UX Career Progression: Finding a Niche & Building a Personal Brand

A brand new talk that I am working on, presented for the students of SVC's UX Level 2 class lead by Kevin Wick of Frog Design.

There are many things you learn as a UX designer that come from classrooms, articles, or books. This series covers UX career progression from the perspective of what is not yet covered in a book. In this first presentation of the series I am going to talk about finding a niche in what you do within the field of UX and how to build a personal brand that can enable you to get the kinds of jobs and engagements you want as you grow you career.

Transcript

1. Finding a Niche & Building a Personal Brand March 7th 2013 presented by nick finck UX Career Progression
2. Who the heck?
3. Photo credit: Jeff Croft Director of UX projekt202 Personal Site NickFinck.com Twitter @nickf Notable UX toreador
4. ...or you can just call me “dude.”
5. we make software make sense.
6. 100+ designers, technologists, researchers, & strategists 3 studios + 5 satellite offices Denver Austin Seattle Berlin Dallas Denmark Los Angeles Philadelphia
7. Some of our clients
8. Career Progression
9. ”The User Experience Honeycomb" by Peter Morville Findable Desirable Useful Usable Valuable Accessible Credible User Experience (UX) is about how a person feels about using a system or device. What is the user experience? •It is not: • Designed • Objective • Procedural • Static It is: • Designed for • Subjective • Philosophical • Dynamic
10. The Disciplines of UX
11. Designing the interactive behaviors of a product or system with a specific focus on their use. Designing the visual qualities of a product or system in an aesthetically pleasing way. Planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content. Identifying and organizing information within a product or system in a purposeful & meaningful way. Measuring the quality of a user’s experience when interacting with a product or system. User Research Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design Visual Design Usability & Analytics Understanding the people who use a product or system through observations. The Six Core Disciplines of User Experience
12. Understanding Information Structure Behavior Aesthetics Measurement Distilling Down the Disciplines of UX
13. Designing the interactive behaviors of a product or system with a specific focus on their use. Designing the visual qualities of a product or system in an aesthetically pleasing way. Planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content. Identifying and organizing information within a product or system in a purposeful & meaningful way. Measuring the quality of a user’s experience when interacting with a product or system. User Research Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design Visual Design Usability & Analytics Understanding the people who use a product or system through observations. Just Like Cookies, UX Comes In Many Flavors
14. Designing the interactive behaviors of a product or system with a specific focus on their use. Designing the visual qualities of a product or system in an aesthetically pleasing way. Planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content. Identifying and organizing information within a product or system in a purposeful & meaningful way. Measuring the quality of a user’s experience when interacting with a product or system. User Research Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design Visual Design Usability & Analytics Understanding the people who use a product or system through observations. You Can Wear All The Hats & Be A Generalist
15. Designing the interactive behaviors of a product or system with a specific focus on their use. Designing the visual qualities of a product or system in an aesthetically pleasing way. Planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content. Identifying and organizing information within a product or system in a purposeful & meaningful way. Measuring the quality of a user’s experience when interacting with a product or system. User Research Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design Visual Design Usability & Analytics Understanding the people who use a product or system through observations. We Call These Generalists “UX Designers”
16. Designing the interactive behaviors of a product or system with a specific focus on their use. Designing the visual qualities of a product or system in an aesthetically pleasing way. Planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content. Identifying and organizing information within a product or system in a purposeful & meaningful way. Measuring the quality of a user’s experience when interacting with a product or system. User Research Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design Visual Design Usability & Analytics Understanding the people who use a product or system through observations. We Call These Generalists “UX Designers” UX Designer
17. Designing the interactive behaviors of a product or system with a specific focus on their use. Designing the visual qualities of a product or system in an aesthetically pleasing way. Planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content. Identifying and organizing information within a product or system in a purposeful & meaningful way. Measuring the quality of a user’s experience when interacting with a product or system. User Research Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design Visual Design Usability & Analytics Understanding the people who use a product or system through observations. Or You Can Wear Some Hats
18. Designing the interactive behaviors of a product or system with a specific focus on their use. Designing the visual qualities of a product or system in an aesthetically pleasing way. Planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content. Identifying and organizing information within a product or system in a purposeful & meaningful way. Measuring the quality of a user’s experience when interacting with a product or system. User Research Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design Visual Design Usability & Analytics Understanding the people who use a product or system through observations. Or You Can Wear Some Hats
19. Designing the interactive behaviors of a product or system with a specific focus on their use. Designing the visual qualities of a product or system in an aesthetically pleasing way. Planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content. Identifying and organizing information within a product or system in a purposeful & meaningful way. Measuring the quality of a user’s experience when interacting with a product or system. User Research Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design Visual Design Usability & Analytics Understanding the people who use a product or system through observations. Rather Than Call You A IA/IXD/Content Strategist...
