Presented at TalkUX, Atlanta Georgia, September 30, 2016 http://www.talk-ux.com/ The field of User Experience (UX) offers many opportunities for interesting, meaningful (and well paid) work. The number of skills required to do this work can feel overwhelming. As you create your own UX practice, what do you need to know? How deeply must you know it? Is it better to be a generalist or a specialist? Are unicorns real? In this talk, I'll share what I learned in my own journey from designer to founder and present some useful models for charting your own course.

1. @thinknowFlickr |
Balanced Craft

2. @thinknow

3. @thinknowFlickr | TheWomensMuseum
What do you want
to be when you
grow up?

4. @thinknowFlickr | theoldmotor.com
The Stanley
Steamer
| Ford Europe

5. @thinknowFlickr | HSBC UK Press Office
I never planned to
be a UX designer

6. @thinknowDan Saffer - The Disciplines of User Experience
UX welcomes
generalists

7. @thinknowFlickr | Hans Splinter
I can has unicorn?

8. @thinknowThe Art of Dr. Seuss “Star-Belly Friends”
Two tribes,
Now friends

9. @thinknow
User experience
isn't a role, it’s
an outcome

10. @thinknow
Collaboration is a
form of leadership

11. @thinknow
How can I be a
more useful team
member?

12. @thinknowholster.co.uk
Graphic Design
Literacy

13. @thinknowGithub, Slack, Trello,
It’s more than
just code

14. @thinknow
DEVELOP
DESIGN + DEVELOP
DESIGN + DEVELOP + PRODUCT
DESIGN + DEVELOP + PRODUCT + FINANCE
DESIGN + DEVELOP + PRODUCT + FINANCE + ???

15. @thinknow
GeneralistSpecialist

16. @thinknow

17. @thinknow

18. @thinknow

19. @thinknowFlickr | Maureen Didde
Ways find your own
balanced craft

20. @thinknowFlickr | Stephen Depolo
Be the person you
want to become

21. @thinknow
Be a better designer
by being a better
collaborator

22. @thinknowPhoto | Lane Halley
Get out of your
comfort zone

23. @thinknowPhoto:
To go fast, go alone,
To go far, go with others

24. @thinknowYouTube | 1101com
Learn something
complex and useful