“I don’t know who needs to hear this, but…”
With this portentous beginning to many a well-intentioned post, you can almost be certain that what follows will be some distillation of painfully direct life advice intended to remind people of what’s important. Consider this article a really extended version of that, directed primarily at digital designers in senior and leadership roles as they are our industry’s best chance to right the ship. In order to bring you to the forward-thinking, uplifting bit, I’m going to have to first unsettle you with some difficult truths.
In the previous installment of this series, we discussed strategies for communicating the value of UX in organizations that do not already prioritize the effort. Today, we’ll talk about the importance of other “soft” skills, this time in the area of User Research — critical analysis and targeted focus.
As the resident UX elder on most of the design teams I work with, I’m frequently asked about the best way to conduct research. I have trouble answering this question every time. I know what they’re asking. They want me to give my opinion on the best way to conduct a…
This article is part of a multi-part series where I’ll discuss key “soft skills” UX professionals can use to survive in Enterprise that are often the hardest to master and that design schools and boot camps seldom teach.
When I was a kid sitting in math class, my mind would wander a lot. The details of working through an algebra problem didn’t interest me. I saw answers in my head in a very different way than what the teacher was working out on the chalkboard. When called upon I could often give the right answer, but when asked to demonstrate…
Design evangelist for better process and education. Hard-core Trekkie. Science and public health nerd.