rux RichmondUser Experience

Presenting Yourself: Tips for showcasing your IA

experience in your resume and portfolio

February 26, 2009

Who am I and why should you listen to me?

What we’ll cover• Ideas for improving your overall

resume• Ways to highlight your User Experience

skills and background• How to present your User Experience

work• What to include in your portfolio• Other suggestions for the User

Experience focused job seeker

There are ways to trick out your resume without resorting to this…

Your resume should always have:

• Name and contact information

• Education

• Work history

• Specialized skills and software

• The icing on the cake

Improving your overall resume

General tips:

• Put the important stuff first

• Think about the length of your resume

• Check your format, font, and spacing for consistency

• Be honest

• PROOFREAD

Improving your overall resume

This is great and all, but how do you highlight your User Experience skills and background in

your resume?

Think about your resume as a User

Experience project, and approach it using the same techniques.

The UE Focused Resume

• Do a competitive analysis• Think about the flow of your resume:

– What do I want the reader to focus on? – What is the most important thing you’re trying to convey?– Is my experience the most relevant, or are my skills and

software knowledge?– Wait- didn’t she say to think about where to put my contact

information?• How much information should I include? How much is too

much, how much is not enough?• What was your contribution to a project? • Include client names if appropriate• Don’t use preformatted resume templates• Show your personality- a well designed, creative resume is

more likely to get by HR• Use key words in your resume- rewrite it (but don’t lie!) to fit

the job description for the spot you’re applying for.

Some User Experience resume styles to get excited about

So you’ve got the resume down. Now how do you go about showing off your work?

Presentation is everything.

• Show off your presentation skills• Stay competitive• Lets you see what gaps you have in your

experience• Keeps you prepared• It makes you look like you know what you’re

doing

Why should you make a portfolio?

• A comprehensive, consistent group of samples

• A variety of work samples

• A well thought-out method of presenting your work

• Samples that are either explained well, or are self- explanatory

• Work that is detailed and creative

What I look for when I ask for samples

• Handle confidential information with sensitivity

• Gain needed permission to include samples in your portfolio

• Make sure your role in each sample is explained

• If sending samples via email, ensure your file is small enough to transmit easily

When compiling your portfolio…

• Website or portfolio url

• Online portfolio at a creative resume site

• Zipped folder of samples

• PDF of screen shots or samples

• PowerPoint presentation of samples

Ways to present your UX portfolio

• Don’t send a screen shot of the finished site and reference the IA/ Usability work you did without specific examples

• Don’t send several emails with samples as you come across them

• Don’t send work that you didn’t actually do

Some things NOT to do…

What kind of work is in a User Experience portfolio anyway?

• Competitive Analyses• Personas• Wireframes• Process Flows• Prototypes• Sitemaps• Usability studies• Style Guides

Some common UX samples

Competitive Analysis An exploration of the companies in a given industry sector or market niche that are competing with your company’s products or services for market share. The primary benefits of any competitive analysis are a better understanding of what your competitors are doing, what they are offering to customers, and how to maintain your competitive advantage.

A good competitive analysis is often a written report detailing the methods used, findings, and recommendations.

PersonasFictitious characters created to represent the different user types within a targeted demographic that might use a site or product. Personas are useful in considering the goals, desires, and limitations of the users in order to help to guide decisions about a product, such as features, interactions, and visual design.

A good persona includes detailed information about your character based on demographic research, and will often provide data such as a picture, age, occupation, interests.

WireframeA basic visual guide used in web design and Information Architecture to suggest the structure of a website and relationships between its pages. It is also an illustration of the layout of fundamental elements in the interface.

Wireframes could be interactive HTML prototypes or static illustrations, and will include detail about information that goes on a website without including graphics.

Process FlowsDiagrams of the way a user will travel through a function that a website performs. These are similar to use cases and workflow diagrams. A good process flow will typically include multiple actions a user could take along with enough detail so the reader understands what the user is trying to accomplish.

PrototypesThese can be done on paper or online, and serve as a “mini” website. They’re often used as part of usability testing to help determine a site’s success before it actually goes live.

A good prototype will look much like a page from a finished site, but will usually have dummy content.

SitemapsThey show the overall structure and hierarchy of a Web site. They can be used as the first step in laying out the web information architecture of a site, and will provide the framework upon which to base site navigation.

Usability StudiesUsed to understand real users’ reactions to your website. Sample studies can include detailed plans for the usability tests, user reactions, and results and recommendations. These are typically multi-page documents. Good usability samples are detailed and cover the entire user testing process.

Style guides A Web style guide is a document that outlines the design requirements for site. A style guide generally defines the typography, color palette, and key elements. The value of a style guide is to have documentation for others to refer to and follow. This is important for large Web sites that have numerous individuals and groups maintaining or adding content. Having a guide to enforce common element and font usage will help ensure a consistent site design.

This is usually a detailed, multipage document, and while it is usually done by a designer, it does sometimes fall to an IA.

• Utilize Social Networking to your advantage

• If you give people access to your information, be cautious about what you post

• Become familiar with User Experience organizations and websites, and become active in your local UE community

• Volunteer to take on projects to gain exposure and build your portfolio

Other advice to the UE job seeker…

Questions?