User Experience Career Advice From 1,015 UX Professionals We recently published the 2nd edition of our User Experience Careers report, 7 years after the 1st edition was published. Our report is free and a gift to the UX community. The 2nd edition is based on several research studies carried out in 2019 and is based on responses from over 700 UX professionals. They included an online survey completed by 693 people, 2 focus groups, and 17 remote, semi-structured interviews, all carried out with UX professionals around the world. What Hasn’t Changed? UX practitioners are just as satisfied with their careers as they were in 2013; career satisfaction got an identical rating of 5.4 on a 1–7 scale (where 1 was completely dissatisfied, and 7 was completely satisfied). Enjoying the process and the work Seeing the impact of their work Receiving recognition for their work Having opportunities to grow and excel Industries hiring UX practitioners and the kinds of things UX practitioners work on are also much the same. What’s New? Changing Careers
UX deliverables are dead, long live code - fantasticlife's posterous This post is a possibly ranty reaction to the recent Wireframes are dead, long live rapid prototyping post on UX for the masses. If you’ve not read it, it’s definitely worth a click. And also worth working your way through the comments it generated. But I disagree with the post on two counts. the alternative is to bypass wireframes altogether and either go straight from sketch / outline designs to developing working code (in an Agile fashion), or as is more use common use [sic] a rapid prototyping tool to create a prototype which loses me at the comma. If wireframes aren’t dead I’d be more than happy to take them outside and put a bullet through their head It’s probably best to consider this list a personal addendum to the six reasons to ditch wireframes list in the original post. ‘UX professionals’ seem to be obsessed with defining optimum user experience. If wireframes are dead, rapid prototyping tools should die in their arms So I don’t really like wireframes.
Just What is a UX Manager? | Adaptive Path Earlier this week, I wrote quick blog post, calling out seven lessons for UX managers from this year’s MX conference. Then on Twitter, Livia Labate, who leads the experience design practice for Marriott International asked, “Dear @AdaptivePath, what is a UX Manager?” Here’s my not-so-twitter-length response: UX managers come with all sorts of fancy-pants titles. This isn’t about titles. This is about responsibilities. Someone who manages user experience has stuck their neck out and said they’ll deliver business outcomes through improving the experience that customers have with a product or service. That means you believe UX is a force that can not only improve people’s experiences but that it can also drive business. Why I <3 UX Managers Okay, let it be said that I’m biased. I’ve spent the past six years trying to get to know as many of you as I can, either speaking at or chairing Adaptive Path’s Managing Experience conference. What I’ve learned is that this is an emerging discipline.
Dieter Rams: Apple has achieved something I never did When Ive talks about Rams designing “surfaces that were without apology, bold, pure, perfectly-proportioned, coherent and effortless”, he could equally be talking about the iPod. “No part appeared to be either hidden or celebrated, just perfectly considered and completely appropriate in the hierarchy of the product’s details and features. At a glance, you knew exactly what it was and exactly how to use it.” Today Rams is best known for his range of minimalist shelves, made by Vitsoe, and for his influence on Ive. For his part, writing on Apple for the first time, Rams is muted. He argues that Apple are one of the very few brands, almost unique in the modern world, who are not devaluing the word “designer”. Dieter Rams on Apple I have always regarded Apple products – and the kind words Jony Ive has said about me and my work – as a compliment. I have always observed that good design can normally only emerge if there is a strong relationship between an entrepreneur and the head of design.
Product Manager and UX Designer - What's the Difference? Photo Credit: pelican via Compfight cc Product Manager vs. UX Designer I always advocate in favor of broad definition of User Experience Design practice. Here’s the definition from my recent ebook UX Design for Startups: “User experience design (abbreviation UX, UXD) – A discipline focused on designing the end-to-end experience of a certain product. A UX designer’s work should always be derived from people’s problems and aim at finding a pleasurable, seductive, inspiring solution. When you’re designing an experience, you are in fact planning a change in the behaviour of your target group. User experience lies at the crossroads of art and science and requires both extremely acute analytical thinking and creativity.” Planning, measuring, building, validating – that’s pretty broad set of actions, but this is what, I believe, have to be done to create stunning UX Design. Is there anything left for Product Managers? PM = UX Designer PM ≠ UX Designer Reimagining the way you design.
Gestalt Theory: Society for Gestalt Theory and its Applications (GTA) - Welcome The Society for Gestalt Theory and its Applications (GTA) is an international scientific association established for the purpose of promoting the Gestalt theoretical perspective in research and practice. In May 2015 the GTA will organize the 19th international Gestalt theory conference in Parma, Italy, hosted by the Dipartimento di Antichistica, Lingue, Educazione, Filosofia (ALEF) of the University of Parma. The conference theme will be: Body, Mind, ExpressionContact: gta2015@gestalttheory.net In April 2013 the GTA invited to the 18th international Gestalt theory conference, hosted by the University of Education in Karlsruhe (Germany). Creative Processes – Gestalt theory in the context of learning and education and other fields of human life (18th GTA Convention April 11-14, 2013) 100 Years Gestalt Psychology - an international GTA Symposium took place in Helsinki, Finland, in September 2012 in cooperation with the Finnish Society for Natural Philosophy (LFS). Click he
How important is user experience? 9 things you need to know about UX. UX is based on 200 years of scientific knowledge, 30 years of industry best practices and specifically applied research. - @mashable User experience (ux) is an emerging practice that sits at the intersection of behavioral science, web development, and domain-specific knowledge. It’s a human-centric approach to understanding how people engage with technology, and how to build the best web experiences possible. Consider the following: 88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience. -@econsultancy94% of a user’s first impressions are design-related. - @Veopix73% of consumers access websites on their mobile devices. - @Bond_Group The best user experience practice comes from a deep knowledge of buyer personas. The practice of user experience spans multiple disciplines, including buyer research, information architecture and knowledge management, interactive design, and visual design. User experience carries a significant, measurable ROI for organizations.
bjfogg: I sketched how motivation works... The business value of User Experience (UX) Design – UX Passion The importance of user experience and designing it correctly has been gaining more attention from the companies who aim to keep their users happy. In this article, we explain why investing into UX is crucial for your business. What do your friend’s startup, your small local business and a large company such as Google have in common? No, this isn’t a trick question. The answer is actually fairly simple and intuitive. In the recent years many have noticed the importance of UX design and are investing more and more into its research and development. Be it physical or digital, a product is bound to rouse both an emotional and intellectual response in its consumer based not only on the way it works but also how it looks and feels. Why “X” marks the spot UX is about two things only – the User and the Experience. While having a great product is paramount, in today’s market it often is not enough to keep you ahead of the curve. Designing experiences But what about design?
Warm Gun: How to Win Users & Influence Behavior In his How to Win Users & Influence Behavior presentation at the Warm Gun Design conference in San Francisco, CA BJ Fogg walked through how behavior can be systematically understood and used for design. Here’s my notes from his talk. Behavior is systematic. It’s only complicated if you don’t understand how behavior works.Behavior can be designed for: pick the right behaviors to target, design specifically for them, and test your solutions quickly.The behavior equation: b= mat. Behavior happens when motivation, ability, and triggers come together at the same time. Know the Behavior You Want Get clear on the behavior you are trying to target. Think in Terms of the Behavior Model What will motivate people to do what you want?