UX in 2015 and the Social Bubble

The UX market is always evolving, this is why we all love it!

I came across this article and found it an interesting read. When I saw the headline of the article, I was immediately thinking.....Social Media, Wearables, Internet of things. I was actually pleasantly surprised when I did read the article.

I did however find it hard not to notice the projections that analysts have predicted for Instagram in 2020, it’s projected to hit 5.8 billion dollars. Social is obviously going from strength to strength and it’s almost just a matter of time before the next social phenomenon hits us!

You see some of the fantastic work that the User Experience designers are part of, everything does seem to have a to social presence and I’m seeing a lot of designers factoring this into their latest projects, how will businesses be able to stay in touch with social to make sure they maximise this phenomenon!?

Will we suffer from companies using social media mediums for the sake of being relevant and because it seems to be the ‘done thing’? If you’re not benefiting from the social mediums, is it necessarily worth having the channels in place? How and when do businesses know what social channels are going to be useful and which avenues leave them open to negative and possibly bad publicity?

Would be great to get your thoughts.

SUKHI KANG

SPECIALIST USER EXPERIENCE RECRUITER

Should you UX for free?

As we hope you know, your UX talents are amazing, valuable things! As in any profession, the marketplace can put a price on your skills (read here) and your level of experience and vision can indicate what you could be worth to a company.

So, when should you work for free?

When you’re just starting out:
Most UX-lings will know that it’s tough starting out, but with the right attitude and contacts you can get there! Getting together an awesome portfolio is an important first step, and a great way to do this before landing your first job is to offer your services free of charge.

When it’s a project you love:
If there’s a brand, company or start up you’d be honoured to have your name attached to; there’s no harm in offering assistance to make your dream come true. If there’s a job going – even better – but if you’re motivated by the work itself, then let them know you’d be happy to help out – you never know what may come of it!

When it’s a friend in need:
As you grow your network of UX colleagues you may come across those who are struggling to get their own projects off the ground. Why not help out, get involved in something cool, and help a friend realise their vision at the same time?

When you want to collaborate:
You’re a UX developer with an idea. Your friend’s a designer, who also knows a mean UX researcher looking for some short term work. What better than to put your skills together and create something worthwhile? Working together with only a mission and coffee spurring you on can result in something beautiful.

So there you have it; our top reasons why you might like to offer up your valuable skills for zilch! Have you ever worked for free, and if so, in what circumstance?

Please email us here to tell us.

Apple’s next move

One of the hot topics of the week has been the iPhone and iWatch. I've been an Apple man myself for some time; I swear by my iPhone and use the iPad religiously.

At times like this, I get all excited about the launch and sit there with my cuppa and biscuits waiting for it all unravel, although a lot of it goes over my head until I actually get into the forums!

Something I found quite useful with regards to the Apple iWatch:

http://www.stuff.tv/apple/10-things-you-need-know-about-iwatch/news   

I do find that as soon as the launches are done, all you seem to hear are the negatives..'it doesn't do this.. it doesn't have that..it's too big.. it's too small'.. but within the first 2 months of the release everyone who's anyone seems to have one!!

What is the general consensus among people out there at the moment with the latest releases?

I saw the adverts that were released by some of the competitors ... and the things that were said about the new Apple release being similar to what others have already done.  Is that not a classic Apple move, are people really surprised? Let others have a go, then release something that has a better experience for the user.

 

Most people will agree that Apple products have a great UX.  As an example, my dad is Lord of the Technophobes, but with the simplicity of use that the Apple products have, he's the absolute man in his little group of friends because he's got a few apps that they've never seen!

With the bigger screen, it's not going to fit in the palm of the hand like iPhone's have typically been known for - being able to hold the phone in one hand and swipe with your finger whilst on the go. It does seem to be the time for 'Phablets'.  According to Yahoo's Flurry Unit, Phablets have nearly quadrupled their share of app activity and doubled active users in the last 12 months.

Although there is a buzz around Phablets at the minute, it is a specific type of person who will want one. For the business user, the tech enthusiast and the holiday reader the Phablet is great, but getting one of those in your pocket on a day to day basis for those non business types, social users etc won't really be as appealing..?

What do other industry professionals think about the reaction of the competition? Is Apple slipping? Are competitors trying whatever they can to weather / offset the storm that the Apple brand stirs up at release? Will the bigger screens affect the experience? Will my technophobe father be all at sea with the new wave of products ha!

What comes next..

As always, would love to hear from you - please email me.

The World Cup of User Experience

Football is often viewed as the great social unifier.

