THE UNICORN IS DEAD Soft Skills Trump Coding Skills Paul Sherman
OBJECTIVES Deconstruct the UX unicorn. Identify critical soft skills for user experience practitioners. Discuss how we can better formalize and train soft skills in our industry. http://bit.ly/1XYnfL0 2
OBJECTIVES Deconstruct the UX unicorn. Identify critical soft skills for user experience practitioners. Discuss how we can better formalize and train soft skills in our industry. Marvel at rainbow- pooping unicorns. http://bit.ly/1XYnfL0 3
ME Trained as an aviation human factors researcher. I’ve built small and large UX teams. Teach at Kent State’s UXD program. Provide user experience research and design consulting. 4
I’m also a Pixar plot device. 5
The Current UX Landscape 6
Median User Experience Practitioner Salary 2005 - 2014 Everything is awesome! Source: UXPA 2014 International Salary Survey 7
Make it rain! Woo! Source: The Creative Group 2016 Salary Survey 8
53K+ jobs on LinkedIn! 9
So…what’s the catch? 10
http://bit.ly/1VVJAqx We still struggle for a seat at the grownup table. 11
SOME TYPICAL SCENARIOS “We need better UX…how long will it take to fix the product by the next release?” “What? There’s no time to do that much research!” 12
SOME TYPICAL SCENARIOS “Do we really need a UX researcher?” “We should use that headcount for another developer.” 13
SOME TYPICAL SCENARIOS “Talk to sales.” “They know what the customer wants.” 14
Company: [ REDACTED ] Location: [ REDACTED ] Job Title: Senior UI/UX Consultant Job Description: Iteratively prototype and build clean and intuitive user interfaces. Optimize frontend CSS performance and stay on top of latest techniques. Build and test complex multi-tiered Web Apps and UI Framework Components. Support technical lead with creating clean, organized code in an easily enhanced and maintained structure. Active support and participation from design to screen layout. Maintain a high level of unit and integration test coverage across projects to catch and prevent feature regressions. Practice and encourage adoption of agile development methodologies. Check out this Maintain user-interface and design patterns with live style guides to establish site-wide UX consistency. Ensure implementations follow web standards, accessibility, and usability best practices. job posting… Utilize responsive web design techniques to mitigate cross-browser and cross-device inconsistencies. Qualifications: Bachelor's Degree or equivalent experience. 6+ years of experience with Strong Front End UI/UX skills in a corporate environment. Knowledgeable in information architecture, human computer interaction, and usability design principles. Ability to create logos and graphics for websites, proposals, and marketing materials. Creativity and ability to work with others on iterative design. Experience completing mockups and wireframing. Experience with usability/user feedback test design and execution for mockups, prototypes, pre-release functionality, and production systems. Understanding of UX principles. Experience with typography, layout, and color theory. 15
RESEARCH “Experience with usability / user feedback test design and execution for mockups, prototypes, pre- release functionality, and production systems.” 16
RESEARCH DESIGN “Experience completing mockups and wireframing.” “Ability to create logos and graphics for websites, proposals, and marketing materials.” 17
RESEARCH DESIGN DEVELOP “Iteratively prototype and build clean and intuitive user interfaces.” “Optimize frontend CSS performance and stay on top of latest techniques.” “Build and test complex multi-tiered Web Apps and UI Framework Components.” 18
RESEARCH DESIGN DEVELOP TEST “Maintain a high level of unit and integration test coverage across projects to catch and prevent feature regressions.” 19
RESEARCH DESIGN DEVELOP TEST STANDARDIZE & MAINTAIN “Maintain user-interface and design patterns with live style guides to establish site-wide UX consistency.” “Support technical lead with creating clean, organized code in an easily enhanced and maintained structure.” 20
RESEARCH DESIGN DEVELOP TEST STANDARDIZE & MAINTAIN EVANGELIZE AGILE & PLAY NICE “Practice and encourage adoption of agile development methodologies.” “Creativity and ability to work with others on iterative design.” 21
This isn’t just a unicorn… 22
http://bit.ly/1sCUlT4 This unicorn poops rainbows, puppies, and sunshine.
