making more ux designers in education
DESCRIPTION
The demand for user experience designers has skyrocketed. Interest in UX as a career has soared along with that demand. However, this demand is only for designers with 3 years of experience or more. There are simply not enough experienced designers to fill these positions, and this experience gap is a barrier to offering potential designers a consistent path from interest to employment. Many have observed that design is a craft. How do you learn a craft? Education and practice. Apprenticeship is a model that fits that bill well, and during the summer and fall of 2013 The Nerdery‘s UX team put it into practice. I want to share our program’s successes and failures, our challenges and solutions, and some of the nitty-gritty details that made it work. The goal of this presentation is to show UX teams in educational institutions how to combine the infrastructure of apprenticeship with their unique business context to help address this problem.TRANSCRIPT
MAKING MORE UX DESIGNERS:UX Apprenticeship in EducationPresented by: Fred Beecher
©2010 Dimension Films
DEMAND FOR UX IS VORACIOUS
SUPPLY OF UX TALENT IS… WEE
©2010 Dimension Films
DEMAND FOR UX IS VORACIOUS
SUPPLY OF UX TALENT IS… WEE
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
UX
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
UX10% - Design School
90% - Dumb Luck
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
10% - Design School
60% - Dumb Luck
30% - Specialty School
UX
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
10% - Design School
30% - Specialty School
50% - APPRENTICESHIP
10% - Dumb Luck
UX
INTEREST DEMANDAPPRENTICESHIP
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INTEREST DEMANDAPPRENTICESHIP
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BUSINESS VALUE
PEDAGOGY MENTORSHIP
HIRE FOR TRAITSAPPRENTICESHIP ARCHITECTURE
TRACKING
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
BUSINESS VALUE
PEDAGOGY MENTORSHIP
APPRENTICESHIP ARCHITECTURE IN EDUCATIONCOMMUNICATION
FEEDBACK
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• Do more work
• Do better work
• Attract & retain senior talent
• Improve UX Design program
BUSINESS VALUE
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COMMUNICATION
“My life is directed by logistics.”- Ange Wang, Adjunct Professor of Design
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DESIGN METHODSBUSINESS STRATEGY - Stakeholder Interviews
- Business Discovery Workshops
- Feature Analysis
- Communicating Business Discovery Findings
USER RESEARCH - Planning & Recruiting
- In-Person Interviews
- Remote Interviews
- Contextual Inquiry
- Survey Design & Analysis
- Web Traffic Analysis
- Research Analysis & Synthesis
- Communicating User Research Findings
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE - Card Sorting & Analysis
- Search Log Analysis
- Content Strategy
- Content Auditing
- Site Mapping
INTERACTION DESIGN - Ideation & Design
Workshops
- Scenarios, Storyboarding, & Process Flows
- Screen Layout & Design
- Interactive Prototyping
- Prototype testing
USABILITY EVALUATION - Heuristic Review
- In-Person Usability Testing
- Remote Usability Testing
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WHAT TO COMMUNICATE
OBSERVATION
METHOD PRACTICE
FULL PROJECTS
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TRACK MENTORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
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EMPATHYFOR STUDENTS
• Their studies come first
• Most haven’t seen the big picture of UX yet
• The serious ones really want portfolio pieces
• They are not just free labor
• They know they won’t be able to finish your project
FOR INSTRUCTORS
• Some instructors are more focused on teaching than others
• Tenure-track instructors might be more focused on research
• Adjuncts are juggling many, many responsibilities
• Instructors need to generate lots of ideas about what to teach
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PEDAGOGY
LEARN OBSERVE
PLAYPRACTICE
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PEDAGOGY
LEARN OBSERVE
PLAYPRACTICE
MENTORSHIP IS THE ENGINE OF APPRENTICESHIP
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Principal Mentor
Apprentices Large Design Team
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College Design
ManagerApprentices
Department Designers
Communication & Logistics
Mentorship & Feedback
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Apprentice
Small Design Team
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Acco
untab
ility
Observation
Assistance
Mentorship
Oversight
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
Acco
untab
ility
Observation
Mentorship
Oversight
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
Acco
untab
ility
Observation
Mentorship
Oversight
APPRENTICE • Watches • Asks questions
MENTOR • Shows what
they’re doing • Explains why
GATES • None
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
Acco
untab
ility
APPRENTICE • Executes the
method with assistance
MENTOR • Talks
apprentice through the method
GATES • Has covered
method in class
Observation
Mentorship
Oversight
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
Acco
untab
ility
APPRENTICE • Executes the
method independently
MENTOR • Checks
apprentice’s work
GATES • Has covered
method in class
• Project work
Observation
Mentorship
Oversight
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PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON APPRENTICES
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ENCOURAGE REFLECTION
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APPRENTICES PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON YOU
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AND ON THE PROGRAM
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YOUR NEXT STEPS - LAY THE FOUNDATIONBUSINESS VALUE
• More work?
• Better work?
• Attract senior talent?
• Enhance UX program’s reputation?
Define how apprenticeship will benefit your organization
COMMUNICATION
• Who is motivated to teach?
• What are they looking for?
• What can you offer them?
Identify your allies and tailor your communication for them
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• Choose design methods
• Identify opportunities for observation
• Identify opportunities for practice
• Identify longer term projects
Define how apprentices can participate in your work
PEDAGOGY
• How will you spread the burden?
• What different levels of mentorship are you able to provide?
Define the mentorship structure of your program
MENTORSHIP
YOUR NEXT STEPS - INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN
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YOUR NEXT STEPS - SET UP TRACKINGFEEDBACK
• Forms, spreadsheets, databases, processes, etc.
• Learning goals
• Reflections
• Feedback for you!
• Pilot class
Set up the infrastructure you need to provide feedback to apprentices & instructors
Fred Beecher UX Apprenticeship Lead [email protected]
nerdery.com/fb
@fred_beecher
!slideshare.net/fred_beecher/
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