If you’re in an awkward situation, just bring out the football talk. During the World Cup in particular, almost everyone has an opinion.

So, it may come as a surprise to you that the writer of this blog despises the beautiful game!

In an attempt to endear myself more towards this event where grown men run up and down a field in silly uniforms, I decided to do a little research into the applications out there and see which ones are dominating the market in terms of great UX, usability and graphics.

1.)    Best All-rounder  - World Cup Brazil 2014 
2.)    Best Betting-related app – Oddschecker
3.)    Best for Managing your Sweepstake – Shuffl.com
4.)    Best Football Manager - Football Manager Handheld 2014 SEGA
5.)    Best for Fantasy Football – Fantasy iTeam

Let me know which ones you’re obsessed with!

Which UI’s do you really like?  Which ones do you think could use some improvements?

Please let me know what you think by emailing me.

What Is The Best UX Portfolio Format?

This week I wanted to ask the hiring managers out there – which portfolio format do you prefer to see?

The formats we regularly see are:

• Personal website
• Dropbox (or other) link to PDF
• Portfolio sites such as Cargocollective or Behance
• Dribbble – snapshots of work
• Folder of individual files
• Links to live works throughout CV

I know which ones appeal the most to us – but I wanted to get your take on this too.

Please do email me.

The Path to a UX Career

As with any decision to start out on a new career path, a fledgling UX’er will face the conundrum that Experience breeds Experience. That is to say, if you don’t have any commercial experience to your name, it is sometimes pretty hard to get your foot in the door.

This week I wanted to ask whether any readers have tips or tricks they would give to Graduates/ Juniors or Designers/Researchers from a different background looking to effectively push the re-set button on their career.

Depending on their vacancy, companies can afford to be selective on the candidates they choose to put forward to interview processes. So the question remains, what can you do to make yourself stand out if you are new to the industry?

We would suggest: 

• Attending careers fairs
• Networking on social media
• Strengthening your online presence – align all online profiles with the same skills and photo, interlink effectively
• Blogging about industry topics and gaining followers
• Taking a step down in your expectations (salary-wise) – One step back for two steps forward
• Building up freelance experience
• Working for free – we wouldn’t suggest this in the long run but a client project on your CV will look good whether you were paid or not
• Ensuring your CV and portfolio market your skills well – ask an expert to check. Include lots of key words to ensure you show up in searches
• And if you don’t have a portfolio – create one – online or in PDF form
• Opening your mind to opportunities –  give that company you’re not sure about a shot. If you’re invited to a face to face meeting you will know for sure
• Keeping your CV on all possible job boards and online communities for job seekers – you never know who is looking where
• Attending workshops / UX skill training events – various agencies in London facilitate these
• Attending industry events – IXDA, UXPA, for instance

It would be great to hear if anyone has any further suggestions. Please do email me.

UX Crash Course

Hi all.....

I came across this article earlier today and found it a very useful read.  A good read for those looking to get into the UX space and equally good for those just topping up knowledge.

http://thehipperelement.com/post/75476711614/ux-crash-course-31-fundamentals

Hope you enjoy it!

Please feel free to contact me sukhi.kang@ic-creative.co.uk

The Interview…

As a contractor you probably spend more time interviewing for your next contract than you do onsite at your current one in the few weeks leading up to the end date!! Permanent candidates will be asked to move heaven and earth to attend interviews, and then be made to wait until things get signed off before we can even move forward. It is however the part of the process that can’t be missed!

I’ve had some great stories from clients and candidates about interviews, some have been done within 15 minutes and offers out, some have gone on for hours because the client wants the candidate to refer back the ‘user’ at least once!

As the designers and the interviewers you’re the guys that have the technical knowledge, but sometimes you can forget about the person/s that are in the interview room with you. Being a UX interview, I’ve spoken to a few of my clients and done some reading to see what I can muster up, here are a few points that can hopefully help..

• You’re interviewing for a User Experience role- so take yourself out of the interview for a second and think of the client as a user and you’re the product. Have an understanding of the needs of the client, and how you will get them to their goal.
• This leads on to the next point quite well, as controversial as this may sound, designers will get to the same end product/ deliverable as another (some by hook or crook and others by loving what they do and being darn good at it), but it’s the process and the methods that will make you stand out and fill clients with confidence
• When you’re asked to take your portfolio with you to go through it, it’s not just a matter of plugging it in and saying ‘I did that.. I did that.. I helped do this.. I drew that..’ take the client on a journey. It’s all about the user experience here, if the interviewer has been taken on a journey through your portfolio, they’ve understood how you approached the task, the problems you came up against, the methods you used, how you thought outside of the box when you came up against hurdles and how you got to the deliverables, the client is seeing the product in action. This is a good user experience for them, they’ll invest in the product..

