Employers Must Use New Form I-9 March 2017: Fill & Download for Free

Hi. In short the answer is yes you can become a UX Designer at 40, as I did that. Will you be able to do it from taking courses at IDF or MOOC? Tough to say.Lots of factors involved. Anything can be done, but face to face learning when possible is very valuable.Whatever happens it will be tough. This is not debatable. I wrote an article on my journey below. Enjoy.If you would like to read it form the original on medium it’s hereHow to become a UX Designer at 40 with no digital or design experience!Notes I wish I’d had before becoming a Designer in Sydney.“Not as easy as i thought this design stuff!” (Photo from Unsplash)What is User Experience Design?User Experience Design is the process of enhancing a persons experience with a product or service and involves an understanding of their behaviourto create a successful design.Example: A business has an app, they want the sign-up process to have a great User Experience (UX). You have business requirements. You find the engineers (computer programmers) limitations. You research, collaborate with designers and others. You create ideas and prototypes to test. You develop what is the best, test more and iterate on that. That’s UX.There is a great demand for good UX Designers. If you have no previous digital or design experience don’t panic. I had neither and managed to get into the world of UX. I chose to be a UX Designer because it was creative, in technology and in demand (and I didn’t need to wear a suit to work!). My journey was not easy, I’ve had bumps along the way but I wouldn’t change a thing.If you are willing to work hard, be patient, and work outside your comfort zone, it’s a really exciting career.___________________________________________________________________Your journey into UX DesignTopics I’ll cover:Studying UX Design, the tools to learn, your UX portfolio, getting a job, the UX process, how to design, user testing , people you’ll work with and ongoing learning.___________________________________________________________________1. UX Study On Campus:Bootcamp study provides you with a good foundation of working in User Experience Design. In Sydney General Assembly and Academy Xi are great places to start your UX journey. They don’t fully prepare you for the real world of UX work, but it certainly helps you in the door.General AssemblyGeneral Assembly is in several cities around the world and has a solid reputation. It focuses on short immersive technology learning courses.In Sydney, it has a 10 week, 5 days a week, full-time immersive UX course. They also do a part time course for 10 weeks 2 evenings per week. I suggest if you are serious to move into UX (and have no experience) commit to the immersive 10 week course. Susan Wolfe taught me in Sydney in 2014 and I couldn’t have asked for a better teacher.The 10 week UX Immersive (as of March 2017) : $13,500.00 (AUS)The 10 week part time UX Course (as of March 2017): $5,000.00 (AUS)General Assembly, UX Design (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane)Academy XiAcademy Xi is the new kid on the kid on the block in Sydney and they to have a good reputation. They teach full and part time technology courses. In Sydney they have a 10 week full time UX course. They also teach UX Design ina 10 week part time course 10am-4pm on Saturdays.The 10 week UX full time UX Course (as of March 2017) : $10,000.00 (AUS)The 10 week part time UX Course (as of March 2017: $3,500.00 (AUS)Academy Xi, UX Design (Sydney, Melbourne)___________________________________________________________________2. UX Study Online:There are quite a few companies that do UX courses online. For me online wasn’t an option. I wanted to get an immersive experience and learn quickly.A few courses worth a look:SpringboardThis would be my choice if I did an online course tomorrow. You get a mentor and it sets you up for an entry level UX Design job. It is also the best value of the online courses here.The self paced 2–4 month UX Course (as of March 2017): $299.00 per month (USD)www.springboard.comDesign LabI did a UI course with Design Lab and they are great. You get a mentor and the content is substantial.The full time 12 week or part time 24 week UX Course (as of March 2017): $2799.00 (USD)www.trydesignlab.comGeneral AssemblyThere part time course is reasonable value. You get a mentor and can do it outside your working life. I would not advise this if you have no previous experience. They say allow 8–10 hours per week.The self paced 5 week course (as of March 2017) : $850.00 (USD)www.generalassemb.lyCareer FoundryThese guys are bit more pricey but go more in depth.They state it will be 10 months at 15 hours a week study. Looks interesting but is a big commitment.10 month course (as of March 2017): $6000.00 (USD)www.careerfoundry.com___________________________________________________________________3. UX Design Tools:Sketching on paperPick up a pencil or pen, some paper and doodle. Sketching is an important part of UX design. You DO NOT need to be a born artist to be able to sketch meaningful designs. You just need to get in the habit of sketching out ideas, app or web screens and customer journeys. I am not a sketcher or an artist, but getting into the habit of sketching has been invaluable. With sketching you can look at ideas quickly. If they don’t work you can throw them away and get onto the next idea..I recently did a community college course in Sydney to practice cartoon drawing. I am no master but I wanted to create my own style to storyboard ideas. The Napkin Academy would be a great way to start your journey in sketching your ideas.www.napkinacademy.comSketchWhat is Sketch? Sketch is the modern day tool for UX Designers. In days gone by Adobe’s photoshop and illustrator where the tools to use. I never used Adobe’s software so jumped straight into Sketch. This will be slightly daunting at first but just dive in and get going. Go online and do some lessons. Be patient, practice everyday and you’ll get there.www.sketchapp.comSketch lessonsOther options instead of Sketch?New tools called Figma and Adobe XD have some great features. My advice would be to learn Sketch to get started.