Information that will change our lives. ;)

Water Cooler
#249

I have heard people say not to offer work for free because it’s devaluing, but that was simply the path I took at the time. In fact, I finished the codeschool JS journey while interning there.

Where would I look? I would search something like “x agencies in city” and find a contact email. Not long ago I was interested in branding and specifically this 1 company that I thought had really cool and consistent aesthetic and tone and I was wondering how they achieved that. I did get in touch with someone there and after a few emails we planned to meet, but things fell through. I was doing something a bit different though, I was not only offering free service since I currently work pretty much full time. Thinking about it now though gives me another idea on how to approach that…

Portfolio - i think this should help get paid work. as they say, do any of the following: be able to explain your decisions, show any possible measurable improvements, show the maturation of the idea (each wherever applicable). i think whatever i’m calling a ux portfolio is terrible though, i don’t do any of this. my dev portfolio was better though which is what got me in, in the first place.

1 Like
#250

Hi all,

I just joined the community and posted in Tools, and I figured it would be impolite not to make an introduction. So here we go:

  1. I’m currently based in my hometown, Milan (Italy). But I’ve been a digital nomad for the past couple of years, mainly in SE Asia
  2. I am a marketing strategist with about 5 years experience and I own a small marketing agency with some partners.
  3. As per my post, I need to test and launch a customer journey mapping platform I’ve created.
  4. UX is not my main area of expertise. But I have created and launched several products before, from conception to UX to UI design to product management and most recently, programming. I have worked a lot for the large distribution/retail sectors, and I am passionate about the “omnichannel” aspects of UX: i.e., the holistic synergy between online and offline touchpoints, and how they come together to create a delightful journey for the user. I would also love to learn about the UX designer’s profession: is there some kind of “checklist” of essential stuff a UX designer needs to know?
  5. Monkeys.

Thanks!

2 Likes
#251

It is. I’m thinking about cutting it and starting over again to make it more usable. What do you reckon?

#252

@mikos_ed @mrcni @kahan_jonathan
Welcome guys – great to hear such a diverse group.

#253

What an awesome idea Hawk,

Where in the world are you?
Upstate NY ~ About 1.15 hours north of NYC in the Hudson Valley.

What stage of your career are you at?
I am brand spanking new!

Well kinda,I just turned 26, I did 5 years of Help desk / desktop Analyst IT work - Found a passion for web development early last year. Took a Front end boot camp later last year. Lost my job at the end of December due to lay offs at my contracting company which threw me into a spiral with my Web Dev studies. In February I got offer a job as a Banker at a large institution that sports their main color as blue :laughing: Thus far I’ve decided I really really like UX /UI and want to still job change into the field… if possible by next June.

What are you current challenges?
Getting a remote job as a UX/UI designer. Or any job at that fact.

I have to pick a boot camp and I hope that will get me ready for this endeavor :slight_smile:

What aspect/s of UX are passionate about?
I love beautiful things. Including web apps, mobiles apps, branding and even desktop apps. When I go to a website and it looks clean and the buttons do amazing things, and I can make my way around that site without second guessing myself, it makes me really happy. Designing something like this for companies, businesses etc every day would make me really happy.

Cats or dogs?
DOGS!

I had a Dachshund when I was younger, he was theeeee best.

1 Like
#254

Yes, I live and work in Warsaw. Praga 2? Do you mean North or South?

#255

Thanks for these practical and encouraging words a fews months ago. I’ve been working hard to get my portfolio together and I’m glad to finally say I’m at a point where I’m ready for public feedback and coaching. I’m not a typical candidate (what is that anyway?) - my background is in HR. Both of my case studies are HR related. I didn’t see a portfolio conversation category here so where is the best place to showcase my portfolio and get feedback from this community? Thanks so much!

1 Like
#256

Start a new topic in careers for now. I’m looking at a category reshuffle to include a feedback section and will move posts around when that happens.

Looking forward to seeing it. :slight_smile:

#257
#258

Great! Thanks for the guidance. I’ll post it shortly.

