If you are an observant person, you may be wondering what on earth happened to Community Roundups #1 and #2.
Good question.
One of the issues that Community Managers like me face is a disconnect between the business that drives the community, and the community itself.
The UX Mastery community has just hit the 4 month mark and I suspect there are many of you who weren’t aware that a UX Mastery community even exists. So rather than sending out roundups to existing community members by email only (as I did with the first two editions), I’m taking the bull by the horns and posting them up here as well, for you all to enjoy (well, at least read).
If you are one of those people that didn’t know about our forum, you’ll find it here and there is a Community link in our main navigation bar.
But the point of this post is to give you an idea of some of the interesting things that have been going on over the last few weeks, so here they are.
The Great Debate Take II
Closing statements for our second Great Debate have been posted. Angela Schmeidel Randall and Donna Spencer have gone head to head over the pros and cons of whether up-front user research is a crucial part of the UX process. I’ll be wrapping up the arguments and going to the polls later this week. Read through the arguments and take sides—heckling is encouraged. If you have any idea for future debate topics, or if you’d like to put your hand up to take part in one, please let me know.
Member Spotlight on Georg Kohler
One of the huge benefits of belonging to a community like ours lies in the relationships that you form with peers who have skills and interests that are similar or complimentary to your own. In order to help you to form that network, I run an initiative called Member Spotlight on… The idea is that you’ll get to know a bit more about other community members in an informal and sometimes entertaining way. This time around we’re talking to Georg Kohler about what it is that makes him tick.
Look What Hammer Did!
Last month I introduced a new thread called Look What I Did! It’s a place to show off whatever it is that you’re proud of. It doesn’t have to be UX related. Maybe you just had a new baby and you want to tell everyone. Maybe you won the New York Marathon. Maybe you managed to complete your local half marathon. Whatever it is, we’d love to hear about it. That’s what a community is for. If you want to see something pretty impressive, check out Hammer’s amazing art installations in Look What I Did! this week.
Portfolio Critiques
I am always looking for new ways to add value to our community (and to encourage you to engage as much as possible). One thing that people talk about a lot is getting a portfolio together. What is the best approach? How do you make a portfolio if you don’t have any real life projects? Over the last few days I’ve been doing some research into UXers around the world and inviting some of them to join our community. In my cyber-travels I have come across some absolutely amazing portfolios. I think there is a real opportunity here for you to help each other build outstanding portfolios. If you are interested in getting some help with your portfolio, jump into this thread and tell us what you need.
UX Story of the Month – Natalie Eustace
When people join our community we encourage them to tell us their UX story. Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been around the UX block a few times, it is always interesting to hear what drives and inspires people. This month, Natalie’s UX story caught my eye. After studying Computer Science and Psychology, Natalie found herself in the enviable position of winning a UX internship with a great group of mentors. You can read Natalie’s UX story here. While you’re at it, tell us your own!
Office Hours with Luke and Matt
A more accurate name for this free webinar would be Office Hours with Luke, Matt and Hawk, since I crashed the party. The session was exclusively for our forum Gold Members and was a chance for people to ask questions and talk through ideas in a relaxed setting. I had a great time injecting my questionable knowledge into the mix, and we got through a long list of questions. I would highly recommend taking the few steps required to make gold status for these sessions alone.
Ask the UXperts – Past and Future
Ask the UXperts is a series of free text-based chat sessions on a different UX related subject each time. The premise is one expert, one hour, all your questions answered. This week we ran a session with the likeable Gerry Gaffney, who was talking about usability testing. You can find out how that went down here. Next week we have a session on Designing for Conversion with Aleksander Czyz. You can find out more details of that session here.
I think that’s enough for now. With any luck you’re now busting to get on over to the forums and see what else is going on. If that’s the case, here you go. I’m always interested in your feedback with regard to anything community related, so please, don’t hold back…