UX Unicorn 24
UX Unicorn 25
Have you seen similar job posts? 26
UX Competency Areas 27
User Information Interaction Visual Front end Content research architecture design design development strategy Adapted from Patrick Neeman. Hunting Unicorns: What Makes An Effective UX Practitioner. http://bit.ly/1U4HVKI 28
Typical UX skill set groupings User Content Visual research strategy design Front end dev Information Interaction architecture design 29
Maybe you’ve seen this… Content strategy User Visual research design Front end dev Information Interaction architecture design 30
I’ve even seen this Content strategy Visual design Front end dev User Information Interaction research architecture design 31
User Information Interaction Visual Front end Content research architecture design design development strategy Soft skills 32
Soft skills User Information Content Interaction Visual Front end research architecture strategy design design development 33
SOFT SKILLS CONSIST OF… Effective communication A focus on problem-solving, learning, and personal improvement Ability to work effectively in teams Self-motivation, initiative and good judgment Irena Grugulis & Steven Vincent. “Whose Skill Is It Anyway? ‘Soft’ Skills and Polarization.” Work Employment & Society, December 2009, Vol. 23, No. 4 597-615. 34
PEOPLE WITH SOFT SKILLS ARE… Empathic Fearless Curious Self-aware Systematic Articulate Pragmatic Passionate Patrick Neeman. Hunting Unicorns: What Makes An Effective UX Practitioner. http://bit.ly/1U4HVKI 35
THE NATURAL LIAISON “Businesses have always needed people who can bridge the gaps between functional areas. There are those people – I call them the ‘natural liaisons’ – who have always existed between camps.” “They bridge the gulf between groups, enable communication between them, and understand the frustrations they feel.” “A certain quality often brings them to the role, whatever their job title happens to I K V be.” H 4 U 1 / y l . t i b / / : p t t Adam Polansky, 2006. Changing Perceptions: Getting h The Business To Value User-Centred Design Processes. 36
IT TAKES SOFT SKILLS TO… Identify people’s emotions and aspirations. Communicate the information to product and development. Design solutions that successfully engage emotional needs and aspirations. Kelly Goto, Beyond Usability: Adaptive and Assistive Technology. UXPA 2016 Keynote Address. 37
You want evidence? Because I have some. 38
My question: “What should UX practitioners be learning to be successful?” 39
COLLABORATION JUDGEMENT EMPATHY COMMUNICATION INITIATIVE INFLUENCE 40
COMMUNICATION INFLUENCE “Researchers and designers need to work on how they present their research findings and designs in a compelling way that inspires the rest of the team to act on them.” - Kit Unger, Director of UX, Smartsheet 41
COMMUNICATION INFLUENCE “Economy of information. Being understood is more important than using all your big-kid words and buzz-words.” “All your deliverables need to be usable for your team and stakeholders.” - Adam Polansky, UX Strategist, Bottle Rocket Studios 42
COMMUNICATION INFLUENCE “That 40-page usability study report that you got a 4.0 on at school won't be useful for (or read by) most companies.” “Your work must always have something that can be acted upon by your client / team.” - Rebecca Destello, Senior UX Researcher, Atlas Informatics 43
COMMUNICATION INFLUENCE “How to influence executives to give you funding for the team / goals.” - Wendy McKibben Spies, Director of Engineering Strategy, Microsoft 44
COLLABORATION “The concept of ‘that's not my job’ deserves a Batman- slapping-Robin kind of reply. The product's success IS your job. And if that means you need to stay late with the developers, so be it.” - John Athayde, VP Design, Cargosense 45
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COLLABORATION “Dive in to understand the business needs as well as user needs.” - Patrick Neeman, whisky aficionado / troublemaker 47
JUDGEMENT INITIATIVE “That synthesis and analysis are not the same thing, they are actually the opposite of each other.” “Rigorous analysis (take apart / deconstruct) and synthesis (put back together / reconstruct) methods make or break a good researcher.” - Kelly Goto, Principal, Goto Research 48
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