Ellen Lazaretti is a UX designer based in Austin, TX. I met Ellen in my UX Portfolio class at Austin Community College (ACC). At that time, I had the opportunity to better understand her struggles of switching from graphic design…
This is part two of a three part UX Portfolio Checklist series. If you missed the fist part that outlined the necessary elements that make up a solid portfolio piece, check out this post (link). In this article, I go…
You made it. You survived the gauntlet of portfolio reviews, interviews, design challenges, and landed a new design job. Now is the time to really get to work. How should you approach the first 90 days? I have gone through…
“How do I learn UX design?” Questions like this come from a lot of people who are UX curious. I asked the same questions when I was studying design and transitioning out of teaching English. Later I continued to ask…
Job Interview Myth #1: No Experience = No Chance Truth: Internships and Entry Level positions Of all the job interview myths, this one frustrates most of my students. However, just remember that companies are often looking to grow the talent…
The startup community is exciting, but choosing the right startup to join is crucial. I got my start in UX with a hot new company promising to change how we exchange money. They set out to move payments from cash…
The number one question my students ask me is be how to make their design portfolio stand out. After reviewing graduating students’ work as well as applicants at IBM, I often see a hodgepodge of what seems like everything they…
**Editor’s notes. This is a repost from an earlier article. Over the past year, I have talked with former students to hear about their stories interviewing for their first UX designer role. Their lessons combined with my interview experiences have…
This month I sat down with Dario Fidanza. He is a former student of mine at Austin Community College. Dario is very active in the design community. We spent time talking about the challenges of breaking into the industry and…
This is the second installment of my interview series, "Break into UX." These interviews focus on the experiences new designers have as they transition from school to their first UX design job. This week I sat down with Ravi Morbia.…