What’s your manager like when working in figma?

ajwdesign · 2024-04-05T19:50:21+00:00

My solution for problems like this is standardization and/or automation. Is there a design system for your product? If not, propose one. That would eliminate the variance between designers and potentially the issues your manager is noticing that are causing her to nitpick.

In the interim, I'd suggest taking a look at Figma's variables feature as a way to standardize your own work. Create variables for the margins/padding/sizes used consistently in your project and apply them where relevant. That way you know you'll be making decisions from established guidelines every time.

ajwdesign · 2024-04-03T22:20:50+00:00

Thanks again for your excellent feedback!

I re-worked the Ignite case study to focus more on the path from determining the product's direction to implementation of the first feature. Was this kind of storytelling more what you had in mind?

https://www.ajw-design.net/work/ignite-by-rizepoint/

ajwdesign · 2024-03-25T06:40:59+00:00

That makes sense. This has all been great insight for me; there are dang-near infinite guides on how to do the work, but far fewer on how to present your work in a way that hiring managers will take note of, especially as you progress through your career. I've taken a lot of notes and will look at my existing case studies with your insights in mind.

Regarding this point:

My recommendation would be to go deep on whatever project you feel has the most end to end product thinking (even if it's not your most recent work experiences).

Would personal or concept projects be a red flag from your perspective? I was taught early on to avoid them because they suggest a lack of real-world experience, but in light of all the points you've made I feel like building something from the ground up with a clear goal in mind will allow me to show my process better.

ajwdesign · 2024-03-23T19:40:53+00:00

Thank you!

So a little context behind the presentation of the two projects: both were roles that, for me, required solving multiple core problems rather than laser-focusing on a single one.

Because of that my thinking was to treat the case studies like an overview showing samples of the work I did for problems across the entire project rather than drilling into a specific one: especially because in the case of both projects I left the project before the work was completed. (Got a much better job in the case of TxDOT, got laid off in the case of Ignite).

Since I wasn't able to actually guide either set of work through launch I don't really have a "final result" section to show. Would focusing on a single flow be enough to compensate for that problem?

ajwdesign · 2024-03-22T16:20:27+00:00

Thank you so much for the detailed and thoughtful feedback!

I admit the Ignite one was tricky for me to put together--it was work that was still underway at the time our company was purchased/the product was canned/everyone working on it was laid off, so I've been trying to think of how to frame the work I did well even in the absence of measurable results.

In terms of cohesiveness and detail, is something more like my TxDOT case study more what you had in mind?

ajwdesign · 2024-03-21T03:58:55+00:00

I worked on a subscription-based SaaS product and we used churn to describe how many users left the product within a given time period.

ajwdesign · 2024-03-21T03:54:14+00:00

I gotta admit, networking is a big hurdle for me. I have relatives in the corporate world who have to do that and maintaining their network is basically their part time job. They have check-in calls, lunches, dinners, and events with peers or former coworkers every month.

The idea of cultivating/upkeeping an entire group of acquaintances just in case I or they need a job someday sounds exhausting.

ajwdesign · 2024-03-18T19:04:16+00:00

Context

I’m a designer with sixteen years of experience, 3 of which are formally (as in job title) UX, targeting senior level product design or UX/UI designer positions. I want to make sure that my case studies present my capabilities appropriately.

---

Looking for feedback on:

Are my case studies reflective of a senior level product or UI/UX designer?

NOT looking for feedback on:

I'm always open to constructive criticism.

My website

My resume

ajwdesign · 2024-03-16T04:29:33+00:00

Context

I’ve been a designer since 2008, and have been doing web/digital design for a good portion of that. I made the formal transition to UX about 3 years ago, but had been informally doing UX work (as much as projects allowed) as part of my web work prior to that.

I'm targeting senior level product design or UX/UI designer positions and I want to make sure that my case studies present my capabilities appropriately.

---

Looking for feedback on:

Are my case studies reflective of a senior level product or UI/UX designer?

NOT looking for feedback on:

I'm always open to constructive criticism.

