2020 Professional Year in Review
A review of my professional accomplishments
Last year I began capturing professional development activities and compiling them into a single article. I have decided to continue logging activities related to my career. My primary goal is to practice gratitude and reflect on my accomplishments.
AIGA Cincinnati Board Retreat
As the co-vice president of the Cincinnati chapter, one of my responsibilities is to organize the annual board retreat. I spoke to several other chapter leaders during last year’s national leadership retreat and they mentioned that their board held two planning retreats per year instead of just one. Inspired by this idea I outlined an agenda for the January retreat. Leveraging a connection I made at Kroger Digital I booked a classroom in the 1819 Innovation hub. In this incredible space, our board came together to brainstorm programming for the next 6 months. The session was incredibly productive and by the end of the session we had mapped out a calendar of events. We even had thought-provoking discussions about the future of the chapter and where we should direct our focus. Special thanks to Nicole from Queen City Certified for stopping by to explain the details of her non-profit to spark ideas for potential partnerships.
NNg Conference Day One: UX Deliverables
I decided to attend the Neilson Norman Group UX conference in Austin Texas to continue my education. I found this class to be extremely valuable. I learned that UX is “evidence-based design” and about how I can gather evidence to make a compelling case for a particular solution. I learned that there are three types of deliverables. First, there are deliverables for collaboration, second, there are deliverable for presenting solutions, and third are deliverables for capturing decisions made by the team. All of these deliverables should have “the right level” of detail. All deliverables should be actionable and have clear recommendations for the next steps written into them. I was also reminded of the concepts of priming and framing feedback. Sending stakeholders an email with a list of numbered questions prior to the meeting can ensure they know what type of feedback you are hoping to receive. NEVER ask, “Sooo… do you like this?”
NNg Day Two: Being a UX Leader
This course taught me how to transition from practitioner to leader. It emphasized that you don’t need “senior” or “lead” in your title to be a UX leader. It also taught me that UX leaders come in a variety of shapes and sizes. My personal skill set lends itself to the Architect style of leadership. I strive to create a clear vision that team members can use a guiding light throughout the life of the project. Without a target to shoot for projects get often get sidetracked. It is my job as the leader to remind everyone of the goals we agreed on. I learned a useful framework for writing vision statements that will help me build a shared vision with my team at work. Mission statements should include the “Who” (Target Audience) the “What” (Benefit or Need) and the “How” (Unique Differentiator) Example: The Kroger Design System saves product team time by providing reusable interface components.
NNg Day Three: Engaging Stakeholders
The instructor of this course provided us with practical tips on advocating for UX solutions. She flipped the script on what I thought a stakeholder was. I used to think anyone who I needed to get approval from was a stakeholder. She proposed that stakeholders should add value to the project. She shared techniques for reducing the number of stakeholders in the room and even facilitated an exercise where we mapped out the potential stakeholders in the project. Once you have the right people in the room it is important that you are speaking their language. She suggested providing an explanation for how you arrived at your solution and removing all of the jargon. Her advice was to lean into the numbers and provide metrics whenever possible. I also resonated with the idea of asking for sign-off instead of feedback. A lot of UX designers ask generic questions like “What do you think of this?” This opens up the flood gates for unwanted comments and increases the likelihood of revision requests. A better way to phrase this would be: “I choose to place the add to cart button beside the product image because, during testing, customers interacting with this solution had the highest success rate. Are you aligned with this decision and do I have your blessing to move forward?” I am looking forward to applying these techniques to my future projects.
Community Meeting
The current leadership team of our AIGA chapter is mostly comprised of UX designers. We know the importance of listening to feedback. For this reason, we chose to host a meeting where anyone from the community could come and share their thoughts on our current programming. This was an excellent way to get a health check on our chapter. We heard mostly positive feedback but there was definitely a fair amount of constructive criticism. There is an opportunity to have more educational events and leverage the rich design history of our city. I would like to continue to schedule open forums to ensure we are properly serving our Members.
Promotion
I was promoted from Associate to Technology User Experience Designer. During my time at Kroger, I was the driving force behind our enterprise design system. My efforts to champion this initiative have led to significant time savings and a more consistent end-user experience. It was encouraging to receive recognition for my contribution to the team. I will continue to push myself as I deliver value to all of Kroger’s digital properties.
World IA Day
I attended a local conference with exceptional speakers this weekend. World IA is an international organization that hosts events across the globe. Our local event was planned by Mark Wolfe and held at the 8451 offices. This was an excellent opportunity to connect with the local UX community. I met some new folks and learned a lot about a variety of topics. One talk that stood out was “Measuring Business Success using Human Behaviors” given by growth mob founder Essa Naser. He did an excellent job of making a compelling case for data-driven design. Other interesting talks were “Next Steps with Design Systems: What Comes After You Get Buy-in” and “Inclusivity for ALL: Accessibility in eCommerce” Really was an excellent way to spend a Saturday.
Scooter Study
While in Austin Texas attend the NNg conference I rode a lot of electric scooters. I decided to write an article comparing the UX of three different scooter apps.
