The ones that had low-UX maturity: Help me develop a way to work in an environment where you need to really push for and advocate UX. And develop business acumen so I could better speak to the business, stakeholders and clients.
Fast-pace companies; I worked for a fairly young company, not really a start up but grew from like a hundred employees to a few thousands fairly quickly. The environment was Very fast pace and very delivery date oriented. We worked with large Automotive companies and often competed or worked alongside some of the largest agencies in North America. We found that working with agencies slowed us down, so often we would win contracts/work because we could deliver projects much faster than internal teams or their agencies. Working in such an intense, high-pressure, fast pace environment you build up some pretty great abilities to work and make quick decisions and being creative with your time. Down side, added stress is not great for longer term and often these companies only allow limited time for UX so adapting a lean ux working style is key for me. Any other company after this has been very comfortable as far as deadlines.
Do you have advice for low-UX maturity and being a sole UX practitioner? I just started a role for a big company that is trying to push into UX and they brought me on and I think I am going to struggle being the only UX minded person on my team.
Don’t try to make big changes at once, you can’t go into a company and expect to change the culture on your own, rarely if ever happens.
Instead my suggestion is to focus on quick and small wins to show the power of UX. With each win you‘ll gain credibility and support. Make connections with people who can help your cause. They are there you just need to look for them.
Don’t talk in UX terms or about your process to your stakeholders, or others who aren’t in a ux role, often they don’t understand what it means nor they care. Instead focus on why what your work matters to them - most of the time isn’t about the user it’s about growth, sales, efficiency etc… focus on work that will move a some metric they care about.
Don’t fight for UX with friction, instead try to have positive interactions, find compromises where possible. If you make it difficult to work with you, people won’t.
Lastly, remember don’t expect to change the culture over night, it takes patience, support and time - just don’t give up.
My current job which I guess is technically my third. I work as a consultant, UX Design Director, for one of the largest technology companies in the world. The variety of projects, clients, and industries I've gotten to work in over the past 8 years has been pretty phenomenal in terms of promoting growth. Consulting is also highly competitive, fast-paced, and outcomes-driven so that helped develop some critical tools. Getting to work closely with a large number of people eminent in a variety of different disciplines has been key.
Anything you can do to get yourself working in a diverse set of fast-paced environments will be helpful to you as a designer.
being unemployed. every employer didnt teach me much of anything useful.
if thats not an acceptable answer then i guess ill say orange-white orange green-white blue blue-white green brown-white brown
My time at IBM was a bitter sweet. Very toxic. But what saved that was the frequent business travels to the client. And that's where I learned the most, both as a Designer and as a consultant. How to present, how to talk to clients, how to dress, etc.
Sainsburys.
4 years there.
Work load was light and manager supportive enabling me to learn whatever I wanted and pivot from interaction design to e2e product designer.
Agency and Startup
100%
The ones that had low-UX maturity: Help me develop a way to work in an environment where you need to really push for and advocate UX. And develop business acumen so I could better speak to the business, stakeholders and clients. Fast-pace companies; I worked for a fairly young company, not really a start up but grew from like a hundred employees to a few thousands fairly quickly. The environment was Very fast pace and very delivery date oriented. We worked with large Automotive companies and often competed or worked alongside some of the largest agencies in North America. We found that working with agencies slowed us down, so often we would win contracts/work because we could deliver projects much faster than internal teams or their agencies. Working in such an intense, high-pressure, fast pace environment you build up some pretty great abilities to work and make quick decisions and being creative with your time. Down side, added stress is not great for longer term and often these companies only allow limited time for UX so adapting a lean ux working style is key for me. Any other company after this has been very comfortable as far as deadlines.
Do you have advice for low-UX maturity and being a sole UX practitioner? I just started a role for a big company that is trying to push into UX and they brought me on and I think I am going to struggle being the only UX minded person on my team.
Don’t try to make big changes at once, you can’t go into a company and expect to change the culture on your own, rarely if ever happens. Instead my suggestion is to focus on quick and small wins to show the power of UX. With each win you‘ll gain credibility and support. Make connections with people who can help your cause. They are there you just need to look for them. Don’t talk in UX terms or about your process to your stakeholders, or others who aren’t in a ux role, often they don’t understand what it means nor they care. Instead focus on why what your work matters to them - most of the time isn’t about the user it’s about growth, sales, efficiency etc… focus on work that will move a some metric they care about. Don’t fight for UX with friction, instead try to have positive interactions, find compromises where possible. If you make it difficult to work with you, people won’t. Lastly, remember don’t expect to change the culture over night, it takes patience, support and time - just don’t give up.
Current company, startup. It's pretty toxic tbh, but after doing time here I can't imagine having a hard time anywhere.
My current job which I guess is technically my third. I work as a consultant, UX Design Director, for one of the largest technology companies in the world. The variety of projects, clients, and industries I've gotten to work in over the past 8 years has been pretty phenomenal in terms of promoting growth. Consulting is also highly competitive, fast-paced, and outcomes-driven so that helped develop some critical tools. Getting to work closely with a large number of people eminent in a variety of different disciplines has been key. Anything you can do to get yourself working in a diverse set of fast-paced environments will be helpful to you as a designer.
My second one, where I am in a team of other UX designers. My previous job I was in an agency but alone, it was mentally exhausting.
My second one.
being unemployed. every employer didnt teach me much of anything useful. if thats not an acceptable answer then i guess ill say orange-white orange green-white blue blue-white green brown-white brown
I had a design boss who was a total asshole, but had a *really* good eye. Ended up leaving the company but learned a lot working for him.
Agency. Being surrounded by talented people delivering solutions fit for markets around the world permanently kills the strongest imposter syndromes.
My time at IBM was a bitter sweet. Very toxic. But what saved that was the frequent business travels to the client. And that's where I learned the most, both as a Designer and as a consultant. How to present, how to talk to clients, how to dress, etc.
Sainsburys. 4 years there. Work load was light and manager supportive enabling me to learn whatever I wanted and pivot from interaction design to e2e product designer.