The Art of Storytelling

My UX Journey

[miguelablaza-ux]

Beshimo?

There’s a funny scene in Rush Hour 2 involving Chris Tucker’s character and a Taxi Driver. They go back and forth exchanging “I’mma slap you” and “Beshimo” until Chris Tucker gives the driver money. To this he responds:

“Now you’re speaking my language.” 

And they finally start driving. It’s one of my favorite scenes in the series. 

I believe the actual words are: “Bei Qin Lor” or “比钱咯” according to YouTube comments. 

What does this have to do with today’s post? Well as a designer, I work hand and hand with developers often. It’s definitely a building block to the job. I wouldn’t say it’s necessary to know how to actually code, but it definitely helps if you have some understanding to it. 

A lot of my work tends to build off of the needs of the user, but I have to keep in mind how it’s going to be translated into the developer realm. I’m noticing more and more how different our mindsets are. It’s not a bad thing, but sometimes it’s hard to communicate certain instructions. That’s the beauty of my job right now. Because we work cross functionally and hands on, we’re encouraged to work hand-in-hand with the dev team if need be. It’s a great collaborative effort that lets us get to see how the other side works. 

Because of this, I’m able to see how we operate differently. For instance, as a designer, our instructions are free from constraints other than the parameters of the brief. We’re free to run around within those parameters with our creativity. A developer’s instructions will usually be to the T, and they follow it down to each pixel. I’ve definitely made some missteps in this exchange, but I'm working on getting better at it. Because of these missteps, sometimes we have to redo some work. It’s a learning process, but I'm glad I'm going through it.

It’s funny because it’s not just designers and developers. It can be applied to all fields, and I just realized that it’s happened at one of my old jobs. I used to work at a print shop. The gist of one of my duties was to take down the instructions from the customer, and give it to the printers. Pretty straight forward, right? Not really. If I didn’t have enough details, the job would end up back on my desk because the instructions were not clear enough. Anytime that happened, that job would be halted and would be reprocessed, or the entire schedule would be halted. I eventually learned to write up the instructions as if they could take my jobs without me having to explain them. 

I hope to be able to master the dev handoff, and sometimes it means to just slow down. My advice to you all is to try to look at your work with a developer hat on. It might just help save you time in the long run.

On an ending note, It’s been a while since I've posted, but like I said, I want to post on my own time and rather than giving myself deadlines to make it more organic. Although I feel like I should keep up more with my “How I became a UX Designer” series.... we’ll see. 

Thanks for keeping up with my stuff if you’ve enjoyed it so far!

[miguelablaza-ux]

Just “Be” Creative

Working in a creative field is very rewarding, but also frustrating at times. One instance is that sometimes I can’t just be creative. I can’t sit there and just create things forcefully. When i do, it feels more like work and it isn’t as organic. It leaves me unsatisfied with my output. 

That mindset actually contributes to my post frequency and I only blog when I feel like it. I made a mistake years ago in blogging by quota, and the joy of writing became more like finishing my homework. I didn’t want to do it. Back to the present. Here I am typing this post out at work because I’m creatively turned off from design work. In turn, however, my writing brain is on. Sometimes I feel like doing multiple posts a day when i’m in that mode, but I need to save ideas rather than spit them out. 

It kinda sucks that I can’t just turn on my creativity and finish my work when I want to. There are exercises that you can do to combat this feeling though. I’m not an expert at that, but for me it’s basically procrastination. Sometimes I find solace in what I’m procrastinating in and it gives me an idea. I take multiple breaks from my desk, work from another area, scroll through social media, take a breather, etc. It all helps. It should be a welcome part of the creative process. 

On the flip side, sometimes I just feel like it and on a roll. It actually occurred this weekend into last night. The deadline for one of my side projects was set for the end of the month, but I felt a rush of creativity. The end result was basically the final product and now I have the extra time to refine it until the deadline. 

At that point it doesn’t feel like work. It just feels good. 

[miguelablaza-ux]

Inspired ft. Barrett White

So here’s a quick post. I actually tweeted about it a couple weeks back, but it’s significant enough that it deserves a post.

I inspired someone.

That someone is my friend and colleague, Barrett. We were brought onboard around the same time at our company, so we’ve gotten pretty close. The best thing about it is that we continue to push each other. He’s a UX/3D/Animator. Not exactly sure what to call him, but if he ends up at Pixar I won’t be surprised(cough*and I hope he would give me a campus tour if so*cough).