Vhils Haze
One of my favorite street artists created an exhibition for the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC). Vhils is renowned for his unusual technique of removing layers of urban walls to create portraits. I have seen his work on several walls, but it was incredible to see what he was able to achieve within a gallery space. He experimented with a variety of mediums and created an experience that was mesmerizing. I returned to the exhibition several times and each time I noticed different aspects of the work. Fine art and street art, in particular, will continue to be a major source of inspiration in my design work.
Mock Interviews
The Modern College of Design holds mock interviews with professionals to prepare their students to start a career. I volunteered my Friday to conduct mock interview sessions with five students. I was impressed by their work, but also their interpersonal skills. The Modern encourages their students to do several key things that I believe are just as important as the work itself. Small things like shaking hands, keeping a consistent speaking volume, and maintaining eye contact can really set you apart from other candidates. The students are encouraged to show an interest in the interviewer’s company and ask plenty of questions. I happily provided the students with feedback on their work while sharpening my own interviewing chops. I have consistently been impressed by the professionalism of the students and the quality of the curriculum at the Modern.
Destination Imagination Regional Tournament
Since I graduated high school I have been volunteering my time as an appraiser for DI. Destination Imagination is a creative problem-solving organization for students. Every year teams compete at regional, state, and global tournaments. As an appraiser, I award points based on the requirements of a challenge. This year I was on the appraisal team for the scientific challenge called First Encounter. Teams were asked to create a skit about an animal that was taken from its natural habitat and forced to adapt. Participating in DI growing up helped me develop the problem-solving skills I use every day as a UX designer. I really enjoy giving back to this organization.
Personal Portfolio Site
For years I have only uploaded my work to the internet when I was between jobs. I used my website exclusively as a digital resume. This year I decided to change that. Even though I am not actively looking for a new job I am interested in the idea of having work available online. I created all of the assets for the site in Sketch and laid them out using a WYSIWYG WordPress theme called Semplice. I am really happy with the flexibility of the tool and excited to make incremental improvements to the site.
Canceled Con
This was the first virtual design conference I have ever attended. Andrew Hochradel hosted a 48-hour live presentation that was fun, cheeky, and inspiring. He has ties to adobe and does a lot of Behance live streaming so the lineup was a real who’s who of the design industry. I really enjoyed hearing Dylan Menges from Columbus talk about his mural work. It was really fun to watch Lauren Hom complete a handpainted lettering project while being interviewed. I was geeking about while watching James White talk about his nostalgic style and print pieces. I definitely missed a few excellent speakers, but it was great to have everything recorded to I could go back and watch the content on my own time. It set the stage for what was possible now that we were all working 100% remotely. I was very inspired and grateful to Hoch.co for being willing to do something this ambition.
Virtual Portfolio Day
The spring of 2020 has been a challenging time. The AIGA Cincinnati board decided to adapt our programming by holding our portfolio day online. Our incoming Vice President, Ashton span did an amazing job coordinating and hosting this event. I pitched in by reviewing student work. It was inspiring to hear from recent grads and see their passion. My advice for students is to reduce the number of projects you plan on presenting. A typical interview is shorter than you think and you want to be able to talk about your best work. Another tip I give is to focus on the positives. Many young designers have a healthy case of imposter syndrome. Your work is better than you think it is. Don’t do yourself a disservice by pointing out all the flaws you think your project has. We had reviewers in attendance from other AIGA chapters across the country and I hope to continue planning remote events.
UnConference
An amazing front end Web Dev shop in Dayton hosted a digital conference and I decided to attend. I learned a lot about Design Systems and their role within organizations of different shapes and sizes. I also learned several recruiting techniques that I will use to gather participants for usability studies in the future. This was the very first virtual conference I have ever attended and I am excited about the possibilities of remote learning.
Liquid Courage: Drink and Draw
Our chapter has a long-running networking series called Liquid Courage. For several years local designers would meet at bars and restaurants to hang out. This low-pressure networking environment is a great way to meet new people and discover new opportunities. In fact, my first interaction with AIGA Cincinnati was at an LC. Our Social Media Director, Arianne, decided to host our very first virtual happy hour. She went above and beyond by demoing several cocktail recipes live on zoom. I acted as her sounding board throughout the planning process and made a few marketing materials to help promote the event. It was a fun experiment and I hope to continue this series after quarantine is over.
Becoming Co-President
This June I became the Co-President of AIGA Cincinnati. My Co-President, Ruzanna Rozman, is a good friend and User Experience Designer at Proctor and Gamble. The American Institute for Graphic Arts (AIGA) is the nation’s largest professional organization for designers. With over 75 chapters across the country the organization is dedicated to advancing the future of design. AIGA Cincinnati hosts networking events, enables professional development, and facilitates discussions about issues facing our profession. Our board of volunteers constantly strives to find new ways to serve our diverse community while staying true to the values of the national organization. I am proud to lead this group of talented individuals as we strive to realize a shared vision. Read the Article
UX Toolbox
During the board retreat, I proposed the idea of doing a solo talk in collaboration with another local design organization called IXDA. Over the next few months, I came up with the concept of the UX Toolbox.
