The UX Industry & You

Let’s talk about UX
The UX Industry & You | Rebecca Destello

U…what…?
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/

U…what…?
“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
PPeeoopplele
uussiningg
technolog
y (mostly)
technolog
y (mostly)
& how it
makes
them feel
& how it
makes
them feel
With credit to Emma Rose, PhD

Dan Saffer

Why you should be interested
in a career in UX

Why not?
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 design
You like to organize things
You’re the one who always spots the bugs in software
or typos on the restaurant menu
You are a life long learner
You are a people person
Source: User Experience Careers Report by Farrell and Nielsen

Source: http://www.onwardsearch.com/

Understanding your options

http://userexperiencelondon.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html

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
User
Researcher
Interaction
Designer
Information
Architect
User Interface
Designer
Front End
Developer
Back End
Developer

UX Roles explained
Interaction
Designer
•Interviewing
•Wireframe
•Prototypes
•Work Flow (usability)
•Excel
•Silverback, Captcha
•Omnigraffle, Visio
•InDesign, Axure
•Fireworks, HTML
Information
Architect
•Content Inventory
•Card Sorting
•Labeling
•Navigation
•Thesauri
•Search
•Controlled
Vocabulary
•Excel
•Optimal Sort
User Interface
Designer
•Design Principles
•Usability
•Typography
•HTML/CSS
•Photoshop
•Illustrator
•Fireworks
•JQuery
Front End
Developer
•HTML
•CSS
•JQuery
•JavaScript
•Flash/Flex
•ActionScript
User
Researcher
•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

2 common roles
User
Researcher
UX
Designer

UX Designer
Job titles
UX designer, UX architect,
interaction designer (IxD), UI
designer, information architect,
visual designer
Must be good with
Creating solid design from fuzzy
ideas, keeping up with current
trends, thinking outside the box,
creative thinking, color theory,
design theory
User Experience
Designer
UUXX UUnniiccoorrnn!!!!
+ extra points if you understand
code and usability

User Researcher
Job titles
UX researcher, user researcher, usability
analyst, usability specialist, UX tester,
UX consultant
Must be good with
Making people feel at ease, interviewing,
listening, analysis, collecting loads of
information and distilling it into
meaningful data, public speaking
User
Researcher
UUXX PPeeggaassuuss!!!!
+ extra points if you
understand
design theory

Now what?

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 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

First, a note about portfolio types

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

This one’s about deck portfolios

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

Your deck portfolio should

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)?

S.O.A.R. example
Situation
It was breakfast time and there was no cereal in the house.
Objective
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, therefore it is important
to eat something before going to school.
Action
After 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.
Result
By combining these ingredients with milk, I was able to create a
new breakfast meal that helped me make it through the day.

“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 Angelou

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.

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!

Network!
Join special interest groups, get memberships, go to
conferences, attend meetups, join LinkedIn
(www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccadestello)

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.p
df
• mukeshnathan.net/assets/nathan-portfolio.pdf

Thank you!
@rebeccadestello
linkedin.com/in/rebeccadestello/

The UX Industry & You

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