Anyway, we were talking one day and it got to be about writing. So I ended up showing him my blogs. I told him why I blog, and how it helps me in my career. He understood the explanation and he told me he felt inspired after looking at it and my portfolio. So low and behold he started his own blog.

I’m really excited because he’s a phenomenal designer in all aspects, and now I can see his thoughts on paper(screen). I picked to post about it today because he most recently posted about his AR app. He’s trying to venture into the UX of the AR world. Let me just say that he’s gotten some good footing in that realm already. 

Take a look at the post here.

I’m glad to have inspired him to start blogging, and in turn, he inspires me. I mean, did you see his freaking app!?!?

[miguelablaza-ux]

UX in Basketball: The Double Rim

They recently built a basketball court in my neighborhood. My brother and I were excited since we saw them break ground. He made the comment:

“What if they finish building and it’s double rimmed?” 

Welp...

For those of you that don’t know, double-rimmed is almost universally hated for ballers everywhere. The reason being that they’re much harder to shoot on. It changes the game. Double rims are built to withstand the beating of outdoor ball. These courts are unmonitored and need to stand against powerful dunks, kids that climb nets, bad weather, and everything in between. 

They’re built with two rims on top of each other, hence the name, which causes the ball to bounce with much more velocity. An easy lay up can bounce out, a bricked shot can ricochet to the three-point line, and there’s almost no chance of a lucky bounce in.

You say, shooters shoot, right? That’s the silver lining from a training stand point. Double rims force players to develop a higher arch. Most shots need to be perfect swishes to avoid getting rimmed out.

Despite that, the user experience of double rim just isn’t as enjoyable as a single rim. It doesn’t give the right feel to the game. It’s the game is being held back. Here’s some examples from Twitter alone: 

As well as a video here: 

https://twitter.com/SupremeDreams_1/status/1097213719250173952?s=20

Double rimmed hoops are definitely business centered rather than human centered design. I can understand why as it probably saves the money it takes to replace a rim, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE USER?

TL;DR Double Rimmed hoops make shooters better, but are a bad user experience because it takes away from the game. However, I'd rather take double rimmed over no net. Every time lol.

[miguelablaza-ux]

UX with No Experience || Part 2: The “Right” Education

This is a series of posts highlighting things I did or dwelled on to get me to where I am today as a UX Designer.

Get a degree. Alright see y’all next week!

Okay not really. Although, don’t get me wrong, a UX degree would help. If you have one you’re way ahead of the game. I didn’t technically need one, but let me explain. My generation was taught to finish college to get a degree and get a better paying job. Nowadays it isn’t always needed. I majored in Marketing with a minor in Art & Visual Technology(graphic design). So I still do recommend college, but moreso just to experience college. It’s fun lol.

If I didn’t major in UX, then where am I going with this post? Well you’ll notice that a lot of job descriptions(not just UX jobs) will have the education requirements at the bottom. So instantly was deterred at first. Then I started reading articles and blogs about UX, and I realized that a lot of people were utilizing boot camps like General Assembly or something similar. It peaked my interest...until I found out what it cost. Basically it’s like paying for school, and going back to school for a semester.

If you have the money and time, go for it and let me know how it goes. I don’t knock GA, and it seems like fun. It just wasn’t in the cards for me. With that being said, I reiterated. I started reading more blogs about UX, watching YouTube videos, and finding other ways to get that educational background. That’s when I stumbled upon uncredited online courses. My specific site was Udemy.

This isn’t sponsored, but Udemy was great. If you didn’t know, they sell online courses for a whole bunch of subjects. They are expensive...except on sales. For some reason they go on sale once every few months and you can get them for 90% off. It’s a great resource if you’re just looking to learn.

To bring it all back, the courses worked for me. I learned a lot about UX to be able to confidently talk about it. Even though it’s uncredited, I’m still able to talk my way through an interview/the job because of it. So you may not need the degree in UX specifically, but if you know enough about the subject, you’ll be able to show the recruiter, interviewer, or employer what you got.

Next post, I’ll continue on the “experience” route . I’ll talk about reading job descriptions and relating things to your resume.

[miguelablaza-ux]

UX with No Experience || Part 1: Passion

This is a series of posts highlighting things I did or dwelled on to get me to where I am today as a UX Designer.

This was one of the main reasons I started this blog. One of the things I did to become a UX Designer was reading through countless blogs and articles about UX. What spoke to me most were the blog posts. They were down to earth, real people talking about their experience, or lack thereof, and how they got into their careers. Basically, I wanted to use this blog to pay it forward to the UX community. Everybody’s experience was different, so I wanted to share mine. So here we go. 

