My thought #15

I’ve been sending out resumes to 20 companies every quarter to see if I can land interviews. This quarter, I got zero. This has never happened before. I even tried it with a junior colleague’s resume and still got nothing.

Why? The UX market has changed. It’s now a referral-based market. This means your best chance of getting a job is through someone you know .

What’s the Problem with Referrals? Many people give referrals to strangers online, hoping to get a referral bonus. These referrals might not be helpful because they don’t come with strong recommendations.

What You Need: Active Referrals. Active referrals are when someone directly recommends you to a hiring manager before the job is even advertised. This gives you a much better chance of getting an interview.

Who Can Refer You?

• Current employees: These are people you’ve worked with before.

• Tech recruiters: You can build relationships with recruiters during interviews.

Your Experience Doesn’t Matter as MuchWith so many layoffs from big tech companies, there are a lot of experienced UX professionals looking for work. This means competition is higher.

Focus on These Skills:

• Business understanding: Show that you can help a company make money.

• Pragmatic approach: Be able to deliver results without wasting time on unnecessary processes.

• Networking: Build relationships with people in the industry.

Key Takeaways: Adapt to the market: The UX market is changing, so you need to change your approach. Focus on referrals: Build relationships with people who can refer you for jobs. Be pragmatic: Focus on delivering results and avoid unnecessary processes. Network: Connect with people in the industry to increase your opportunities. The job market is tough, but with the right approach, you can find success.

My thought #14

Narrow AI is designed to excel in specific tasks like image recognition or voice assistance, while general AI can handle a wide range of tasks, akin to human intelligence, offering versatility. The difference is not necessarily a matter of intelligence but rather the breadth of tasks it can perform. Both narrow and general AI have diverse applications across industries, not limited to any specific sector. With narrow AI, businesses can automate specific tasks, leading to increased efficiency and productivity. On the other hand, general AI offers more flexibility, allowing companies to address a wider range of challenges. As AI continues to evolve and advance, understanding the differences between narrow and general AI is crucial for businesses looking to implement AI solutions. Which type of AI is best suited for your business needs? It ultimately depends on the tasks you need to automate and the challenges you need to address. How has your business leveraged AI? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

My thought #13

Designing for AI and designing with AI are two different concepts. While the former refers to designing products with AI capabilities, the latter means thinking of AI as a collaborator in the design process. It’s important to note that AI won’t fully replace traditional design methods. Designing for AI doesn’t mean solely creating new algorithms. Instead, it’s about understanding how AI can enhance and augment human creativity in design. By embracing AI as a partner in the design process, we can unlock new possibilities and create innovative products that meet the needs of our ever-evolving world.

My thought #12

Emotions are integral to the user experience; they are what make an experience truly memorable. Scholars agree that emotions color our experiences and contribute to our overall engagement. Without emotional engagement, experiences would lack unity and would fail to be experienced. The interplay between emotions, motivation, and cognitive processes is what makes our experiences truly unique.

My thought #11

Experience is unique to every individual, influenced by their feelings, tastes, and thoughts. Our way of living an event determines what we find significant about it. As a result, each person’s experience is their own.

My thought #10

If you’re new to UX, you may be wondering how much budget you should allocate to UX planning. The answer isn’t straightforward, as it depends on your project’s unique priorities, challenges, and objectives. UX should be a project philosophy, not a separate work stream or cost centre. If your client has bought into the principles of UX, their entire project becomes a “UX” project, and all time and budget are dedicated to it. With experience, you’ll get a feel for how much time to apportion to different phases of the project. The matrices in this chapter can help you choose the right tools and techniques for your project, regardless of budget. Remember, even the smallest budget projects can benefit from some form of user research.

My thought #09

Are you still struggling to convince your clients and colleagues of the importance of user experience? Look no further than adopting a user-centred design (UCD) approach. Despite the widespread growth in awareness of its benefits, it can still be a challenge to sell. Here are some of the many benefits that we have seen from adopting a user-centred design (UCD) approach:

• Better products

• Cheaper to fix problems

• Less risk

• Deliver to the deadline and avoid scope creep

• Research brings insights

• Products that are easy to use make more money

• UCD projects can get products to market more quickly

• Ease of use is a common customer requirement

My note #08

The key principle for all UX projects is that you must ensure that you involve users in the design process in some way. Challenge yourself to see how you can work within the constraints of the project to involve users as much as possible. User involvement will not only improve the output of the project but will also help to inform decision making, which can often delay projects.

