Unexpected means that the right circumstances found me because I was in the right place at the right time AND I and another person in the scenario wanted the same thing. Read on to find out what I mean: Craigslist Here are two stories about responding to posts on Craig’s List. …

A continuing journey to figure out what to call myself professionally. Another year and another round of mentor phone calls with new designers elicited the age old question: What’s up with all the titles in the tech/product/UX field? All I can say is that titles have always been a moving target. When I first entered the field in the early aughts…

People are always asking me what professional books I read, and the truth is that I don’t really unless the book is truly meritorious or relevant to my work. But I do read a lot in any given year, and I find that a lot of what I read does…

This isn’t about design, strategy, writing, creativity, analytical skills or teaching — skills I use all the time and define how I uniquely approach projects. This is about the skills that I’ve picked up throughout my life that complement and enhance the above. I know more than one language. I am not fluent in any other…

Empathy is an integral part of our profession as designers and product makers. We tout it a lot in our business, but what does it really mean? Beyond talking to users and making sure we listen to them so we can hit that ROI? In my experience, we learn and…

Over the past few years, I’ve found that a lot of projects require I interact with the legal team, understand legal requirements, dig into the organization to learn about the projects legalities, etc. The legal stuff can shape the UX as much as other branches of the business. …

Once upon a time, I received a text message from a stranger along the lines of: Hi Sarah! I’m looking forward to talking with you soon! Next a rather long and tangled back-and-forth occurred in which the texter got increasingly awkward and flustered. But I eventually uncovered her name, who…

I generally get this question quite a bit over the course of the year. People are thinking of making a career transition, and they want to know about the UX field. The questions are generally around these themes: How do I pivot into a UX career from my current career? …