The scarcity of UX Design professionals in South Africa
Where are we going to get UX Designers in South Africa? We have jobs but no people. How should we go about it? — Sebastian (nosweat.work)
My friend, Sebastian asked this question today. Thus this article was born…Thanks for the inspiration Sebastian… ( But this article is also in response to the flock of recruitment agents on Linkedin asking the same question ).
So where are the “unicorns”?
What is the root cause of this problem? Context?
What opportunities are there?
What’s the suggested solution?
How did this problem come to be? Context?
I could go into a long debate about politics and educational system in SA. But I hate politics. So let’s start here instead: Don Norman was a pioneer in UX, being the first to coin the term, “User Experience Professional/Architect” in 1995…(an electrical engineer and cognitive scientist) — yes, a beautiful combination of science & design. But a rare mixture without a doubt. In SA this term was not even familiar to us at that time. Well not to me anyways.
The source of the problem lies not so much in the lack of available talent…there is talent. There’s talent on different levels and industries. In reality, larger companies are like vultures to take them first and are more willing to pay. But with a larger company, there’s still not enough UX peeps to go around.
Startups are willing to take the risk in hiring someone with a desire to learn, someone who has “most” of the skills, but still not considered an “expert”…hired with the hope that they will use the opportunity to grow with the startup. But most jump ship when a higher bidder chases them. What happens then, both startups and enterprises are left in the lurch.
Those who are UX Experts with “16 years+” experience in the industry, are too busy with the amount of work they need to produce. Perhaps there’s no room for them to help another and take on more work. Or they just don’t see the value in doing so. Either that, or they live on another continent.
Or they start their own companies. Or choose the road of the remote worker.
For the rest, who feel they need a career change, and are starting in this field, you still have to gain the “experience” in enabling better user experiences. (The irony)…Sorry young one, but we all have to pay our dues.
The results? Not enough Experts to go around.
What is the root problem?
Education. Yes, I admit, we have online access to quality education within this space, but limited time in which to pursue this. And the content, is in depth, you need to really go through it thoroughly to understand. It’s not something you can learn over night. Or as some institutions offer, 5 days. (5 days?!)-I wouldn’t trust that.
No matter the method you choose to build skill, you need to use the information, in order to remember it. There’s no one to ask, if you have questions, and no one to show you how they do it in order for you to compare methods. (When in doubt, Google is your friend) — but even Googling fails…not everyone explains in a manner which assists understanding.
And if you mail one of the “top” designers for guidance, seeking a mentor, you’re just ignored.
Memo to self: (When I grow up, I’m going to help as many young designers as possible) — I won’t be like “that” designer.
Then there’s the lack of knowledge transfer from the “experts” to beginners.
Knowing something is one thing, the ability to teach it is a totally different ball game.
Technically, we are all beginners in some areas of our work. Whether you’re hired to complete low-fi prototypes but want to learn detailed design or development, or a UX designer moving to UI Design & Animation, or Developer to Strategy, or a Product Designer moving to Service Design. UX is vast. Not to mention the industrial, sound and instructional designers …and so much more. It all depends on the project/problem you need to solve.
As humans, we learn best by doing ( through practice )- to create enduring knowledge. And we learn even better, by teaching another.
If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it.
And just like in formal education, the problem is not as much the work which is taught, the learning material produced, but the way it is presented. The methods of teaching.
So how do we solve these problems?
PROBLEMS:
More jobs for UX Designers, but not enough who are available? (supply & demand)
Lack of knowledge transfer — Company NDA’s and lack of time for experts to share information across platforms. (time & external constraints)
Lack of industry experts- mentors (resources: people who actually care to mentor)
All those in UX whether contracting or employed seem to be hindered in sharing expertise. Personally, I don’t know if it’s just a competitive thing or an insecurity issue, but I honestly don’t see why it should be this way. I don’t get it. Even with NDA’s there’s nothing stopping you from helping to clarify another’s questions or share advice. Perhaps, it’s just the way I was raised, but sharing knowledge has always made sense, instead of withholding it.
If people were more open to learning from each other in order to help accelerate their learning, there would be a larger pool of industry relevant talent. A larger, diverse pool of expertise.
People think they have to be perfect experts in every aspect of their work from day 1, as well as industry experts in whichever company you’re working in eg. insurance, finance, medical etc. Ok firstly, you can’t start off as an expert, (yes, you need to know your industry) but things continue to change across industries…and working in a silo with blinkers, definitely won’t get you there. I highly doubt that you can truly call yourself “that” expert unless you’ve been in a particular industry over a decade or more and worked on numerous diverse projects in numerous roles within that spectrum.
Let me tell you a little secret: No one is an expert- there is always something more to learn — I don’t care who you are or how long you’ve been doing this, you do not know everything. Don’t fool yourself, we can all learn from each other through shared experiences.
OR if you became that particular industry expert by staying in that same company for 10 years, while building your skills in all areas of UX and business. AND, most importantly, continued to educate yourself within your specific “Scientific Design” discipline. Bear in mind, that UX for Startups is very different from UX for established enterprises. Namely, one is fast and one is slow. The UCD process remains the same, but the type of enterprise/corporate environment will slow everything down.
The greater the number of decision makers, the higher the politics & the added unnecessary meetings.
