My Personal PivotFrom Dev to UX

Brian Durkin

Who am I

Brian DurkinUX Designer

…and im a Dad

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

I am a #UX designer. All views are NOT my own, I regurgitate thoughts and ideas from history and the collective subconscious. My art is mine.

Why Am I Doing This?

Let’s get to know each other.

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

Agenda

• The Past• The Pivot• The Present• The Future• Q&A

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

GETTING PERSONAL

PAST

Where I came from

• Went to Art School to be a famous artist

• I studied Video Instillation Art

Gary Hill, Crux

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

Where I came from

• Taught myself HTML and built my first website in 1997

• Got a job working as tech support in 98 while taking Web Design classes.

• They hired me as a web designer.

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

Where I came from brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

Where I came from brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

Where I came from

My code ended up

looking more like this

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@uxbd #pivot

Where I came from

I was turned from artist/designer into computer science engineer.

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

Where I came from

I came to a few realizations

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@uxbd #pivot

Where I came from

My Realizations

Code = Paint

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

Where I came from

Physical != Digital

But

Feelings happen in both spaces

My Realizations

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

Where I came from

My Realizations

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

Art Design

Where I came from

My Realizations

My biggest realization

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@uxbd #pivot

THE PIVOTWhy & How I made the change

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@uxbd #pivot

Why I chose to change

Job titles I have had from 1997 - 2010:

• Web Designer (Photoshop)

• Web Designer/Developer (… plus HTML/CSS)

• Live Server Developer (… plus Object Oriented DB & JS )

• Webmaster (…plus PHP/MySQL/SQL & Visio)

• Information Systems Specialist II

• PHP Developer

• Sr. Front-End Web Developer (JSP/JHTML/etc…)

• Sr. Client Side Developer (JSP/ASP/PHP/etc…)

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

Why I chose to change

I learned most of these jobs had one thing in common:

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

Why I chose to change brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

Why I chose to change

I was a web monkey.

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

Why I chose to change

I wanted to stop being the web monkey and start making the design decisions.

the only way to do great work is to love what you do.... Don't settle

― Jobs“

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

How did I do it?

I went to events to learn about interactions and the “WHY?”

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

How did I do it?

I did research online

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@uxbd #pivot

How did I do it?

I read books…

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What I Learned: brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

THE PRESENT…sort of the present, 2010 to now

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

What am I doing Now?

I design

to

a user’s experience

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

What am I doing Now?

Good design solves problems.

I make sure I am always solving a problem at all times.

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

What am I doing Now?

User Goals are just as important as Business Goals and Vice Versa. Figure out both users goals and business goals and to do this you need to have EMPATHY for both.

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

What am I doing Now?

People who say “Content is King” or “Content First” are wrong (Easy Cowboy)

Content + Context + Goals

=

Something of Value

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

What am I doing Now?

I base everything on Empathy.

In order for me to do that, I need to be a champion for

user-centered design

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

What am I doing Now?

All Design is a Hypothesis.

Think > Make > Check

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

THE FUTUREWhat’s Next?

brianjdurkin@gmail.com

@uxbd #pivot

Q&AThank You

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@uxbd #pivot