There are lots of people out there with different brains. They cover a broad range of differences including: autism, ADHD, dyslexia, traumatic brain injury and many more. Different brains are beautiful because they think differently on a whole other level. I think we need that.

At UX Australia 2017 this year, I spoke about my experiences as an autistic UXer and I’d like to expand on some of what I shared at the conference.

Defining autism and how I see it

At a high level (and keeping in mind that I am not a medical professional), autism is characterised by a series of traits. Autistic traits fit into something called The Triad of Impairments. It’s a model that shows the three key areas that all autistic people have differences in: social communication, social interaction and social imagination.

While I appreciate the value it holds for diagnostic practices, to me the Triad of Impairments doesn’t do much else. It doesn’t communicate the experience of being autistic – what it actually means and how it feels. I also don’t consider myself to be impaired.

Autism has a severity scale attached to it that I also don’t find helpful. The scale has 3 levels:

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Level 1 (the condition formerly known as Asperger’s Syndrome)
• ASD Level 2
• ASD Level 3

I find this problematic because severity of symptoms doesn’t necessarily represent experience and can lead to misconceptions. Don’t think that because I come in at ASD Level 1 my existence is ‘mild’ or I’m ‘not that autistic’.

Autism is autism. There is nothing mild about it. Autistic people diagnosed at ASD Levels 2 and 3 also aren’t necessarily ‘more impaired’ or ‘worse off’. They might be perfectly happy communicating and interacting with the world differently and that should never be viewed as a problem.

I also find the severity scale somewhat misleading because it creates potential for people without medical knowledge to believe that the autism spectrum is linear which it absolutely is not. Add that to the fact that neither model clearly explains that no two autistic people are exactly the same and you’re left with a bit of confusing mess that doesn’t communicate how it actually feels to be Autistic and the type of support that’s needed.

To fill in this gap (again, please remember I’m not a medical professional), I created my own model to help me explain what I feel it means to be autistic.

I’ve always viewed the spectrum overall as a highly detailed colour wheel with segments of shades, tints and hues.

Take this colour wheel and imagine splitting it into three sections like this and overlaying the Triad of Impairments model.

Drilling down to the next layer, within each of the 3 areas, you can see 4 ‘slices’ – like a pizza. Now I’d like you to imagine that each slice of colour wheel pizza is a high-level autistic trait.

As an example, I’ve chosen the Difficulty understanding ‘unwritten social rules’ trait that lives under Social Interaction. You’ll notice within the pizza slice is a series of segments which make up the hue, shades and tints of the colour yellow.

The segments represent the different ways in which the high-level trait might present in an autistic individual. For example: standing too close to other people, inappropriate conversation topics, eating before everyone else has received their food (it’s illogical to let my food go cold on account of you) and many, many more. In my diagram, each segment holds equal weighting and is about differences, not severity.

Every autistic person has their own unique version of this. Not all autistic people have all the traits but we all come from the same colour wheel pizza. The same trait might also appear in two people but one might experience it more or less intensely than the other. Some autistic people might also have more or less slices in their colour wheel pizza. This is a very high-level way of viewing and communicating the spectrum that I’ve found useful for building awareness and understanding.

Busting myths about autism

There are a number of silly myths about autism that make me want to tear my hair out.

No, I’m not a genius. My IQ is 143 and I did reach my adult reading age when I was 6. But given that UX is full of super smart people, I’m probably quite average. I’m absolutely terrible at maths and I only enjoy the practical experiment fun side of science – I find the reporting and clean up unbearably boring. I’m not a robot. Every single one of my specialised interests is in a creative field. I’m good at music, art, design and writing. I really do have a husband and please, please, please stop asking me about Rain Man.

The biggest and by far most annoying myth of all, is the myth that autistic people lack empathy. That frustrates me because it is the absolute opposite of the truth.

