Scott Thomas

Scott Thomas

UX/UI Designer Joined over 8 years ago

  • 10 stories
  • 226 comments
  • 139 upvotes
  • Posted to What was most annoying part of preparing UX Case Study for your portfolio?, May 20, 2020

    It's hard to summarized everything you did in a compelling way. Especially if you want to be consistent with your other work. Also, know your audience. Are you writing for other UX designers or just a potential client doesn't know anything about UX and just cares if you done or do something similar to their needs.

    Personally, I just gave up and just wrote the basics in bullets. If anyone asks I can fill them in. For my company, I make them way more detailed. I break them down by accomplishments, what we did to achieve them in about 1-2 paragraphs, and stick an image of the final product. I when I did it by process it felt was redundant and dull.

    2 points
  • Posted to What would you ask a designer?, Mar 13, 2020

    Granted I am a designer... usually I asked fellow designers about problems I am dealing with right now.

    • How does your design process fit into the agile process at the start of a project?
    • How do you implement user research/testing into your design process, If you do at all?
    • What's your success or failures dealing with living style guides?
    • What challenges do you face right now in your projects?
    • How do you deal with the internal politics of the client when designing?
    • What does your design/dev handoffs look like, what is the biggest issue with it?
    • How do you currently document your discovery/research?
    • How do you balance clients' wants vs devs capabilities when designing?
    • How do you write your design-related JIRA tickets?
    • Do you do visual QA on your projects after development?
    1 point
  • Posted to Usability testing , Feb 28, 2020

    If you don't have the time, remote testing is fine. It seems a lot, but the amount of time it takes to vet, schedule, and run in-person is worth it the $30 per test. These tools are fine for general usability.

    • TryMyUI - $300 for 10 tests

    • UserBrain - $290 for 10 tests

    • Usertesting.com - Arm & leg (there are like car dealers)

    If you are validating an idea, in person is the way to go. I prefer using Zoom and just record the session because our users all over the US.

    0 points
  • Posted to A guide to asking the right user research questions , Feb 26, 2020

    I enjoy reading articles around this topic. I struggle the most creating non-leading questions. The majority of articles I come across are more linear user paths to booking or purchasing. I deal with a lot of informational & resource sites.

    The one thing I learned was the more you get your interviewees to talk, the more information they will remember. I have been on endless sessions that the user says "I have really don't have much" then 45min later they are still talking.

    Usually, It's been

    • Tell me a little about yourself

    • What prompts you to visit the site?

    • How often would you say you go to the site?

    • What types of information are you trying to find?

    • Could you share your screen and walk me through how you found the content.

    • What was your overall experience using the site?

    • Can you tell me a time when you struggle using the site?

    • If I gave you a magic wand that you could make your life easier finding information, what would you be?

    2 points
  • Posted to Don't Kill Yourself Hustling!, Feb 13, 2020

    Oddly hate the term hustle. However, burn out never fun regarding what job you are in. Most of the time the more you work the less you actually do productivity-wise. I can deal with 1-2 weeks of non-stop work, but after that, it's all downhill. One time I lost my cool putting dishes away and kick a metal bowl multiple times in front of my wife. I had multiple panic attacks in the past, or just drank. Exhaustion is never fun and never talk about in person.

    I never understood the bragging rights of saying how much you work. I did that when I was younger. Was I productive? Nope. All I knew was work. I found outlets through running, walking, growing veggies, planning baseball trips. I learned to take longer lunch breaks to take walks to decompress on busy weeks.

    0 points
  • Posted to How to Reduce Sketch File Size, Feb 07, 2020

    My largest sketch file is 266mb, which isn't bad compared to the days of photoshop. I rather learn how to reduce your png export files... I usually have to use a 3rd party tool to compress 80% of the file size.

    0 points
  • Posted to how to introduce yourself as ux designer, in reply to Philip A , Dec 06, 2019

    I learned the same thing over the years. At the end of the day, we are all web designers....

    or maybe I am a User-Centric Rockstar Product Interface Experience Designer and Writer!

    0 points
  • Posted to Does anyone use InVision DSM?, in reply to Lucian .es , Nov 27, 2019

    It's funny they went from the leading prototyping tool to non-existent due to Figma, XD, and Sketch. The last I heard was their tool beta launch to nothing.

    2 points
  • Posted to Don’t hire dribbblish designers, in reply to Matt Rintoul , Nov 14, 2019

    I had one of these "Dribbblers" on my team... I was very sad when he left. I learned a lot from his styling. Sure he struggled with complex designs, but god he can knock out marketing pages/materials out of the park.

    ...If only there was a position or a career that only focused only on design.

    5 points
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