Specialize and generalize

We talk a lot in UX circles about the T-shaped person - not someone who wears T-shirts necessarily, but someone who has skills in a variety of disciplines and is really experienced in one.

I've been in places where one is a specialist and where one is a generalist. And really, there's no magic answer that says, "Aha! UX is going to consist of specialists only!" I do think that's where our industry is collectively headed and the generalists will be for organizations that have not truly invested in UX nor integrated it into their overall business - or, simply, organizations that are not large enough ($$$) to do so.

My first job on the web was as a webmaster. I did everything related to the website for the organization: I was a...

• visual designer
• IA
• UI coder
• database developer
• JSP developer
• writer
• QA person
• stakeholder
• Flash designer (yeah!)

Of course I had signoffs from my boss (in marketing), and sat next to IT so they actually took care of the hosting of the site, but it was largely on me to get stuff going. And I did. But look at the list of skills I mentioned: almost every one of them could be a separate role (and thus, person) today.

Now, the organization I worked for probably wouldn't hire a team of ten to make a website today. Maybe they should. But it would cost a lot more than hiring a unicorn and having that person do everything good enough with expertise in whatever area is deemed most important. (Or, no area if the organization was ignorant about UX - possible.)

I see the generalist as the modern day equivalent of a webmaster. The organization that brings in a generalist can turn to her and get just about everything "related to UX" done. That's efficient. That's cheap, too. 

We're maturing

Specialists, to me, begin to mark the maturity of an industry and an organization. It's not as if specialists didn't exist before last Tuesday; rather we're embracing people who have these deep histories and experiences in fields we must learn from. This is great! And things like usability, human factors, and IA are natural topics for UX - they are the core. As UX continues to mature, we're seeing more specializations get pulled in. Strategy! Product! Creative! Industrial design! Customer service! All of this stuff ends up related because it is , or more precisely, should be .

Why are we continuing to talk about this, collectively? Because it means a lot for where we are going as a discipline and it pulls directly into topics we all care about a lot. The conflation of UI and UX is easier when you have one person "doing the UX" instead of specialists. That may be the cost of being a unicorn, and frankly, I don't see this going away unless UX is a part of an organization's DNA - i.e., do they get it or not.

But the fact that our industry, at least for the time being, can support both specialists and generalists means that we're figuring out what does and does not work. We may never end this debate. It may be that we're always a hodgepodge of diverse backgrounds, brought together for the purpose of caring for users - people. And, to be honest, I'm very comfortable with that. The more the merrier, I say.

Four fabulous episodes of Designing Yourself

Just a couple of weeks ago Whitney Hess and I recorded the fourth episode of Designing Yourself. I can't quite believe that we're about to record our fifth hour of discussion - it's been an amazing run so far! I spoke a little about how the whole thing came to be, as did Whitney, but I'd like to talk about the episodes themselves and what they mean to me.

Because both of us love podcasts, we wanted to make episodes that were like listening in on two friends having a really good conversation. We set a topic beforehand, but as listeners will attest, we're quite willing to explore other related topics within an episode. 

Everything started with episode 1, The Hamster Wheel.  We spoke about how something gets started and if it's a conscious choice or not. Then we got into a favorite topic of mine: separation of the self. We talked about how we've split our online writing across a number of different places, and how we both feel about that.

Too Much Future , our 2nd episode, is all about fear. Before the whole series began, this was the topic I was most excited to talk about with Whitney. I was surprised when she said she loved fear (and still kind of am!) but came to a place of understanding. We talked a lot about being scared and what that means, and how just being  in the future doesn't really do much in the now. Fun stuff.

Episode 3, Getting to Know You, is about self-awareness. Anytime I get to talk about mirror work, I'm happy. So we did! We also discussed emotional intelligence, Synecdoche New York , and how our bodies affect the way we feel. All of it came together into a lovely chat about unifying mind, body, and spirit.

We walked into Good Enough, episode 4, with the topic of balance in mind, but neither of us had a really solid idea of where it would go! The discussion was great: we talked about the way that both of us want things to be black and white but, in reality, everything is in that grey area. We discussed to do lists and how those can run our lives, along with how we can make peace with not being balanced... which in and of itself, is balance. 

I'm very proud to be creating this with Whitney, and could not ask for a better co-host. Her work and career has been inspirational to me and having the opportunity to share these things with her is an honor.

If you haven't listened to the show, give it a try. Let either one of us know what you think. 

And thank you, all of you, for being a part of this journey. 

Design is the way we articulate helping people

I want to help people. I need to do it. I feel a connection with others, even though it may not be perfect nor ideal nor chosen. It might be in the context of a chosen relationship or a forced one. It doesn't change how I feel: I want to help people. 

