{"id":13732,"date":"2018-01-16T11:10:02","date_gmt":"2018-01-16T11:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marvel7077.wpengine.com\/?p=13732"},"modified":"2020-09-03T11:47:47","modified_gmt":"2020-09-03T10:47:47","slug":"faqs-got-ux-interviews-ultimately-dream-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shopjessicabuckley.com\/blog\/faqs-got-ux-interviews-ultimately-dream-job\/","title":{"rendered":"The FAQs that Got Me More UX Interviews & Ultimately My Dream\u00a0Job"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last November, I decided to transition out of freelance user experience design. During my job hunt, I found myself needing to answer the same questions again and again.<\/p>\n

I collected my favorite questions and wrote thoughtful and exhaustive answers, creating a list of frequently asked questions.
\nThey served me in two ways:<\/p>\n

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  1. I linked to my FAQs in my cover letter<\/strong> (a template of which exists here). This provided a speedy, unencumbered avenue for hiring managers to assess me more thoroughly.<\/li>\n
  2. The practice of writing and refining with the intention of sharing forced me to think about my true answers for each question. Because I spent time on this exercise, during interviews, I was able to rattle off my perspective much more confidently.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I\u2019ve shared all of my FAQs below. Although some of the answers are tailored to my unique experiences, my hope is that this tactic can be a spark of inspiration for other UXers seeking bigger and better roles!<\/p>\n

    At the top of my FAQs I added links to my email, <\/em>portfolio<\/em><\/a>, Medium, and <\/em>LinkedIn<\/em><\/a> for convenience.<\/em><\/p>\n

    What does design mean to\u00a0you?<\/h2>\n

    Design is strategic problem solving that improves people\u2019s lives. <\/p>\n

    \"Empathy, pragmatism and creativity are applied to the adventure of hunting and validating ideas \u2014 a process that leads to intentional solutions.\"<\/span><\/p>\n

    The results are intuitive, delightful and beautiful experiences. Good design benefits users without users ever having to think about it. Design is iterative, never giving up on the mission to guide people through life in a more effortless and more enjoyable way.<\/p>\n

    I have spent my whole life pursuing design professionally and personally. I love that my natural talents have led me to sharpening my skills as a successful designer. The future of design is inspiring and broad. It keeps me motivated as I continue to grow as a designer.<\/p>\n

    What\u2019s the difference between a good and great designer?<\/h2>\n

    I believe good designers are able to definitively pinpoint valid problems and contextualize them through exhaustive research. I believe good designers set out to solve problems by casting a wide net of ideas and distilling them down through testing. I believe good designers carefully see the design through development to shipment to ensure proper implementation.<\/p>\n

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    \"Great designers have intentionality for the outcomes they\u2019re solving for.\"<\/p><\/span><\/blockquote>\n

    What makes a great designer is how they elevate that process. Great designers have intentionality for the outcomes they\u2019re solving for. They are visionaries, able to see how individual projects fit within the big picture goals. Great designers are opinionated. They are able to map out the reasoning behind every design decision they make. Great designers are generalists and collaborators dedicated to the problem, not their own solutions.<\/p>\n

    Why do you want to leave freelancing?<\/h2>\n

    I chose to dedicate the past year to freelancing for two reasons. The first was that I knew I\u2019d be moving several times across the country within this past year. Working remotely for clients was a simple way for me to maintain positions despite the geographical transitions.<\/p>\n

    The second reason I have been a freelancer at this stage of my career is to gain diverse experiences rapidly. Over the past 13 months, I have spent 6\u20137 days a week designing for over a dozen projects. This is a unique benefit to having multiple clients as a freelancer.<\/p>\n

    The reason I am leaving freelancing is because I knew that once I was settled in my long term home, I\u2019d want to translate my experiences to a team setting. In a team, I will be able leverage my abilities with the abilities of others to contribute to a larger impact than the impact one can make as a solo designer. The opportunity to collaborate and learn from other designers is an exciting next step in my career.<\/p>\n

    How do you plan a\u00a0project?<\/h2>\n

    \"Each project I take on loosely adheres to a three step process. These three steps are identifying the problem, narrowing down to the most relevant solutions through a cycle of iterations and testing, and following through for a successful shipment. Adaptable to methodologies from design sprints to waterfall, this is the framework I structure projects around.\"<\/span><\/p>\n

    I start out my projects by meeting with internal stakeholders to learn their expectations and understand what they envision success will look like. This is the beginning of the first step: identifying and understanding the problem. Design boils down to problem solving. I want to make sure that I am knowledgeable about the problem so that I can accurately pursue solutions. I dedicate the beginning of the project to meeting with these internal stakeholders, understanding the target user base, familiarizing myself with the industry and competitors \u2014 collecting as many insights as I can. These insights reveal the plan for the rest of the project.<\/p>\n

    The plan is then defined for the second step, design. Am I solving for one main problem? Several? Having planned the priorities in the previous step, I start working through a broad range of solutions, editing them down through testing. I talk with developers to ensure that the solutions are framed well for building. I translate my wireframes to prototypes to put in front of users in order to test their validity. The client communication style and the development workload determines the handoff process. Once everything has been worked through, presented, finalized, and sent to development, I move to step three.<\/p>\n

    Step three involves taking a support role during the development process. I have found that often time planning is bound to a timeline, so this incremental planning process allows me to set aside appropriate ratios of time to tackle problems in the right way to preserve development time for this phase. I make myself available to project managers and developers in order for our team to ship successfully and on time.<\/p>\n

