UX CALENDAR – 01 DECEMBER – It's decided: 2021 will be my year

In design, as in many sectors, everyone can daily see the emergence of new graphic trends, ever more diversified tools, new nuggets to follow, enlightening news not to be missed, product updates promising… in short, so many subjects that will make us question our ability to accept novelty and adapt to it.

This constant of novelty is not insignificant: it clearly reflects the situation in which we, designers, have a duty of performance vis-à-vis our structure, our projects, our customers, where design sometimes tends to the economic affair. But to be a designer of his time, it is still necessary to intelligently think about business developments: do I have to rethink who I am? Am I level? And if not, do I need to train? Can my team deal with the challenges we face...?
A chain of opportunities in short for some, a form of anxiety for others.

But then in 2021, what are we doing concretely to calmly approach the new year?

Already by taking a first resolution: that of not taking any. This year, we reflect on our soft-skills and we take initiatives afterwards.

 

#1 In 2021, we reassure ourselves

 

✅ Take stock of your skills

This is the starting point for any reflection: where are you professionally speaking? Whether you are confirmed∙e or a beginner∙e, you may be led∙e to doubt your abilities or your way of doing things.

To correct this, there is no miracle recipe, simply work on yourself that an addition of podcasts will not be enough to correct.

But before giving up, focus on listening and work on your self-esteem by looking for the reasons that lead you to doubt your abilities. Identifying them is a first step towards accepting your questions.

Also, maybe it's time to develop your position or your team on a path other than that of resignation or acceptance of difficulties. At most, you should challenge yourself to recover motivation that is sometimes lost. It's not about changing your life, but about refocusing on what you like to avoid painful moments. Focus on your skills et consider them in context (professional, geographical)… and maybe who knows, you will find a new passion?

On a personal note, this year I realized how important the transmission and pedagogy were of motivating elements in my practice of UX Design; elements that I had completely set aside.
In question, the work organization in which I evolved reserved myself only for execution and prototyping. I no longer found my account in the deliveries alone, while I considered strong skills.
Taking stock allowed me to consider UX Research as a discipline not to be neglected, on which I should tend more.

Moreover, the trick that follows was the precursor step…

 

✅ Make an active watch

Reading external content is an essential asset for your profile and your personal culture, and not only to show that you master your subject. This is'cerebral breathing that demonstrates your capacity for curiosity.
Doing this monitoring that you have been harping on for years also increases the chances of establishing a dialogue or developing a line of speech that is dear to you. Not to mention the contact opportunities that this can create…

Wrongly, we tend to associate the day before as a simple review of articles and media. However, the act is more complex than that... A watch is useful in many ways:

  • to find references : you work on a project without knowing which end to take it? Perhaps there are references on the Internet. If they are available elsewhere, these ideas have been shared by the authors to enrich your reflection… it's up to you to do the same with your team.
  • to develop a critical eye : failures as well as successes are all reasons to perfect your look and enrich your thinking as a designer.
  • to keep your eyes open : seeing what the competition is doing is good. But seriously… don't stop there. More than finding a business opportunity, it should help you to think differently about your product, or to position yourself in a market.

Last point, you will always have people in your network who will be interested in your sharing, especially if you are a specialist in a subject.

You have a plethora of tools for keeping a regular watch, which could even be a source of leisure during your breaks: I recommend, for example, Feedly for a specific business watch, Twitter for tweet addicts, or Cafeyn, rather media oriented.

 

✅ Carry out a side project

It is the means of expression most set aside, and yet. Say goodbye to never-ending portfolios: before thinking about selling your career, give preference to sides-projects such as a natural strength of your profile, which can sometimes be used.

These parallel projects are all opportunities to discover an interest in product design in the first place, but not only! By relying solely on our achievements and our daily design work, we limit ourselves to growth potential.

Look at Dribbble: thousands of sisters and brothers come every day to publish the fruit of a work of reflection or creation of a product. And these are all creative people who find opportunities for this site to rethink what already exists.

The idea is not to run manu-militari to create an account on the network, after all your means of expression does not have to be digital. It's just about having an activity for you, to get away from it all. Whether it is related to your job or not.

Free up 2 hours of time per week : express yourself through an idea that excites you in an exciting format! And unleash your creative potential… Side projects are great for practicing and showing authentic design work without outside intervention.

In short, a 100% pure juice that will show as many facets of your professional personality.

 

#2 In 2021, we arm ourselves with new skills

 

✅ Take stock of my work tools

If, like me, you switched to a new tool in 2020 (Figma, TMTC), you must have noticed afterwards the time spent to overcome your shortcomings, erasing any difficulty in front of the added value that the latter brings.

Do you want to facilitate the work and communication process between developers and your design team? Take advantage of collaboration tools! Do you want to work on your user-centric mapping? Take a look at the templates, equip yourself or update them.

Avoid introducing unnecessary new features that would complicate your work process without bringing additional value. Follow your business goals, time, and user needs to prioritize features what you really need.

 

Artwork ⓒ Bruce Mars – Unsplash

 "Marcus is happy: he has just abandoned Sketch for Adobe XD."

Taking stock of your tools does not only have a temporal purpose: it also means thinking about the evolution of your practice by testing new things. Moreover, our professions already do this: Photoshop is no longer exclusive to mock-ups, and Balsamiq no longer has a monopoly on making wireframes.

