This morning I attended a lecture by Hannah, talking about how she got into UX and how she’s been in the design industry for about 20 years.
The lecture kicked off with Hannah giving us a few tips on how to improve and structure our portfolio. From this I discovered the importance of having a strong projects to start and conclude with, and to tailor your portfolio to whoever you are speaking to (the audience), as you have the control and ability to filter and select what they see.
Following on, Hannah talked about the experience she had with designing websites in the early days, highlighting how much technology and approaches to design have progressed since she started in about 2005, a time when there was growing demand for a stronger online presence. 2015 is known as the year that accessibility emerged as a focal point, expanding beyond colour contrast, adding videos and subtitles to improve inclusivity. Designers began to follow aa guidelines more as they realised how crucial it is for people with visual impairments to not be excluded and have the ability to still interact with the website comfortably. Designers also came to the conclusion that it wasn’t just the design that should be prioritised, it’s also how you put the content together which should be considered from the start. If a company doesn’t make a website design accessible they can lose out on a lot of money.
Hannah explained how after 2015 technology really advanced and allowed designers to understand users more through research methods such as; eye tracking, mouse movements, heat maps and click maps. Through all of these techniques designers had a better understanding of how users interact with websites as well as the ability to adjust the content better and more accurately based on their research findings. Through more vigorous and constant user testing designers were able to make navigation changes and insights into user journeys. The data they collected allowed them to justify the changes they made to websites, enhancing the user experience. From a designers perspective, with continuous use and familiarity of the website it becomes increasingly difficult to identify and pinpoint issues, further proving the importance of data driven decisions.
Some advice that stuck with me was whatever you enjoy doing, continue doing it as can open up more opportunities within the field of your passion to explore – really reinforced do what you love. Hannah also explained that every year there are new things that are introduced which helps keep the industry alive, hence why it’s important to keep up with these changes and trends, for example AI, a growing big part of everyones daily lives and within design, still not taking away the the fundamentals of UX.