As an autistic person, I experience the world at a heightened level of intensity. I’m hypersensitive to everything in my world: light, sound, colour, textures, shapes, movement, my emotions and the emotions of those around me. Everything hits me in one go like a blastwave and it can take a moment to process and adjust. When I get overwhelmed and the world just gets too much, I experience something called sensory overload. Then I either spin out of control and experience a meltdown or I shut down and completely withdraw.

Autistic people don’t lack empathy. What we lack is the neurological capacity to communicate and cope with empathy overload.

I’ll give you an example. When I hear someone crying, regardless of whether or not I know them, I instantly feel a stab of intense emotional pain. I simultaneously feel panicky, sad and on the verge of tears myself. I’m frozen to the spot because I’m feeling those emotions alongside that other person and I can’t process it all or figure out what to do about it. In that moment, I can’t communicate what’s going on inside me and it can look a lot like I can’t relate or share the feelings of others. In reality, I’ve already related and shared and my brain is shorting out due to excessive emotion flow.

Designing and researching for autistic people

There are a number of assistive technologies and design examples out there for autistic people. The problem is, many of them are for children and most are aimed at changing our communication differences. Designing to change autistic traits rather than to maximise strengths is not helpful. There’s nothing wrong with being autistic. We communicate differently; deal with it.

Focusing design efforts on ‘fixing’ autistic communication differences so that we fit in with everyone else goes against the diverse and inclusive society we all have a right to enjoy. Autistic people are not broken and we don’t need fixing.

This kind of thinking also misses the mark on a vast expanse of design opportunities that would be helpful. What we really need is support and empowerment to just be ourselves. Because everyone deserves to feel safe to be themselves.

Some examples of how UX can empower autistic people include:

• Design that supports our sensory differences or minimises sensory overload
• End to end assistance for complex experiences such as navigating an international airport from booking to boarding and beyond
• Tools to help manage Executive Function related differences in areas such as: planning, time management, problem solving and organisation.

Awesome autism design examples

I’d like to share three amazing examples with you. I searched high and low and there isn’t a lot out there, but these ones are absolutely amazing.

New Struan School (Scotland)

The first one is the design of the New Struan School in Scotland. Schools in Scotland are required to provide a safe and stimulating education environment with a strong focus on inclusive design principles.

The design of the New Struan School took those principles beyond government recommendations to create a specialised environment for autistic people aged 5 to 19. The design of the school was driven entirely by the needs of autistic people. Some of my favourite design elements include:

• A wide, central walkway lit by natural light from a glass atrium ceiling
• Quiet spaces for mental recharging and for taking much-needed breaks from socialising
• No fluorescent lights and adjustable daylight simulators for rainy days
• Large carpeted spaces to absorb sound
• Glass panels on classroom doors
• Curved walls to guide movement from one space to the next (I suspect that might help with acoustics too!)

The New Struan School is for autistic students only – imagine what could happen if this kind of thinking were applied to all types of schools! There are many neurological differences that would benefit from small environmental tweaks that just blend into a seamless design for everyone. Don’t stop at one – I’d like to see this type of thinking applied to mainstream schools and universities too.

Stimtastic (US-based shipping to most countries)

For autistics and by autistics, Stimtastic is an organisation that creates and sells toys and jewellery that supports ‘stimming’. Stimming refers to our need to self-stimulate which kind of looks like fidgeting but is much more than that. When we’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed, stimming helps calm us down. Stimtastic sells a wide range of products and all of their original products are researched and designed with and for autistic people.

More than just a shop, 5 core principles lie at the heart of Stimtastic:

• Affordability- most products on the website are under $10 USD each with the most expensive item being a $25 USD bike chain bracelet
• Representation- handmade jewellery and handmade toys are crafted by neurodiverse people
• Inclusion – products are not categorised by age or gender and simply provide a detailed description allowing customers to decide what’s best for them
• Giving back – 10% of proceeds from sales goes back into the autistic community
• Celebration – shopping with Stimtastic is fun and in my experience, very human.

I love their fidget jewellery. it’s so subtle and I can wear the thing that’s going to help calm me down without feeling like I need a bigger bag.