___________________________________________________________________4. Prototype Tools:There are lots of new prototyping tools coming out all the time. Here is a snapshot of what to learn to get started:Sketching out wireframesThe most simple of prototypes. This is a quick option to get things in front of users. Sketched or printed up designs can be a great way to get some quick user validation on an idea. You can even add sketches to make clickable prototypes with Pop App by Marvel.www.marvelapp.com/popInvisionThis is a great tool for prototyping straight forward web and app journey’s. You design the screens in Sketch and export out and add to Invision. You can then create a clickable prototype. You will not able to do advanced interactions but it is a must learn. Don’t worry if this doesn’t fully make sense at the moment, it will.www.invisionapp.comIntro to InvisionPrinciplePrinciple is a more advanced prototyping tool than Invision. It lets you create great little animations pretty quickly. Don’t learn this until you’ve learned Invision.www.principleformac.comLessons in PrincipleKiteThis is a new tool that could overtake Principle. Essentially it will allow you to do a bit more that Principle can do. Don’t worry about this until you have learned Invision and got a hold of Principle. Just a good one to keep in mind for the future.www.kiteapp.co___________________________________________________________________5. The UX Portfolio:The UX Portfolio is the story of who you are and what you’ve done in your UX career. When I finished at General Assembly I decided to code my portfolio. I enjoyed the process but you DO NOT need to code your own UX portfolio. There are lots of great tools to help you do a great and simple portfolio to tell your story.I will write a fuller article on the UX portfolio at some stage. Make sure you have a brief ‘about’ section with your contact details. Then have your portfolio cases. Document the problem you had to solve for each case and how you solved it. UX Managers will want to see your process. Remember to keep it simple with not to much jargon.My first coded portfolio (excuse the UXGuy title!)PDF DocumentIn many ways, this is a sensible option when you’re starting out. You avoid focusing too much time on the technical side of the portfolio and more on the content and UX. You can design it in Sketch (once you have got your head around Sketch!). It can be done in A4 pages which can then be sent as a PDF to the potential employer.SquarespaceSquarespace has great website portfolio templates you can use off the shelf. Bit of thought is required but the results can be impressive.www.squarespace.comDunkedLike Squarespace Dunked has portfolio website templates where you can add your content without too much trouble.www.dunked.com___________________________________________________________________6. Getting a UX Job:This’ll feel scary. You’ve studied and got your head around some of the tools. You don’t feel like a UX Designer, you feel like an imposter! Everyone started here, don’t panic, feeling like an imposter is part of the journey!LinkedinGet your profile on Linkedin up to date. Put in a simple photo. Give yourself a straight forward intro focused on your strengths. Put in your experience with a snapshot of your roles. Same for your education, plus add any short courses you may have done related to UX.People want to get a snapshot of you on Linkedin, they don’t want to read a book. Keep the bullshit out, write naturally and avoid jargon and buzzwords.Pay for the premium Linkedin if it helps you. You can direct message people with Linked Premium. This can be a great way to talk to a company that you’re keen to work at.Good Tip: Message UX designers to ask questions about work at their company. This can be a great way to get in the door.Meet Union PacificPhoto from We are what we do | Meetup: Tech Talks at Pivotal Labs, SydneyGive them your email for regular news and updates for your area. When you go to a meet up, ask questions, say hi to people, be open. I am not a big crowd person but you need to meet people, this could be the door you need.UX Design Meet Ups in SydneyGood Tip: set up a new email for all your UX stuff. This will mean it will not get lost in your sea of regular emails. Avoid being [email protected], just have your name or something close. I had UXGuy and it pains me to see it now!RecruitersPhoto from Hello Erik - Service Design ProfessionalRecruiters are good and bad. Stay away from recruiters who don’t know what UX is. If the role includes coding forget it. If you’ll be the only UX Designer at the company, don’t bother. If like me you have no previous experience, find somewhere that’ll have good people to mentor you. It is nice to get offers from recruiters, but do your research.The InterviewThere is a great article by Springboard about the questions you’ll be asked at a UX interview. Read up and be prepared.www.medium.com/the-7-questions-youll-be-asked-at-a-ux-design-interview___________________________________________________________________7. UX Process:What is the UX process?The UX process is the structure that UX Designers follow to get a desired outcome.Research > Insights > Design Concepts > Test Prototypes > DevelopThere are many variations to the UX process. Typically there is a common sense A to Z journey to get the outcome. My advice would be to look at the options and create your own process. Not all projects will use the full journey, but it’s great to have a structure to follow.Work for a business that follows a UX processMany businesses don’t follow a UX process. They don’t see it as important. Working for companies with no process will make life tough. I did this for a UX contract when I started and it was no fun. It did nonetheless teach me what not to do!Work for a business with a UX process, as you will learn so much more. A mature UX business will really give you a great start to your UX career.Do a side project and go through your full UX processA side project can be great for your learning. Once completed you can add it to your portfolio. A side project could be a re-design of an existing website or app, provided you are solving a genuine problem. Or you could work for a business that can’t afford a full time UX Designer but would like some help.UX booksHere are some great books to get started in UX Design:The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman2. 