courage to quit: starting, maintaining and growing your own ux business - ia summit 09 panel
DESCRIPTION
This presentation is from a Panel given at the Information Architecture Summit in Memphis, March 2009. Summary of topic:Information Architects have an opportunity to structure and evolve their own work environment. There is potential to influence where they work, who they work with, the type of work they do and who they do work for. As a freelance IA consultant,there can be a lot of flexibility, but also a lot of uncertainty. Creating boundaries that help define the work we do and how we do it can be difficult, and these boundaries change as the field changes and as we as IAs mature.This panel discusses what it is like to create ones own work environment - the motivation for taking this entrepreneurial path, what it has been like, what we’ve learned, the ups and downs of such a work life.TRANSCRIPT
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The Courage to Quit:
Starting, Growing and Maintaining Your Own UX Business
Sarah A. Rice, Whitney Hess, Jenn Anderson, Chris Fahey
Seneb Consulting 1 of many
http://www.wordle.net
Seneb Consulting 2 of many
Who We Are
Sarah A. Rice
Whitney Hess
Jenn Anderson
Christopher Fahey
Whitney Hess
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Seneb Consulting 4 of many
Seneb Consulting 5 of many
Seneb Consulting 6 of many
Seneb Consulting 7 of many
UX Strategy & Design
User Research
Branding
Design from the outside in
“More high-income workers are
freelancing their way to wealth
through multiple part-time gigs,
changing the way we define a
successful career.”
The Daily Beast, January 2009
http://tinyurl.com/7htdt9
Source: Survey conducted by The Daily Beast and Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates.
Five hundred employed U.S. citizens aged 18 and over were interviewed via the Internet on January 8-9, 2009.
74% Say they have personally felt some impact from the economic crisis
1/3 Americans in survey are now working either freelance or two jobs
45% Have taken on additional gigs in the last 6 months
These new alternative workers
are not low-income—they are
college-educated Americans who
earn more than $75,000 a year.”
“
Zigzagging from outie
to innie and back
a little background…
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Carnegie Mellon
E M P L O Y E R S E D U C A T I O N
User Research
Information design User Experience Strategy & Design
Brand identity
Becoming an innie
assumptions easier to drive consensus
pick & choose
control the direction of product
Becoming an outie
assumptions less connected
control my own time
frenetic
Becoming an innie
the good deep domain knowledge
camaraderie of peers
thought leadership
support staff
conference $
networking opportunities
Becoming an outie
the good getting it, touching it, delivering it
autonomy
exercising my nimbleness
variety
Becoming an outie what
it takes flexibility
willingness to be part of client’s team
courage to step away when it’s time
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What’s your experience?
Q&A
Seneb Consulting 56 of many
http://www.wordle.net
Seneb Consulting 57 of many
Contact
Sarah A. Rice
Whitney Hess
Jenn Anderson
Christopher Fahey
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THANKS!