For example..

Buying a car	Hiring a UX Designer
Do your research (internet)	Do your research (Linked, Xing)
Watch videos and screen (youtube, forums)	Go through online portfolio / PDF
Go to a showroom to have a look	Skype / telephone interview
Test drive	Face to Face interview and expanded portfolio review
Question the salesman	Ask the interviewer questions
Decision	Decision

Obviously this is quite watered down, but my point is you wouldn’t buy a car without going through the process, you’re putting your hard earned money into something and you want to be made to feel excited about what you’re doing. Be the Aston Martin in your interview, you’ve got to the interview stage because you’ve passed through the previous phases.

If you turn up, it’s your fourth interview of the week, you’ve got a Dominos on order, hoping the delivery man doesn’t turn up in the middle of Eastenders then it’s not worth you being there. If you are there, you’ve done the research and have a genuine interest, show the passion you have in your work, sell yourself as that top end vehicle and give them the best test drive they’ve had (bit cheesy, I just got really caught up in the writing).

Just a few pointers, I’m more than happy to go into more detail over phone or email if you have any questions or pains about interviews.  Please feel free to contact me at sukhi.kang@ic-creative.co.uk

 

Smarter Energy Controls – a Usability Perspective

Shorter days and colder nights, winter is upon us. Many of you may be fighting the temptation to stick the heating on, leave the lights on and run hour-long hot showers upon crawling in from work. Don’t even mention the mould spiralling out of control in the coldest and dampest rooms…  the wet towels which remain forever wet….at a time when it’s way too cold to even consider opening the windows,  cranking the heating up and tumble-drying EVERYTHING is the only way to combat the feeling that you’re living in a cave. On top of this, you’ve got to have the TV on constantly as you’re certainly not going to be venturing outside for the next three months.

Maybe this is why winter is the most pertinent time to put some real thought into energy saving behaviour, and where UX practises can help guide us all in saving the pennies and the environment.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) have recently commissioned a report on the Usability of Smarter Heating Controls; co-authored by Steven Wall and Filip Healy.

In the report, the specialists address the effectiveness of the technology users interact with to control energy flow throughout their homes. Taking into account demographics, impairments, education level and even smart-phone ownership, this report provides an interesting insight into the usability of heating control products currently on the market and provides recommendations for key requirements to keep in mind for future development.

With climate and economic change at the forefront of our minds, this proves to be an important piece of research which simultaneously provides insight, and emphasises the scope and relevance of the application of usability studies.

Please feel free to contact Sam Emmett to discuss all things UX.

New Year, New You: Find a New UX Job in 2014

What is it about the New Year which spurs people on to begin their job hunt afresh?

Certainly it has something to do with the idea of a “new year, new you” – a time when everyone around you is making resolutions to change one thing for the better. The past year has become a measurable increment of time which you can reflect back upon – languishing for weeks, or months in a less-than-ideal job is excusable, but when this period of stasis reaches a whole year you realise it’s time to do something about it!

Reasons for stagnating in a role which is comfortable – but not challenging – are myriad; proximity to home, a good enough pay packet, a friendly team wherein you have lots of friends. What people tend to realise come January is that you can always strive to achieve more. The New Year acts as a kick-start to move your life on and achieve something you can be proud of!

A lot of the time it’s not even the case that there’s anything amiss with the job or company you’re in. Over the last twelve months you will have changed; grown, learnt, and adapted – what suited you back when you started is not the best fit for the new, improved 2014 version of you.

So, invest some time in reassessing your current needs. Would you like to climb up the career ladder? Would you like to manage a team? Would you like more experience designing for a specific platform? Would you like to try contracting? Do you think you should be earning more money to support your lifestyle? Would you like to relocate, have you always dreamt of working in Paris, Berlin, Hong Kong….?

From our clients’ point of view, January is the perfect time to go on a recruitment drive. With everyone nicely rested from the Christmas break – now’s the ideal time for hiring managers to invest some effort and reshuffle their schedules to incorporate interviews and meetings with potential new team members. New projects are on the horizon – and more pairs of hands will be needed. On top of this, new budgets are being released and hiring roadmaps are being drawn up for the coming months.

If you want to take the initial steps towards a new career move, feel free to pick up the phone and call Sukhi or Sam at IC Creative on +44 (0)1189 881150. Alternatively, have a look through our current jobs which we advertise here.  With a searchable function; you can easily find the type of role you’re looking for or register your interest with a few simple clicks.