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People by Susan Weinschenk3. Don’t Make Me Think (revisted) by Steve Krug4. Simple and Usable: Web, Mobile, and Interaction Design by Giles Colborne5. Smashing UX Design by Jesmond J. Allen and James J. Chudley6. The Elements of User Experience by Jesse James Garret7. A Project Guide To User Experience Design by By Russ Unger and Carolyn Chandler8. Sketching User Experiences by By Saul Greenberg, Sheelagh Carpendale, Nicolai Marquardt and Bill Buxton9. Universal Principles of Design by By William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler10. Designing Web Usability by Jakob Nielsen11. Measuring the User Experience by Tom Tullis and Bill Albert___________________________________________________________________8. How to Design:Don’t be precious with your designsOne great trait of a designer is to be flexible. Don’t get attached to your designs. You need to be able to throw them away if they don’t work.Embrace failure of your designs, it means you are one step closer to reaching the end goal.Don’t be scared to get feedbackGet up from your desk and talk to designers, developers, managers, whoever. My experience is that if you talk to five people at least one comes up with great feedback. The quicker you do this, the quicker you can fail and go on to create a great experience.Talk to developersYou need to confirm with the developers that what you have designed can be developed and how long it’ll take. Normally this would be done at the sketching stage but be sure to confirm when designed. When showing stakeholders you want to be able to clearly state that your designs can be developed and the time it will take. Gaining trust from stakeholders by having this information is invaluable.Concept DesigningIt’s great doing concept work for a project if you have time. This is a good way to stay inspired and some of the work may filter through to get developed. My advice would be to do designs that disrupt what is being done. This can open the innovative culture in your team. I don’t do enough of this, but I can see the value and plan to do more.___________________________________________________________________9. User Testing:User testing is a crucial part of the UX process. Get into some user testing yourself to see the process. At Tabcorp we have a great UX Research team. They give us great direction in how we should test our designs, to get the best insights.Great free e-book on testing: www.uxpin.com/guide-to-usability-testing___________________________________________________________________10. People you’ll work with:Be thoughtful of your fellow designersGive positive feedback. When something seems odd maybe “looks great but might be worth looking at the option of…”. Never makes sense to trample on someones designs, doesn’t benefit anyone.UX ResearchersUX researchers will organize and often do the user testing. If you need to get prototypes to UX Researchers be thoughtful. They may have lots of different prototypes so make their life easy. Check the prototype links on test day to make sure all is in order. If you are testing beta sites then make sure everything is in order. The research team does such an important job, so it’s worth keeping them onside.Choose your battles and learn to fightAs a UX Designer you need to fight your corner.“If you don’t battle you’ll end up a UI Designer”(wise words from an old colleague of mine)There will come a time when the business wants to do something that is bad for the customer. Go to battle with stats, testing results or any info that provides proof that it’ll be a problem. Your opinion alone will not be enough, so be prepared. Andrew Doherty (a designer at Google) writes a brilliant article about being prepared to fight:www.medium.com/good-ux-designers-must-be-prepared-to-fight-Choose your allies wiselyOnce you’re settled into your new job, find your allies. These are the ones you can ask the stupid questions to. It’s so important to have a few go to people who can help you out when needed. I have a few people at Tabcorp that can always help me out when I need.Don’t miss out on lunches with your teamAny chance you get to do social stuff with the team do it. This is a great time to make some mates at your work. Creating relationships with your colleagues is key to making the team work well together.No doesn’t always mean ‘No’Ask a team lead if something can be developed, they may say ‘no’. Ask a developer the same question and they may say ‘yes’. Different people in the business have different priorities. A team lead may be saying no because of a time constraint. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done, so ask a few people before you park a great idea.Get up from your desk and talk to peopleInsights can come from anywhere. You normally don’t find them looking at your computer screen. The real insights come when you talk to people in the kitchen, at their desk or at the pub. Be open to peoples ideas from a top manager to a developer intern. Everyone’s voice is important, so keep your ears pricked!___________________________________________________________________11. Ongoing Learning & Staying Inspired:Find UX mentorsPeople who have lots of experience are gold. I have a few friends who are gold but I don’t use them enough. Experienced designers are great mentors. They are also very giving. Chose the people that you want to be like and learn from them.Have a strategy to stay inspired“It’s easy to be creative but more difficult to stay inspired.”I read the above quote on Medium but forget who wrote it. It could have been Julie Zhuo, from Facebook. There are lots of online resources to keep you inspired. I use Panda which a great Chrome plug in which lets you flick through lots of different tech and design news. I spend 15 mins a day flicking through news. Any articles that interest me, I save them and read later. UX Weekly and Sidebar are also good resources.Go to ConferencesThis is a great way to get out of the office and refresh. Going to conferences or workshops can be inspiring. You meet new faces and with that comes new ideas.Carry on learningThis is a must as a designer. You are always learning and always growing.Read medium articles, on your Kindle or on your computer. Don’t stick to just UX Design. Read about programming, product management and other areas that you work with. Great to get some insights on what is happening around you. Take short courses that fit with your life. When you are at your desk instead of listening to music try a few podcasts instead. This is a great way to learn and work. Product Hunt have a great list of design podcasts that are worth listening to.___________________________________________________________________12. Final words:Use Android & Apple phoneLearn the patterns of these two operating systems. If you are an Apple user then switch to Android and vice versa. Get a feel for what you don’t know. Look at Google’s Material Design guidelines and Apples iOS ones.ListenTo become a good UX Designer you need to listen. Lots of listening and noting down comments.Avoid JargonThe tech world has too much jargon for me. Too many buzzwords and not enough straightforward talk. Say things as they are and you should make good headway.Have humility & fail fastThis is a great quality for any designer. Humility comes from being humble. Being humble allows you to fail fast.Be authentic & don’t bullshitThis is a life rule. You are never the smartest one in the room in a tech company. If you attempt to know more than you know, you’ll get yourself in a pickle. People can see through it so keep yourself honest. If you don’t know something, you can get back to people once you’ve figured it out.ConclusionHaving UX Designer as your job title is easy. Getting your head around the full process takes time. Study, learn the tools, read lots, do projects, get your portfolio out there and get a job. Once you have a job this is when the learning really starts. Enjoy the journey as it is a unique time to be a UX designer. Good luck!

