What should a UX designer know about CSS (for a job interview?

As an in house user experience designer at a startup, how to deal with people constantly thinking they know how to do your job?

  • What do you do when people are constantly saying stuff like "well its a common UX pattern" (when it's not), or "well they do it this way", or "well I own the product, this is what we're doing" etc etc

  • Answer:

    That's a tough one but a common complaint. The issue really boils down to *how* they try to do your job. This usually is in the form of: 1) Let you do some work 2) Telling you all the ways it can be improved/what is wrong with it 3) Repeat about 20 more times.... What people forget is that design isn't an output, it is a process. You have to move your engagement with people like this from reviewing designs to discussing the design process. Try to build some common understanding/terms: who the user is, what are common tasks, results from user tests, etc. You can also start with IA diagrams, wireframe, sketches etc before getting to full graphics, etc.   With *reasonable* people, I've been able to slowly build up confidence and understanding of what I do. It takes time but it's worth it as they understand the process and how I'm dividing up the problem. The problem, and this is a biggie, is when you someone above you that really just doesn't get it. They are too busy and/or too arrogant to want to understand what you are trying to do. I hate to break it to you, but after really giving it your best shot, sometimes you just have to leave. It's why I left Google. Fortunately, UX designers are HIGHLY valued right now so the market is hot and moving is actually a reasonable possibility. I'm not telling you to leave, there are LOTS of UX designers that don't expose their process and don't try hard enough to work with others. I strongly encourage you to develop your ability to explaining the UX process. However, realize you have alternatives... Good luck.

Scott Jenson at Quora Visit the source

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Other answers

The key to being happy in UX is realizing that everybody is designing. UX is a buzzphrase now, and just like playing drums, singing in the car, and raising kids, everyone thinks they're awesome. So what? I learned a long time ago not to be so precious about my work. What took longer was not learning not to be precious about my ROLE. So, someone thinks they have a valid UX-related opinion? Great. Even if their context is wrong, they probably have some kind of pont. Help them get to it, or help make a better case. That's the job of a deign leader – help the people in the room make a case for better design, whoever they are. Titles, roles, labels - it's all corporate bullshit. Don't get sucked it. If you're into design, and you want to lead, it's better to think of yourself as a bandleader (or in some cases, an aspiring one). You can guide the players to greatness - but you still NEED the band to make a big sound! Be designing - not careering. And don't forget to make the design part of your life broader than your job. Make other stuff, too. You'll be a LOT happier.

Jeff Miller

Form an agreement on overarching goals before the work begins. Is the main point of this design to increase the number of people who sign up? Should it change people's perception of the company? Impart a mood or a tone? Make them buy something? There are usually a wide variety of goals, but get everyone to agree on what they are and which goals are the highest priority. When someone comes to you in the future and asks you to do X or Y, go back to that list of goals and ask them to explain how that decision aligns with their primary objectives. That may be a conversation that you need to have repeatedly, but it's much easier to convince someone by reminding them of their own stated goals. Get some data. If someone stubbornly insists on a ridiculous design that you know won't be effective, and your knowledge, skills of persuasion, and years of experience are not enough to sway them, prove it. Test prototypes. Gather analytics. Show them research studies and data that show that X works better than Y. If you don't have time to do that yourself, bring in a researcher ;) Get other people on your side. Sometimes a design that is less usable has other visible drawbacks too. Could it impact revenue? If so, the marketing / sales / accounting people in the group may need to be aware of that. Is it inefficient or difficult to implement? Developers aren't necessarily excited about making a bad design functional in the first place... and if it's going to be less efficient, boring to implement, etc. it will not be hard to convince them to help you discourage its use.

Kimberley Dietemann

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