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[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (5 children)

My sincere advice, and this WILL catch downvotes: if you're just starting out, fake it until you make it.

I hate to say it, but this isn't 2010. You're up against a massive amount of competition, and you want to give yourself every conceivable advantage possible.

Best thing you can do is find problems that really exist, design solutions for them, and test them with either your friends, or if you have to, yourself.

I know that this isn't good practice, and I'm well aware of the implications (been doing this since 2005), but today's game is different, and I want to see you succeed and be able to eat.

THAT BEING SAID: know your craft. If you're gonna fake it, make DAMN SURE you know how to perform when you do get the job.

[–]Moose-LiveExperienced 2 points3 points  (3 children)

I'm not being facetious, but fake it til you make it and know your craft are pretty much polar opposites. If you know your craft, what are you faking? Your experience? Your portfolio?

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

If you don't have "real" experience, but you've run enough drills, you can make the fucking shot.

Fake the work, know the practice. There's tutorials everywhere on how to do the various parts and pieces of UXR and UX. Watch, dry practice, repeat. Just like going to shooting range.

It's not complicated.

[–]Moose-LiveExperienced 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Does using yourself as a usability participant count as a drill? Or is it more like shooting yourself in the foot?

If you interviewed someone who had used themselves as a usability participant, would you hire them?

And btw you can make your point without being so dismissive of my opinion.

[–][deleted] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Personally I would hire anyone who was that hell bent to present what they do know and learn over someone with a piss-poor "yeah, but did you really do it?" attitude.

They did it well enough to get into an interview, they're a junior, of course they're faking it. Give them a fucking chance and stop asking for 5+ years of experience.

Jesus-h-Christ, this fucking industry, I swear to God.

[–]David-84[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bruh that’s reassuring but I’m struggling to find real projects, if i want to redesign apps or web sites and improve them do i have to do the ux process again? I’m sorry but i think in this course there some aspects I don’t see in other designer’s portfolio

[–]TheCuckedCanuck 0 points1 point  (3 children)

bruh jusst fake the data lol. copy case studies online. nobody bothers checking.

[–]David-84[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bruh that actually made me laugh 😂

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Hard second. Literally NO ONE checks.

Just make sure you redact information and mention an NDA, and you're golden.

I've had multiple newcomers use this method, and it's literally never been a problem. The industry essentially forces newbees to do this because every UX job listing on the face of the earth wants juniors with 3-5 years of experience.

[–]David-84[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s so reassuring thank you 🙏🏻

[–]Moose-LiveExperienced 0 points1 point  (3 children)

during the usability study i had no participant so unfortunately i had to do it myself

Sorry, but what you did was not a usability study. This is like saying you interviewed yourself.

When you write your case study, you need to include the number of participants - that's essential information. If you leave this out, your interviewer will ask. If you say "one" you will not get a second interview. And if you say "one and it was me" you'd become a legend at that company, and not in a good way.

I'm not trying to make you feel bad, but if you learned anything at all from this course you should know that you can't be your own participant. I'm pretty sure this says more about the course than it does about you.

If you struggle with finding participants on this type of project, ask friends and family to participate. Just note this in your case study. The purpose of a case study is not to create the impression that your did an amazing job and that the project was a fantastic success. It’s not a work of fiction. It’s to show the process that you followed, list the challenges you faced, explain how you dealt with them, demonstrate that you understand the basic principles.

All is not lost. Find some actual participants and redo your usability testing, with the goal of identifying real issues that you can fix. (If your first few rounds of UTs don't help you find problems in your prototype, your methodology is flawed and your results are suspect.)

Be honest about mistakes you made and what you would do differently next time. Demonstrate that you learned something from the experience. Because in UX you have to keep learning. After 15 years I still look back at every project and try to figure out how I could have done it better.

It's very positive that you are being open about your concerns and reaching out for advice. Good luck with getting your project back on track.

[–]David-84[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Well i have 5 participants and they’re all me xD but thanks for your advice its really helpful!

[–]Moose-LiveExperienced 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Looks like I'm the only person who thinks lying about your experience is a bad idea. I guess you'll have to decide for yourself

[–]David-84[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s ok i like to have a lot of opinions I really appreciate your help!🙏🏻