20. Identifying and organizing information within a product or system in a purposeful & meaningful way. Designing the interactive behaviors of a product or system with a specific focus on their use. Designing the visual qualities of a product or system in an aesthetically pleasing way. Planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content. Measuring the quality of a user’s experience when interacting with a product or system. User Research UX Designer UX Designer UX Designer Visual Design Usability & Analytics Understanding the people who use a product or system through observations. We Just Use The UX Designer Title
21. Identifying and organizing information within a product or system in a purposeful & meaningful way. Designing the interactive behaviors of a product or system with a specific focus on their use. Designing the visual qualities of a product or system in an aesthetically pleasing way. Planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content. Measuring the quality of a user’s experience when interacting with a product or system. User Research UX Designer UX Designer UX Designer Visual Design Usability & Analytics Understanding the people who use a product or system through observations. We Just Use The UX Designer Title
22. Designing the interactive behaviors of a product or system with a specific focus on their use. Designing the visual qualities of a product or system in an aesthetically pleasing way. Planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content. Identifying and organizing information within a product or system in a purposeful & meaningful way. Measuring the quality of a user’s experience when interacting with a product or system. User Research Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design Visual Design Usability & Analytics Understanding the people who use a product or system through observations. Or We Can Specialize
23. Designing the interactive behaviors of a product or system with a specific focus on their use. Designing the visual qualities of a product or system in an aesthetically pleasing way. Planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content. Identifying and organizing information within a product or system in a purposeful & meaningful way. Measuring the quality of a user’s experience when interacting with a product or system. User Research Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design Visual Design Usability & Analytics Understanding the people who use a product or system through observations. Or We Can Specialize
24. Usability & Analytics Designing the interactive behaviors of a product or system with a specific focus on their use. Designing the visual qualities of a product or system in an aesthetically pleasing way. Planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content. Identifying and organizing information within a product or system in a purposeful & meaningful way. Measuring the quality of a user’s experience when interacting with a product or system. User Research Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design Visual Design Understanding the people who use a product or system through observations. At A Granular Level
25. Usability & Analytics Designing the interactive behaviors of a product or system with a specific focus on their use. Designing the visual qualities of a product or system in an aesthetically pleasing way. Planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content. Identifying and organizing information within a product or system in a purposeful & meaningful way. Measuring the quality of a user’s experience when interacting with a product or system. User Research Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design Visual Design Understanding the people who use a product or system through observations. At A Granular Level
26. Identifying and organizing information within a product or system in a purposeful & meaningful way. Information Architecture At A Granular Level
27. Taxonomy Findability Search Information Analysis Information Architecture Library Science Information Design Wayfinding Information Strategy Identifying and organizing information within a product or system in a purposeful & meaningful way. Information Architecture At A Granular Level
28. T-Shaped People
29. “However, the speed with which media agencies (and clients) have embraced communications planning has caused concern. For it to really work, communications planners need to be "T-shaped" people. ... "T-shaped" communications planners, with a background in media, have a deep understanding of media, and a broad understanding of the other disciplines within the marketing spectrum.” The hunt is on for the Renaissance Man of computing By David Guest in 1991
30. “IDEO [...] is famous for its method of innovation based on intense cross-disciplinary project work. To pull this off, the company has long practiced the art of collaboration and the development of a certain kind of talent: T-shaped people.” Morten T. Hansen’s interview of IDEO CEO Tim Brown, 2010
31. Distilling Down the Disciplines of UX
32. Designing the interactive behaviors of a product or system with a specific focus on their use. Designing the visual qualities of a product or system in an aesthetically pleasing way. Planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content. Identifying and organizing information within a product or system in a purposeful & meaningful way. Measuring the quality of a user’s experience when interacting with a product or system. User Research Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design Visual Design Usability & Analytics Understanding the people who use a product or system through observations. The Six Core Disciplines of User Experience
33. Graph The Skill Level By Discipline User Research Visual Design Usability & Analytics Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design
34. Graph Your Skill Level By Discipline User Research Visual Design Usability & Analytics Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design
35. Graph Your Skill Level By Discipline User Research Visual Design Usability & Analytics Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design
36. Graph Your Skill Level By Discipline User Research Visual Design Usability & Analytics Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design
37. Graph Your Skill Level By Discipline Interaction Design User Research Visual Design Usability & Analytics Content Strategy Information Architecture
38. Keep Up To Date
39. Responsive Web Design
40. Beyond what we think
41. Building a personal brand
42. Distinguish yourself and what you do from the competition
43. Color and Typography
45. Let color surfaces your personality
48. Engaging with the industry
54. Be consistent for better association
55. Making connections and expanding your reach
56. Networking is a critical component of your career
57. Photo by J. Turner Masland Attend events to learn, but meet new people!
58. Read articles, but write them too!
59. Always have a good mentor!
60. Thank you.