LavaCon: Hunting Unicorns - What Makes an Effective UX Professional

@usabilitycounts #LavaCon

Hunting Unicorns What makes an effective UX Professional

Patrick Neeman, Director of Product Design, Apptio @usabilitycounts

www.usabilitycounts.com

@usabilitycounts

Who’s Patrick Neeman? Almost 20 years of UX and Web Experience

Runs UsabilityCounts.com and UXDrinkingGame.com Built several UX teams

Drinks Whiskey

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What makes an effective UX Professional?

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Be A Unicorn

Thank You!

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Why am I even thinking about this?

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I have to build teams

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Patron Saint of Lost Designers

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Some Articles I Found… !Nine Essential Characteristics of Good UX Designers http://userexperience.evantageconsulting.com/2009/07/characteristics-good-ux-designers/ !And about nine other articles linking to Fred Beecher’s article… !Essential and Desirable Skills for a UX Designer http://uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2010/12/essential-and-desirable-skills-for-a-ux-designer.php !Which a laundry list of skills that is unachievable… !And a bunch of short articles.

Fred Beecher

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Why is it hard to define what an effective UX Professional is?

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There is no front door to UX… That’s part of the problem

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For example…

Troy Parke MSCE

Civil Engineering Good looking

Great public speaker Drinks Diet Coke (Boo)

Patrick Neeman Three Time Dropout

Print Design Background Has a great goatee and hair

Presentation has funny photos Sophisticated Whiskey Drinker

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“When I grow up, I want to be a UX Designer.”Lion Tamer,

Print Designer, Web Designer, Creative Director, Program Manager, Product Manager, and

Director of Development

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T-Shaped Skill Set

They have a principal skill that describes the vertical leg of the T — they’re mechanical engineers or industrial designers. But they are so empathetic that they can branch out into other skills, such as anthropology, and do them as well.”

Tim Brown, IDEO CEO

“

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A compartmentalist isolates themselves from the other disciplines around them, not really learning what they do or how they do it.” Jared Spool Ideal UX Teamhttp://www.uie.com/articles/Ideal_UX_team/

“

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They want us to be unicorns…

…dammit.

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What are the hard skills?

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The Competencies of User Experience

User Researchand Analytics Understanding the

users through observations and

data

Content Strategy

Planning for the creation, delivery

and governance of usable content

Information Architecture

Organizing information in a

product or website in a usable way

InteractionDesign

Designing interactive behaviors with a specific focus on

their use

VisualDesign

Designing the visual qualities in an aesthetically pleasing way

Front End Development

Building the interactive behaviors

to be used by the end user

http://www.nickfinck.com/blog/entry/ux_career_progression_finding_a_niche_building_a_personal_brand/

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Interaction Designer

User Researchand Analytics

Content Strategy

Information Architecture

InteractionDesign

VisualDesign

Front End Development

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Visual Designer

User Research and Analytics

Content Strategy

Information Architecture

InteractionDesign

VisualDesign

Front End Development

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Content Strategist

User Research and Analytics

Content Strategy

Information Architecture

InteractionDesign

VisualDesign

Front End Development

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Design Technologist

User Research and Analytics

Content Strategy

Information Architecture

InteractionDesign

VisualDesign

Front End Development

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The Core Apptio Team of Five

User Researchand Analytics

Content Strategy

Information Architecture

InteractionDesign

VisualDesign

Front End Development

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Every Project Is Like A Different Lego Set Teams need multifaceted players — their skills fit each other and fit project needs

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But… Is it really about the hard skills?

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What are the soft skills?

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So what are those soft skills?

Empathy Curiosity Methodical

Fearless Self Aware Articulate

Pragmatic

Passionate

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Empathy Curiosity

Systematic Pragmatic

Fearless Self-Aware

Articulate Passionate

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Empathy Curiosity

Systematic Pragmatic

Fearless Self-Aware

Articulate Passionate

@usabilitycounts

Empathy Curiosity

Systematic Pragmatic

Fearless Self-Aware

Articulate Passionate

@usabilitycounts

Empathy Curiosity

Systematic Pragmatic

Fearless Self-Aware

Articulate Passionate

@usabilitycounts

Empathy Curiosity

Systematic Pragmatic

Fearless Self-Aware

Articulate Passionate

@usabilitycounts

Empathy Curiosity

Systematic Pragmatic

Fearless Self-Aware

Articulate Passionate

@usabilitycounts

Empathy Curiosity

Systematic Pragmatic

Fearless Self-Aware

Articulate Passionate

@usabilitycounts

Empathy Curiosity

Systematic Pragmatic

Fearless Self-Aware

Articulate Passionate

@usabilitycounts

I have to convince my developer to build a feature…

Empathy Curiosity Systematic

Fearless Self Aware Articulate

Pragmatic

Passionate

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I want to understand user needs…

Empathy Curiosity Systematic

Fearless Self Aware Articulate

Pragmatic

Passionate

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I want to analyze user data…

Empathy Curiosity Systematic

Fearless Self Aware Articulate

Pragmatic

Passionate

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I want to sell design thinking within an organization…

Empathy Curiosity Systematic

Fearless Self Aware Articulate

Pragmatic

Passionate

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Context Matters Every situation demands different soft skills

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What’s the point of this presentation?

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UX needs to better define who we are

so others get us

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Hard skills are table stakeshttp://www.uxisnotui.com/

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Soft skills turn us into superheroes

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Further Reading !The Unicorn Designer Dilemma, and How to Avoid It http://www.usabilitycounts.com/2013/07/24/the-unicorn-designer-dilemma-and-how-to-avoid-it/ !Eight Organizational Challenges for UX Professionals http://www.usabilitycounts.com/2012/05/02/eight-organizational-challenges-for-ux-professionals/ !Six Things Misunderstood About User Experience Designers http://www.usabilitycounts.com/2011/03/14/six-things-misunderstood-about-user-experience-designers/ !How to Get Started in User Experience for People I Want to Hire http://www.usabilitycounts.com/2011/10/18/how-to-get-started-in-user-experience-seven-tips/

Patrick Neeman, Director of Product Design, Apptio @usabilitycounts | www.usabilitycounts.com

Thank you!