062: UX School of No B.S. with Joe Natoli

User Defenders podcast
Land a Job in UX
062: UX School of No B.S. with Joe Natoli
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Welcome to Joe Natoli’s UX School of No B.S. Class is now in session. Joe reveals that there’s no limit to how far any UX’er with a healthy dose of grit and resilience can go. He puts jargon in a choke-hold, then proceeds to drop-kick it in the privates! He inspires us to be like Tom Hanks in “Big”…never afraid to ask questions for the betterment of the people and project. He motivates us to apply for any job we truly want, especially when we feel unqualified for it. He also teaches us how leaving a legacy should never start with one foot in the grave, it starts right here…right now!

Joe Natoli is a UX consultant, author and speaker. Everything he does is born from nearly three decades of consulting with and training the UX, design and product development teams of some of the world’s largest organizations. Every aspect of his training and consulting approach revolves around one single, critical idea: Great UX isn’t the result of what you do with your hands — it’s the result of how you use what’s between your ears. Change the way you THINK about the design and development decisions you make and you take the first step to infusing great UX into everything you do. Joe delivers practical advice delivered in clear, jargon-free language. Methods and advice that work in the messy reality of the real world, where we don’t always have the time, budget or approval we’d like. Fun-fact about Joe: He has nearly 2,000 hours of unreleased instrumental compositions, including classical music,that he still hasn’t worked up the courage to release into the world.

  • What Do You Like to Do When You’re Not Working? (7:42)
  • What Inspired You to Pursue a Career in This Field? (10:34)
  • How Do You Get an Entry Level Job That Requires 3-5 Years of Experience? (34:28)
  • What Is It About Jargon That Drives You Nuts? (47:31)
  • One Definition of What UX Is (1:01:15)
  • What Value Do Older UXers Bring to the Table? (1:08:16)
  • UX Advice for Juniors in the Field (1:13:15)
  • The One Thing You Wish You Knew When You Started (1:17:32)
  • If You Had One Word for Folks Trying to Get into UX, What Would That Be? (1:20:16)

Continue reading 062: UX School of No B.S. with Joe Natoli

057: Interviewing Like a Boss with Andy Vitale

User Defenders podcast
Land a Job in UX
057: Interviewing Like a Boss with Andy Vitale
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Andy Vitale teaches us all about how to interview for our next UX job like a boss. He emphasizes the importance of avoiding jargon, and at all costs the temptation to conflate confidence with arrogance. He reminds us to be prepared to get way out of our comfort zones, and even offers smart techniques on how to cope with the discomfort in those critical moments. He also points out that pay isn’t everything, and that a fantastic work culture can make all the difference.

Andy Vitale is the UX Director of Wholesale Banking at SunTrust Bank, one of the nation’s largest financial services companies, where his focus is on translating human insights into actionable experiences to improve the product and service ecosystem within the finance industry. Throughout his career, he has held multiple roles as a designer, entrepreneur, education department chair, and design leader. Aside from his primary role at SunTrust, Andy serves as Director of Design Impact for AIGA Minnesota and often speaks and writes about design. Not-so-fun fact: He was working at a company that suffered the first anthrax attack in the United States back in 2001.

  • The Importance of Soft Skills (4:55)
  • Calming Your Nerves (17:08)
  • The Importance of Body Language (22:18)
  • What Do You Love About Interviewing? (36:15)
  • What Do You Hate About Interviewing? (38:21)
  • How Much Should I Be Paid? (41:13)
  • Discussing Salary During an Interview (47:06)
  • Favorite Last Interview Questions (51:07)
  • Whiteboard Exercise Preparation (54:58)
  • How to Tell If a Company Understands UX (60:29)
  • Words of Encouragement (63:47)

Continue reading 057: Interviewing Like a Boss with Andy Vitale

048: Pick Yourself with Cassie McDaniel

User Defenders podcast
Personal Growth
048: Pick Yourself with Cassie McDaniel
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Cassie McDaniel inspires us to get away from the ‘pick me’ mindset, and to pick ourselves. She challenges us to be willing to kill our darlings so that something better can emerge. She teaches us the importance of knowing our values, but also embracing the fact that they are going to change. She also encourages us to not just do what we’re good at, but do what we enjoy.

Cassie McDaniel runs a small, ambitious, friendly design studio with her husband called Jane & Jury. As previous Design Director at the Mozilla Foundation, she led a team of designers on the organization’s advocacy and digital literacy fronts. She founded the interview series Women&&Tech and runs a creative event and workshop series called Paris Lectures. She grew up in Florida, jumped around in England, and is now based an hour outside Toronto in rural Ontario, where she is deeply invested in the roots she puts down into her community both locally and online. She’s both a national champion collegiate water polo player, and a published poet.

  • Secret Identity (8:27)
  • Origin Story (20:56)
  • Being Mozilla Foundation’s Design Director (24:09)
  • Biggest Failure (36:36)
  • Kill Your Darlings (40:24)
  • Design Superpower (52:54)
  • Habit of Success (62:59)
  • Invincible Resource (67:39)
  • Best Advice (70:33)

Continue reading 048: Pick Yourself with Cassie McDaniel