For the Auckland Meetup Oct 2010 This describes how I learned my craft in User Experience and lessons learned. I'm a work in progress.

1. Haunani Pao, CUA haunani@gmail.com twitter:haunanipao UX Meetup, 5, October 2010
By Haunani Pao, CUA
User Experience Designer
haunani@gmail.com
UX Meetup Auckland
5 October 2010
My UX-FU

2. Haunani Pao, CUA haunani@gmail.com twitter:haunanipao UX Meetup, 5, October 2010
Not all knowledge is contained in
only one school - a hula proverb

3. Haunani Pao, CUA haunani@gmail.com twitter:haunanipao UX Meetup, 5, October 2010
About Me
Your life experiences and culture will influence your work.

4. Haunani Pao, CUA haunani@gmail.com twitter:haunanipao UX Meetup, 5, October 2010
Life in Corporate America
• First gig out of University -Fair Isaac
• I really liked it, I totally enjoyed my
colleagues. Very Smart People.
• The web was the new big thing everyone
talked about in the bay area.
• Learning policy helped finance the cost –
classes, costs, etc
Non-web gigs can offer a foundation in project processes.
Capitalize on your company’s learning policies.

5. Haunani Pao, CUA haunani@gmail.com twitter:haunanipao UX Meetup, 5, October 2010
Life in Corporate America
• First web gig Fireman’s Fund Insurance
• Political - strife over ownership
• Found brilliance in a mentor and a maverick
team
• Threw myself into design and process
• We created our UX process and digital design
standards
• Learned from everything - Books, Sites,
Classes, Consultants, Colleagues
• Got HFI certified
• Projects were diverse and interesting
Corporate life is political, but you have to deal with it.
Gather your mentors as you go.

6. Haunani Pao, CUA haunani@gmail.com twitter:haunanipao UX Meetup, 5, October 2010
Evangelizing UX and creating Standards
• Creating standards and process out of nothing
• Teamwork is key
• Have a plan for communication
• Show and Tell – show the quick wins
• Education sessions
• Involve the users
• Be open to critical feedback
• Get a stakeholder(s)
• Accomplish more with a committed team
• If you can find better, do it!
Have a plan, communicate often, set achievable goals, revise.
Learn from failures and publicize successes

7. Haunani Pao, CUA haunani@gmail.com twitter:haunanipao UX Meetup, 5, October 2010
Volunteer opportunities
If you love something
Help others
Share knowledge
Participate

8. Haunani Pao, CUA haunani@gmail.com twitter:haunanipao UX Meetup, 5, October 2010
Goin’ Freelance
• Contracted with Human Factors International
• I enjoyed the academic culture
• Learned a lot of techniques
• As a consultant - got paid to be opinionated
• Be uber organized
• Get used to not having a steady paycheck.
• Had to be mindful of the mood of client and
their motivations
Consultant life – the client expects you to be an expert
Learn to be comfortable giving presentations and facilitation
Work Smart - Know when “it’s good enough”
Pay attention to the little things even when the situation change

9. Haunani Pao, CUA haunani@gmail.com twitter:haunanipao UX Meetup, 5, October 2010
Start Up Mode
• Start up Gig – id8
• Excellent people to work with, not too formal
of a process
• This was full consultant mode, blog,
tutorials, introduce UX process
• Lots of travel and working at all hours
• Pay and compensation was excellent
• Introduced to iRise – an expensive
simulation tool
• Made redundant when the 2008 economic
downturn happened. ;)
Use tools to streamline your process
Remember, start up goes where the
money is.
No money..no gig.

10. Haunani Pao, CUA haunani@gmail.com twitter:haunanipao UX Meetup, 5, October 2010
Enjoy Redundancy – Do something new
Explore your creativity

11. Haunani Pao, CUA haunani@gmail.com twitter:haunanipao UX Meetup, 5, October 2010
Stranger in a strange land
Be flexible, be open minded, ask questions
Jump in and get involved
Be Curious – it’s ok not have all the answers

12. Haunani Pao, CUA haunani@gmail.com twitter:haunanipao UX Meetup, 5, October 2010
Recap
1. Your life experiences and culture will influence your work.
2. Capitalize on your company’s learning policies.
3. Corporate life is political, but you have to deal with it.
4. Gather your mentors as you go.
5. When evangelizing UX, have a plan, communicate often, set achievable
goals, revise.
6. Learn from failures and publicize successes
7. Volunteer - Help other, share knowledge, Participate
8. Consultant life – learn to be comfortable giving presentations and
facilitation
9. Work smarter, know when it’s good enough
10.Be uber organized
11. Start-up goes where the money is. No money…no gig.
12.Use redundancy to explore other interests. Explore Creativity.
13.Be flexible, be open-minded, ask questions
14.Jump in and get involved
15.Be Curious – it’s ok not have all the answers

13. Haunani Pao, CUA haunani@gmail.com twitter:haunanipao UX Meetup, 5, October 2010
Thank you for your time
Haunani has 10 years experience with User
Experience (UX) and User Centric Design
(UCD). In 2003, she received her Certified
Usability Analysis (CUA) designation from
Human Factors International.
She is an advocate and practitioner of the User
Experience (UX) methodology as a strategist,
designer, analyst and architect to provide
human factors expertise and project deliverables
such as expert reviews, information architecture,
interaction design models and usability testing.
She works collaboratively within the
organization for the successful definition and
design of web experiences and applications.
Haunani Pao, CUA
User Experience Designer
haunani@gmail.com
Twitter: haunanipao
Auckland, New Zealand