Information that will change our lives. ;)

@steve Wow man, what a journey! I can commiserate with that longer path, as I’m sure @SteveCrow can.

Keep up the hard work, and welcome to the community.

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That would be lovely @HAWK, whenever you want :slight_smile:

Where in the world are you?
Lower Hutt, Wellington, NZ

What stage of your career are you at?
Hmmm… I have been doing this for about six or seven years, though for the first few I didn’t know what UX was even though I was doing it (or some of it).

It all started with discovering the world of usability and an IA project where I was lucky enough to be mentored in the art of user testing (online and 1-1). Then after a few more years, a few more IA projects and such things, learning as I went to do all sorts of UX things I got a job with ‘UX designer’ as the title. Initially I had a huge does of imposter syndrome :blush:, but they still like me and what I do, and I am lucky enough to be in a job with variety, the chance to research what I don’t know, and keep learning.

What are you current challenges?
Forms and tables. Working on an in-house application for an education provider - tables as far as the eye can see. On the horizon is a website redesign and IA project, but I have to get through the forms and tables first.

What aspect/s of UX are passionate about?
Reminding managers that user testing is the way to go. Knowing that I (or what I have been involved in creating) is not 100% right, just heading in the right direction and input from others adds value.

Cats or dogs?
Cats. Like dogs, but I admire the self assured way of a cat. And how they get to sleep a lot.

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Yay! A fellow Kiwi. Welcome @gillian_halba :slight_smile:

Where in the world are you?
Driving distance from Toronto, Canada

What stage of your career are you at?
The very beginning, where I’m still trying to figure out what I like, what I want, and how I can get there.

What are you current challenges?
I’m trying to transition into design with no prior background in it (I was in healthcare). I feel like there’s so much I need to learn, about research, coming up with great UX solutions, and visual design. And talking to people, of course.

What aspect/s of UX are passionate about?
I like all aspects of it, but I really love the psychology part of design, and how subtle details can affect the user’s decisions. I also like to talk to people and figure out what makes them tick.

Cats or dogs?
Dog!

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Welcome Linda, so glad you found us.
This would be a valuable read for you, I suspect. If you have questions, start a new topic and we’ll give you as much advice as you can handle!

Hi, my name is Vedantha a grad student in HCI.

  1. I’m from Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
  2. Currently I’m a graduate student in Human Computer Interaction at Indiana University.
  3. I’ve been trying to find a UX internship from about 3 months, and nothing has progressed on that front so far. I’m still applying and preparing anyway.
  4. I’m passionate about user research, and interpreting the data from the research to improve an experience. I really enjoy when something I design improves a product in a measurable way.
  5. Both! Especially when a pet dog and cat get along well.
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Welcome Vedantha. Glad you found us.

We’re hosting an Ask Me Anything session on this topic in a few weeks time. Keep your eyes out for details. :slight_smile:

  • I am a Londoner but work in Bishops Stortford (half way to Cambridge)
  • I have been an interaction designer for many years and taught of UX but when it comes to practice I am pretty new with UX because I realised experience is important to know how to deal with conflicts. And which methods work best in certain teams and companies or design problems.
  • My challenges are somewhat familiar. The company was oblivious to UX and some still are. There is no management yet to know how to manage UX within Agile software development. And we do not deal with KPIs. There are no conversion rates. There are no public users. And let me tell you this, business thinks people need to be trained to use the webapp and this is expected.But it is not more complex than Evernote in most cases.
  • I do love prototyping. Sketching or paper prototyping but I do love Axure too although I am being persuaded to use some other now. I do like talking to users and testing with them. Seeing where I failed in design is the most motivating one.
  • The most friendly and funny one.
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  1. Minneapolis, MN, USA!

  2. Pre-beginning. I’m still in another career! (But learning as much UX as I can right now)

  3. Organizing everything I’m learning about UX (via text and video) into a solid plan of action to go from “person reading about UX” to “person trying her own UX projects”.

  4. It combines my natural talents and traits (observation, communication) with my interests and passions (tech, art/design, relationships/connections). My one glimpse of experience into the UX world (through a web dev project at my previous job) was fun, exciting, and didn’t even feel like work. I went home daily wanting to do more. I want every day to feel like that.

  5. Cats! ^…^ My own, Simon’s, and all others.

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Welcome, @megandsolga! I’m always curious to hear what career path people moving into UX are coming from. What are you up to career-wise at the moment?

