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Things I learned while growing as a 
UX Designer

Things I learned while growing as a 
UX Designer

A little introduction to my job as UX design and things I learned over the last 10 years (and wish I new before) that helped me grow as a designer in tech.

Stéphanie Walter

June 16, 2021
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  1. Things I learned
    while growing as a

    UX Designer
    Stephanie Walter - 2020

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  2. User Researcher &
    Product Designer



    Mobile expert. Pixel & CSS Lover
    stephaniewalter.design @WalterStephanie
    🦊

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  3. Love for design, art,
    computer & languages
    Foreign Languages
    Bachelor (LEA)
    Webdesign and

    Foreign Languages
    Master (CAWEB)

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  4. Working as an in-house
    Product and UI designer

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  5. Just because you are out
    of school doesn’t mean
    you stop learning.
    1.

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  6. Start building a network as
    soon as possible. Attend
    conferences, meet-ups, etc.
    2.

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  7. Working as UX & UI
    designer for a web
    agency

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  8. Ask why, 5 times helps dig
    further and closer to actual
    user and client needs
    3.

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  9. Don’t get discouraged if you
    don’t get to do a lot of user
    research right away. Maybe
    try collecting indirect data
    4.

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  10. Literature
    review

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  11. Analytics
    (Google
    Analytics,
    Matomo, etc.)

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  12. Server logs,
    URL analysis,
    etc.

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  13. Session replay
    with Hotjar,
    Fullstory, etc.

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  14. Support and/ or
    training team
    has a lot of
    data

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  15. Marketing team
    runs surveys (be
    careful with
    biases)

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  16. Online reviews
    (stores,
    forums, etc.)

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  17. Teaching is amazing, it forces
    you to rethink everything about
    your own work and methods.
    5.

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  18. Working for an HCI
    Research Group in a
    University

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  19. Many of the user research
    methods & tools we use can
    help us build services beyond
    digital UIs.
    6.

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  20. Building
    collaborative
    learning spaces
    for students

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  21. As long as I have a solid
    plan, I know I can improvise
    and it’s going to be fine.
    7.

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  22. Working in a design
    studio for a consulting
    company

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  23. Roles and responsibilities
    of UX design often need
    to be defined.
    8.

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  24. UX design is not about making things
    pretty, yet this is hard to understand
    for other people, especially in super
    dev driven environments.
    UX design is not about making things
    pretty, yet this is hard to understand
    for other people, especially in super
    dev driven environments.
    9.

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  25. Working as a “UX
    Researcher & Designer
    consultant”

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  26. Analysis, Interviews,
    Research, Flows, IA,
    Prototypes, Testing,
    etc.

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  27. Being an “external
    consultant” can be a
    double edge sword.
    10.

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  28. There’s some sort of
    “magic wand myth”
    around UX design.
    11.

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  29. Turning developers into
    design allies makes your life
    so much easier.
    12.

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  30. Building a
    design system
    documentation

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  31. UX deliverables
    can also help
    dev teams
    Task flow
    Screen flow

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  32. Show don’t tell
    with interactive
    prototypes

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  33. This job can be mentally
    exhausting, be kind to
    yourself, take breaks,

    self-care first!
    13.

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  34. Q and A session!

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  35. User Researcher &
    Product Designer



    Mobile expert. Pixel & CSS Lover
    stephaniewalter.design @WalterStephanie
    🦊

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