Hope to hear from lots of new UX’ers in 2014!

UX Open Days - a good idea to embrace?

A certain software firm we work with in France have just had the genius idea of holding a ‘Usability Week’ – a series of open days for other company staff members to pop their heads into the UX department and learn a little more about what goes on in there. Kind of like a science department open day at school, for business students to marvel at.

As well as presentations, demonstrations, talks and titbits they focused on explaining elements of user experience such as responsive design across platforms, persona development and accessibility, and why they are integral to the success of the businesses’ internal and customer-facing digital output.

I wonder if something like this should be rolled out by more firms? It seems like a great idea to raise awareness and most of all, show off how important UX is!

Have you gone down the same route in your firm? Are you planning to? Would you try to do this on lunch times or would you prefer to have walk in sessions throughout the day so employees can see your team members hard at work? Keen to hear your thoughts on this topic!

 

Please contact Sam.Emmett@ic-creative.co.uk.

Joining the UX movement – now is the time....

UX has gone from strength to strength;  IC Creative is definitely seeing more and more people starting to understand the significance and importance of a good UX.  It’s not always been the way, and the older heads that waved the UX flag to what seemed no avail, have seen how perceptions have changed and the importance of UX is being better received and consequently clients are reaping the rewards. I read an article that outlines why now is the time to become a UX designer, there are a lot of people who are going this way and I think it would be very useful. 

Why now is the right time to become a UX designer.

To discuss this or anything UX, please email Sukhi Kang.

The Perception of UX

Ever since the inception of IC Creative in 2008, we have shared teas and the odd cold beverage with UX managers and a number of designers who’ve told us what some people perceive UX to be, sometimes you can only take UX so far within a business as you’re fighting with powers that be to secure funding etc simply because people have completely the wrong perception.

I personally found this quite a good read, something that some of you may enjoy on your commutes to and from work. I imagine there will be some people out there who have this mindset about UX, I know how much it can get under the skin of those who are in the industry. It maybe something to keep on your desktop and pass onto those who ‘just don’t get it!!’.

 

Four myths about UX and how to bust them

To discuss this or anything UX, please email Sukhi Kang

Why You Need a Good Kick in the UX

Where Would Your Site Be Without Your User Experience Designer?

IC Creative is the industry leading recruitment consultancy for UX jobs. IC Creative asks: what is the point of a User Experience Designer?

So…what is UX? Isn’t it simply an effort to make a finished website look nice? Absolutely not! User experience should be viewed as equally important as any of the processes that go toward site construction. Too many companies believe that the UX designer provides a bit of “dressing-up” for the finished site, whereas they should be looking at user experience as a starting point.

According to Jared Spool, CEO of the world’s largest usability research company, User Interface Engineering (UIE), a lot of firms get it into their heads that “good experience design is an add-on, not a base requirement.”

The process of building a website should be about teamwork. Sharing an equal footing within that team should be the guy who writes the code, should be the copywriter creating the content and should be the UX designer.

It should be a consideration that the end user is a part of the team as well. UX is a constantly evolving process that has to be flexible. Learning what works best and then implementing it, constantly testing and experimenting; what works, what doesn’t, throw that away and move on?

UX isn’t a set discipline. What works for some sites will not be a good fit for others. It depends for what purpose your website is intended and what sort of audience you wish to attract and engage with. Always consider your demographic.

UX isn’t just about appearance; it’s also about interaction, accessibility, usability. It should be attractive, absorbing and fun. Look at it as a combination of logic and emotion: the user wishes to get a particular result from your site, wants to reach a particular page or item, so they want to follow a logical path; but let them enjoy getting there.

Where would a site be without UX? Probably nowhere. Users would be arriving there and not having enough to hold their attention would jump away to the next option. If they stayed because they believed they might find information they’re looking for, without a logical pathway and properly designed buttons, they may never find it. They could get lost in a maze and simply give up.

The problem is the average attention span is widely acknowledged to be dropping. This is especially true when visiting websites, with so much competition on the internet it is believed that the user spends less than one minute per site. It is the UX designer’s job to not only catch the users’ attention but to hold it. If you aren’t holding their attention, perhaps your competitor is.


UX Final Showdown

Simplicity v Complexity in a Bitter Fight to the Finish

UX Design Professionals know that IC Creative is the best place to start in your search for your dream job in User Experience; IC Creative is renowned as the most experienced recruitment consultancy for UX jobs.

It is a UX design professional’s job to decide how simple or complex their creation is going to be for the end user. Make it too complex and not only can you put off many users, it will seem intimidating and it could be criticised for a lack of aesthetic beauty; UX designers very often tend to lean towards the simple, cleaner appearance. Yet is that always the best path to take?