I’d say the first thing I realized about my UX career was that I had a passion for it. Although I didn’t know exactly what it was at the time. To be honest, when first I heard of UX I just thought it sounded like a dope ass name for a job (I mean “UX Designer” still sounds dope as hell lol). Then I really looked into it. To simplify it to the bare essence that helped me understand it, I saw it as helping people through design. 

If you know me, then you know that I love helping people. I was in customer service for the first few years of my post-grad life, and was really good at it. No I was not a fake, kiss-up. I genuinely did my best to help people. Especially when it came to selling them the right shoe at Nike. The way I looked at it, I was using UX design/testing to solve their problem. 

I was passionate in what I did, and I only recently realized over the past two years that it was a part of UX design. So my advice is to make sure you’re passionate about this career(or any career you decide to take). I’m not going to tell you that if you enjoy what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. That’s not true for me. If it’s “work” there’s a stigma for me that makes me wish I was off lol. However, I can tell you that I enjoy the work I do. Time flies when I’m working, I’m not depressed on the job, I’m not wishing I was doing another line of work, etc. I truly enjoy what I do because I’m passionate about it. It drives me everyday. 

So I’d say that’s the first step, make sure that you’re passionate about this. Passion will push you through this crucial part of your journey: the beginning. 

[miguelablaza-ux]

Product Design & Testing

There’s been some recent changes in my life that are allowing me to be more involved with my favorite sport: basketball. SPOILER ALERT: I'm going to be able to play more!

With this exciting change, it brings me back to my passion in product design & testing. Specifically, my original passion in designing for Nike. I believe this is where my UX seeds really began. I was always into sneakers, which started with my love for basketball. 

Whenever I needed a new basketball shoe, I would start watching and reading shoe reviews (shoutout to Nightwing2303 and Weartesters.com). I learned so much from them, and took that knowledge to my sales job with Nike. This really cultivated my passion for product design. I just had this breadth of knowledge on footwear and apparel from working in retail. I would love to utilize it in the design space someday. Either as a designer or a tester. 

cough*send me stuff*cough*Nike*cough*

Excuse me. 

I actually did use my knowledge into a personal project for my portfolio. I created a concept signature shoe for my favorite current player: Giannis Antetokounmpo. He was recently crowned MVP and released his first signature shoe. They don’t look like mine, but the inspirations for the tech and the execution of the marketing were similar to what I had in mind. I guess that means I was in the right direction? 

As a takeaway from this post, I challenge you to put some passion into your portfolio. That passion is bound to show personality and aspirations, and you should be able to speak through your work more effectively. 

Take a look at my full piece here.

[miguelablaza-ux]

Am I Not Cut Out for this?

Design is subjective. Well not all the time, but essentially it can be. It depends on the context. This project I’ve been on has probably been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to design. It’s pushed me to the point where I’ve second guessed myself.

“Am I not cut out for this?”

My boss has recurring one on ones every couple of weeks. It’s great, and helps keep me grounded. I know exactly what’s going on, and I use it as a way to test myself. Also, she’s just amazing at leading our team and I enjoy learning from her.

Anyway, my project has been ongoing, and I keep iterating within my own progress as well as whenever I get feedback from the stakeholder/my team. The past week I’ve had moments where I thought I hit the mark, only to get hit with feedback where I’m making another iteration.

The feedback/criticism doesn’t bother me, I actually enjoy it because it makes me better. What bothered me was that all the iterations started to make me feel like I wasn’t understanding it. To circle back, I brought that up to my boss. Her feedback resonated with me, and helped me realize that I’m getting better.

She said that just because I’m not hitting the mark doesn’t mean it’s wrong. There’s many hands in the jar and I’m going to be pulled in different directions. Especially if I’m trying to please different tastes, it’s almost impossible to do that. However, just because I can’t do that doesn’t mean it’s a bad design. It just means it’s not right for the situation and it can improve.

After hearing that, I came in with a new mindset and continued to iterate. I’ve gotten closer to the mark, and all parties are starting to come to collective agreement. It wasn’t me, and it wasn’t the design. it’s the situation and what calls for it. If I have to keep iterating, it just means that the design can be better. In UX, everything can always be better.

So am I cut out for this? Fuck yeah.

[miguelablaza-ux]

Ambition

Ambition is great to have in every career. It’s the drive that pushes you to the next level. This is no different in UX. However, there’s another dimension to ambition in this field. You have to be ambitious about the UX of whatever it is that you’re working on.

