the ux industry & you
DESCRIPTION
Understanding the job roles in user experience and how to land a job in the industry.TRANSCRIPT
The UX Industry & You
Let’s talk about UX
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
U…what…?
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
What is User Experience (UX)?
“User experience encompasses all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with the company, its services, and its products.- Jakob Nielsen and Don Norman
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/definition-user-experience/
“User experience is the totality of the effect(s) felt by a user as a result of interaction with… a system, device, or product, including the influence of usability, usefulness, and emotional impact during interaction, and savoring the memory after interaction.- Hartson and Pyla
PeoplePeople
usingusing
technology (mostly)technology (mostly)
& how it makes them feel
& how it makes them feel
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
U…what…?
With credit to Emma Rose, PhD
Dan Saffer
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
Why you should be interested in a career in UX
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
High satisfaction: Most UX professionals love what they do, because their work is fulfilling and the jobs pay well.
You might be a UX person if ... You love good designYou like to organize things You’re the one who always spots the bugs in software or typos on the restaurant menuYou are a life long learnerYou are a people person
Source: User Experience Careers Report by Farrell and Nielsen
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
Why not?
Source: http://www.onwardsearch.com/
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
Understanding your options
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
http://userexperiencelondon.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
Architectural vs. UX Roles
Adapted from http://www.slideshare.net/rwinzenburg/ux-roles-and-job-titles
Surveyor Move Planner & Closet Organizer
Interior Designer
Drywaller & Brick Layer
Plumber & Electrician
Architect
UserResearcher
InteractionDesigner
InformationArchitect
User InterfaceDesigner
Front EndDeveloper
Back EndDeveloper
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
UX Roles explained
InteractionDesigner•Interviewing•Wireframe•Prototypes•Work Flow (usability)•Excel•Silverback, Captcha•Omnigraffle, Visio•InDesign, Axure•Fireworks, HTML
InformationArchitect•Content Inventory•Card Sorting•Labeling•Navigation•Thesauri•Search•Controlled
Vocabulary•Excel•Optimal Sort
User InterfaceDesigner
•Design Principles•Usability•Typography•HTML/CSS•Photoshop•Illustrator•Fireworks•JQuery
Front EndDeveloper•HTML•CSS•JQuery•JavaScript•Flash/Flex•ActionScript
UserResearcher
•Field studies•Personas•Observation•Focus groups•Usability testing•Morae•Ovo Studios•Excel•Word•SPSS•PowerPoint
UX Designer Interactive Designer
Adapted from http://www.slideshare.net/rwinzenburg/ux-roles-and-job-titles
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
2 common roles
UserResearcher
UXDesigner
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
Job titlesUX designer, UX architect, interaction designer (IxD), UI designer, information architect, visual designer
Must be good withCreating solid design from fuzzy ideas, keeping up with current trends, thinking outside the box, creative thinking, color theory, design theory
UX Designer
User ExperienceDesigner
UX Unicorn!!UX Unicorn!!+ extra points if you understand
code and usability
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
User Researcher
Job titlesUX researcher, user researcher, usability analyst, usability specialist, UX tester, UX consultant
Must be good withMaking people feel at ease, interviewing, listening, analysis, collecting loads of information and distilling it into meaningful data, public speaking
UserResearcher
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
UX Pegasus!!UX Pegasus!!+ extra points if you
understanddesign theory
Now what?
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
Get hired
If you’re not sure what you want to do – apply for what interests you and learn more through interviewing.
Specialize, but don’t pigeon hole yourself.
Consider contract or freelance work to gain experience.
Use an agency.
Have a portfolio.
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
“The purpose of a portfolio is to create a sense of personal ownership over one's accomplishments, because ownership engenders feelings of pride, responsibility, and dedication.”
- Paris, S & Ayres, L. (1994) Becoming Reflective
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
First, a note about portfolio types
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
There are 2 types of portfolios
Website vs. Deck
Website portfolios are good for• Lots of projects• Show ALL of your work in one place• Representing yourself online
PPT decks are good for• One or two projects• Talk about one or two projects in depth• Representing yourself during an interview
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
This one’s about deck portfolios
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
Deck portfolios
Your portfolio should be simple. Forget fancy transitions and layouts - focus on storytelling.
Must haves Your name A tagline (what you do) Past work examples (details about the project,
what it looked like before and after, challenges, and what your role was)
A list of your skills An “About Me” page with a way to contact you
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
Your deck portfolio should
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
S.O.A.R.
SOAR is a handy formula for discussing your accomplishments.
Situation: What challenge were you faced with?
Objective: What did you hope to accomplish?
Action: What action(s) did you take?
Result: What resulted from your action(s)?
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
S.O.A.R. example
SituationIt was breakfast time and there was no cereal in the house.
ObjectiveBreakfast is the most important meal of the day, therefore it is important to eat something before going to school.
ActionAfter investigating around the kitchen, I was able to combine cooked oats, raisins, cashews, and a little bit of honey to create a healthy alternative to cereal.
ResultBy combining these ingredients with milk, I was able to create a new breakfast meal that helped me make it through the day.
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
- Maya AngelouThe UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
Deck portfolio tips
• Read the book "Presentation Zen” by Reynolds & Duarte.• Having a meter on every slide that shows where you are in
the presentation (to give a sense of progress).• Have an agenda slide. People should know what to expect.• Don't use slide transitions (aka: strip tease presentation).• Always practice with a friend beforehand.• Give credit where credit is due. Be explicit about your
participation in projects and of what you accomplished.• End with your contact info.
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
Public Speaking 101
• Make eye contact.• Don't fidget, stand straight, comfortable, and
professional.• Speak slowly at a normal volume.• Always stop to ask if anyone has questions.• Know your material. Don't just read the screen.• Don't be afraid to let your personality come through.• SMILE! Remember, you love doing UX work!
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
Network!
Join special interest groups, get memberships, go to conferences, attend meetups, join LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccadestello)
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
Examples
A few deck portfolio examples…
UX Designers• brynnevans.com/files/portfolio.pdf• laura-simpson.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/
lsimpson_UXportfolio20121.pdf
UX Researchers• userpages.umbc.edu/~huijuan1/file/
HuijuanWu_Portfolio.pdf • mukeshnathan.net/assets/nathan-portfolio.pdf
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello
Thank you!
@rebeccadestellolinkedin.com/in/rebeccadestello/
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello