Grow Your Own (UX talent)
Demand for UX talent is huge. You can wait around for the supply to catch up, or you can be proactive and play Sensei to the next generation of UX unicorns. But now that everyone wants to tack “UX” onto their job title, how can you separate the wannabe’s from the gonna-be’s?
Fred Beecher , who nurtures fledgling UX designers at The Nerdery, recommends looking for folks who are:
Intrinsically motivated: These folks are dying to break into UX. They seek you out. By email. At conferences. During the work day. They’re always hanging around, asking questions, and showing an interest in the UX team’s work. They read books about it and participate in community on their own. They’re going to pursue their UX dreams, with or without you.
People-centered: They understand that great design solves users’ problems, so they seek input and feedback from people at every stage of the process. They’re sensitive to the needs of all of their users and stakeholders, and they balance them judiciously.
Curious: Great UX’ers are full of questions. “What if we tried it this way instead?” “Wouldn’t it be cool if we could use X to solve for Y?” “Why isn’t this working?” They’re curious about people, about technology, and about how to bring them together to make life less frustrating.
Criticism-tolerant: Learning a new skills usually involves a decent number of fails and misfires. You want someone who can take criticism without being defensive. Someone who see negative feedback as a tool to make the work better.
adapted from “Teaching UX,” a Virtual Seminar by Fred Beecher.