making more ux designers: practical ux apprenticeship
DESCRIPTION
The demand for user experience designers has skyrocketed. Interest in UX as a career has soared along with that demand. Every UX designer gets asked how to get into the career, but the sad fact is that there’s no real answer to that question. Although demand is high, that demand is only for designers with 2-3 years of experience or more. There are simply not enough experienced designers to fill these positions, and this experience gap is a barrier to offering potential designers a consistent path from interest to employment. Many have observed that design is a craft... How do you learn a craft? Education and practice. Apprenticeship is a model that fits that bill well, and during the summer of 2013 The Nerdery's UX team put it into practice. I want to share our program's successes and failures, our challenges and solutions, and some of the nitty-gritty details that made it go. The goal of this presentation is to make it easier for UX teams in other organizations to implement their own apprenticeship programs, which will ultimately make it easier for interested, talented, and passionate people to become UX designers.TRANSCRIPT
MAKING MORE UX DESIGNERS:Practical UX Apprenticeship Presented by: Fred Beecher
©2010 Dimension Films
DEMAND FOR UX IS VORACIOUS
SUPPLY OF UX TALENT IS… WEE
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
UX
10% - Design School
90% - Dumb Luck
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
UX
10% - Design School
60% - Dumb Luck
30% - Specialty School
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
UX
10% - Design School
30% - Specialty School
50% - APPRENTICESHIP
10% - Dumb Luck
INTEREST DEMANDAPPRENTICESHIP
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
INTEREST DEMANDAPPRENTICESHIP
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
13BOOKS READ
13MENTORS PER APPRENTICE
THIRTEENWORKSHOPSPAGES OF REFLECTION PER APPRENTICE
20
GIFs EMAILED
1,701 1,138NERDY CULTURAL REFERENCES MADE
TWENTY-FIVE
DESIGN METHODS
TWELVE
APPRENTICESHIP WEEKS
THIRTEENPROJECTS PER APPRENTICE
252MENTORSHIP HOURS
ONEEXTREMELY CREEPY FAKE DOG
2ADORABLE LITTLE DOGS
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
BUSINESS VALUE
TRACKING
PEDAGOGY MENTORSHIP
HIRE FOR TRAITS
APPRENTICESHIP ARCHITECTURE
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship flickr: johnny vulkan
• Reduce hiring cost
• Reduce lost opportunity cost
• Achieve growth goals
• Solidify client relationships
• Apprenticeship can help offset its own costs!
BUSINESS VALUE
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
HIRE FOR TRAITS, NOT SKILLSGood UXDs are…
• Passionate
• Curious about people
• Curious about technology
• Quick learners
• Detail oriented and “Big Picture”
• Thick-skinned
Good Apprentices are…
• Capable of accepting feedback
• Self educators
• Aware that UX is about people
• A cultural fit for your organization
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
PEDAGOGYLEARN OBSERVE
PLAYPRACTICE
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
DESIGN METHODSBUSINESS STRATEGY - Stakeholder Interviews
- Business Discovery Workshops
- Feature Analysis
- Communicating Business Discovery Findings
USER RESEARCH - Planning & Recruiting
- In-Person Interviews
- Remote Interviews
- Contextual Inquiry
- Survey Design & Analysis
- Web Traffic Analysis
- Research Analysis & Synthesis
- Communicating User Research Findings
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE - Card Sorting & Analysis
- Search Log Analysis
- Content Strategy
- Content Auditing
- Site Mapping
INTERACTION DESIGN - Ideation & Design
Workshops
- Scenarios, Storyboarding, & Process Flows
- Screen Layout & Design
- Interactive Prototyping
- Prototype testing
USABILITY EVALUATION - Heuristic Review
- In-Person Usability Testing
- Remote Usability Testing
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
LEARNING
READINGWORKSHOPS
PLAY
Apprentices found it extremely valuable to work through design problems together… even as a team of novices!
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
MENTORSHIP IS THE ENGINE OF APPRENTICESHIP
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
Principal Mentor
Apprentices Large Design Team
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Design Manager
Apprentices
Medium Design Team
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
Apprentice
Small Design Team
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
Acco
untab
ility
Observation
Assistance
Mentorship
Oversight
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
Acco
untab
ility
Observation
Assistance
Mentorship
Oversight
APPRENTICE • Watches • Asks questions
MENTOR • Shows what
they’re doing • Explains why
GATES • None
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
Acco
untab
ility
APPRENTICE • Assists with
menial, related tasks
• Bills time
MENTOR • Shows what
they’re doing • Explains why
GATES • None
ObservationAssistance
Mentorship
Oversight
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
Acco
untab
ility
APPRENTICE • Executes the
method • Bills time
MENTOR • Talks apprentice
through the method
GATES • Workshop
complete • Apprentice
feels ready
ObservationAssistance
Mentorship
Oversight
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
Acco
untab
ility
APPRENTICE • Executes the
method • Bills time
MENTOR • Checks
apprentice’s work
GATES • Apprentice
feels ready • Mentor agrees
ObservationAssistance
MentorshipOversight
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
DEFINE APPRENTICE CAPABILITIES
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
TRACK APPRENTICE PROGRESS
TRACK OPPORTUNITIES TO PRACTICE©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
TRACK REFLECTIONS, THOUGHTS, & FEELINGS©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
TRACK PROGRAM FEEDBACK©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
YOUR NEXT STEPS - LAY THE FOUNDATIONBUSINESS VALUE
• Meet growth goals?
• Offset recruiting costs?
• Profitable employees?
• Client goodwill?
• Determine the length
Define how apprenticeship will benefit your organization
HIRE FOR TRAITS
• Standard UXD traits
• Additional traits?
• Undergrads?
• Grad students?
• Career switchers?
Define apprentice traits & identify key sources
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
• Choose design methods
• Write/choose workshops
• Develop reading list
• Create “play” projects
Define how apprentices will be exposed to the basics
PEDAGOGY
• How will you spread the burden?
• What different levels of mentorship are required?
• What should apprentices be capable of?
Define the mentorship structure of your program
MENTORSHIP
YOUR NEXT STEPS - INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship
YOUR NEXT STEPS - SET UP TRACKING
TRACKING
• Forms, spreadsheets, databases, processes, etc.
• Progress & feedback
• Practice opportunities
• Feelings & reflections
• Program feedback
Set up the infrastructure you need for tracking
Fred Beecher UX Apprenticeship Lead !
[email protected] nerdery.com/fb @fred_beecher !
slideshare.net/fred_beecher/
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