I wrote an article on getting into UX Design form scratch. It includes online sections and lots of other useful info.If you would rather read it on Medium go hereHow to become a UX Designer at 40 with no digital or design experience!Notes I wish I’d had before becoming a Designer in Sydney.“Not as easy as i thought this design stuff!” (Photo from Unsplash)What is User Experience Design?User Experience Design is the process of enhancing a persons experience with a product or service and involves an understanding of their behaviourto create a successful design.Example: A business has an app, they want the sign-up process to have a great User Experience (UX). You have business requirements. You find the engineers (computer programmers) limitations. You research, collaborate with designers and others. You create ideas and prototypes to test. You develop what is the best, test more and iterate on that. That’s UX.There is a great demand for good UX Designers. If you have no previous digital or design experience don’t panic. I had neither and managed to get into the world of UX. I chose to be a UX Designer because it was creative, in technology and in demand (and I didn’t need to wear a suit to work!). My journey was not easy, I’ve had bumps along the way but I wouldn’t change a thing.If you are willing to work hard, be patient, and work outside your comfort zone, it’s a really exciting career.___________________________________________________________________Your journey into UX DesignTopics I’ll cover:Studying UX Design, the tools to learn, your UX portfolio, getting a job, the UX process, how to design, user testing , people you’ll work with and ongoing learning.___________________________________________________________________1. UX Study On Campus:Bootcamp study provides you with a good foundation of working in User Experience Design. In Sydney General Assembly and Academy Xi are great places to start your UX journey. They don’t fully prepare you for the real world of UX work, but it certainly helps you in the door.General AssemblyGeneral Assembly is in several cities around the world and has a solid reputation. It focuses on short immersive technology learning courses.In Sydney, it has a 10 week, 5 days a week, full-time immersive UX course. They also do a part time course for 10 weeks 2 evenings per week. I suggest if you are serious to move into UX (and have no experience) commit to the immersive 10 week course. Susan Wolfe taught me in Sydney in 2014 and I couldn’t have asked for a better teacher.The 10 week UX Immersive (as of March 2017) : $13,500.00 (AUS)The 10 week part time UX Course (as of March 2017): $5,000.00 (AUS)General Assembly, UX Design (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane)Academy XiAcademy Xi is the new kid on the kid on the block in Sydney and they to have a good reputation. They teach full and part time technology courses. In Sydney they have a 10 week full time UX course. They also teach UX Design ina 10 week part time course 10am-4pm on Saturdays.The 10 week UX full time UX Course (as of March 2017) : $10,000.00 (AUS)The 10 week part time UX Course (as of March 2017: $3,500.00 (AUS)Academy Xi, UX Design (Sydney, Melbourne)___________________________________________________________________2. UX Study Online:There are quite a few companies that do UX courses online. For me online wasn’t an option. I wanted to get an immersive experience and learn quickly.A few courses worth a look:SpringboardThis would be my choice if I did an online course tomorrow. You get a mentor and it sets you up for an entry level UX Design job. It is also the best value of the online courses here.The self paced 2–4 month UX Course (as of March 2017): $299.00 per month (USD)www.springboard.comDesign LabI did a UI course with Design Lab and they are great. You get a mentor and the content is substantial.The full time 12 week or part time 24 week UX Course (as of March 2017): $2799.00 (USD)www.trydesignlab.comGeneral AssemblyThere part time course is reasonable value. You get a mentor and can do it outside your working life. I would not advise this if you have no previous experience. They say allow 8–10 hours per week.The self paced 5 week course (as of March 2017) : $850.00 (USD)www.generalassemb.lyCareer FoundryThese guys are bit more pricey but go more in depth.They state it will be 10 months at 15 hours a week study. Looks interesting but is a big commitment.10 month course (as of March 2017): $6000.00 (USD)www.careerfoundry.com___________________________________________________________________3. UX Design Tools:Sketching on paperPick up a pencil or pen, some paper and doodle. Sketching is an important part of UX design. You DO NOT need to be a born artist to be able to sketch meaningful designs. You just need to get in the habit of sketching out ideas, app or web screens and customer journeys. I am not a sketcher or an artist, but getting into the habit of sketching has been invaluable. With sketching you can look at ideas quickly. If they don’t work you can throw them away and get onto the next idea..I recently did a community college course in Sydney to practice cartoon drawing. I am no master but I wanted to create my own style to storyboard ideas. The Napkin Academy would be a great way to start your journey in sketching your ideas.www.napkinacademy.comSketchWhat is Sketch? Sketch is the modern day tool for UX Designers. In days gone by Adobe’s photoshop and illustrator where the tools to use. I never used Adobe’s software so jumped straight into Sketch. This will be slightly daunting at first but just dive in and get going. Go online and do some lessons. Be patient, practice everyday and you’ll get there.www.sketchapp.comSketch lessonsOther options instead of Sketch?New tools called Figma and Adobe XD have some great features. My advice would be to learn Sketch to get started.