Nana’s Weighted Blankets (Australia-based)

Nana’s Weighted Blankets is probably one of the best examples I’ve seen for providing sensory comfort to autistic people. This company was started in 2009 when ‘Nana’ (also known as Sharon) learned that her then 5-year-old grandson, Toby, had been diagnosed with autism. Toby was having a very hard time getting to sleep and he was exhausted. Sharon thought a weighted blanket might help but she couldn’t find anyone here in Australia that made them in a way that was safe, affordable and machine washable – some of the options out there were filled with popcorn. So, she made one herself. And it worked!

What I love about these blankets is the level of customisation available. The weight, the size, the fabric, the pattern can all be selected and if you want to go heavier than the listed options, all you have to do is send an email.

Tips for designing and researching for autistic people

Here are some key things to keep in mind when you’re designing and researching for autistic people.

When researching for autistic people

• Allow extra time for questions when planning the session
• Conduct the research in a quiet room with natural lighting and recognise that autistic people are quite sensitive to their environment simply by asking “Is there anything I can to make you feel more comfortable?”.
• Treat us like any other participant- we’re just people
• If an autistic person brings a parent or carer with them, speak directly to the autistic person. Our parents and carers do NOT speak for us
• Don’t be put off by our unusual eye contact. Holding eye contact can be quite painful for some autistic people and should never be taken as a sign of disengagement
• Consider not having observers present in the same room. It can be a bit overwhelming- especially when those observers don’t stay silent like they’re supposed to!
• Provide clear, bullet-pointed instructions upfront both written and verbally
• Understand that our facial expressions don’t always match how we feel on the inside – if in doubt just ask!

These tips are of course most useful when you actually know that the person is autistic. You may come across an autistic research participant without realising, so it’s something to keep in the back of your mind. Don’t ask the person outright. They not may be or they may be undiagnosed. Instead, just focus on finding out what you can do to make the person feel comfortable.

When designing for autistic people

• Upfront discovery research is essential and assumptions about our needs and perceived limitations must be avoided.
• Be certain that you are adding value. The market is already flooded with frankly useless apps and online tools for autistic people – do your research and you’ll avoid designing something that simply isn’t needed let alone wanted.
• Don’t design to change autistic traits or try to ‘teach’ us to do something – that is ableist and dehumanising.
• Design for autistic people, not their parents or carers. There are plenty of tools, experiences and support systems designed for parents and carers but there is a significant shortage of useful design for autistic people – especially for autistic adults.
• View autism and other neurological differences the same way you would any other disability – with respect.
• Practice inclusive language: avoid terms like ‘suffers from autism’ ‘trapped by autism’ and the creepiest one I’ve heard so far, ‘touched by autism’ (I can assure you that autism does not go around touching people).
• Do your research before aligning to Autism related organisations – some promote abusive therapies and do nothing more than throw blue puzzle piece themed pity parties for the poor suckers who raised us. Look for organisations that are run for and by autistic people.
• Do design with us to help change perceptions and de-stigmatise autism – co-design, co-design and co-design again!

I’ll leave you with this amazing animated video created by Alex Amelines that explains a bit about what it feels like to be autistic in a really beautiful way.

Do you have experience designing for neurodiverse users? Leave a comment on this post or in the forums.

The post The Autistic UXer: Understanding, Researching and Designing for Autistic People appeared first on UX Mastery.

Until I woke up one day and realised I had become one and it wasn’t so bad. In fact, it wasn’t bad at all – it was great!

It all started in June 2014. I was almost three years into my career and I was caught in the middle of a hiring freeze. I was a junior designer at a government department and was eager to advance to more challenging roles. But like everyone else working in government, I was stuck. In order to grow as a professional, I had to get creative.

At the time, I had just completed my first remote test of an information architecture using Optimal Workshop’s remote tree testing tool, Treejack. My very supportive manager encouraged me to write a blog post on my experiences to share my tips and advice for using the tool. I was sceptical at first but I did it anyway, and one day in a moment of brazen audacity, I decided to tweet my blog to Optimal Workshop.

