Finding a Niche & Building a Personal Brand May 3rd, 2014 UX Career Progression

Who the heck is this guy?

Photo credit: Jeff Croft ! Twitter @nickf ! Personal Site NickFinck.com ! Role Senior Manager of User Experience ! Employer Amazon Web Services

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Overview ● Disciplines of UX ● T-Shaped People ● Personal branding ● Your Reach

Career Progression

”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

The Disciplines of UX

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

Understanding Information Structure Behavior Aesthetics Measurement Distilling Down the Disciplines of UX

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

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

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”

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

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...

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

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

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

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

T-Shaped People

“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

“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

Distilling Down the Disciplines of UX

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

Graph The Skill Level By Discipline User Research Visual Design Usability & Analytics Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design

Graph Your Skill Level By Discipline User Research Visual Design Usability & Analytics Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design

Graph Your Skill Level By Discipline User Research Visual Design Usability & Analytics Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design

Graph Your Skill Level By Discipline User Research Visual Design Usability & Analytics Content Strategy Information Architecture Interaction Design

Graph Your Skill Level By Discipline Interaction Design User Research Visual Design Usability & Analytics Content Strategy Information Architecture

Keep Up To Date

Responsive Web Design

Beyond what we think

Building A Personal Brand

Distinguish yourself and what you do from the competition

Color and Typography

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Let color surfaces your personality

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Engaging with the industry

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Be consistent for better association

Making connections and expanding your reach

Networking is a critical component of your career

Photo by J. Turner Masland Attend events to learn, but also to meet new people!

Read articles, but write them too!

Always have a good mentor!

Thank you!

Questions?

Starting a Career in User Experience Design ! by Nick Finck http://bit.ly/oEBkMn ! Starting a Career in User Experience ! by Marcus Haid http://bit.ly/1q1eChX ! How to Start a Career in UX Design ! by Chloe Lloyd http://bit.ly/1q1edMI ! Beyond UX Design: Finding your Path ! by Troy Parke http://bit.ly/1iVK902

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