Recently I gave a presentation to UX university students building on 10 Things shared years ago, and now I'm sharing it with you. You'll find most of these principles apply not only to students but also to each of us regardless of experience or level.
1. There is no definitive line between UI/UX. Users win when we prioritize building skillfully crafted experiences that look exceptional and function exceptionally; that solve defined problems with finesse and delight. This is all design!
2. Find your shape. There's wisdom in being a generalist with shallow knowledge across many areas relevant to design, while being a specialist with deep experience in one or more areas. For most of us this is a T-shape, but your shape may differ. (Personally my shape is more of an H with deep experience in executing design and managing design, connected to each other.)
3. Typography & type. Make these your superpower. You will excel beyond your peers if you become a career-long student of typography and type. Many students today skip this learning process entirely.
4. Dwell in the messy longer than you expect. Celebrate the messiness. Don’t condemn it. Reassure others the process is working as intended. You’re fooling yourself (and others) if you think clarity comes early.
5. Process is a game. Play the game well. Having said that the actual process is a messy unknown, there's still goodness in established processes. You’ll find greater success early in your career as you follow these processes, learn by experience what works / doesn’t, and demonstrate that you’re a team player.
6. You'll drive clarity from ambiguity more than anyone. One of the top 3 ways I evaluate designers is their ability to drive clarity from ambiguity. Yours is the unique privilege of harmonizing all the ambiguous inputs of product creation (user research, metrics, stakeholder input, etc) in the form of lo-fi and hi-fi design concepts that drive the team forward with clarity.
7. Done is better than perfect. Mostly. There is tremendous value in shipping imperfect work. In fact, this will be 99% of the work you ship throughout your career. That being said, as a designer you will often be the (lone) voice rallying for quality, craft, and finesse. There are times when quality is better than done. Find the right balance.
8. It depends. "It depends" is a powerful mindset. Saying this silently or openly can unlock paths that would otherwise be closed, ignored, or undervalued.
9. Are you sure this is the right career path? I'd be remiss to not warn about the perils of working in tech—expectations to work every waking hour, endless urgency, pretentious managers, and the list goes on. Be grounded in what you are / aren't willing to accept to pay the bills.
10. Be the light. Bring out the goodness in tech. Rally passionately against the abuse of it.
View the slide deck here →
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I love seeing how others style their slide decks, so I usually include a colophon in mine. It's a simple way of paying it forward to my fellow deck designers. Feel free to steal or remix these elements.
