"My background isn't in UX, so how do I appeal to hiring managers for UX positions?" The answer isn't what you expect: don't ignore it. Your background gives you a unique perspective on the world that only you can offer your potential employer. Celebrate it. — New year, new job? The end of the year holiday is a great time to reevaluate our lives and to make changes for the future. My friends in HR know this as well and that's why you'll typically see new jobs coming out at the beginning of the year.

One of the best pieces of interviewing advice I’ve received goes as follows: When you interview, you are being judged on how you seem and not on who you are. By making this slight adjustment, each step of the interview process becomes an opportunity for you to stand out to any potential employer… the first step in finding the next job of your dreams. — This article begins a short series about how to break into UX. I’ll be using examples from my background in UX Research, (Since that’s what I know), but the advice in this article can be applied to getting noticed in just about any field. …

Authenticity is misunderstood: it isn't about being all smiles and rainbows. Learning to be your authentic self and allowing others to do the same allows you to create more meaningful connections with others. This is an essential skill for everyone, but especially for UX Researchers who rely on developing connections with other people in order to improve their lives. — My journey towards embracing Authenticity started by learning to listen to and embrace being myself. Two years ago, I posted this quote above from, “Self Reliance,” a classic American essay by transcendentalist great, Ralph Waldo Emerson. I was having a hard time being myself because I was in the midst…

Management and Leadership are different things. One is not the prerequisite of the other nor does one does precede the other. What makes a good manager is not what makes a good leader. What makes a good leader is not necessarily what makes a good manager. When we tease apart how these roles interact, we learn how to be good at both. — My personal journey While I am drawing on my experience as a UX Research Manager at a big tech company, these concepts and principles equally apply to Design Management and UX Leadership in general. …

Remote research is not just a viable option to be considered but an integral part of the process of doing good research with some important benefits that you may not have considered. …

Last night I dreamt of Maya Angelou. I remember being excited that I had tickets to hear her speak. But, as dreams typically work, I don't know what city I was in, where in the country, or how old I was. That's the beauty of dreams, isn't it? …

I started developing these frameworks several years ago and have since whiteboarded them hundreds of times, each time followed by a series of Ah-ha! moments. These frameworks (which started out as my own, Ah-ha! moment) have since become my trademark. …

I like to give myself gifts for my birthday. Why, you might ask? Because only I know what I really really want (A zig-a-zig ah!). And thus, being the person who knows me best, I also know what I want best. For my 40th birthday, I gave myself a sabbatical…

I went undercover on dscout to see the experience from the user side. I found lots of survey problems and learned first-hand how to create a bad experience for your dscout participants, also known as, “Scouters.” Here are the top issues I uncovered and my recommendations for creating the best…