BONUS: find your happiness on Evernote.design

 

✅ Read a design book

Perhaps you wanted to deepen this year a skill in which you felt little confidence.

We live in a great time to practice our profession: never has there been so much documentation, studies and means to learn or review, to train as much as to inspire. And that also goes through books: a desire to practice research or work on ergonomics?

Don't just read. Set a goal for reading this book. : this reading should indeed not only be limited to the only knowledge but to a real application of the subject.

“By reading X, I want to learn Y and set up Z in 3 months thanks to the solutions I would have found.”

Reading a book on the design sprint is good, but reading it with the aim of concretely applying a methodology over time is better.

In this regard, here are some readings published in 2020 to give you ideas :

  • Mapping experiences 2nd Edition, by James Kalbach (O'Reilly, 400 pages)
  • Inside the gamer's brain, by Célia Hodent (Dunod, 304 pages)
  • Sprint design in practice, by Pauline Thomas (Eyrolles, 330 pages)
  • Design Fonts, by Chris Campe and Ulrike Rausch (Thames & Hudson, 216 pages)
  • Japanese Design since 1945, by Naomi Pollock (Editions de la Martinière, 448 pages)

 

✅ Get trained

Maybe it's time to get in touch with this organization that offers training in Design Thinking? But if, you know… it's the firm that has training that has been eyeing you for months.
But in 2020, you haven't sought to devote time and energy to it.

With the development of distance learning in recent months, your training may exist by videoconference. And too bad for the context, think first of what this training can bring you: more than a MOOC, training by an expert is a privileged opportunity to ask all your questions. But above all it allows experimentation in a controlled environment with techniques and new methodologies before launching.

The other question in substance will be to know which center to refer to.
My advice is to favor certified training centers with referenced programs. Choose a training that you like, do not hesitate to contact the center beforehand, or anyone who has taken this training.

And then if not, you know where to turn,

In addition to the CPF, also know thatthere are training aids without paying a single penny out of your pocket, whether you are an employee, freelancer or unemployed.

More: the FNE device

Not to mention that your company agreement surely offers financial means to train you, you can also benefit from training for an entire team.

 

#3 In 2021, we think collectively

 

✅ Organize extension workshops

Whether you design alone, or with a whole team around you, user-oriented issues are not necessarily automatic everywhere. Worse still, maybe you still have some co-workers who don't understand what you're doing.

See it as an opportunity: organize extension workshops to explain your job, the problems you encounter on a daily basis.

Be proactive in this process because to involve as many people as possible around you, they still have to understand the interest.

A colleague in my current mission took advantage of the confinement to organize weekly one-hour sessions, by videoconference, intended for the whole company, in order to raise their awareness of marketing issues, or even well-being at work thanks to to digital tools. This opportunity thus allowed him to get closer to services with which there was no dialogue.

In addition, your colleagues will certainly be delighted to learn more, especially since you can create opportunities for joint workshops.

 

Artwork ⓒ Radu Florin – Unsplash

"Martine from accounting is calm: she will be a stakeholder during the workshops to overhaul the purchasing funnel."

Out of ideas? Choose a short format about 15 minutes and present your subject in a place of passage. Prefer a key time slot (at noon, during a break), and talk concretely about your subject, based on internal or external examples. Oh, and don't forget to send out the invitations!

It's your turn.

 

✅ Find a mentor

Getting into a job when you only have a theoretical basis, or without having had the opportunity to practice before, this promotes uncertainty. However, without having to go through the “internship” box, there are many solutions to erase your doubts and face reality, without waiting for your first job.

One of them is to find you a chinr who is able to help you on your journey, advising you as much as he∙she will follow your progress. This∙sponsor∙professional∙sponsor∙can take the form you are targeting: a∙brother∙sister,∙a∙professional coach∙le,∙e∙e∙rice,∙e∙friend∙e, etc. The ideal being not to advance alone.

This recommendation will speak more to juniors, many of whom will soon be entering the job market, but it also works for designers with a few years of experience.

For this advice nothing like the Internet to start: if you are looking for a more informal follow-up, prefer a∙e professional coach∙le.
But if you don't have the financial means, know that LinkedIn has peers who will be happy to help you. 

And if you're not the enterprising type, one last solution is possible...

 

✅ Join a community

In recent years, communities have multiplied on the Internet: through social networks, of which Facebook seems to be the standard with its group system, or Slack and its discussion channels designed for collaboration.

But if companies have appropriated these means, groups, collectives or associations, some of which specialize in UX Design or UI, have taken advantage of these spaces to constitute a community of belonging.

These spaces embody an ideal place to keep informed, get feedback or a nudge on a request, toalso have job offers or freelance missions… with the key to a great opportunity to expand your network and meet new people.

Do not underestimate this means which will be as much for 2021 as for the future a means of raising you.

With that, you are just a few clicks away of the whole world.

 

En conclusion

2020 ends with the feeling of not having had the opportunity to fully blossom?
In 2021, you definitely have all the balls in hand to make this year YOUR year, alone or accompanied.
And if you are the type to disperse yourself, or to make inspiring resolutions that you never keep, think about the bullet journals ! These small notebooks facilitate personal organization, a practical tool before launching a construction site.

As for me, I have to leave you: in 2021, I have a side project in terracotta to carry out 😉

 

 

 

Julien DANIEL, UX Designer @UX-Republic