Many people love the appearance of complexity; they believe it gives them an air of sophistication. Take, for example, the BMW M5: for performance it has few if any rivals in its class, a luxury sports saloon. It boasts phenomenal acceleration: 0-60 miles per hour quicker than you say “0-60 miles per hour,” yet to achieve the optimal performance you need to change so many settings, pressing buttons and turning knobs and making the correct selections and confirming those selections, that to get from 0-60 takes about 10 minutes; whereas a family saloon in which you get in, turn the key and drive away will get you to 60mph a lot quicker in real time. It’s the old “hare and tortoise” story. The BMW owner wants those complicated controls though because it’s part of the “ultimate driving machine.”

On the other hand, UX designers know that simplicity is something that users crave. How many older people have trouble with the remote controls for their television or DVD player? They want to push the ‘on‘ button and let it get on with its job, while the younger generation see more value in having more control over functions. Quite often it comes down to demographics; it is about knowing your target audience and giving them what they want.

Two examples of doing the same job but from different perspectives are Google and Yahoo. Google is a search engine, its homepage is clean and simple, its main component is the search box; this simplicity can mean more complexity because you are making your own way through to your end goal. Yahoo is a web directory, on its homepage there is a lot more clutter, more options, therefore more complexity; yet Yahoo’s complexity means more simplicity because the options for the user are laid out in front of them and they can choose what route they would like to follow.

These are two examples that demonstrate the difference between what Edward Tufte described as Adjacent in Space and Stacked in Time, two ways to present the visual layer of interface.

Think of Adjacent in Space as being like an aircraft cockpit: everything the pilot needs is laid out in front of them, making their job easier. This to the casual observer is an overwhelming amount of visual information, most of which is meaningless.

Stacked in Time on the other hand is splitting functionality into layers, functions and information are only presented when needed. This can present its own problems if the route to the users goal is overly long or complex, they could lose their way.

The UX designer should find a middle ground; enough information and simple functionality so the user can navigate successfully and complete their tasks quickly and easily, but without too much needless information and complexity immediately causing sensory overload. Designing for one’s audience is key.

UX, User Experience professionals - visit IC Creative for the very latest positions in this fascinating industry sector.

User Experience Jobs: Design for the End User

User Experience Jobs at IC Creative

User Experience Jobs are available at IC Creative. The primary recruitment partner for some of the most important names in the industry, IC Creative is looking to recruit the best UX professionals.

User Experience, or UX as its practitioners refer to it, is one of the newest disciplines in the world of website design, but it is growing at a startling rate as more online businesses realise its importance. No matter what business it is, online competition in this digital age is going to be fierce, and business owners know that they need an edge, they need visitors to their site to stick around and not give up and go to their competitors’ sites because theirs is more user-friendly and easier to navigate. UX professionals can make that difference.

Traditionally (a strange word to use to describe technology as young as the internet), the website usability decisions have been made by graphic designers who look at the site in terms of its aesthetics, or engineers whose goal is efficiency. What was needed was someone to take up the middle ground between these two extremes. What was needed was someone who understood what the user wanted because they had looked at it from the end-users perspective; what would the user want in terms of functionality? The best way to find out is to ask them and test out ideas.

Some of the biggest players on the internet, such as Google for example, employ hundreds of user experience researchers worldwide, setting up laboratories to test website usability. Sitting users in front of monitors and asking them why they chose button ‘A’ over button ‘B’ or what would the user like to see. What would make their experience better? These researchers are looking for patterns in site visitors’ behaviour; they are also looking for new ideas: a suggestion made by one user might become a preference for many. From the data gathered UX designers can optimise the usability of their site. It can be complex like a revamp of the whole homepage or a different list of menu options; sometimes it is as simple as adding some explanatory text or changing the appearance of buttons.

Much of the art/science of user experience can trace its origins to the work of the academic Donald Norman in the 90s. Norman wrote “The Design of Everyday Things” which looked at the psychology of good and bad design. He advocated user-centred design (UCD), which argues that the primary goal of the designer should be to meet user needs; other things like aesthetics should be a secondary consideration. The role of the designer should be one of simplifying tasks and making things visible; the User Experience professional’s job is to build the site around how users can, want, or need to use the site, rather than making the users change their behaviour to accommodate how the site is set up.

IC Creative would be pleased to hear from you at any time. For an informal and confidential chat about any recruitment issue you wish to discuss, please contact one of their experienced recruitment consultants now.