Learnings from working in the real world after UX bootcamp

👋 Hello! I’m back to share some insights in hindsight and the top actionable things I would consider doing differently for next time.

It’s been nearly 5 months since I published “So you landed your first UX freelance gig!”

I just ended my first contract role following my graduation from CareerFoundry. And to be honest, I believe the UX freelance guide I created was quite helpful in starting my first break in UX.

I’m back to share some insights in hindsight and the top things I would consider doing differently for next time.

1. As you get more involved in the project/product strategy, identify and confirm exactly who is considered a major stakeholder and gauge their impressions of your designs/recommendations before prototyping hi-fidelity.

It’s pretty common to hear the phrase, “share designs often and early” as a way to align expectations and remove any catastrophic misunderstandings.

This rang true throughout my first project. Even the smallest design layouts or UI can lead to major disagreement or drastic changes in how the product is being perceived by management. If management does not see the moving progress of your work, they cannot accurately know how to critique/understand your proposals. In the end, all your hard work may have to be changed completely! Most of the time, all it takes is one extra step of effort to reach out via a slack message or quick e-mail which can create an opportunity to align both parties as the design stages develop.

Actions to take in the future to prevent big misunderstandings:

→ Identify by name who the main stakeholders are

Ensure they are in the loop regarding any design direction decisions and iterations (make sure these people are invited to meetings so they are up to date with the UX lense). This is important because they may have outside information that will affect how your design develops.

→ Get as deep as you can in understanding the product vision and nuances of what stakeholders imagine the product to look/feel like.

This sounds like a very simple thing to do, but this is something I missed completely.

Ask as many questions as you can because what your data says from research can be vastly different from what management is envisioning.

As a brief example, the SaaS I was working on did not have a clear enough product vision, some team members were focused on the product functioning similarly to a “To do/task” product whereas other members deviated from this concept. It was not clear to me from the beginning, so many UI changes and functionalities had to be redone. Really try to get into the brains of your stakeholders!

→ With the pandemic still among us, always provide a Loom video share of your design.

Make sure to walk through why it looks the way it does and your thought process behind those decisions. A little can go a long way when you explain why the layout is horizontal and not vertical like management may have suggested.

From my consulting experience, it’s been an acquired skill to always be prepared with a well thought-out rational explanation for why you did certain things. This communication results in both parties being on the same page and less confusion down the road. Not only does it make your audience more engaged with visual and audio learning (vs. just text/screenshots in an e-mail), it sets your audience up for better information retainment.

2. Don’t sacrifice the quality of design or the design process itself even if under a strict time crunch.

As most people face in the real world, sh** happens. But there are ways to navigate sudden changes or unexpected problems so things don’t get even worse.

If in any way a crucial step of the design process is neglected for the sake of timely shipping, it is our responsibility to relay what consequences will occur from a big picture standpoint.

It is still very common that a vast majority of companies do not consider UX as the most important when it comes to what gets prioritized at the top. Remember, you are the expert in the room and even though it may be a bit intimidating to stand your ground, it will save you and the rest of the team from heartache.

Actions to take in the future to prevent poor UX project management:

→ Always share or revise a UX roadmap that includes what stages of the design process you will cover. (User Research, Usability Testing, etc)

It was extremely helpful for me to pinpoint how my time is spent and communicate to managers why a specific task adds important value to the overall design. (Actually, before the project even starts it would be useful to have this outlined. I go over this in the guide mentioned.)

→ If there is an area you are not so comfortable with (ie. Survey Creation, Interaction Design, etc) add more time to your estimate.

I learned from this contract experience that I will certainly take longer in interaction design than I would in research and analysis. As my background was previously in consulting and looking to data to tell stories to clients, interaction design was definitely something I had to relearn numerous times. It would be good to add 2x more time to your original estimate to ensure you are covering what you need to learn and to prevent yourself from under-delivering (over-estimation is always better than under-estimation).

Wrap-up

In a bootcamp/school environment, your ideas and designs can be stamped with approval or get a “passing” grade. It is a very linear process with almost no other people involved.

However, once you enter the real world, things can get messy and it’s up to us to keep our cool and adapt as smoothly as possible. If you are in a situation where you have a UX manager or leader by your side, there may be a protocol to follow and less responsibility on you. But, if you are a freelancer or a solo designer, you will need to stand up for what you believe is right- not just for serving your own ego but for the service of the product and your whole team.

As scary as it sounds, be brave and illustrate why this task/why your time performing this task is crucial for excellent UX and how it will negatively cost the company if not done. Remember, you need to give mature design a voice!(Try giving a short example using visuals or share scenarios of BAD design decisions and how it cost other companies)

I hope this helps anyone and please share comments if you have practices that help you as a solo designer :)

As always, have a productive (but also mentally and physically healthy!) start to your week! 👋