Three days later I received an email from them – they loved it. Even better, they wanted me to write for them! Everything snowballed from there. Doors opened, opportunities flourished, and I discovered things I had never imagined possible.

In less than twelve months, I went from having zero presence in UX to experienced UXers referring to me as a ‘highly respected industry thought leader’. This was followed by speaking engagement offers, conference appearances, an eBook and several articles. My whole world expanded exponentially and to this day, that growth isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.

Whether we like it or not, every single one of us is a brand. What we do with our brand enables us to shape our UX careers in ways we may not have considered. I built mine by accident, but along the way, I learned how to apply my thinking in a structured way. Here are five ways to build a successful personal brand in UX and create your own career destiny. 

Know what you stand for and live it

We have to talk about this one up front, because the other four points will fall over if you don’t address this first. Who you are and what you care about lie at the very heart of your personal brand. Your values and how you live them affect the way you see the world and the ways others see you.

Take some time out today to jot down what matters to you. Brainstorm as many values as you can, then choose 4-6 that you feel closest to. It’s not about coming up with buzzwords or changing who you are – it’s about unearthing what’s already there so you can ensure that your blogs, social media presence and your other actions reflect who you are.

To help you get started, here are mine:

• Authenticity
• Inclusion
• Community
• Humour
• Perseverance

They’re really just labels of what I’ve been living these past 30 years, but putting names to them helps me stay focused. As life happens and your career (and thinking) evolves, your values and perspectives may change. That’s ok too, so don’t feel like you’re stuck with them forever.

Start blogging

I’ll let you in on a secret. When I’m writing, I’m mostly just scribing exactly what’s bouncing around in my head. There’s no formula or structured approach to it, I just record what I’m thinking in words and I write the way I speak.

Once all my thoughts are out of my head and on the screen, I edit. That’s when the real magic happens. I organise and structure the information in a way that makes sense and tells a story – fundamental UX skills we all have. You don’t have to be an amazing writer to start blogging. All you need is an idea or an opinion, and you know what they say about those!

Write about things you’ve learned, people you’ve met, bad UX, great UX, UX that isn’t digital. Whatever makes you happy, sad or annoyed: write about it. You could start your own UX blog or you could publish posts as part of your online portfolio. Publishing to LinkedIn or Medium are both easy entry points. 

Go to meetups and networking events

Get your face out there and meet other awesome UX people. Networking is not about using people or making it rain business card style at every event you attend. It’s about connecting with other human beings, giving back and learning along the way.

Every new introduction is a chance to grow and learn. You never know what opportunities will come your way or how you might be able to help them. The UX community is an ecosystem, and as cliched as it sounds, every little ripple helps us all.

Develop a social media presence

A meaningful social media presence is a must when building a personal brand in your UX career. It’s your digital professional voice and it must be heard – Twitter and LinkedIn are my top picks platform-wise.  

By meaningful, I mean a social media presence that’s relevant to your personal UX brand. You can still be a human being who tweets pictures of exceptionally well-plated food and those shoes you bought on sale for an absolute steal, but try to keep at least 75% of your content in the realm of professional publishing. Share and start a discussion about the latest book or article you’ve read or strike up a conversation with someone you admire.

Volunteer

Actively putting your hand up for UX volunteer opportunities is one of the best ways to try something that you might not get to do in your regular job. A few years ago, UX Mastery was running a UX Careers Panel discussion at UX Australia Redux 2014 in Melbourne. They were short a panel member, and when they put out a call for help on social media, I jumped at the chance.

I was working in that junior role I mentioned earlier and I had no public speaking experience, but I didn’t let that stop me. I saw it as a nice safe environment for me to practice my speaking skills, spend time with my UX Mastery friends, meet new people and have my voice heard.

The exposure I gained through that panel appearance led to two conference talks (one was overseas) which in turn, led to even more talks. Put your hand up and you never know what will happen.    