___________________________________________________________________4. Prototype Tools:There are lots of new prototyping tools coming out all the time. Here is a snapshot of what to learn to get started:Sketching out wireframesThe most simple of prototypes. This is a quick option to get things in front of users. Sketched or printed up designs can be a great way to get some quick user validation on an idea. You can even add sketches to make clickable prototypes with Pop App by Marvel.www.marvelapp.com/popInvisionThis is a great tool for prototyping straight forward web and app journey’s. You design the screens in Sketch and export out and add to Invision. You can then create a clickable prototype. You will not able to do advanced interactions but it is a must learn. Don’t worry if this doesn’t fully make sense at the moment, it will.www.invisionapp.comIntro to InvisionPrinciplePrinciple is a more advanced prototyping tool than Invision. It lets you create great little animations pretty quickly. Don’t learn this until you’ve learned Invision.www.principleformac.comLessons in PrincipleKiteThis is a new tool that could overtake Principle. Essentially it will allow you to do a bit more that Principle can do. Don’t worry about this until you have learned Invision and got a hold of Principle. Just a good one to keep in mind for the future.www.kiteapp.co___________________________________________________________________5. The UX Portfolio:The UX Portfolio is the story of who you are and what you’ve done in your UX career. When I finished at General Assembly I decided to code my portfolio. I enjoyed the process but you DO NOT need to code your own UX portfolio. There are lots of great tools to help you do a great and simple portfolio to tell your story.I will write a fuller article on the UX portfolio at some stage. Make sure you have a brief ‘about’ section with your contact details. Then have your portfolio cases. Document the problem you had to solve for each case and how you solved it. UX Managers will want to see your process. Remember to keep it simple with not to much jargon.My first coded portfolio (excuse the UXGuy title!)PDF DocumentIn many ways, this is a sensible option when you’re starting out. You avoid focusing too much time on the technical side of the portfolio and more on the content and UX. You can design it in Sketch (once you have got your head around Sketch!). It can be done in A4 pages which can then be sent as a PDF to the potential employer.SquarespaceSquarespace has great website portfolio templates you can use off the shelf. Bit of thought is required but the results can be impressive.www.squarespace.comDunkedLike Squarespace Dunked has portfolio website templates where you can add your content without too much trouble.www.dunked.com___________________________________________________________________6. Getting a UX Job:This’ll feel scary. You’ve studied and got your head around some of the tools. You don’t feel like a UX Designer, you feel like an imposter! Everyone started here, don’t panic, feeling like an imposter is part of the journey!LinkedinGet your profile on Linkedin up to date. Put in a simple photo. Give yourself a straight forward intro focused on your strengths. Put in your experience with a snapshot of your roles. Same for your education, plus add any short courses you may have done related to UX.People want to get a snapshot of you on Linkedin, they don’t want to read a book. Keep the bullshit out, write naturally and avoid jargon and buzzwords.Pay for the premium Linkedin if it helps you. You can direct message people with Linked Premium. This can be a great way to talk to a company that you’re keen to work at.Good Tip: Message UX designers to ask questions about work at their company. This can be a great way to get in the door.Meet Union PacificPhoto from We are what we do | Meetup: Tech Talks at Pivotal Labs, SydneyGive them your email for regular news and updates for your area. When you go to a meet up, ask questions, say hi to people, be open. I am not a big crowd person but you need to meet people, this could be the door you need.UX Design Meet Ups in SydneyGood Tip: set up a new email for all your UX stuff. This will mean it will not get lost in your sea of regular emails. Avoid being [email protected], just have your name or something close. I had UXGuy and it pains me to see it now!RecruitersPhoto from Hello Erik - Service Design ProfessionalRecruiters are good and bad. Stay away from recruiters who don’t know what UX is. If the role includes coding forget it. If you’ll be the only UX Designer at the company, don’t bother. If like me you have no previous experience, find somewhere that’ll have good people to mentor you. It is nice to get offers from recruiters, but do your research.The InterviewThere is a great article by Springboard about the questions you’ll be asked at a UX interview. Read up and be prepared.www.medium.com/the-7-questions-youll-be-asked-at-a-ux-design-interview___________________________________________________________________7. UX Process:What is the UX process?The UX process is the structure that UX Designers follow to get a desired outcome.Research > Insights > Design Concepts > Test Prototypes > DevelopThere are many variations to the UX process. Typically there is a common sense A to Z journey to get the outcome. My advice would be to look at the options and create your own process. Not all projects will use the full journey, but it’s great to have a structure to follow.Work for a business that follows a UX processMany businesses don’t follow a UX process. They don’t see it as important. Working for companies with no process will make life tough. I did this for a UX contract when I started and it was no fun. It did nonetheless teach me what not to do!Work for a business with a UX process, as you will learn so much more. A mature UX business will really give you a great start to your UX career.Do a side project and go through your full UX processA side project can be great for your learning. Once completed you can add it to your portfolio. A side project could be a re-design of an existing website or app, provided you are solving a genuine problem. Or you could work for a business that can’t afford a full time UX Designer but would like some help.UX booksHere are some great books to get started in UX Design:The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman2. 