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Much appreciated – thanks so much for taking the time to review, and for the actionable advice! I'm considering living off savings for the next 3-6 months and r

by areeve 14y ago

Much appreciated – thanks so much for taking the time to review, and for the actionable advice! I'm considering living off savings for the next 3-6 months and really focusing on a few self-initiated projects that allow me to boost my UX creds – potentially an iPhone app, a SaaS tool, etc. One of the downsides about living in Australia is that there's barely a handful of tech companies based here (that aren't just marketing/sales offices), and most agencies are just churn and burn (Facebook pages and banner ads, etc). Do you think that having a few (i.e 3-4) strong personal projects where I ran both design and development solo would boost my creds for the likes of Google & Co? Edit: As an aside – do you think it's preferable to have quality over quantity? I.e. ditch a few of the weaker pieces of work in favor of having say, 4-5 really strong portfolio pieces?

adyio 14y ago
Having additional strong portfolio pieces definitely helps, and yes quality over quantity. Whether it will be enough for Google & Co, I don't know. Usually these companies require more experience, if you want to work as a UX designer for them. But don't let that discourage you - definitely work on your sideprojects - you never know. Also, it wasn't clear from your post what you want to focus on initially as a designer - more on this topic here: https://medium.com/design-ux/3623c3243aa6 https://medium.com/design-ux/3623c3243aa6 Again, judging from your portfolio only, it looks like you should maybe focus on UI design first, as this seems to be your strong point and find a job in a UX specific agency, so you can see and learn what other UX practioners do, learn more about UCD etc. I'm sure there must be UX only agencies in Australia or startups - a quick Google search came back with http://www.stamfordinteractive.com.au/join-our-team/ http://www.stamfordinteractive.com.au/join-our-team/ http://www.lbi.com/au/ http://www.lbi.com/au/ If you could work for LBi for example, you could maybe transfer more easily to the US at a later stage. Other tips: * Get on Dribbble (that's how some UI designers get hired / headhunted) * Start blogging about design, what you're passionate about etc - helps later on when recruiters review your portfolio Anyway, keep us updated...

by areeve 14y ago

adyio 14y ago

Having additional strong portfolio pieces definitely helps, and yes quality over quantity. Whether it will be enough for Google & Co, I don't know. Usually these companies require more experience, if you want to work as a UX designer for them. But don't let that discourage you - definitely work on your sideprojects - you never know. Also, it wasn't clear from your post what you want to focus on initially as a designer - more on this topic here: https://medium.com/design-ux/3623c3243aa6 https://medium.com/design-ux/3623c3243aa6 Again, judging from your portfolio only, it looks like you should maybe focus on UI design first, as this seems to be your strong point and find a job in a UX specific agency, so you can see and learn what other UX practioners do, learn more about UCD etc. I'm sure there must be UX only agencies in Australia or startups - a quick Google search came back with http://www.stamfordinteractive.com.au/join-our-team/ http://www.stamfordinteractive.com.au/join-our-team/ http://www.lbi.com/au/ http://www.lbi.com/au/ If you could work for LBi for example, you could maybe transfer more easily to the US at a later stage. Other tips: * Get on Dribbble (that's how some UI designers get hired / headhunted) * Start blogging about design, what you're passionate about etc - helps later on when recruiters review your portfolio Anyway, keep us updated...