Know what you stand for, blog, network, use social media wisely and put your hand up for UX opportunities are the key elements to building a strong personal brand for your UX career. Not exactly groundbreaking stuff, but when applied together and in the right way, can result in a lasting positive impact.

What tactics have you used to build up your UX personal brand? Leave a comment or let us know in the forums. 

The post 5 Ways to Build a Successful UX Personal Brand appeared first on UX Mastery.

I’ve met amazing people, done some really cool things and some really stupid things, all of which have made me a better UXer and a better person.

This UXmas, I’d like to share some of these lessons from my first few years in the hope one or two may help you in your own UX journey.

1. Treat your career like they say in an airline safety demonstration: “put your own mask on first before assisting others” (excellent advice I received from a friend).
2. You have to work with what you’ve got. You can’t do everything, so don’t beat yourself up over it.
3. ‘Failure’ is the best thing ever.
4. Work with people you like and if you really don’t like the people you work with, leave. Life is too short.
5. Focus only on what you’re doing. Stop comparing yourself to other people.
6. Get a mentor. Better yet, find several mentors. Find a whole bunch of people who can each guide you on different aspects of your career.
7. Be gentle on those around you.
8. Don’t be so easily impressed.
9. Never fear asking questions of people more senior to you. Always be respectful, but if they get defensive or angry remember that’s about them and not about you.
10. Don’t work 7 days a week. Just don’t.
11. Think outside your day job. There’s a big world of worlds out there and there’s no reason why you can’t live in more than one.
12. Everyone else has their own crap going on too and they’re not thinking about yours (wise words from a beautiful friend).
13. Arbitrary goals are always a good idea. I set myself the goal of giving 3 conference talks within one year (October 2014- October 2015) as a joke. And then it happened! I don’t know how, but it did.
14. Get involved in the UX community. They’re nice people, I promise.
15. Don’t be a shitty mentor. I was a terrible mentor to someone in early 2015 and it taught me a lot, the hard way.
16. Don’t be afraid to say ‘no’.
17. Have an opinion and share your voice.
18. Know your limitations.
19. Seek forgiveness, not permission.
20. Never stop learning.
21. Practice excellent self care. Eat properly, exercise, get plenty of rest and do things that make you happy.
22. Be yourself at work—it’s too damn hard to be someone else and inauthenticity is beneath you.
23. Treat your client as you would your user. What do they need? What are they trying to achieve? How do they feel?
24. Listen carefully and actively. If you don’t fully understand something, don’t be afraid to ask.
25. At the end of the day, it’s only work. Really.

Care to share any hard-won lessons of your own?

Looking for more #UXmas cheer? We’re counting down the days to Christmas with a digital advent calendar. Join in the fun at uxmas.com or follow along on Twitter @merryuxmas for a daily UXmas gift.

The post 25 lessons from the first 5 years of my UX career appeared first on UX Mastery.

Update – January 2019: This review was first posted in 2015. This course has been updated in the meantime and is now a university-accredited diploma, with pricing changed accordingly.

You may also want to check out our comprehensive list of online UX courses.

Course Information

• Hosted by: uxtraining.com
• Presenter: Colman Walsh
• Length: 7 hours worth of videos at the time of publishing (with more videos being added on an ongoing basis).
• Intended Audience: Pretty much anyone and everyone! From those who are just starting out in UX all the way to experienced professionals looking to build upon their skillset.
• What You’ll Learn: A solid foundation in multiple facets of UX, with just the right amount of detail, all reinforced with real world case studies. You will walk away from this one with practical and useful ideas that will support your development as a UX professional regardless of what stage you’re at in your career and best of all – you can revisit the content when you need to.
• Assumed Knowledge: None.
• Price at time of review: €29 per month when paying on a month by month basis. Annual and corporate rates also available.

Exclusive deal for UX Mastery readers!
Receive a 30% discount by using the discount code: mastery30

Review

Let’s get one thing straight before we begin: this is not a review on a training course.