Agencies want to drop costs to hire younger, but expect their young hires to be experts?! Or they increase the price, and try cut corners by trying to find a 6-in-1 person. Who most likely doesn’t exist yet. Either way — It’s illogical & unethical. Purely unprofessional.
Stop trying to recruit Unicorns ( they exist, but in different combinations)
Clients need to reevaluate the job specs they’re putting out there
Clients would have better luck finding the right fit by, specifying e.g. Stronger in research or highly qualified in IxD. Or more experienced in Qualitative Research… Or experience in UI & UX for mobile app vs experience in Service Design. You can’t be perfect in everything including an expert in psychology and behaviour and, and..and…the list goes on…and while you’re at it, a little rocket science and astrophysics just for good measure. ;)
…you know the deal.
We may not be experts in all these disciplines — but we can take principles from these various fields in order to make better design decisions.
Everyone who reads these silly job specs lately, will notice they need to be 6 people in 1.. I wonder about what kind of quality of work will be produced if that’s the case, or what kind of pressure will be on them to deliver across the board? (that’s when you ignore that job spec, because that company has no idea what they’re looking for actually).
No doubt , depending on the complexity of the problem, the size of egos and the size of the team, there are ways to work around this using the right tools. But if you don’t have the principles as a foundation, you can’t leverage technology effectively.
Companies need to “live” their values
Maybe the reason some companies can’t find the right people, is because the right people don’t want to work for them.
Nobody likes a hypocrite…if you preach diversity, then live it! If you believe in changing the world, show me! No one wants to work just to get paid.
We all want work with purpose.
Companies can’t keep following past habits which were perhaps relevant a decade ago. It’s 2017!... and if companies aren’t future focused, keeping up with current technology, and more invested in the people who make their company then they will become redundant. Or will continue to have low employee retention.
But until the day that companies care more about people (like really, really care about people, “ from employees to customer..to humanity as a whole”) …care more about what truly matters, about solving problems worth solving, instead of caring only about profit…well then things would be very different …(I’m not naive in thinking profit isn’t the important, I only mean it shouldn’t be the only measurement of success). Employee engagement is just as important as customer experience (whoever your user might be). Until that day however, people need to take responsibility for their own education. To create purpose for yourself.
No company truly cares about your education. They will train you in areas they feel are relevant to benefit the company. They want to decide on your behalf, what’s relevant for YOU to learn. Despite the fact, that they lack the foresight to see best areas of growth in your field. They don’t understand your industry, and they don’t understand you.
Invest in yourself, EDUCATE yourself…
That’s the only silver lining I see from this. You are never fully an expert.. maybe you can be experts based on this current year, so perhaps for 2017… but, by this time next year, it means nothing if you don’t keep growing along with technology, design, business, the world around you as a whole. Tech evolves and changes the world around us…the tools we use, the type of services created, results in further changes in our work, our landscape, our process, the environment, on a micro and macro level, the cultures/communities which spring from this, everything changes.
Be instead the catalyst of changing the landscape around you, instead of letting trends dictate your direction.
Change…It’s so beautiful!
“Adapt or die”…this saying still holds true.
On a lighter note, for those who care to evolve and learn from various disciplines…feel free to join my group: Interaction Design Foundation — Johannesburg
…a group, where Knowledge is shared and learning accelerated. Where every skill level, skill set, technology and business type is acknowledged and dissected. Where we learn from a variety of industries, and can leverage in different ways, in our respective projects.
No specifics of our personal work will be shared to protect our clients interests. But our processes, methods, failures, successes and work-arounds can be shared. Each can bring a topic or problem they’re currently facing in their work, and together we can solve it by sharing our personal insights & techniques. Topics are suggested and speakers volunteer.
At one of our meetups, we had a peek into the 3D Design & Animation process, with proudly South African Startup : Pixel Chefs, where they showed us the awesomeness of creating for VR and AR. They let us play with their VR gadgets, showing us how to leverage technology to create 360 videos and awesome immersive VR experiences.
…sorry I‘m punting my group here…🤣
But truly, I believe this can make a difference.
Learning from each other!
For us to learn, we need to not be stuck in our own view all the time. If you’re Visual Designer, learn from the Developers or from the Strategists & Entrepreneurs. If you’re a Managing Director, learn from your customers & especially from your staff. Connect the dots. Grow. And give back. Share your skills and insights. Cross collaboration and learning from each aspect of your product or service, is the only way to truly learn. Get your hands dirty. Learn from everyone.
Our next meetup is coming up…
Tuesday, 1 August. We’ll be learning from an entrepreneur who created an “uber for photography” service. (To find photographers based on location and needs). We will also learn about using visual media to improve UX of products and services- insights from a Photographer as well as Social Media Marketing Manager.
You should join me at this Meetup. Check it out and RSVP! http://meetu.ps/3c8fQt
Meetings are in Johannesburg, South Africa, 1st Tuesday of every month! Groups are free, and open to everyone!
If you’re interested in being a speaker, respond to this article, or contact me via any of the IDFJHB social media channels. ( local speakers for workshops & international speakers for webinars are welcome! )
Beginners & “Unicorns” welcome too!🤣
https://www.facebook.com/groups/IxDJHB/
https://www.facebook.com/IxDGauteng/
Hope to see you at the next meetup!