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People by Susan Weinschenk3. Don’t Make Me Think (revisted) by Steve Krug4. Simple and Usable: Web, Mobile, and Interaction Design by Giles Colborne5. Smashing UX Design by Jesmond J. Allen and James J. Chudley6. The Elements of User Experience by Jesse James Garret7. A Project Guide To User Experience Design by By Russ Unger and Carolyn Chandler8. Sketching User Experiences by By Saul Greenberg, Sheelagh Carpendale, Nicolai Marquardt and Bill Buxton9. Universal Principles of Design by By William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler10. Designing Web Usability by Jakob Nielsen11. Measuring the User Experience by Tom Tullis and Bill Albert___________________________________________________________________8. How to Design:Don’t be precious with your designsOne great trait of a designer is to be flexible. Don’t get attached to your designs. You need to be able to throw them away if they don’t work.Embrace failure of your designs, it means you are one step closer to reaching the end goal.Don’t be scared to get feedbackGet up from your desk and talk to designers, developers, managers, whoever. My experience is that if you talk to five people at least one comes up with great feedback. The quicker you do this, the quicker you can fail and go on to create a great experience.Talk to developersYou need to confirm with the developers that what you have designed can be developed and how long it’ll take. Normally this would be done at the sketching stage but be sure to confirm when designed. When showing stakeholders you want to be able to clearly state that your designs can be developed and the time it will take. Gaining trust from stakeholders by having this information is invaluable.Concept DesigningIt’s great doing concept work for a project if you have time. This is a good way to stay inspired and some of the work may filter through to get developed. My advice would be to do designs that disrupt what is being done. This can open the innovative culture in your team. I don’t do enough of this, but I can see the value and plan to do more.___________________________________________________________________9. User Testing:User testing is a crucial part of the UX process. Get into some user testing yourself to see the process. At Tabcorp we have a great UX Research team. They give us great direction in how we should test our designs, to get the best insights.Great free e-book on testing: www.uxpin.com/guide-to-usability-testing___________________________________________________________________10. People you’ll work with:Be thoughtful of your fellow designersGive positive feedback. When something seems odd maybe “looks great but might be worth looking at the option of…”. Never makes sense to trample on someones designs, doesn’t benefit anyone.UX ResearchersUX researchers will organize and often do the user testing. If you need to get prototypes to UX Researchers be thoughtful. They may have lots of different prototypes so make their life easy. Check the prototype links on test day to make sure all is in order. If you are testing beta sites then make sure everything is in order. The research team does such an important job, so it’s worth keeping them onside.Choose your battles and learn to fightAs a UX Designer you need to fight your corner.“If you don’t battle you’ll end up a UI Designer”(wise words from an old colleague of mine)There will come a time when the business wants to do something that is bad for the customer. Go to battle with stats, testing results or any info that provides proof that it’ll be a problem. Your opinion alone will not be enough, so be prepared. Andrew Doherty (a designer at Google) writes a brilliant article about being prepared to fight:www.medium.com/good-ux-designers-must-be-prepared-to-fight-Choose your allies wiselyOnce you’re settled into your new job, find your allies. These are the ones you can ask the stupid questions to. It’s so important to have a few go to people who can help you out when needed. I have a few people at Tabcorp that can always help me out when I need.Don’t miss out on lunches with your teamAny chance you get to do social stuff with the team do it. This is a great time to make some mates at your work. Creating relationships with your colleagues is key to making the team work well together.No doesn’t always mean ‘No’Ask a team lead if something can be developed, they may say ‘no’. Ask a developer the same question and they may say ‘yes’. Different people in the business have different priorities. A team lead may be saying no because of a time constraint. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done, so ask a few people before you park a great idea.Get up from your desk and talk to peopleInsights can come from anywhere. You normally don’t find them looking at your computer screen. The real insights come when you talk to people in the kitchen, at their desk or at the pub. Be open to peoples ideas from a top manager to a developer intern. Everyone’s voice is important, so keep your ears pricked!___________________________________________________________________11. Ongoing Learning & Staying Inspired:Find UX mentorsPeople who have lots of experience are gold. I have a few friends who are gold but I don’t use them enough. Experienced designers are great mentors. They are also very giving. Chose the people that you want to be like and learn from them.Have a strategy to stay inspired“It’s easy to be creative but more difficult to stay inspired.”I read the above quote on Medium but forget who wrote it. It could have been Julie Zhuo, from Facebook. There are lots of online resources to keep you inspired. I use Panda which a great Chrome plug in which lets you flick through lots of different tech and design news. I spend 15 mins a day flicking through news. Any articles that interest me, I save them and read later. UX Weekly and Sidebar are also good resources.Go to ConferencesThis is a great way to get out of the office and refresh. Going to conferences or workshops can be inspiring. You meet new faces and with that comes new ideas.Carry on learningThis is a must as a designer. You are always learning and always growing.Read medium articles, on your Kindle or on your computer. Don’t stick to just UX Design. Read about programming, product management and other areas that you work with. Great to get some insights on what is happening around you. Take short courses that fit with your life. When you are at your desk instead of listening to music try a few podcasts instead. This is a great way to learn and work. Product Hunt have a great list of design podcasts that are worth listening to.