I do not know how many of you who work with front-end related tasks on a daily basis, but I sure do. One thing I have learned is that working with front-end related entities makes you connect to a lot of different departments within an organisation. Often this is a good thing, sometimes it is not as good.

A lot of different requirements must join forces in any tier within an architectural solution, but in the front-end, the closer we come to the end-user, more people belive they have a saying on any matter that may arise. This is very positive for the people who have dedicated their daily efforts into working with front-end development and other entities of the front-end (graphical design, interaction design, information architect, etc), because these people tend to get more insight into the product they are working for, because we all know that information is king, and with all these requirements from different departments, the front-end is the place to get to know and learn the core business. One not so good thing about being a human interface for user interfaces is that you sometime have no clear mandate and have to take on the role as a mediator, trying to tie the data-model-requirements together with the business requirements for time-to-market for promotional materials.

I stress that in larger organisations where there are a lot of people working with tasks and issues that effects the front-end, there should be some kind of position with a clear mandate making decisions when too many requirements from different departments start to mix and needs resolvment. This mandate could either be a person, with some kind of service architectural role, or a group of people combining different types of competences within the front-end area touching all involved stakeholders such as IT, marketing, operations etc etc.

Being the front end guy/girl is a good way to get insight into what is happening within the organisation, something that is sought after from a lot of people, but also a pretty quick way to headaches and frustration when you realise that you are sitting on all the information and no clear mandate to do the best out of it.