AR2021-Practicing Learners and Learning Practicioners (Victor M. Gonzalez, Spirentia)
—> Companies are growing UXR in terms of numbers, with some companies having more than 200 designers, 20-30% of whom are dedicated UX researchers
—> Looking at communities, people are starting to lookin got what UX research roles are available
—> But I was speaking with a friend, and we had a long conversation that as professionals, it was hard for her to be recognized as a UX researcher
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Universities are not interested in providing UX research training, with few specialized degrees, or even electives.
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UX research requires professional practical context to connect with students with companies, beyond practical projects, and that’s not provided in Latin America
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Companies that want senior positions, don’t have apprentice level or any entry-level experience positions
—> To solve this we implemented a program to help people enter the UX research field, and a program to boost the skills of existing practitioners
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First two months of practical training
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Third month out, students start practical projects
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Six months out, work with real clients
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Selection process and payment is required
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You start with a question about yourself (I might be) to (I am)
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Have “Am I?”, where they learned by practice and identify as researchers
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Knowing needs of clients/business, and creating a design that solves their needs
—> Our best practices are based on five generations of seminar programs and apprentices and starting this year with six individuals
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Don’t limit people on admissions or roles they take on to be a researcher
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Today one of our best facilitators of usability testing, and good at qualitative analysis
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Integrate learning into project
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Learning what you need
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Came out with project for our client, based on idea they could learn enough to sell clients, even though we had little crypto-currency experience.
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This defines UX practices like co-moderation
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Be willing to fight against your perfectionism
—> Deliver results every week for a company and gather requirements and report
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However, I believe Mexico and Latin America can contribute to our own design practice, and contribute to the global design conversation
—> On moving people from classmates to alumni. Many are still with group, while others have moved on to other companies
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Burn your title
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Learn as you go
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Lean on your peers
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Do your best-then ship the product
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Always be curious
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Move from being a classmate to being an alumnus
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Our focus is on developing a growth mindset as UX researchers
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How can you move from be/become model when it comes to defined paths for professional development
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How can you change that so people invited to “become” instead of staying stuck at “be”.
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Covering practical connection and how to put things together with local companies
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As you’ve been building and evolving programs like these two that you’ve described, what do you think is different for you, as a teacher or instructor – how would you characterize that role now versus 5 years ago??
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Can only learn it in real world and use it in entrepreneurial endeavors
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Are there any programs similar to yours that are in English?