What is the biggest problem that you are facing at the moment, with regard to UX? Is it breaking into the job market? Sourcing freelance projects? Getting your company to understand the importance of UX? Something else? Maybe others can offer suggestions or support.
The biggest problem for myself (and frustration), is the fact that UX means something totally different to whoever you ask. Rather worryingly I was asked yesterday by a respectable UX company if I was a visual OR interaction designer. Which to me either says that they have a different impression of what UX is to myself, or my job title (UX Designer) doesn’t encapsulate all that I do.
For me those problems are breaking into the job market and sourcing freelance projects.
For the past 12 months it has been justifying UX to stakeholders. That and balancing the need to get my job done with helping the organisation embrace the change that is necessary to become user-centred. A couple of projects I’ve worked on have resulted in cut-down solutions because the culture of the place is such that people are set in their ways and not prepared to change (politics and the personal ambition of key players are difficult hurdles to overcome).
I share Dean’s concern that UX has different meanings to different people, and in turn companies. I’ve worked in places where UX folk were really more like visual designers or web developers…
My biggest hurdle is getting more overall experience so as to be able to see through a project from start to finish. I also am looking for ways to improve my design thinking so I can solve problems better and quicker.