___________________________________________________________________12. Final words:Use Android & Apple phoneLearn the patterns of these two operating systems. If you are an Apple user then switch to Android and vice versa. Get a feel for what you don’t know. Look at Google’s Material Design guidelines and Apples iOS ones.ListenTo become a good UX Designer you need to listen. Lots of listening and noting down comments.Avoid JargonThe tech world has too much jargon for me. Too many buzzwords and not enough straightforward talk. Say things as they are and you should make good headway.Have humility & fail fastThis is a great quality for any designer. Humility comes from being humble. Being humble allows you to fail fast.Be authentic & don’t bullshitThis is a life rule. You are never the smartest one in the room in a tech company. If you attempt to know more than you know, you’ll get yourself in a pickle. People can see through it so keep yourself honest. If you don’t know something, you can get back to people once you’ve figured it out.A must read article for new DesignersAlana Brajdic (a fellow UX designer at Tabcorp) has a great article on ‘22 things new UX Designers should know before entering the workplace’. Make sure you read it.Alana’s articleConclusionHaving UX Designer as your job title is easy. Getting your head around the full process takes time. Study, learn the tools, read lots, do projects, get your portfolio out there and get a job. Once you have a job this is when the learning really starts. Enjoy the journey as it is a unique time to be a UX designer. Good luck!For further learning have a read of my article ’53 Tech Terms you need to know as a UX Designer’

What are your views on the Union Budget of India (2017–18)?An implicit question in this one is if it is a good budget overall or not. I feel that a better approach towards this year’s budget would be a comparative one. Let’s see how the budget highlights fare against what was done earlier. Let’s also try to uncover some of the stuff in the budget which have not been highlighted but which are, nevertheless, important.Agriculture:Long term irrigation corpus has been doubled from Rs. 20,000 crore to Rs. 40,000 crore.A micro-irrigation fund of Rs. 5000 crore is also to be setup. This is supposed to help in drought mitigation as only 40% of the total cultivated land in the country is irrigated. However, there are rising requests to streamline and efficiently implement the subsidy scheme that is already present for micro-irrigation. Normally, farmers want to set up the micro irrigation systems, after the monsoon season is over. However, the pre-sanction can take very long. Many a times, the subsidy disbursal is delayed by two to three years after the farmer submits his application. [1]A special fund for dairy processing and infrastructure development of Rs. 8000 crore will be created. This is a good step to bring sustainability to agriculture. Farmers have shown abilities to manage inclement weather and market vagaries by investing in dairy as an alternate source of income. The fund is supposedly enough to modernize India’s dairy processing infrastructure which is 30–40 years old and also create new milk processing cooperatives of the size of Amul. [2] [3]The govt. will set up mini labs in the Krishi Vigyan Kendras for soil testing.The farmer credit has been increased from Rs. 9 lakh crore in FY 2016–17 to Rs. 10 lakh crore in 2017–18. Increased focus will be given to Eastern states and Jammu and Kashmir since they have been under-served.Rural Population:Allocation for MGNREGA has been increased from Rs. 38,500 crore last year to Rs. 48,000 crore, the highest ever allocation. This comes in spite of the current govt. not being an advocate for the scheme. Two years of drought has forced the govt. to bailout the rural sector using the scheme which, though is a money guzzling monster, has wide reach and deep ground work in rural India. It’d be interesting to see how the govt. performs.The budget allocation for Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana has remained the same at Rs. 19,000 crore. However, according to govt. reports, the rate of road construction has increased from 70–80 kms per between 2011–14 to 100 kms per day in 2014–16. Now it stands at 139 kms per day. [4][5]Targeting to complete 1 crore houses for the rural homeless, the allocation for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Awaas Yojana has been increased from Rs. 15,000 crore to Rs. 23,000 crore. [6]Mr. Jaitley has claimed that the country was well on its way to provide 100% rural electrification by March 2018. However “The Hindu”, has done some investigative journalism and has found that the earlier claims by the govt. regarding rural electrification to be grossly exaggerated. Hence we can take Mr. Jaitley’s claim with a pinch of salt. [7] [8]The govt. is planning to make 50,000 gram panchayats out of 2,50,000 total gram panchayats in India to be poverty free. The problem is the definition of the poverty line. Since the NITI Aayog has been formed, there hasn’t been any clear definition of the poverty line. There was a news report claiming that the Aayog supported the Tendulkar Poverty line of Rs. 33 a day. But later another news report claimed that the Aayog is likely to form another committee to cautiously determine the poverty line. [9] [10] [11]Poor and the under-privileged:Rs. 500 crore has been allocated for setting up Mahila Shakti Kendras in the 14 lakh Anganwadis across the country. It will be a one stop convergent service for empowering rural women with opportunities for skill development, employment, digital literacy, health and nutrition. But the problem is that Rs. 500 crore divided by 14 lakh anganwadis comes to Rs. 3,571 per anganwadi. I don’t know what can be achieved with this amount. Another problem is that the Anganwadis have been set up under the ICDS which has seen budget cuts to the tune of 50% (Rs. 8000 crore) in the past two years. [13] [14]The total outlay for the development of women and children across ministries is Rs. 1.84 lakh crore. This forms 8.57% of the total estimated budgetary expenditure of Rs. 21.47 lakh crore. It is also an increase of over 0.5% from last years budget where Rs. 1.56 lakh crore out of Rs. 19.78 lakh crore was budgeted to spent on women and children development schemes across ministries.The amount budgeted for Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana saw a four times jump with Rs. 2,700 crore being set aside this year as compared to Rs. 634 crore in 2016-17. Under this scheme, Rs. 6000 will be provided to all pregnant women who seek institutionalized delivery and