Careers in Tech Masterclass with XX-UX & Google

23 September 2016

This week Create Jobs held our first event in partnership with XX-UX – the brainchild of Googler Melinda Clayman. Hosted at Google’s iconic offices in the beautiful La La Library, the event gave young Londoners the opportunity to lift the lid on what a career in UX might look like.

Wikipedia tells us that “user experience (UX) refers to a person's entire experience using a particular product, system or service.” It’s the point at which research, design, prototyping, testing and reviewing all intersect. UX is a growing field because it’s used to bring all manner of products, services, software and systems to market while allowing the developers to keep making changes to them based on market feedback. Ever noticed how Snapchat or Google Maps are constantly making small adjustments and changes? That will be due to the hard work of their UX teams.

Now you might have already guessed that you don’t need a design qualification to go into UX. Plenty of people in this field have research or psychology backgrounds that help them think about how the product will fit into people’s lives and be easy to use. What you do need are structure and focus. UX is a rigorous process. Managing the linear development of a product or service between such a big team of researchers and developers needs attention to detail. It also takes great team working skills, listening and communication, and being flexible.

The event was structured as a speed-mentoring event. After a presentation on the basics of UX and how it works, five wonderful Googlers and two handsome Deloitte Digitalers split off to share their career pathways, insights and advice with young budding designers. Group discussions meant everyone had a chance to ask questions, and general mingling at the end still gave everyone one more chance to find the UXer that most impressed them.

A massive thank you to all our UXers on the day. It really does help to bring industry to life when you can talk to people about what they do.

If you want to know more about our masterclasses and Create Jobs socials, check out these pages.

If you like the idea of networking with industry and finding out about careers you might not have considered yet, come and check out our Lifehacks event in partnership with NME in October. More networking, workshops, free pizza and beer in partnership with Google Creative Labs, Topman, Aardman, Jessops and more. And this time there’s even a secret gig at the end too.