1 Like
#259

Hi!
So my story starts when I joined this company while studying photography, I will work in their customer service team part time while studying what I liked.
Even though I was doing photo Web Design was something that really got my attention and I was very curious about. Long story short after going from one role to another in the company I would finally had the opportunity to join the design team as a Junior. From then on my boss and mentor will teach me everything and myself with tutorials at home too.
I have been in this company for many years growing as a designer bit by bit until they decided we needed a UX department. I really liked the idea of UX and I also tried to train myself on it and inform and lear as much as I could in my free time which it paid off as now they have given me the opportunity to be a UX Developer.
I am very new on the subject as I have worked in my new role from January only so this blog is great help! You will see me around a lot for sure! :slight_smile:

#260

That’s such a great story! Let us know how we can support you on your journey. :slight_smile:

#261
  • I live in New Jersey, US
  • I’m transitioning from digital designer to UX design. I’ve taken many online courses about UX and I can’t read enough books on the subject.
  • My current challenges are: Nailing down a practical process for UX that I can use with a small team and creating a portfolio to show off some work experience.
  • I am passionate about usability testing, interaction design and empathy.
  • Dogs… I don’t care for cats too much.
1 Like
#263

1. Where in the world are you?
Hello im from Java, Indonesia, South East Asia
2. What stage of your career are you at?
Im product designer and now i begin to stepped into ux field. now i worked on startup in bali that develop shopping application.
3. What are you current challenges?
My current challenges is looking right way/methods that fit in my company.
4. What aspect/s of UX are passionate about?
I am very curious when it come to analyse about user behaviour, and feel empathy with them. Think a strategy to extract some information from user (interview, observation etc). Dive deep and try to understand them, build an strategy, flow and create the path for them.
5. Cats or dogs?
dog !

1 Like
#264

@dougcollins @ranjeet_waikar - To add to what Doug said, if the company has had no previous UX input you will indeed be the expert. That can be scary - you will feel unsure sometimes and other times really not know. But like Doug said you will get to try stuff out. You can also do research to find things out, ask questions (like on here) and then there is my favorite: say to people “I don’t know… I would have to ask some users”.

:slight_smile: Good luck!

2 Likes
#265

Welcome on board @ggestadanu – I love Indonesia. :slight_smile:

1 Like
#267

@HAWK please, come to bali then, maybe we could create an event and share our ideas :slight_smile:

#268

Where in the world are you?
I am in Nigeria

What stage of your career are you at?
I am an undergraduate student of Electrical Electronics Engineering. I found out about the field of UX Design, I see it as the best way to design solutions to problems and I would love to make a career out of it. I am a beginner.

What are your current challenges?
My current challenge is finding a good way (online courses, in-person training, books…) to really learn about UX Design. I have read books like Design of Everyday Things, Don’t Make Me Think and I have taken some short courses here and there, but I still kind of feel confused on whether I am ready to take on a project. I learn best when my learning is project based that is, I am taught a concept then practice with a mini project, taught another concept then practice,… At the end of the day a get to do major projects where I bring all concepts together and apply them thereby testing my competence. A mentored led course would also be great. Some of the courses I have seen that perhaps fit this style are springboard and Careerfoundry courses and they are way too expensive. Please, if you know of cheaper courses, books or any learning resource that fits my style or if you have any advice for me do well to inform me.

What aspect of UX are you passionate about?
Not sure yet

Cats or Dogs?
Hawks

#269

I’ve been many, many times – Ubud is one of the truly beautiful, peaceful places in the world. It won’t happen again in the near future unfortunately, I have too many other things planned!

Love it.

#270

Hey all! I’m James from London. I’m 34 and currently trying to change careers. I work in IT support for and Insurance Broker in the big smoke but I’m passionate about becoming a UX Designer.

What brings me here?
I became interested in UX Design a little over a year ago now and fell into a course at CareerFoundry. I enjoyed my time during the course and learned a fair bit considering I had no prior knowledge of UX before starting.

Since leaving the course I haven’t really done much in terms of UX, alot has being going on in my personal life and my job role has changed quite drastically. I’ve also felt quite uninspired, which is why I believe I have distanced myself from pushing for a UX career.

BUT, UX is where I want to be, it must be because it’s on my mind pretty much most days. I want to be inspired again and I believe that being part of the UX Mastery community will really help with that. Studying UX and working on bits at home has made me feel quite lonely (queue the awwwwwwwws) and I feel UX is very much a team/community topic so I wanted to pop by and say hi to everyone.

At the moment I’m involved in a couple of projects - basically some website builds for a couple of companies so maybe picking some peoples brains on here at some point :slight_smile:

My current challenges are that my knowledge is limited - the course gave me an insight into UX processes but I really need to utilise these to really understand the value of each.
Another challenge is how to sell myself, I’m inexperienced compared to a lot of people in London and so how can I add value to a company, favourably a UX Design agency.

I’m passionate about the whole UX process - which is what attracted me from the very beginning. Originally I was looking towards a career in front end development but pushing pixels around a screen wasn’t satisfying and I had no idea if I was actually helping solve a problem. With a UCD you can really get to target specific areas and actually make a difference (well, from what I’ve seen and read about you can)

Cats or dogs? Dogs! However, if it was dogs or sharks then defo sharks! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Thanks for reading!

1 Like