Something I learned about UX
Hey Reader,
I hope you had a great weekend and are ready for a productive week. This weekend, I avoided work topics and spent some time with the family in my efforts to become more intentional with my time. Reminding myself that not everything is about my work helps me recharge and refocus on what is really important. How about you? What enables you to switch perspectives?
Speaking of different perspectives. Here are some things I keep thinking about when it comes to UX. Maybe they’ll spark a few thoughts with you as well.
UX vs. UI
Even if the discussion has calmed down quite a bit, this still seems a topic for many UX professionals. Many who are strong in the more conceptual areas of our field feel they need to prove that they can deliver high-quality UI (visuals) as well, and many who are strong in visual aspects fear they aren’t true UX designers.
In my opinion, this discussion is largely self-centered, which is weird for a professional field that prides itself on empathizing with others. If my memory serves me correctly, this all started when UX became more broadly accepted, and many trained visual designers expanded their skills to address the growing demand in the market. Instead of welcoming others to the field, people started defining their domain, fearing losing the right to determine what UX is.
The truth is no one outside of UX cares. When companies hire UX professionals, they hire them to improve products and services, which in turn allows them to make more money by better-serving users and customers.
Your job as a UX professional is just that, and your contribution is valuable no matter which side of the UX spectrum you fall on. So, let’s quit worrying about right or wrong and focus on our individual strengths instead.
There is no Standard
Many of my clients and mentees wonder if they are ready for the next level of their careers, whether that means moving into a Senior UX Designer position or from Design Manager to Head of UX. So they research the differences between the roles, only to come up with more confusion and less confidence. Unfortunately, there is no one truth to this. The UX industry has yet to develop a standardized rating system for experience and seniority. A Lead UX Designer role in one company can only qualify you for a Senior UX Designer title in the following organization.
So, is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. While I would love to see more clarity and transparency in our field, the lack of standardization also offers us a chance to carve our own path with the value we deliver instead of just following rigid structures of what UX designers are supposed to do.
I am working on a free worksheet to help with self-assessment in the UX field. If you’d like to try it out, let me know so I can send you the first version as soon as I have it ready. Your feedback would be invaluable in making this tool helpful.
Just reply “UX self-assessment” to this mail.
Q&A Session
In case you missed it in the last email. I am hosting another Q&A session on Wednesday, the 27.03. at 16:00 CET. The session is focused on career challenges for Senior UX Designers. So, if you have lingering thoughts about finding that next career step or how to convince stakeholders and peers to invest in UX, you can still sign up to join me.
Reflective Question
What new thing did you recently learn about yourself that changed your perspective on your professional self?
Thank you for letting me drop in again this week.
Have a great start. I look forward to our next conversation.
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Marvin Olukayode Hassan
UX Design Manager & Career Coach
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