UX projects typically consist of three main phases: a research phase, a design phase, and a further research phase, designed to test and validate the designs.

The research phase is where you immerse yourself in the project to get the background you’ll need to make design decisions later in the project. During this phase, you will try to learn as much about your client’s business, objectives, users, and competitors as possible.

The design phase is where you work out how what you are designing will work and how it will fit together. This phase will define its scope, its features and functionality, and how it behaves.

The validation phase is where you identify whether what you came up with in the design phase works with its intended audience. This phase is typically followed by further rounds of design and testing to solve the problems you inevitably find when you test with users.

We find that using a research, design, and validation framework helps to structure your projects. We often start working out the approach we would ideally like to take and then calculate how long we would need to do that work, and then adjust the methods, tools, and techniques to fit the constraints of the project. Figure 2–1 shows an early sketch of a project taking shape. We find that using a research, design, and validation framework helps to structure your projects. We often start working out the approach we would ideally like to take and then calculate how long we would need to do that work, and then adjust the methods, tools, and techniques to fit the constraints of the project.

Project constraints include factors such as budget, time available, delivery deadlines, resource availability, information availability, related projects, access to tools, and legal documentation. Regardless of the constraint,s you must be able to focus on the objectives of the project and how you can deliver the best user experience that meets those objectives. Often, this is the true (and hidden) skill of a great UX professional.

Once you have defined the approach you want to take, it is much easier to talk to a client about flexing project constraints, such as increasing the scope of the project or changing your original plan. All clients have to start with some sort of ballpark budget and approach and, if you can justify why you might need more time and budget, you will be more likely to get it!

My note #07

The product design process doesn’t stop once the product is live. Oh, no — any product designer worth their salt will continuously monitor the product’s performance and look for opportunities to fix, improve, and update the product. Ongoing product testing comprises anything from A/B tests and product experiments to gathering user feedback through surveys, regular usability testing sessions, and continuous market research. You can’t just sit back once your product launches and hope for the best. You must ensure that the product maintains its competitive edge and evolves in line with user needs and market changes. A product designer’s work is never done!

My note #06

The key to effective problem-solving is identifying the right cause. Fixing the wrong root cause can be a waste of time and resources. For instance, if you’re not sleeping well, a new bed won’t help if the root cause is stress. Before taking action, take the time to identify the real issue and address it accordingly. So the first part of the process is to get a list of possible causes, everything that’s different about the ones who have a problem, and then work out which ones or ones are the real cause. Then you can work on fixing that problem.

My note #05

As a Product Designer, I believe that you are responsible for not only how the experience looks but also how it works and what it does. You work end to end and can often move more quickly, without any extra coordination overhead. I think about problems more holistically, making sure to deliver wireframes, high-fidelity mockups, animations, and prototypes at the right time. A good Product Designer needs to be well-versed in animation, prototyping, coding, research, visual design, and interaction design. You should know how to convincingly communicate our solutions.

My note #04

Did you know that a lack of contrast can cause the eye to bounce around without settling on anything? That’s why contrast is crucial when it comes to designing interfaces. It performs three essential functions: drawing the user’s attention to the essential components of the interface, helping the user understand the relationships between navigational elements and content, and communicating hierarchy and importance within and across multiple sets of information. Make sure to keep these functions in mind when designing your next interface.

My note #03

Stop asking for feedback, asking for advice. People might not like giving feedback, especially if it’s negative, but they love to advise as it makes them feel valued. It’s important to listen to their advice with respect and always appreciate what they share with you. Remember, your attitude is key.

My note #02

Rejection sometimes does not reflect your skills or abilities at all. It might be that both parties are not suitable with each other yet, or one party is a better match than you. Be strong. “Find your fit” is the most important thing you should do now. The great things will come to you after all.

My note #01

Someone asked me: What is the difference between hard work and smart work? Hard work gives you experience. Smart work comes with experience, I said. Is it a good one? It’s true, but not exactly. Both give you experience, and both need experience too. Depending on the context, these concepts may not be relevant to each other. In some cases, hard work means you just work blindly. In this context, you won’t earn any experience, though. In the general context, hard work does not mean being unsmart. You should both work and be smart to earn experience and get the best result.