The demand for user experience designers has skyrocketed. Interest in UX as a career has soared along with that demand. However, this demand is only for designers with 3 years of experience or more. There are simply not enough experienced designers to fill these positions, and this experience gap is a barrier to offering potential designers a consistent path from interest to employment. Many have observed that design is a craft. How do you learn a craft? Education and practice. Apprenticeship is a model that fits that bill well, and during the summer and fall of 2013 The Nerdery‘s UX team put it into practice. I want to share our program’s successes and failures, our challenges and solutions, and some of the nitty-gritty details that made it work. The goal of this presentation is to show UX teams in educational institutions how to combine the infrastructure of apprenticeship with their unique business context to help address this problem.

1. MAKING MORE UX DESIGNERS:
UX Apprenticeship in Education
Presented by: Fred Beecher

2. DEMAND FOR UX IS VORACIOUS
©2010 Dimension Films

3. DEMAND FOR UX IS VORACIOUS
©2010 Dimension Films
SUPPLY OF UX TALENT IS… WEE

4. ©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
UX

5. 90% - Dumb Luck
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
UX
10% - Design School

6. 60% - Dumb Luck
30% - Specialty School
10% - Design School
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
UX

7. 10% - Dumb Luck
50% - APPRENTICESHIP
30% - Specialty School
10% - Design School
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
UX

8. INTEREST APPRENTICESHIP DEMAND
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice

9. INTEREST APPRENTICESHIP DEMAND
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice

10. ©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice

11. ©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice

12. APPRENTICESHIP ARCHITECTURE
BUSINESS VALUE
HIRE FOR TRAITS
PEDAGOGY MENTORSHIP
TRACKING
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice

13. APPRENTICESHIP ARCHITECTURE IN EDUCATION
BUSINESS VALUE
COMMUNICATION
PEDAGOGY MENTORSHIP
FEEDBACK
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice

14. BUSINESS VALUE
•Do more work
•Do better work
•Attract & retain senior talent
•Improve UX Design program
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice flickr: johnny vulkan

15. COMMUNICATION
“My life is directed by logistics.”
- Ange Wang, Adjunct Professor of Design
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice

16. DESIGN METHODS
BUSINESS STRATEGY
- Stakeholder Interviews
- Business Discovery
Workshops
- Feature Analysis
- Communicating Business
Discovery Findings
USER RESEARCH
- Planning & Recruiting
- In-Person Interviews
- Remote Interviews
- Contextual Inquiry
- Survey Design &
Analysis
- Web Traffic Analysis
- Research Analysis &
Synthesis
- Communicating User
Research Findings
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
- Card Sorting & Analysis
- Search Log Analysis
- Content Strategy
- Content Auditing
- Site Mapping
INTERACTION DESIGN
- Ideation & Design
Workshops
- Scenarios,
Storyboarding, &
Process Flows
- Screen Layout & Design
- Interactive Prototyping
- Prototype testing
USABILITY EVALUATION
- Heuristic Review
- In-Person Usability
Testing
- Remote Usability Testing

17. WHAT TO COMMUNICATE
OBSERVATION
METHOD PRACTICE
FULL PROJECTS
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice

18. TRACK MENTORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice

19. EMPATHY
FOR STUDENTS
• Their studies come first
• Most haven’t seen the big
picture of UX yet
• The serious ones really want
portfolio pieces
• They are not just free labor
• They know they won’t be able
to finish your project
FOR INSTRUCTORS
• Some instructors are more
focused on teaching than
others
• Tenure-track instructors might
be more focused on research
• Adjuncts are juggling many,
many responsibilities
• Instructors need to generate
lots of ideas about what to
teach
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice

20. PEDAGOGY
LEARN OBSERVE
PRACTICE PLAY
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice

21. PEDAGOGY
LEARN OBSERVE
PRACTICE PLAY
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice

22. MENTORSHIP IS THE ENGINE OF
APPRENTICESHIP
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice

23. ©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
Principal
Mentor
Apprentices Large Design
Team

24. ©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
College
Design
Manager
Apprentices
Department
Designers
Communication
& Logistics
Mentorship &
Feedback

25. Apprentice
Small Design
Team
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice

26. ©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
Accountability
Observation
Assistance
Mentorship
Oversight

27. ©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
Accountability
Observation
Mentorship
Oversight

28. APPRENTICE
• Watches
• Asks questions
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
Accountability
Observation
Mentorship
Oversight
MENTOR
• Shows what
they’re doing
• Explains why
GATES
• None

29. ©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
Accountability
APPRENTICE
• Executes the
method with
assistance
MENTOR
• Talks
apprentice
through the
method
GATES
• Has covered
method in
class
Observation
Mentorship
Oversight

30. ©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
Accountability
APPRENTICE
• Executes the
method
independently
MENTOR
• Checks
apprentice’s
work
GATES
• Has covered
method in
class
• Project work
Observation
Mentorship
Oversight

31. PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON APPRENTICES
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice

32. ENCOURAGE REFLECTION
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #uxapprenticeship

33. APPRENTICES PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON YOU
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice

34. AND ON THE PROGRAM
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice

35. YOUR NEXT STEPS - LAY THE FOUNDATION
BUSINESS VALUE
Define how apprenticeship will
benefit your organization
• More work?
• Better work?
• Attract senior talent?
• Enhance UX program’s
reputation?
COMMUNICATION
Identify your allies and tailor
your communication for them
• Who is motivated to
teach?
• What are they looking
for?
• What can you offer them?
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice

36. YOUR NEXT STEPS - INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN
PEDAGOGY
Define how apprentices can
participate in your work
• Choose design methods
• Identify opportunities for
observation
• Identify opportunities for
practice
• Identify longer term
projects
Define the mentorship structure
of your program
• How will you spread the
burden?
• What different levels of
mentorship are you able to
provide?
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice
MENTORSHIP

37. YOUR NEXT STEPS - SET UP TRACKING
FEEDBACK
Set up the infrastructure you
need to provide feedback to
apprentices & instructors
• Forms, spreadsheets,
databases, processes, etc.
• Learning goals
• Reflections
• Feedback for you!
• Pilot class
©2014 :: @fred_beecher :: #edui_apprentice

38. Fred Beecher
UX Apprenticeship Lead
!
fbeecher@nerdery.com
nerdery.com/fb
@fred_beecher
!
slideshare.net/fred_beecher/
ICONS BY NOUNPROJECT:
Erlenmeyer Flask by Dmitry Baranovskiy :: Magnifying Glass by Lemon Liu :: Person by Alex Fuller :: Volunteer by
Amanda Clifford :: Education by Travis Yunis :: Mentor by Irene Hoffman :: Statistics by Nate Eul :: Bridge by Torehan
Sharman :: Four Leaf Clover by Iconoci :: Unicorn by Bram van Rijen :: Mortar Board by Ryan Beck :: Megaphone by
Piero Borgo :: Comment by Mourad Mokrane (all other icons are public domain)