If you don’t have a purpose or goals, you’re just drifting around. If you're drifting, decisions are more difficult to make, and it takes a lot longer to find success. Set career goals, and think about how you might work them in and achieve them. Think about how you will handle career/personal life balance as many of the greatest personal events in your life come around.

2. – Assess Yourself
– #CareerGoals
– Go Where You Wanna Go,
Do What You Wanna Do
– Get Paid
2 Design Your UX Career

4. “To be a great designer, you have to master the soft skills.
A huge part of the job will involve stepping away from the design
software of choice and dealing with people.
Designers must be master communicators, possessing the confidence
necessary to have the tough conversations.
And they will happen.
4 Design Your UX Career

5. ...Designers need to know how to deal with stubborn stakeholders, tell people
they are wrong and why,
and master the art of explaining their design decisions.
Designers must also learn the art of collaboration.
Working with people in many different business roles means they have to
quickly be able to understand others’ perspectives, what matters to
them, and how they can contribute to the UX process.
5 Design Your UX Career
admit when they’re wrong,

6. ...Also of importance is the ability to
collaborate with other designers,
which involves being able to
quickly recognize each other’s strengths —
and assign responsibilities accordingly.”
https://medium.com/@danmaccarone/the-ux-of-learning-ux-is-broken-f972b27d3273
6 Design Your UX Career

7. 7 Design Your UX Career

9. Design Your UX Career9
Ready to Do The
Thing!
Focused on wedding
planning.
Focused on advancing
our careers so we can
buy a house!
Who will focus on
their career, and
who will focus on
the baby?

10. Your Purpose

12. 12 Design Your UX Career
● Strategic Business Alignment
● Green Field Strategic Visioning
● Experience Design
● Blue Ocean Strategy
● Service Design
● Usability testing
● Ethnography
● Personas
● Journey Maps
● Surveys
● Analytics
● Information Architecture
● Card Sorting
● Tree Testing
● Wireframing
● Visual Design & Communication
● Design Principles
● Typography
● Graphic production
● Interaction Design
● Prototyping
● Pattern Libraries
● Design Systems
● Brand ID / Brand Book
● Custom Graphic Design
● Product Design
● Brand Voice
● Content Strategy
● UI Development /
Front-End Code
● Accessibility
● Analytics / SEO
● Multimedia
● Facilitation
Slide Information Credit: Carol Righi - 1904labs

15. 15 Design Your UX Career
– Start-up
– Agency
– Corporate/In-House
– Contractor
– Freelance/
Consultant

16. Pay
16 Design Your UX Career
Culture
Hours
Benefits
Job Security*
Culture is everything. It
makes up for the low pay.
Start-up pay can be low.
But, if the stock options
pay off, you could get a
crazy payout. This is the
exception, not the rule.
Start-ups are lean, and
there is much work to be
done. 8 hours is the
minimum you’ll likely put
in each day.
Benefits are expensive.
Start-ups are strapped for
cash. You do the math.
Most Start-ups fail. Keep
your resume up-to-date.
Start-ups are trying to stretch their cash as long as
possible. So, while pay is low, culture is EVERYTHING.
You’ll likely wear a lot of hats, and have a lot of freedom
to try things. This is great for a motivated, self-starter.
You’ll have plenty of chances to learn and grow. Oh, and
if the start up makes it, your stock options will be
awesome.
Eventually the long hours will wear on most people. If it
isn’t your start-up, then you’re at the mercy of the
founders. They may demand long-hour days, and if you’re
salary then you won’t get paid for extra time. And, if the
founders don’t find investors with deep enough pockets,
you’ll be on the job hunt again.

17. Pay
17 Design Your UX Career
Culture
Hours
Benefits
Job Security*
Agencies tend to have great
cultures. Employees work hard,
and play hard. The company will
typically put a heavy focus on
supplying employees with
swag, food, and fun activities.
Agencies are looking for pros, &
they’re willing to pay for them.
At agencies it tends to be less
about butts in seats until 5pm
and more about delivering your
work when you agreed you
would. You must deliver.
The benefits at agencies vary.
Smaller agencies may have a
great 401k, but a lacking
healthcare plan. Larger
agencies might offer everything
you could ever want.
If you aren’t performing at an
agency, you might be headed
towards the door.
Pay is pretty competitive at agencies. And, you’ll
have the option of wearing a lot of hats, if you wish.
You’ll have a lot of freedom to try things. Work is
more stable in agencies than it is in Start-ups.
Agencies are more likely to fund employee
attendance at conferences. They’ll encourage you
to present at conferences, possibly even helping
you develop your presentation skills.
Agencies work pretty lean. So, they don’t
typically have great healthcare -- especially
maternity/paternity leave.

18. Pay
18 Design Your UX Career
Culture
Hours
Benefits
Job Security*
Culture is meh. Corporate
tries...but #corporate.
As an employee in a
corporate setting the pay
may be a bit below par.
Sometimes there’s an
annual bonus that helps
pick up the rear here.
40 hour weeks, butts in
seats til 5pm. Some allow
work from home/flextime.
Many don’t.
Benefits are the bomb in
corporate. Many offer 3
months maternity leave,
sometimes at full pay.
Once your in a corporate
job, you can probably stay
as long as you wish.
Eight hour days, great benefits, paid vacation,
sometimes they’ll pay for college, oh--and a
401k–what’s not to love? Corporate is a great
place to be when you’re in school (internship),
fresh out of school, or starting a family.
Corporate work can be slow & monotonous.
Meetings with too many people, but not the
right person, office politics, it’s - gah! They don’t
fund conferences like they once did. It isn’t the
place to grow your career once you’re off the
ground. Negotiate pay carefully up-front.
Bonuses aren’t guaranteed.