    An outline of my high-level strategy can be found here:<\/p>\n

    Process - Allison Milchling<\/span>http:\/\/www.allisonmilchling.com<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/section>\n

    For new projects without users, my methods for collecting insights are laid out here:<\/p>\n

    User Testing Without Users<\/span>4 ways to jump right into collecting All The Insights.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/section>\n

    What is the relationship for you between UX and visual\/graphic design?<\/h2>\n
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    \"I view UX as the often-invisible bulk of a product and visual\/graphic design as the icing on the cake.\"<\/p><\/span><\/blockquote>\n

    I view UX as the often-invisible bulk of a product and visual\/graphic design as the icing on the cake. Without visual design, the \u201cUX cake\u201d isn\u2019t typically palatable enough to be fully enjoyable. Visual design critically contributes to two pieces of a product: legitimacy and accessibility. Individual visual design preferences can be subjective, so my opinions regarding visual design are aimed towards ensuring the support of the underlying user experience design.<\/p>\n

    Because I am not a visual designer, I prefer to work on projects with design guidelines in place. When I have the colors, fonts, etc to work within, I am much more confident in making complementary visual design decisions. I value visual designers for their dedication to the latest visual design trends. I myself am more passionate about the underlying UX structure: product strategy, information architecture, and interaction design.<\/p>\n

    Describe your experience collaborating with developers. In your opinion, what makes for the best collaboration between designers and developers?<\/h2>\n

    My first experience collaborating with a developer was actually my partner. He was the one that introduced me to the tech industry on a professional level over 5 years ago. He taught me HTML and CSS, skills that enabled me to translate my nonprofit sector design experience to the startup world.<\/p>\n

    Because I understand the developer perspective in an intimate way, I have been able to have great relationships with the developers I work with. I have worked on projects ranging from one developer to a substantial team where different developers are dedicated to front end, backend, and mobile.<\/p>\n

    The most challenging experience I have had was working on a team with one non-technical founder and one previously autonomous developer. I received a lot of pushback, finally discovering it was rooted in the developer\u2019s limitations from lack of experience. I learned that my assumptions about his skill level hurt our communication. I adapted my communication style to his and compromised the design in order to be completed within his skill set.<\/p>\n

    \"I believe the best collaboration between designers and developers is when we\u2019re communicating through every stage of the project. When collaboration extends before and after the handoff from design to development, I have experienced an overall smoother process.\"<\/span><\/p>\n

    Seeking developer feedback at the earliest stages of the project has created efficiencies in the design process. Once I\u2019ve understood the problem through research, I brainstorm as many solutions as possible. At this time, I like to know how these high-level solutions could be fleshed out on a development level. Receiving new insights from developers at this stage has helped steer me towards simpler solutions on multiple occasions.<\/p>\n

    When I seek developer feedback during the design phase, it strengthens our team. Developers are able to feel more ownership in the product so that when it is time for them to implement, the handoff is received enthusiastically with less surprises.<\/p>\n

    \"When I do hand-off a design, I find it beneficial to provide context with a high-level narrative. Storytelling helps place the design in a more meaningful, easy to remember way. Designs are more easily interpreted and developers feel better equipped than when I send over interactive prototypes and annotations without this explanation.\"<\/span><\/p>\n

    During implementation, I make myself available to clarify any confusion that may arise during development. I test implementations to ensure accuracy and provide my feedback to ensure that we ship flawlessly. This is also the time where I gush over developers because they\u2019re translating design improvements into real life, positively impacting users. At the end of the day developers are the people that make my contribution a reality, so it\u2019s easy for me to want to see them succeed.<\/p>\n

    What\u2019s the most interesting project you\u2019ve worked on? What made it interesting?<\/h2>\n

    The most interesting project I\u2019ve worked on was a suite of services for backpackers. The central product was a trip planner. I enjoy hiking and the outdoors, so this project was immediately interesting to me.<\/p>\n

    I came into this project at the very beginning. My client was the founder and his goal was broad: \u201cmake backpacking more fun for everyone\u201d. He had a few projects he wanted to build out to reach this goal as well as a bloated wish list of functions. I started with the trip planner. Never before had I had so much autonomy in translating a vague concept into a usable product.<\/p>\n

    I was able to take the time to do thorough research. I conducted user tests with expert backpackers. I became knowledgeable about dozens of complimentary products within the space. I read backpacking guidebooks in order to really get into the mind of this class of technical, ultralight backpackers.<\/p>\n

    Solving the problem of underpreparedness was a mission I enjoyed being responsible for. The goal was to grow the trip planner into a service that would eventually appeal to recreational hikers as well as the professionals. The discoveries I made in balancing these two user groups brought up even more interesting challenges. The objectives of the web and mobile experiences evolved in a way I did not initially predict. It was fun to successfully design desirable solutions for experienced and novice backpacker that melded well together.<\/p>\n

    During the process, I was able to prove my value not only for product strategy and UX design, but also as a tech leader. I managed developers and a UI designer while assisting my client with business-level decision making. The level of data was more than I had ever worked with, accounting for weather, geolocation, calorie intake and more. Being so influential in the backend organization was an interesting new experience for me. Overall, it was great to build a trustworthy atmosphere where user insights were the leading priorities that shaped the product.<\/p>\n

    I\u2019ve written three case studies that dive into three specific projects within this company:<\/p>\n