Jason will be speaking at UX Lisbon this week (Thursday 12 May, 2011 @ 14:30 – Auditorium 2)
(View Jason’s speaker’s profile here: www.ux-lx.com/jasonm.html)
Sell yourself better
User Experience has changed significantly over the past three years. People are pouring in from all sorts of related and unrelated fields, from project management through to development. There are several events per week in major cities like London. Clients are asking for Information Architects, User-Centred Design and a great user experience. ‘UX Designer’ (or the many terms that surround this one) is what ‘Web designer’ was ten years ago.
However, most people still confuse User Interface with User Experience. We are under threat from designers and developers who have picked up the interaction design and information architecture skills they need for developing a really great looking and slick User Interface. We are under threat from marketers and management consultants who have the relationships and the gravitas to talk about ‘services’ and ‘multi-channel experiences’ to the C-Suite.
This is both exciting and scary.
It’s exciting because new perspectives and wider adoption will help to progress what we do in a way that means that more companies reach a higher level of maturity.
With ridiculous day rates, high salaries, unprofessional attitudes and poor work, we are at risk of cannibalising our own future.
We need to take stock right now and have a little bit of introspection around what we are doing, why we are doing it and how we are going to position ourselves better for a more sustained and successful future.
Who’s it for?
Anyone who is looking for a new job, struggling to develop themselves within their current organization, or struggling to sell User Experience activities within an organization
What will you get out of it?
You will hear harsh truths that people may have danced around before
You will better understand how to help develop yourself in the right way
You will be better placed to get the job that fits you
You will be better placed to convince others of the value that you and your process brings
What will be covered?
Jason will expand on his UX Portfolio thoughts, exploring wider why, and how you as a User Experience Professional should sell yourself better in order to get the job you will be happy with, and convince others of the value that you bring so you can keep doing what you love for your own and your client or team’s benefit.
From twitter and blogs, through to portfolios and networking; Jason will offer a colourful perspective as a hirer, Senior User Experience advocate to clients and man about town on the London UX scene.
Some of the topics to tease you with:
- Understanding yourself and your profile
- Understanding your audience
- Building an incredible portfolio
- Saving work as you go
betteruxportfolios 
Thanks very much for taking the time and energy to compile this Jason, its concise, helpful and good to look at. I really like your ‘4 Key Disciplines’ diagramme. Rgds Kirsten.