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Where in the world are you?
Copenhagen, Denmark

What stage of your career are you at?
I’ve been working with UX during my 5 year studies as a Design and Innovation engineer in relation to both physical and digital products as well as services. I have been applying my knowledge and gaining more experience for the past 2 years in the largest bank in Denmark. I work as a UX designer in the IT department with internal systems for desktop and mobile devices.

What are you current challenges?
Figuring out if I want to continue to be a generalist or if I should become a specialist. (I just read some of the articles on UXmastery) And then I’m also currently exploring the possibility of moving to another country to work as a UX designer for a cool company.

What aspect/s of UX are passionate about?
I love interacting with people and getting to know their story - and it motivates me to transform their needs into experiences that will be able to create value and help the users in their everyday life.

Cats or dogs?
I had a cat growing up, but I would love to get a dog some day - if only my boyfriend wasn’t allergic :frowning:

Looking forward to following and joining the discussions in this community!

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Sounds exciting! Do you have a country in mind?

And welcome – so glad you found us. :slight_smile:

Hey y’all, happy to be here and pumped for some of that sweet sweet expertise.

  1. I’m in Oakland, CA hey hey

  2. I graduated with a BA in English Lit with some background in statistics and have been working for small businesses as a web designer/business developer for the last year and a half. In the ways of the web I’m totally self-taught. The majority of what I do is creating content and graphics and some layout, although I often wish I wasn’t doing this stuff on my own.

  3. Getting in. I’m currently working on a portfolio based on past projects to apply with, however, I always feel like my skill set is not specific enough. My graphic design skills are alright but my front-end skills are somewhat limited. HTML/CSS are okay but I’m not super satisfied with my javascript skills just yet. Ultimately, finding focus in my skill set and marketing myself as such has been the biggest struggle. I’m currently looking for an internship or independent project I can get my hands dirty with to hopefully fix this problem.

  4. I love how interdisciplinary UX can be. I love drawing, writing/documentation, psychological research, and making things easier for people. Ideally, I would love to do pro bono work with interfaces that make a real difference in people’s lives, such as government websites and nonprofits.

  5. Cats all the way but dogs can come too.

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Thanks, @dougcollins!

I’m currently in career services at a university working directly with students to help them find their own career paths. While I have a passion for education, I find this world doesn’t satisfy my techy side and my need to create and innovate. UX is already a great fit and I’m having a blast getting started!

You should definitely join us for this session to get some advice around internships etc.

Thanks a bunch! I will definitely be there.

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Once the famous American entrepreneur and inventor “The Man in the Machine - Steve Jobs” said that “Life is all about connecting the dots backwards.” This is the reason why I’m here and realized that is the right place for me to build myself and drive my passion towards UX.

  • I’m from the land of diversity - India.
  • I’ve started as a UI and UX Designer and now landed coding SQL and .Net as a Software Developer :grin:.
  • My Current Challenge is to develop my skills in UX and Designing and make my passion as a profession.
  • Interactive Design and Usability.
  • Definitely Dogs ! - A man’s best friend. :slight_smile:
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Hi everyone,

It’s lovely to have found such an active UX community with such a wealth of knowledge here.

I love the idea of a UX story, I also didn’t realise this was something we were asked to do during sign up, so here goes with my answers:

  1. I currently work in Coventry, but live in Hinckley in the UK
  2. After leaving university I worked as a UI designer for 4.5 years; with no previous experience of UI design it was a very steep learning curve for me. During this time I started to learn about usability and user experience. A year ago I moved companies, my job title has stayed as UI designer but the role is more UX focussed and the company is more interested in usability testing than my previous one.
  3. Current challenges is a tough one! I’d have to say because we have such a huge user base, covering a wide variety of people it can be difficult to cater for everyone. We have one product that is split into 3 main areas, each having a very different user base. Something I am hoping to create is user personas, as I think this is something we are currently lacking.
  4. I love the psychology behind why a user does something and this is something I’m trying to learn more about. I am also really passionate about usability testing. We have created our own internal usability testing lab, which is great to have.
  5. Definitely dogs! I have a naughty little westie called Dr Leo Spaceman (Anyone who watches 30 rock will get this :smile: )

Hopefully this gives you a brief introduction to me.

I can’t wait to get properly stuck in and get to know you all.

Jacqui

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No worries, @megadawn! I have a background that includes corporate training, and while I loved helping my trainees, it certainly left the creative, techy side of my personality starved. I can commiserate. Glad to hear you’re having a lot of fun getting started!

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