When a carpenter is building a house, they don’t use the same tool throughout the entire process. Sometimes they need a hammer, and sometimes they need a wrench. When UX designers are building digital products, they encounter a similar challenge. Sometimes a persona is the right tool and other times they need a clickable prototype.
I crafted this talk using my professional experience and a few key resources. The talk sold out and had nearly 100 people in attendance. I was thrilled with the turnout and engagement of the audience members during Q and A.
2020 Summer Board Retreat
This was the second board retreat of 2020. So much had changed since January and we had a lot to discuss. The primary goal of the board retreat was to plan the next six months of programming, but since the executive team had also changed we took this opportunity to reset expectations. I prepared and presented a mission and vision statement. My Co-President presented information about roles and responsibilities. We even had representatives from national on the call to share their experiences and advice. It was an inspiring and productive session that set us up for a successful year.
Diversity and Inclusion Panel
In 2020 we not only faced a global pandemic but also growing racial tension. IXDA Cincinnati hosted an event to discuss ideas for how designers can be more inclusive. It was very interesting to hear ideas from a wide variety of perspectives. I contributed to the session but mostly spent the hour listening. Our AIGA Cincinnati board is talking about how we can leverage some of the learnings from this session and other global conversations to make our programming more inclusive moving forward.
Facebook Facelift
In May of 2020 Facebook rolled out a major update to their web experience. This was a significant change so I decided to capture the differences between the “classic” and “new” designs in this article.
Midwest Design Week
When the global pandemic threatened to jeopardize our annual design week we did not get scared and back down from a challenge. Instead, our AIGA Cincinnati board of volunteers teamed up with chapter leaders from other cities to present our first ever fully remote conference. I have been blown away by the dedication my fellow volunteers have shown while putting together a full week of programming highlighting voicing from diverse backgrounds. I was chosen to lead the workshop committee and in addition to this responsibility, I contributed in any way I could. In close collaboration with some incredibly passionate folks, we identified and secured all of the presenters for the week. I am constantly amazed by technology. Despite the fact, we are physically distant from one another in some ways we are more connected than ever. With just a few clicks I can communicate directly with a person miles away. I reached out to several of my design heroes and many of them were just as excited as we were to bring inspiring programming to an otherwise bleak time. To learn how we brought this conference to life check out my Midwest Design Week case study.
Leadership Retreat
Every year AIGA National hosts a Leadership retreat for chapter leaders. This year we were forced to meet virtually which is not ideal, but it did allow for the content to be accessible to a much wider audience. I personally learned a lot about effectively running a non-profit and how to make our programming more inclusive. I had great conversations with chapter leaders from other states in zoom breakout rooms. Even though the sessions were informative I do long for a return to in-person networking.
New Position
I was recently hired by Streem as a Senior User Experience Designer. After spending three years building an enterprise design system it was bittersweet to leave Kroger. That being said I am very excited to get the opportunity to work on Augmented Reality Applications for the home improvement space. Streem is an incredible company with very promising partnerships. I joined the small but mighty UX team fully remote and have been getting up to speed on project processes. My coworkers are incredibly welcoming and inspiring. Looking forward to the next chapter in my career.
Desk Setup
My workspace has a drastic impact on my productivity. When I landed my latest gig I invested in a convertible sit/stand desk from IKEA. I added the Gather by Ugmonk to organize all of the essential items. I also added two Google Home Minis as a stereo pair for listening to music. I typically sit during heads down design work and stand during zoom calls. This has helped me break up the day and feel more energized.
10% Time
Every quarter employees at Streem are given a week to work on a passion project. I was interested in outlining an asset creation process that would empower designers to build their own custom 3D models. Leveraging tools the team already had access to I built a 3D arrow in a way that was conducive to smooth implementation by the development team. I tested it in Adobe Aero and made tweaks based on its real-world appearance. This exercise was very informative and honestly a lot of fun. I am happy to be at a company that fosters personal growth and exploration.
Recap
This year did not turn out how any of us thought it would. That being said, I am very happy with how I have been able to adapt. It hasn’t been easy but, I have successfully implemented several healthy habits that have kept me productive while working from home. I get dressed in work clothes every morning even though I could wear sweat pants. I try to clock out on time every day so that I have a more defined boundary between work and life. I continue to get regular exercise and eat healthily. I am very grateful that I have been continually employed throughout this tough time.
Leading a local AIGA community during a pandemic has been very difficult. It can be challenging to get motivation for volunteer work and side hustles when you are home 100% of the time. With the help of some very talented individuals, we were able to launch our very first remote event in the chapter’s history. Our remote conference this September was even more successful than any of us could have imagined. However, we have not fostered bonds between board members like leadership was able to do in previous years. I fear that our engagement with creatives is low and certainly could use improvement.
Overall I am encouraged that I have continued to invest in my personal career growth. I got engaged this year to the girl of my dreams and I want to be able to provide us with financial security while still enjoying what I do. This is not a simple task but by continuing to focus and work hard, I was able to achieve many of my goals.
👏 If you are looking forward to a fresh start in 2021