vaccination. [14]The allocation for Scheduled Castes is Rs. 52,393 crore, an increase of 35% from the allocation previous year which stood at Rs. 38,833 crore. But we must take it with a pinch of salt. In 2014–15 the budgetary allocation was Rs. 50,548 crore. It was reduced by 40% the next year. Also, according the Jadhav committee recommendations, budgetary allocations for the SC’s should be 4.62% of the total expenditure, which comes out to around Rs. 97,000 crore in 2017–18 and Rs. 82,000 crore in 2014–15 when the actual allotment was Rs. 50,548 crore.Same goes for the allocation for Scheduled Tribes. It stands at Rs. 31,295 crore, a jump of 30% over the previous allocation of Rs. 24,005 crores. But the Jadhav committee recommends allocating Rs. 49,992 crores for 2017–18. Interestingly, here too, in 2014–15, against the committee recommendation of allocating Rs. 42,141 crores, the actual allocation was Rs. 32,387 crore, higher than the present allocation. [15] [16] [17]Aadhar based smart cards will be issued to senior citizens to monitor health.Railways and infrastructure:The budgetary allocation for infrastructure stands at a whopping Rs. 3.96 lakh crore. This is close to 80% increase from the previous budgetary allotment of Rs. 2.21 lakh crore.The budgetary allocation for railways has also been increased to Rs. 1.31 lakh crore from Rs. 1.21 lakh crore previous year.The budgetary allocation for highways too continued the upward trend. Rs. 64,000 crore was allocated as against Rs. 55,000 crore last year. It was Rs. 28,881 crore in 2014–15 and Rs. 42,913 crore in 2015–16.Finance:The allocation for lending under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, a scheme for funding non corporate small businesses, has been increased from Rs. 1.80 lakh crore to Rs. 2.44 lakh crore.For big-time offences - including economic offenders fleeing India, the government will introduce legislative change or introduce law to confiscate the assets of these people within the country. This is especially important considering the Vijay Mallya episode.Digital India - BHIM app will unleash mobile phone revolution. The government will introduce two schemes to promote BHIM App - referral bonus for the users and cash back for the traders. This plan is consistent with the push to digitization. However, we are missing a huge point. For digitization, we need cellphones, which in turn need cellphone towers, which in their turn need electricity. Where is electricity? In an earlier point I mentioned about the lapses in the claims of the govt. regarding rural electrification. In my view, the push to digitization should continue, however, rural electrification and cellular infrastructure are a must if this is to succeed. [7] [8]Taxation:There is some cheer for the salaried class. The tax rate for income between Rs. 2.5 lakhs to Rs. 5 lakh has been slashed by half. And those earning higher will see a tax benefit of Rs. 12,500 per year.10% surcharge on individual income above Rs. 50 lakh and up to Rs 1 crore to make up for Rs 15,000 crore loss due to cut in personal I-T rate. 15% surcharge on individual income above Rs. 1 crore to remain.The Income Tax Act to be amended to ensure that no transaction above Rs 3 lakh is permitted in cash.Under the corporate tax, in order to make MSME companies more viable, there is a proposal to reduce tax for small companies with a turnover of up to Rs. 50 crore to 25%. As compared to bigger corporations, they don’t enjoy a lot of exemptions. Hence while a corporation earning a profit of Rs. 500 crore would effectively pay a tax rate of 24.67%, the MSME’s had to pay full 30% corporate tax. [18]Fiscal situation and miscellaneous:Total budgetary expenditure is Rs. 21.47 lakh crore.Fiscal deficit of 2017-18 pegged at 3.2% of the GDP. Will remain committed to achieving 3% in the next year.The defence sector gets an allocation of Rs. 2,74,114 crore, excluding pensions. It is a modest 6% increase which may not even be able to meet the impact of inflation, depreciation of the rupee and the imposition of customs duty on military imports from last year. [19] [20]Political parties and funding:The maximum cash donation that a political party can receive from a single source is reduced from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 2,000. People are quoting it as a step towards greater political transparency. In reality however, it is a complete hogwash. As long as anonymous donations are allowed, black cash will keep flowing into the coffers of the political parties. Earlier they’d say donations worth Rs. 2,00,000 have come from 11 donors, all anonymous. Now they’d say the same amount has come from 101 donors, all anonymous. [21] [22]Where is the increased push towards education?Overall, this budget focuses a lot on agriculture, which has been neglected for a very long time. This is something which is really heartening. It also reflects the mood of the current govt. to keep up the boost towards infrastructure.However it does miss out or gloss over or simply carry on what was already there in important fields such as education, health care and defence.In terms of allocations towards SC/ST’s and political funding, this budget has been a colossal disappointment.Links:Budget 2017: Micro-irrigation industry demands better implementation of subsidiesUnion Budget 2017: Nabard hails higher fund allocation for irrigation, dairy sectorIndia to add ‘two Amuls’ milk capacity in 3 years - Times of IndiaRural roads' construction pace increases to 139km/day - The Economic TimesBudget 2017: Government aims to bring 1 crore households out of poverty by 2019Union Budget 2017: 53 per cent more funds for rural housesOn paper, electrified villages — in reality, darknessRural electrification: Centre’s claim exaggeratedNiti Aayog task force backs ‘Tendulkar poverty line’Niti Aayog to set up panel to draw up a new poverty line - Times of IndiaDefining a poverty line for IndiaWhat to expect from the budget's Mahila Shakti Kendras: Not much, say activistsMahila Shakti Kendras to boost skill development - Times of IndiaBudget 2017: Allocation to women and child development ministry up by 20%Union Budget 2017: Over 30 percent hike for SC-ST welfare in budget allocation‘Budget a major disappointment for SC/STs’The 2017 Budget Is Taking SC/ST Welfare BackwardsBudget 2017: Corporate tax for MSMEs with revenue under Rs 50 cr at 25%Budget 2017: Arun Jaitley raises defence budget by 10 per cent to Rs 2,74,000 croreDefence Budget 2017-18: Chugging AlongWhy Modi Government's Political Funding Reforms May Just Be a Smokescreen₹2,000 ceiling for cash donation to parties