an agronomist's unexpected path to ux design
DESCRIPTION
Is there a typical path for becoming a UX Designer? Taking a look at other colleagues’ resumes it seems not: some come from graphic design, others from cognitive psychology, information sciences or HCI - all UX-related fields. There are some exceptions though of people arriving here from more distant fields such as literature (Dick Hill), architecture (Andrea Resmini), history (Louis Rosenfeld) and theatre (Eric Reiss). My personal path started from an even more distant field: I studied Agricultural Sciences and as strange as it might sound I now realize it was a solid ground for building up the skills required for the job I’m currently doing. During the first years of my professional career I chose to undertake activities in the field that required me to interact quite intensively with people: I interviewed farmers in Africa and elderly people in my own country; I also ran focus groups with farmers, consumers and scientists for EU-funded projects. Although the focus of the research at the time was elsewhere, the lessons learned during those years were incredibly meaningful and useful for the user research I now perform as UX designer, even if at the time I wasn’t aware of the motivation that drove me and still does. By telling the stories of the people I met I’d like to share with the Euro IA audience those experiences, how they helped me developing ethnographic and human skills (observation, interview, facilitation, improvisation, lateral thinking and empathy). Also, I’d like to share what I believe is the underlying theme that brought me from there to UX design: I love people. I love listening to them and designing for them to be happier.TRANSCRIPT
An agronomist’s unexpected path to UX Design
EURO IA 27-29 Sept 2012, Rome Raffaella Roviglioni @raffiro
Who am I?
Why this presentation?© Charles Budd
Which skills?
© FiBL
© Unitus
“User research, ethnography, is a state of mind that can infuse, inform and inspire
the design process and beyond” Will Evans (@SemanticWill)
User research
Field work!
Gathering stories
I had a dream
The daily interviews
Woman to woman
Be aware of the cultural contextYou need a helping hand
The script
The field guide is a plan!Help people answer your questions
It’s never over
Explore outside main targetBe open to surprises
The evaporation pan
People don’t do what they say!
Italian elder farmers
Embrace expectationsThe setup is not up to you!
© Unitus
Build rapportGet the story out
A real war story
Evaluating farmers
Limited timeframe
Obstacles
A quick fix
Improvise!
Seize the moment
“The Element is the place where the things we love to do and the things we are good at come together” Ken Robinson
The journey to our passion
My Element
Special thanks to: Rome UX Book Club, for support and inspiration Steve Portigal, for his lessons and the war stories
[email protected]@raffiro
“Never underestimate the vital importance of finding early in life the work that for you is play”
Ken Robinson,“The Element: How finding your passion changes every thing”
Thank you!