Seriously. UXtraining.com offers so much more than one single course – it offers an entire resource library of more than 100 (and growing) UX training videos that you can watch anytime and in any order you please. And it’s freakin’ awesome.

The very first video in this impressive library sets the scene and provides a super quick (and super helpful!) overview of what you’re in for. It’s worth watching because it includes tips on how to get the most out of the videos.

As for the videos themselves, there’s some seriously good quality content here. It’s well researched and concepts are reinforced with relatable (and often hilarious) real world case studies. This training also consistently provides the viewer with good  examples of tools to use and further reading resources including books and well written articles.

One thing that really stood out for me with these videos was the way some of the training included a video within the video. Sounds weird but it totally works! When you’re watching it, you feel like you’re actually in a classroom with the presenter (Colman Walsh) and then he’s like ‘ok lets watch a quick video’. These Inception-esque videos add value and support the point he’s trying to make – they’re not just there because he can’t be bothered talking.

We’re all pretty time poor these days and UXTraining.com seems to get this. The training videos are served up as easily digestible bite-sized pieces with most coming in at under 10 minutes each – I watched some on my phone during my lunch break!

The topics are also chunked up in a logical and straightforward manner with labels that sit firmly in the what-you-see-is-what-you-get camp! This makes it super easy to jump to the topic you’re after and get to the good part.

The Presenter

The training videos on UXTraining.com are presented by owner and founder, Colman Walsh. From the very first video, it’s very clear that Colman has a lot of experience in facilitation and training. He’s engaging, he’s very well spoken and his tone and pacing makes for an enjoyable learning experience. He also comes across as knowledgeable and authoritative without being patronising- there’s nothing more annoying than a presenter who talks to you like you’re stupid and there’s none of that going on here!  

The Website

I did run into a few issues when navigating around the website. Once I logged in, I could not find my way back to the content that I saw on the homepage. Clicking on the logo essentially refreshed the page I was on (the dashboard with the videos) and the same thing happened when I selected ‘Online Training’ in the footer. You might think that since I’m logged in (therefore have already signed my life away) I don’t need to see the general information on the homepage, but what if I wanted to explain what it is to someone else? There were sections of this review that I couldn’t complete without logging out and I honestly shouldn’t have to do that. Don’t get me wrong here- this is an incredibly valuable resource! The website just needs a little more refining to improve the overall experience.

Extras

Live chat Q&A

According to the website, there’s supposed to be a Q&A session once a month but I struggled to find it over the course of the 2+ months that I had access. I think I read somewhere that UXTraining.com would send an email to invite me to a session but that email never came.

Facebook page

UXTraining.com has a Facebook page that Coleman himself is quite active on. I’m not a big Facebook user, but I can see why it was chosen. It’s a closed group and serves as a place where you can share articles and discuss ideas with other students. It works quite well and there’s always something new to have a read of.

Download materials

Under the ‘Welcome and introduction’ section, not only did I find the welcome video (as one would expect) I also found a handy download option that gave me a reading list of blogs and books – awesome!

Pros

• You don’t have to follow the structure of the course – you can come and go as you please and watch the videos that you need to when you need to
• It’s a library rather than a course with a set number of videos so it’s always growing and there’s always something new to learn
• Content is high quality, well presented and backed up with solid references and case studies
• The presenter is exceptional

Cons

• The elusive monthly live chat session that I was never able to locate; and
• The website could use some improvement

Summary

In summary, this course rocks. If you are a UXer that has always felt insecure when it comes to your coding knowledge, put aside a few weeks over Christmas and take this course. You’ll come out feeling confident and ready to put your newly learned skills to the test.

• Content (how useful, up to date, practical, and comprehensive): 9/10
• Delivery (presentation style, pace, clarity, authority): 9/10
• Production (video quality, audio quality, editing): 9/10
• User Interface (reliable infrastructure, usable interface, convenient): 9/10
• Overall rating: 9/10

Exclusive deal for UX Mastery readers!
Receive a 30% discount by using the discount code: mastery30

Take this course.

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