Ambition can drive you to push for the best user experience. You need to know that even though you’ve come up with a solution, there will always be a better one down the road. You may not find it right away, but it’s there.

Nothing is perfect, nor will it ever be. That’s why you need ambition. To strive for perfection, knowing that there’s another level you can achieve. In terms of UX, knowing that you can always make something better on the next iteration.

[miguelablaza-ux]

Never Settle

Work has been really busy lately. I’ve been at this place for close to five months already (still happy btw). Time flies too quickly. I’ve cycled through a good amount of projects, some little and some big, but recently I was given a big one.

It’s a sign that I’m past the honeymoon stage, and I’m ready to show what I’m really made of. It’ll be my toughest challenge yet and I’m up for it. I thrive for these moments because it’ll teach me a lot through the lifecycle of the project. I’ll be a better designer.

I’ve already learned so much from my short time here, and I want to continue my push. I had my motivation before I got the job. I was so happy to get over that hump. That same drive is still there, but it’s different now. It’s more matured. It knows that even though I’m over the hump that I can still grow.

This is a warning for those of you trying to get over the hump. Just because you make it doesn’t mean you stay there. The design field is always going to be tough. You can never settle for good enough, and you have to strive for greatness. You have to continue to learn and grow. This motivation got me here, but as I grow, so will my motivation. I can’t wait to see where it takes me next.

I was thinking about going chronological with my posts, but i don’t think it’d feel right. This blog is supposed to show my entire career and not just focus on what got me here. So I’ll be posting randomly from my past, present, or future.

[miguelablaza-ux]

Stuck in a Rut

Between 2014-2018 I didn’t really have a sense of direction in my career. I was still all over the place in what I wanted to do, and the only thing I knew I wanted was to be out of where I currently was. A rut. I’ll expand on that part of my life in later posts, but for my second post I will focus on this: VA Beach United (VABU).

Our mission is to promote the development of local Filipino-American basketball players to showcase the talent of an overlooked community. Basketball is such an integral part of the Filipino culture and our goal is to showcase Filipino-American talent, as well as promote our Filipino American heritage. On the court, we look to exemplify our principles of high character, hard work, team work, discipline, and respect. As a result, we establish a culture that resonates in the development of young adults by instilling qualities that personify into life off the court.

VABU is ran by my cousin, Coach Daniel Diaz. To me, family is everything. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without them. We’ve always supported each other and will continue to do so forever. Daniel offered me the opportunity to be a part of his career journey(like many times before) and help realize his vision from the creative aspect. Only this time was different. It was a full brand design. So he labeled me the Creative Director.

How does this tie into my career? Well it got me out of my rut. I finally knew how to start my portfolio. This opportunity pushed me to be the best that I could be, so that he could realize his vision. It started off with the branding(colors, logos, style guide). When that was done, it got me thinking about how I would incorporate my own career aspects(UX/UI). So I decided to design his website too(work in progress). This motivated me to continue on my own personal projects to build my portfolio(also topics of future posts).

A year later, his team is finally up and running. Jerseys are on the way, and I’m continuing to help design apparel. Being a Creative Director is fun, and I actually use it on my resume. The point of this post is to showcase my family. They’ve been there for me no matter where I’ve been and where I’m going. Thanks to Daniel for giving me the opportunity to jumpstart my portfolio.

It wasn’t UX/UI to begin with, but I found a way to incorporate it. You’ll have to find a way to make applicable experience when you have zero professional experience.

[miguelablaza-ux]

Story Time

If you didn’t know, I actually tried to create a blog to chronicle my experience in getting my first UX/UI job. It was late last fall right before I left for a trip to Thailand, which also happened to be close to the Winter holidays. Long story short, I put off my blog and applications until after the holidays.

The reason I wanted to blog was to give another element to my portfolio and showcase my personality. As a UX designer, you want to showcase your thought process and personality. So in January, I started my applications again. Before I could start blogging though, a couple of weeks into the year, I got a call.

It was a recruiter from an unrelated agency. A couple of weeks later, I got the job. Crazy how life works. Flash forward to now, I love my job, I love my life, and I’m happier than ever. The only thing is, I still feel the need to blog about my experience. It would be a disservice to my field, to professionals, and to the ones struggling to get their first step into the field. I read countless blogs and articles to help myself.

Now it’s time to pay it forward. This blog will be about my experience getting into the field, where I’m at in my career, and where I’m striving to be. I want to help people in anyway that I can.