Last week I published a blog post about essential hard skills in the field of UX and for this week I looked at soft skills. This article is meant as a to-do list for myself and what I want to improve and also reflect upon what I have learned that can serve the skills that are in demand. If you are studying anything concerning business and It, then this list of 5 important soft skills might benefit you as well.
The inspiration I took was from designlab.com and written by SEO Specialist Maria Mare.
6. Empathy is an essential example
This line of work is people-centric which is not surprising since Empathize is the first phase in in the design framework that I worked with during my elective course in Design Thinking. I had a student case at The House of Practise and Innovation where I had the chance to experience what it possibly could feel like to be of a certain age physically. UX soft skills for example empathy is important and here is why. That facilitation offers an age simulation gear for students in health-related fields. It is a method called Bodystorm where the students can experience how it is to be in their future patient's shoes. But it is also important to mention that a student wearing this gear set will not guarantee that they will gain empathy. Empathy techniques are exploratory and therefore there are no specific answers to whether this is fully successful or what the outcome will be by trying it. The student’s EQ level also plays a part. Some students are more emotionally mature than others and some may look at the simulation gear as “fun” and comical and are therefore missing the point due to a lack of willingness and limiting empathy horizontally. Besides learning about empathy techniques, I think it is worth mentioning having worked in the service industry personally helped me develop interpersonal skills. Retail, deli, cleaning etc. are tough fields that should not be underestimated and I gladly keep those experiences in my resume today with pride.
*Me wearing an age simulation gear.
7. Critical Thinking
Planning, conducting methods, analysing and evaluating results have been a part of the curriculum and projects in the majority of my educational programmes. I would say that every phase of data analysis should be met with a critical eye since a few ill-planned steps can result in undefined results that can not be analysed in depth due to being too quick to jump on a method. From my own experience as a UX Researcher, I have learned that choosing two methodologies and sticking to a few questions is better than a long list of aspects to cover. Keeping it simple and precise leaves room for follow-up questions where the users can elaborate and then it is much easier to present valuable findings for improvements afterwards.
*Conducting paper prototype with a user at the Roskilde Festival
8. Work in a diverse team
Working in UX you have to work with users, project managers and developers. Since am a self-proclaimed generalist who has some knowledge in coding, the service industry, business management and design-oriented subjects, it makes it easier for me to understand the terminologies from each. But also, sympathise with colleagues from other teams regarding gains and pains. If you have dabbled in various areas, it can make you a “whole person” who can communicate more easily with different types of people. I will always recommend broadening your horizons to be able to see the bigger picture. Also, remember to be interested in other cultures and languages since the design field is often very diverse. Internationally speaking, although am a native, I was raised by a Polish-British mum and attended school with fellow Danish peers. Later on, I chose Spanish as an extracurricular subject in High School. Now, my current Master’s programme and part-time internship are international and I live with three Romanians. I have learned and taken an interest in their language and culture. Just like with clients, the more you know about their work days, points of view, emotions and demands, the easier to empathise and find a solution.
9. Manage time
Design work phases often happen in a linear approach and iterations. As a UX Researcher I plan and host the weekly UX meetings where I update the team about upcoming deadlines and prioritise them in Trello. It is important to work in sprints and make sure that users are contacted for interviews in advance, but also analyse the data from previous user tests within a deadline to quickly see what to improve for the upcoming user tests. However, time management is generally a good skill to have in many work settings. As a previous SEO intern at Impact Extend A/S, I would set up standard project templates in the project management programme Asana to automate tasks for the team. At the same company, I subsequently received a student job as a Marketing Automation Assistant. At that time, I created email newsletters in the Salesforce service platform. Apart from my main tasks, I would gather files together, create onboarding guides and many other tasks to make my team more prepared and organised in Jira. There are many programs out there and it is not so important which one you have worked with, it is more the actual prioritizing and updating the team that is important to gain some experience in.
Lastly...
What else you should know besides empathy and the other skills
10. Continue to learn
Design has been referred to as a third discipline that sometimes can be overshadowed by science and art, but nowadays it is a growing industry in rapid change. This is why I like to look up which skills are in demand to know what is expected of me. It can of course vary from country to company which tools are used, but it never hurts to play around with an unfamiliar digital tool or reading a new book. For next year, I would like to take some courses by The Interaction Foundation, the online design school. It would be wise since it will be the last half year of my Master’s.
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