“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”
– Steve Jobs
Over the past few years I focused on many different projects. One more interesting than the other, but never boring. In that time, I created two personas of myself. While for the majority of my freelancing career I have worked as a website developer, I only recently found myself immersed in User Experience. These two blend perfectly together, yet you rarely see it executed properly. And if you do see it, it will most likely be in an agency setting instead. These two areas are equally important to me, but also to the consumer using my product. I had to find a way to combine the two into a market proposition, undeniably valuable.
Many interpret the above mentioned quote as a search for the one perfect match for their working wishes. I see it as an opportunity. If feeling unfulfilled in my career, I need to keep looking for what I love to do. Creating value for the customer. By aiding in not only creating a good-looking product, but one that has a converting purpose. One that accomplishes.
I have learned never to dwell too long on current accomplishments, but to look ahead and grab on to new challenges. This is my main goal for the upcoming year at Newcastle College. Looking ahead.
My Overall Objectives
Every good idea requires a proper analysis. There will be skills I have to improve and things to learn, in order to progress in my field. This year I will be improving my skills in the following areas:
- User Experience Design
- Content Management
- Project Efficiency
- Client Communication
Brought back into a solid goal, this would mean the following for the year:
Offering a better value proposition to my current and future customers, by applying a methodic strategy of conversion-centered design and industry-leading design techniques.
How do I achieve this?
1. By creating a well-structured User Experience Strategy for my future products
Every good product starts with the thinking process, and knowing who you’re developing it for. So far in my work, I simply chose a font or made a design because it was visually pleasing, not because it was backed by research. A PES (Product Experience Strategy) would consist of a detailed breakdown of business background, target audience, user objectives and mapping these. The outcome is a document that outlines all important goals for a new product, and would serve as the ‘holy guideline’ throughout the design process.
This is an interesting one, since user testing is a crucial part which now doesn’t only apply to customer products, but also to my own offering. I need to keep evolving it to create the right process. It won’t be a one size fits all.
Currently, I work together with a Digital Agency that has taken a similar approach for years already. On top of that, I also cooperate with other freelancers who do this for their own respective fields. I can pull knowledge from that.
2. By exploring software and techniques to bridge UX and Visual Design
The importance for me this year lies not in just implementing a new UX Strategy, but rather how this would translate into a better visual design. This bridge is usually non-existent, as UX and UI Design are commonly separate jobs. When I am on my way with this, the next step is translating it to a developed product such as a website. Some of the solutions for me to explore include, but are not limited to: Webflow, Figma, Adobe CC, WordPress, Google Lighthouse and Whimsical.
In both high school and college I have focused on both design and coding, following all necessary subjects. On the side, I have self-taught many of the principles that take these classes in practice. This gives me a great head-start on achieving my goal.
3. By utilizing new methods to improve efficiency and offer a better value proposition
Aside from the Product Experience Strategy, I plan to offer more new ways of doing my work that should improve efficiency greatly. For example, I plan to expand my current yearly website maintenance plan by making automated, possibly even interactive, reports. This would show the value my work is providing to the customer better. Nobody praises the IT guy when things work, but when something breaks they’re the worst. Right? Further plans include more transparent pricing models, a proposal template for presentation purposes, and a Component Library with ready-made components for me to build sites with. Like I said: efficiency!
When focusing on introducing many radically different new systems in just a year time, I should be aware that my quality isn’t slipping at it’s cost. It’s always quality over quantity. If the new services make it a hassle to maintain, they’re not worth it.
4. By analyzing new trends and finding ways to implement them in my daily work
In general, whatever I learn this year might be irrelevant in the future. I was once told that as a designer, I need to be a lifelong learner for both personal and professional reasons. For this very reason trends are a dangerous thing to include in your work. Analyzing these trends and comparing them with other previous trends can however be very beneficial.
When working with trends and upcoming new methods, it is vital that I ride the wave early on to learn (and profit) the most. My perfectionism often causes me to procrastinate and pile up.
Skills, Knowledge and Experience acquisition and application
Gaining experience to execute abovementioned objectives also depends a lot on the work I do. The success of a lot of the things I plan on achieving (especially #1 and #3) are determined by the kind of jobs I will take in the upcoming period, and how the client responds to this. Client feedback will be a major driver in the upcoming year and allows me to improve my practice.
In the nature of a freelancer, planning projects for months to come is a near-impossible task. However, some thrilling projects are in the pipeline which I plan on already applying some new techniques to. I’m not allowed to share them yet, though!
Eventually, these learnings might be documented in new ‘Cases’ that I will be adding to my site as opposed to just site links. Right now, my portfolio does not tell a story yet. I can’t let the visuals do all the talking…
Apart from commercial work, I plan on following relevant courses through Linkedin Learning and/or the Interaction Design Foundation. I already occasionally listen to the UX Design Podcast.
Processes and Method
When I work at an agency, commonly I adhere to the Agile workflow between the different teams (sales, content, design, development etc.). This works well, but only if planned right and it allows for flexibility. As a freelancer, this workflow is partially integrated in the way of ‘Sprints’ for each of the tasks I have to do, but these are obviously not aligned with a team when I work alone. Still, it helps me to keep track for sure.
Additionally, as a freelancer I am used to working from literally anywhere. Be it my living room or a hotel lobby during my well-needed vacation. This is part of the reason why pivoting to the Work From Home protocols has not affected me much, as I was used to working from home anyway. It does however make it more difficult to separate work time from both the agency I work for, and my own business.
Possible Collaborators
Since my work mostly revolves around my own commercial business on freelance basis, collaborations are not as common. However, I do regularly work together with colleague freelancers, and plan on doing so in the upcoming year too. A good use case for this is when a designer-colleague has developed a new site design, but works together with me to bring that vision to reality. I always like to make room for collaborative projects over personal ones, as different visions are good to learn from and ultimately results in the hardest questions and most productive discussions.
Commercial Context
Following my graduation at Newcastle College, I plan on bringing my new knowledge for my business into industry use, to offer more value to my clients. Besides continuing to freelance, I plan on learning more to earn my Master’s Degree in The Netherlands. Possibly I will also work part-time at the current agency I work for, depending on how the current situation in the world develops. In order to achieve this, I need to create a solid foundation of knowledge which I will be doing this year.
Sources of research
During the year I will be picking up my old habit of reading (for pleasure), with books either concerning the design industry or the art of freelancing/business. Currently I am reading ‘Never split the difference’ by Chris Voss, which is a great book I can recommend to anyone. This book specifically has a positive impact on my overall work ethics, which is also crucial.
During the project work, I could discuss current topics in the design field with the agency team. Since I have worked on the design floor for a few months, I still have close connections to many of the interns as well as current employees. This ties in with my idea to follow prominent figures from the UX industry (such as Don Norman) on platforms like Twitter, to stay up to date with their inspirations and latest thoughts.
As the current situation develops, I hope to have access to art exhibitions as well, such as the Baltic Centre for Art. I have always found art and museums fascinating in general. It inspires me.
Anticipated problems
While many commercial markets have been disrupted, the freelancing market has only been in more demand during this crisis. Having on-demand talent available from any corner in the world is great, especially during this time. Web Development in particular has seen increased demand due to the massive switch to online instead of physical contact points. Because of this, I do not expect any disruption of my market anytime soon. At least, not more as the usual fluctuating amount of business that has come to be expected from a freelance job.
Summing up, the single goal I have for this upcoming year requires me to investigate and improve multiple skills and areas of my own work, in ways I have not done before. It is the year to bring my services to a professional, industry level. There’s lots for me to do.
Or as Steve Jobs once said:
Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish