Community: Professional Development

“We should try to leave the world a better place than when we entered it.”—Michio Kaku

Inclusiveness, diversity, and belonging in the workplace have become essential parts of a ubiquitous, ever-present ideology for organizations. Diversity and inclusion are quickly moving to the top of organizations’ lists of priorities because of the value they add. Not only do they contribute to creating a happier, more discretionary, and productive workforce, they also improve the organizations’ financial performance, as multiple studies have reported.

Still, one of the biggest challenges we face today is creating a diverse and inclusive environment for the workforce. Achieving true diversity and inclusion takes more than a training video or a session about being polite to coworkers. Many reputed organizations have been taking measures across multiple fronts—including hiring, promotions, opportunities, behavior, and more—to instill, improve, and constantly monitor these principles. Awareness of the business case for inclusion and diversity is on the rise. While social justice is typically the initial impetus behind these efforts, companies have increasingly begun to regard inclusion, diversity, and belonging as a source of competitive advantage—and more specifically, as a key enabler of growth. Read More

This is a question that every UX professional faces at some point: is it better to be a UX generalist—for example, practicing both user research and UX design—or is it better to specialize—perhaps in a specific domain? Companies often question whether a team of UX generalists or a mix of specialists is best.

I might be the ideal person to answer this question. Over the last 15 years, I’ve had the unusual experience of starting out as a UX design generalist, becoming a user research specialist, and again becoming a UX design generalist. In this column, I’ll discuss the advantages and disadvantages of generalization and specialization for UX professionals and the companies that hire them. Read More

To get work as a professional designer, whether as an in-house designer or an independent consultant, the first thing you need to have is a good design portfolio. If you want to win design projects, your design portfolio must impress your prospective clients. Your portfolio showcases your design skills, creativity, and talent and helps clients to envision what they can expect if they hire you. Your portfolio can help you to make a great first impression, which is essential in today’s competitive design industry.

How can you create a brilliant, eye-catching design portfolio? First, you must decide what goals you want to achieve through your design portfolio and what information it should include. Your design portfolio should be a virtual gallery of your best designs. It should tell a well-crafted story about your work and give your future clients a sneak-peek into the design processes and methods you use in overcoming design challenges. Read More