I haven't been certain on how to help people. I'm still not certain. I've thrown technology at the problem, a lot. I've thrown parts of myself at the problem. I've seen it as a problem, something I can solve, something I must solve because it will improve everything.

I get frustrated when I can not help. I read about injustices, and get angry, and think about them. It does not feel like enough. I am trying to get more involved. I am trying to be more me, more present, more aware, more willing to be in that unbalanced grey area. I'm trying to be selfless and selfish.

I have skills. I want to use them. When I'm making something - an interface, a sign, a piece of text, a podcast, a video, a song - it's in the service of connection, of inspiration, of community, of help. Helping other people as much as I'm helping myself. 

Right now for who I am and where I am, design is the way I articulate helping people. This is what I can do. This is how I can make things better. 

(Thank you to Amy Silvers and Whitney Hess for inspiring this piece.) 

I'm joining Centralis

I'm proud to share that I have a new job. Starting on August 5th I'll be working with the good people at Centralis as a UX Strategist.

In my post about my podcast, I spoke about how exciting and cool it would be to do something with a person who I respect and admire. Thanks to my new job I'll have that opportunity every day  with a company I respect and admire.

I first crossed paths with Centralis almost a decade ago, when my employer at the time used them for usability testing and a card sort. It was my first real exposure to the world of professional usability and research, and I was very impressed. Everything was carefully considered, from the recruiting methods used down to the snacks in the usability lab observation room. The care they put into their work is evident.

A little more than a month ago I got in touch with Kathi Kaiser and Lyman Casey, Centralis's co-founders, about where their business was and where I was in my career. That soon led to conversations about the fit between us. Meeting new people. Discussing big ideas and the tiny details. And shortly after that, it was very clear there was a fit.

Kathi and Lyman established Centralis 12 years ago, and I respect the way they've grown the business. Their clients are an impressive mix, and Kathi and Lyman have worked hard to seek out clients with interesting design problems. That really appeals to me.

I'm tickled to be working on UX strategy at a time when we, collectively, need it most. Connecting the dots between design and business is a great, fun challenge and taking it to organizations and companies who can benefit from it is pretty much exactly what I want to be doing. I'm really  excited to be working on this with smart people in a good environment.

(And yes, Centralis is hiring.)

On Designing Yourself

This past Tuesday, Whitney and I shared episode 3 of Designing Yourself - Getting to Know You.  It's all about self-awareness.

These are challenging conversations, but they are also important ones. We are friends sharing these life experiences with each other and talking about how these things fit together, or don't. Whitney wrote a great post about some of the background of the show and how she came to it. I wanted to share my thoughts too.

At this point in my life, I am going through personal change and growth at a significant level. I've been working with the people closest to me - my family, my friends - to better have my life reflect who I truly am. I didn't quite have a sense of who I truly was. I am still not complete, nor perfect, and I will never be. But, I have gained a fair deal of emotional insight into how I operate as a person and as a human in this world. 

Until relatively recently, I was not compassionate with myself. You hear some of this in our episodes - I am hard on me. We are all our own worst critics.  But, I recognize this; awareness is that first step.

Like many of you, I trust, I began to read Whitney's stuff on the web and watch her presentations, and was just impressed as hell. I mean, really. Then I met her at IA Summit. Beyond the amazing conversation we had, I later thought, "Holy crap, it would be cool if I could work with Whitney Hess on something. She's someone in the UX world I admire and see as a leader, and... wow, that would be great."

The conversation continued after IA Summit, focusing on getting to know each other. The topic of working together came up. Originally, it was in the context of public speaking... but that fell away and podcasts emerged, since we had both wanted to do a podcast for quite some time (as it turned out!) 

And Designing Yourself is the result of that. We work hard on this podcast, through the schedules and responsibilities we have to our families and our lives. We are learning along the way, and we're getting better. To me, it's an opportunity to talk with a new friend, someone I greatly respect, about the things that matter to us as humans. Exciting stuff!

I would love it if you listened to one of the episodes and gave feedback. Follow the show on Twitter. And if you find something valuable, special, or exciting about our show... thank you.

300.1

This morning I hit 300 miles run.  I never thought I could do this. I never thought I would do this.

When I started running, it was kind of on a whim. I talked a little about this when I ran outside in March.  My exercise levels were zero - I did not exercise. Worse, I felt that there was nothing exercise could offer me. Oh sure sure, mind-wise I got it: exercise is good for you. It offers benefits. Everything we've heard for years and years. I understood it but never really got  it.

