Kevin Wong gave an informative and engaging talk, “8 lessons as a UX professional,” at the University of Washington’s Information School in late October.  Since graduating with his BS in Informatics from UW in 2007, he’s worked as a user researcher (and designer) at the design firm, Artefact.  The purpose of the talk was to give iSchool students some context about what it means to work in the UX field. I’ve been curious about Artefact and following the company for about a year or so and thought I’d check out his talk as an alum.  

What follows are my rough notes from his talk. Unfortunately, my notes for each slide were not all scribbled in my notebook equally (I left my Macbook Pro at home).  I was able to write down more with some slides than I was for other. But each was important!

Kevin first gave some context around what it means to be a user researcher and why he was drawn to the field.  Basically, his job attempts to understand why people do what they do; to understand behaviors, goals, and motivations.

Slides:

1. Develop a point of view: As a researcher/designer it’s important to have your own unique, thought-out way of approaching problems. Kevin gave the iSchool’s ethos of openness as an example of a point of view.
2. Build a case:  Where does a solution come from? Justify it. Do the research up front to build your case using  1) first hand data like going out and talking to real users 2) second hand information like trend analysis and market research that companies like Forrester provide.
3. Keep it simple:  We’re all limited on time.  About making pitches: executives want the meat and potatoes, not everything on the farm.  While you might find all kinds of interesting data points from your study and research, boil down the important information while making a pitch.
4. Think about outcomes: Ask, what do I want to develop in the end? It will make a difference in how you work whether the final outcome is a simple prototype, flash prototype, research report, or video.
5. Get feedback: Often! There is no reason not to get feedback.  Make prototypes and go out and test them and then learn from your mistakes.
6. Tell stories: This helps you focus on the information you want to present. This is hard, it’s a art, and something that requires practice.
7. Use what you know best: Regarding what tools to use, there’s no set combination of tools, no silver bullet. Use what you know best because you’ll be most effective using those tools.  Artefact tries to encourage a multitude of tools at their company , instead of being a one-tool shop.  This allows for more flexibility in applying the right tool to demonstrate X or Y functionality in a prototype. In other words, one tool might be great in demonstrating one functionality, while another might do better at showing a different functionality.
8. Work with people who are better at something else:  People new to a field often start off as generalists, and then specialize over time. But how do you figure out what to specialize in? Think about what it is that you really like doing and are good at, and use it as a vertical.  Amazing mind-share and creation can happen when two people who specialize in different areas come together and partner on a project (or aspect of a project). We can’t be experts in everything. But we can learn from others who are experts and share our own expertise to move a project forward.

After the presentation, Kevin took questions from the audience.

A student asked what classes he took and recommends.  Research Methods, Design Methods, but especially his Capstone Project were important.  (Incidentally, his capstone project was the same as mine: conference design!) Kevin related that the capstone project allowed him to apply things he learned in class. He advised, “work with people who compliment you; who think about the same problem, but in different ways.” I loved this answer.

Someone else asked what got him the job at Artefact.  ”LinkedIn is your best friend.” (I joined LinkedIn after his presentation.)  He also advised working on your portfolio.  In response to another question about how to make a good portfolio he had several points:

• talk about the problem
• showcase your solution
• highlight your process (how did you get to your solution)
• show evidence
• show your role
• (Also problem solvers can take any domain and think about it. Does your portfolio show that?)

I asked Kevin what books he recommends, and any other reading material he keeps up with.  His response:

Books:

• Designing Interactions by Bill Moggridge
• Blink by Malcom Gladwell

Other reading resources:

• Boxes and Arrows
• UX Matters
• Blogs of other design firms like Frog
• Adaptive Path
• Fast Company
• Research and Strategy [I couldn’t locate a link for this one.]

Another very cool thing I learned during Q&A was about Artefact’s White Spaces Initiative which functions similarly to Google’s 80/20 principle (or, as we joked, their 100/20 principle due to the long hours Google employees typically log).  The idea behind the White Spaces Initiative is to leverage employees’ natural passions and interests. When time allows, employees can dive deeper into subjects they’re naturally interested in. For instance, one employee is enthusiastic about the idea of wearable technology and sensors as fashion.

I left Kevin’s talk impressed both with him, and Artefact. In fact, it’s what lead me to ask him for an informational interview.  

I’ve been curious about the idea of mentorship lately. What makes a good mentee? A good mentor? While there are probably some tried and true answers to this question, my hunch is that it depends significantly on the particular people involved in a mentee/montorship relationship.  What works well for one person may not work well for another. Personalities, communication styles, availability — all these factors affect the success of a mentee/mentor relationship. In my job search coming out of grad school, one of the things that’s high on my priority list is to be in an environment surrounded by bright, engaged people who know more than I do; where I can grow and learn as fast as I can. This is essentially about mentorship, hence my interest. 

I recently had an opportunity to ask Brian Verhoeven, Manager of Information Architecture at Forum One Communications, about mentorship:

EC: For you personally, what makes a good mentee? What do they do that helps take advantage of your ability to mentor them? What do they do that helps them to grow, and to utilize the knowledge and experience of the company and you personally?

BV: Curiosity, thirst for knowledge, and the desire to share that knowledge with others.

Brian relayed that to be most useful, knowledge sharing needs to be actionable. Rather than saying, “hey, isn’t this link cool?,” give him something he can do and act on.  Actionable, key takeaways from new pieces of knowledge are paramount.

He also noted that the most successful employees identify a need they see in a company and are then gung ho about filling that need. In other words, they don’t wait to be told how to improve things. They actively notice where they can have impact, and then dig right in.

Know of any good articles or resources on mentorship? Please leave them in the comments.