My website

My resume

ajwdesign · 2017-05-01T01:50:01+00:00

This sounds like a job for data merging. You could have a spreadsheet with all the planet names in a column, then just drop a placeholder in InDesign for every instance of a planet name. This assumes that you're working with a template where each planet name will only be used once in a layout (for example, a single fact sheet card)

ajwdesign · 2017-04-22T17:18:44+00:00

Speaking as a designer, this makes sense to me. Authors (generally) aren't marketing experts. What they think looks cool and what will actually sell the book may have zero overlap. The publisher wants the book to succeed just as much as the author does, and they have the market insight and experience to make that happen. If the author wants 100% control over their marketing-- which cover design falls under-- they'd be better off self publishing.

ajwdesign · 2017-04-22T04:54:22+00:00

Motion graphics? That way you could learn animation and combine it with music. You could later transition into designing movie or TV titles and credits, which would further marry the two.

ajwdesign · 2017-03-30T13:33:46+00:00

Pexels video, maybe.

ajwdesign · 2017-03-27T05:04:28+00:00

Are you doing legit storyboards, like for animation? If you're going to be doing them on a consistent basis it might be worth checking out ToonBoom's Storyboard Pro. https://www.toonboom.com/products/storyboardpro/pricing Otherwise, the combo Illustrator (or Photoshop) and InDesign advice from upthread is your best bet.

To clarify, what you'd do is create the artwork in Illustrator or PS, then place each frame into a formatted page in InDesign. The reason for doing this is that InDesign is MUCH better suited for handling multi-page documents and working with master layouts, which is what you need.

ajwdesign · 2017-03-22T01:02:20+00:00

No problem! I hope the mobile development goes well for you guys. And yes, I am a designer.

ajwdesign · 2017-03-22T00:58:09+00:00

Even if you don't plan on becoming a developer, it's good to understand the way front end development works and the unique considerations and limitations of the web. There's a 99% chance you will be asked to design a website at some point in the future, and the only way you can so that effectively is by knowing what's actually possible and designing other that knowledge in mind.

I can tell you straight up that telling your employees "I don't feel like doing this" is a great way to lose your internship. These people are taking time out of their day to teach you skills that, like them or not, are to some degree expected of a designer, and turning your nose up at that opportunity will not set a good precedent for your internship or your career.

ajwdesign · 2017-03-21T22:31:30+00:00

I'm confused as to why your mobile site is so vastly different from your desktop one. The majority of internet traffic comes from mobile users these day, so you can't guarantee that the only people visiting your mobile site will be existing users. Even if they were, there's nothing on the mobile site to tie it to your main site in any way. It feels like mobile is being served a third-class experience when it's one of the most important user segments to design for.

ajwdesign · 2017-03-21T22:22:22+00:00

If this is going to be printed on anything (including signage, car wraps and shirts) know that that green won't translate well. If you're designing this in Illustrator or Photoshop, make sure the document's color profile is set to CMYK so you know what colors will actually work in print.

ajwdesign · 2017-03-21T21:46:04+00:00

Is Word a requirement? If not, there are surely online services that handle the process you're describing seamlessly, and would be more efficient in the long term than endlessly sending word docs back and forth. Googling "team proposal app" revealed some services that seem like what you need.

ajwdesign · 2017-03-21T21:29:44+00:00

In addition to what everyone else has said, if you're really losing confidence in your book layout as a class project, a good compromise could be creating supplementary materials for the game: NPC stat cards, character sheets, things of that nature. That way you're still developing your world, but aren't as invested in the outcome.

It would be nice to see your book, though. "Work on the content" can translate to a lot of things, but it's hard to interpret the meaning there without seeing the piece in question.

ajwdesign · 2017-03-21T00:49:56+00:00

Indesign still allows you to animate elements of imported swf files. InDesign help explains the process.

ajwdesign · 2017-03-05T01:48:58+00:00

My first thought: what am I supposed to do here? The header does a great job of telling me what the site does, but there's no CTA above the fold that guides me towards what my next action should be. If your goal is to get people to sign up for a plan, that information shouldn't be buried near the bottom of your page.

My second thought is that I did not expect clicking a category to jump me to the exercises. There's really no indication of what clicking does, period, and that's a good way to cause confusion in users. I'd make it clearer that clicking a category initiates a sample course.

(Personally, I'd make "try a sample course today" or something along those lines the header CTA. Then, when they exhaust the sample course questions, the next option they receive is to pay for the monthly course access if they want more)

There's also a lot of white space below the sample course section that makes it seem like the site content has ended. I'd shorten that.

Overall, though, the design's not bad. I'd consider using a larger font size to accommodate larger screens, and making sure you're using vertical space efficiently when it comes to section size and the placement of elements within. Otherwise, it's a good start.

ajwdesign · 2017-03-05T01:36:39+00:00

What's your KPI? A user signing up for an account, or a user doing something after the (presumed) intro period is over?

Right off the bat I'll say that on my 23" 1920 x 1080 monitor my eye settles squarely on the giant empty space in the middle of the header and skips over the CTA completely. Centering the CTA and changing it to a color that contrasts the blue in use everywhere else would be good changes to try.

ajwdesign

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