Thus when I started out with this, one of the little goals I had in my head when exercising was: don't get winded going up stairs. Man, I hated that. I would be a big sweaty mess just from going upstairs, even at a small pace. I didn't like that. So I tried the StairMaster, and it was really hard. After a few minutes I decided, instead, to try the treadmill.

Shortly afterwards I learned of Nike+ and became enamored with its gamification. Even when it's just me - which it still mostly is - I'm trying to best myself. My first run in Nike+ (which was, for all intents and purposes, my first run) was 0.77 miles. I was exhausted, sweaty, and a mess. Soon I tried alternating between 2.5 mph (walking) and 5.0 mph (running). That worked great. I started to quietly and slowly build endurance, which is what I wanted to do all along.

Today I ran a bit more than a 5K - enough to hit 300 miles run of course! - and did almost all of it at 6.2-6.4 mph. (I did take a short break at 2.5 mph, and I'm fine with this).  I have run at 6.8 mph before, and I have sustained that for half a mile.

My recent pace is under 10 minutes per mile. I started in the 17 minute per mile range. 

These are numbers. They make the part of me that thrives on numbers feel really good. But beyond that, it's a little tough to articulate in words what all of this means to me. It is significant because it's evidence that I'm doing something that I never ever thought I could or would do. My body can do this. My body has been doing this for two years, at various sizes (including sizes larger than I am now - note that.) And all of this means that I have been doing this.

I look at my body in a different way now, because it is different than it was when I started. But no matter when I look at it, or what it looks like, it is a part of me. Right now my body can run, and it can do it pretty well.

Here's to the next three hundred miles run.

Let it go

I admit that a part of me got really, really tired of hearing about how I should just "let go" of something. "If you love something, set it free." Fables about what comes back to you. All of that felt phony and artificial and like a bunch of hooey to me. 

Then I started really examining what I was  holding on to.

So much of what I was holding on to - and still am, in some cases - is so buried in my heart that I've put up giant walls around it. It's nothing harmful. It's nothing hurtful. There are no secrets in my own heart. And yet I keep these things close to appear fearless, adroit, invulnerable - I keep them close to appear like I'm "me", although that's not me  anymore.

There are some things I did let go of: fear here, ignorance there. And as a result? Huge changes in my life - not just for me, but for others. So what happens when those giant walls crumble? 

I'll never know if I don't just let them go.

Designing Yourself #2: Too Much Future

The second episode of Designing Yourself is out and it is a good one. Not that the first one wasn't good but... this one is also good. 

It's called Too Much Future and deals with fear, one of my favorite topics (cf The Fear.)

Give it a listen, and be sure to tweet your feedback. 

That's me in the spotlight

Today was the first day of UXMAD, and I had a most enjoyable and enlightening day. Every talk today was a good one, without exception. The day began with a "playnote" from Jessie Shternshus, in which she not only had everyone on stage (all the attendees!) but also had us throwing paper airplanes at her.

After we did a great meet and greet with everyone else, Jessie asked for 5 people to volunteer to stay behind for another improv session. I stood still and watched as nearly everyone left the stage. It was funny but while a part of me wanted to go, I didn't. I wanted to play along and it sounded like way too much fun for me to be in my seat. So I raised my hand along with 5 other people (plus my coworker Marteki, who ultimately declined) and... It was show time.

At this point I felt like a little kid. I was on stage under bright spotlights - this was the stage at the Overture Center - standing on a rug, with 5 strangers. No idea what I was going to be doing. Jessie informed us that we were going to be a discussion panel... a one-word discussion panel. Each of us needed to reply to an audience question on any topic (!) in order from left to right with just one word each! So, we each built on each other's word and gave a signal when we were done.

It was a lot of fun. We were asked about the meaning of life, what was happening on Dexter (my word: "spoiler-y"), and buttons versus links. During my brief time on stage, I was so excited and thrilled and just in the moment that I had no chance to worry or fret. No chance! I had no butterflies, no nervousness. I felt as comfortable as I could be, just letting the moments be and realizing, hey, when am I going to have THIS opportunity again?

And you know, just like that, it was over.

It was a blast. I had a great time and I can't wait to see what's in store for tomorrow.

Photo by Naa Marteki Reed.

Introducing Designing Yourself

I've been wanting to do a podcast for a long time.

I toyed around with topics and formats, but things really came together when I met Whitney Hess at IA Summit earlier this year. After our meeting, I knew I wanted to work with her. An email led to a couple of great phone conversations; she shared what was happening in her life and I in mine. We pitched a few ideas back and forth for something to collaborate on but we came back to podcasts. We love podcasts.

So we made one.  And today, we're sharing it with you.

It's called Designing Yourself and the first episode is called The Hamster Wheel is Life.

We hope you like it.