DIBI Edinburgh 2017

I attended Design It; Build It in Edinburgh (March 2017). Three of the major lessons I learnt are below: 

1. User experience designers are almost never truly representative of the user they are designing for. But it is important that UI/UX designers try to put themselves in the shoes of their user. In the case of Molly Nix, a product designer at Uber, she spent time driving for Uber to try and make an accurate assessment of the needs and desires of their drivers. What she acknowledged however, is that her income was not dependent on driving for Uber, and that she could not be a driver for long enough to accurately assess what they need. So while it is important to try and put ourselves in the shoes of our users, and do so in a way which is physical as well as mental, we can almost never be truly representative of them. Good communication and liaison with your users is therefore highly important.

2. The importance of personal identity. Though often overlooked, it is highly important to develop a unique and successful personal brand for yourself as a designer. Mike Kus demonstrated the effectiveness of personal identity through his well-received slide deck, seen above. Though it is important to let your work speak for itself, it's just as important to express your personal philosophy as a designer, and make it clear what you are trying to achieve and why you are doing what you do. 

2. The importance of taking risks. Though taking risks is uncomfortable, if you are not taking risks then the impact you will have on anything that causes meaningful change is limited. Whether on a personal level or on a one of grander scale, doing things which make you worry means that you are doing things that are different, and it is only through doing things which are different that you can create positive change.