At the 13th annual World Usability Day event at Michigan State University, interaction designer and user experience strategist Megan Schwarz discussed how connecting expertise with context can bring opportunities for lifelong learning in your user experience career.
Here are my notes:
- Lifelong learning is very personal. You’re never done. There’s always something new to learn.
- Learning new things doesn’t have to be intimidating.
- There are several methods of continuous learning: reflect, unlearn, relearn, teach, and vulnerability.
- Sometimes you need to step outside your comfort zone and learn something new. Give a talk on what you learned or write a post about it.
- Give yourself permission to learn. If you limit yourself to what you already know, then you’ll never grow.
- When asked about something you don’t know, reply
I don’t know yet, let me find out.
Creates learning opportunities for you. - One of the best ways to learn is to teach. Mentoring is another method to improve your knowledge.
- Try new methods of learning. If you like to take classes, consider a free online class (Coursera, anyone?), workshop, or interactive session. (Side note: don’t forget webinars)
- Don’t hesitate to charge clients for your learning time.
- To learn you have to put yourself in a place of vulnerability. Embrace the discomfort.
I loved how Schwarz ended her talk:
Stop striving to be an expert user experience designer. Start striving to be an expert learner.
If you’re interested, check out Megan’s presentation slides on SlideShare.
Deb, great takeaway –
“Don’t hesitate to charge clients for your learning time.”
Did she offer any specific advice on how to work that into an engagement?
Or do clients like paying for that?
Unlearning sounds interesting.
When trying to think if I do that I realized I’m not sure what it means.
Hi Dave,
No, she didn’t offer any specific advice. Any you’d like to share?
When a process or method become outdated, often replaced by other/new methods or strategies.