19. Pay
19 Design Your UX Career
Culture
Hours
Benefits
Job Security*
As a contractor you aren’t
always welcome at
corporate events...you’re
kind of just on your own.
When you’re paid for every
hour, you tend to work
every hour they’ll allow.
Expect 40+ hour weeks.
Benefits are weak, and
they change every 18
months (when you
start/leave a gig).
There is no job security in
contracting.
Contractors can often negotiate hourly/project
rates that are a good bit higher than the
equivalent employee pay.
Contractors, you’re going to be looking for a new
gig every 18 months on average. That means
you’re changing insurance companies/plans
every 18 months. You’re negotiating pay every 18
months. You’re interviewing every 18 months…
And you typically can’t speak at events as a
representative of the company where you
contract.
Contractor gigs pay well - as
long as you negotiate well.

20. Pay
20 Design Your UX Career
Culture
Hours
Benefits
Job Security*
The culture is what you
make it. You’re in control.
If you are good at selling,
writing SOWs and doing
the actual work, you can
clear more as a consultant..
Hopefully you’re working a
lot of hours. Maybe you get
super smart about it an sub
some work out while giving
yourself a nice cut.
You’re in charge of your
own benefits. This can be
expensive.
Your job security is tied to
your ability to sell.
Consultants can often negotiate hourly/project
rates that are substantially higher than the
equivalent employee pay.
Consultants need to set up an LLC, figure out
taxes, and figure out their own benefits. Also,
you’re going to need to be your own salesperson,
contract/statement-of-work writer, all the things.
And, money isn’t coming in at a stable pace. You
must be experienced to be considered. Get 5+
years under your belt, and practice presenting to
build up your reputation before you try to go
freelance full-time.

22. 22 Design Your UX Career
Nope.

23. Design Your UX Career23

25. Design Your UX Career25
Recruiters appreciate your help connecting
them with people who are looking, who you
would be comfortable recommending.
SEO your Resume. So they can easily
connect you with job matches.
Sometimes they also need help navigating
what a client is looking for. A client may say
“UX” and mean “front-end coder”. You
understand all of this blur better than most
recruiters.

27. Design Your UX Career27
UXPA
Glassdoor
Robert Half
NN/g

28. Design Your UX Career28
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/salary-trends-usability-professionals/

30. Design Your UX Career30
Conferences
https://www.lynda.com/
https://aycl.uie.com/
Medium:
https://medium.com/search?q=u
x&ref=opensearch
Books/Audiobooks:
https://www.amazon.com/s?url=search-alias%3Daps&fi
eld-keywords=UX&sprefix=the+inmate%2Caps%2C176&
crid=2EGNP48Z7Z11S
Podcasts:
https://graphicmint.com/blog/10-ux-podcasts-nee
d-listen/
https://uxdesign.cc/my-top-5-ux-ui-podcasts-3011f
51017c9
https://www.justinmind.com/blog/best-design-po
dcasts-for-uxers/
Or Even Just Google:
youtube ux conference
https://www.google.com/search?q=youtube+ux+c
onference&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS749US750&oq=yout
ube+ux+conference&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i64.483
0j1j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

32. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/10/smarter-living/how-to-negotiate-salary.html

33. Design Your UX Career33
https://www.glassdoor.com/blog/guide/how-to-negotiate-your-salary/
Ask the rate/range in your first conversation with the recruiter. Don’t
give them your rate.
● Too Low? Let the recruiter know it’s too low. End the
conversation.
● Current Rate *or* Higher Than Expected? Without emotion turn
your focus to the details of the opportunity. What company, what
does the job request ask for, etc. You’re about to get a raise.
● A Little Under Your Current Rate? Ask if they can do better.

35. Design Your UX Career35

36. 36

38. LaunchCode is creating new pathways
to economic opportunity for people
of all backgrounds aspiring to work in technology.
38 Design Your UX Career

41. Salary Guides:
https://uxpa.org/system/files/public/UXPASalaryS
urvey2016_final.pdf
:
https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/st-louis-ux-de
signer-salary-SRCH_IL.0,8_IM823_KO9,20.htm
https://www.roberthalf.com/salary-guide/creative-
and-marketing
:
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/salary-trends-u
sability-professionals/
Other Links
● https://www.uxbeginner.com/two-common
-ux-career-paths/
● https://www.slideshare.net/usability247/top
-5-frustrations-for-in-house-ux-practitioners
● https://medium.com/@danmaccarone/the-
ux-of-learning-ux-is-broken-f972b27d3273
● http://tomgreever.com/arrogance-as-the-en
emy-of-user-experience-design/
● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_synd
rome
● https://spin.atomicobject.com/2017/09/07/d
ealing-with-imposter-syndrome/
● https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/10/smart
er-living/how-to-negotiate-salary.html
41 Design Your UX Career