policy applies to us as individuals and as an organisation. The case studies on our website are published with permission from clients, and after they review and vet the content. If the ex-clients have not responded or have not given permission, we don’t have those case studies on our website.
Thanks for helping us maintain trust with our clients and keep Obvious looking good!