Get into UX by Vy Alechnavicius.
I enjoyed Vy’s analogy of the rocket in regards to learning. He stresses that you need to be constantly refilling the tanks and continue to be critical of what stage you are in your journey and how your skill sets are.
Your two fuel tanks are very important the smaller tank should be filled with actually getting in the books and learning theory, talking with others and also getting support in guidance. The other tank, the larger one should be filled with practice. It’s a very helpful way to visualize how you want to get into UX or even UI for that matter. You can apply this learning to everything!
Vy also includes a whole section that breaks down what you want to look for in a Boot Camp or a course. I am in one of the many UX Facebook groups and that is a daily question. It almost drives me crazy, I understand people want their own curated answers but just use the search button in the Facebook group.
The other thing that really bothered me the other day was after well especially after reading Vy’s section about the UX/UI Memes. Someone had shared one the one about with the baby mobile the view of the parent and baby. (Image included below in this post.) I was reading through the comments and no one caught the fact that the meme is wrong, it is UI and UX for both the parents and the baby. It is just bad UX and UI for the baby because he’s just staring up at the butts of the animals on the mobile.
So with that being said I know there are good senior or mid-level UXers in groups like that, but if you’re asking for advice and those people happen to not see that post and don’t comment then the people who are commenting, are they really going to be the kind of help and advice you need? Or is it the blind and confused leading the blind and confused?
That is why I have really pushed towards the books and even YouTube videos when I’m able to get my learning and advice. This book has been phenomenal so far, I really wish I had read this book before doing the Google UX course.
Okay, back on track… Had a short rant…
The other part of the section that really stuck out to me was the mentor part.
I have seen constant posts online about people offering mentorship, but you can just tell that it would be transactional. I think finding an organic mentor would be a fantastic thing. But like I said, I want it to be organic.
I think back to past jobs and I’ve almost always had a mentor that has just organically happened which is cool to think about now in hindsight.
The most recent one was someone I thought based off a phone call that I would never like and never get along with. Fast forward to today, I still keep on and off touch with her now. We didn’t always agree on things and have different tastes and style when it comes to graphic design, but she was always there and always challenged me think. I really appreciated that and I would absolutely love to work with her again one day of our paths ever crossed.
So far in Vy’s book, he constantly gives examples of reaching out and he even goes and gives you a very generic template in case you are sitting there twiddling your thumbs having absolutely no idea how to get started. Granted you should absolutely personalize things based on the situation and of course match your personal style.
The final thing that I thought was interesting and this part was the Dunning — Krueger effect. I got a good laugh out of it honestly, I was definitely on the peak of amount stupid when I was in course three of the Google UX course. I definitely am leaving the Valley of despair and I would like to say I’m very close to the slope of enlightenment. I think this book is really helping me grasp all the things I missed in the Google UX course. I think I was just so focused on reaching the end goal of each course I didn’t stop to really hone in on the little things. And it’s clear that the little things are very important. It’s probably safe to say the little things are the nuts and bolts that hold that rocket ship together. They are little, but you sure as hell will notice if you don’t have them.
Originally published at http://blklightningcreative.com on March 10, 2022.
