Hi UX friend

It's time for a story...

It was my first full-time job as a UX consultant after uni.

I remember sitting in a client meeting with my boss (and mentor).

We were meeting with a new client to discuss the right approach for our upcoming project.

There was no list of questions or a predefined plan.

It was “just a talk.”

My boss was asking the questions, and I remember looking at her, thinking:

• How do you know what to ask?
• Do you have a checklist in your head?
• What’s your plan?

I never asked her this; I was honestly too embarrassed to admit that I didn’t understand which questions to ask.

Since then, my process was always intuitive. Unique for each project.

And I could get away with winging it because we had a small setup and an intimate relationship with our clients at this small agency.

But then I started working at a bank.

Geez Louise!

Now I got questions like:

• What’s your budget?
• What’s the expected outcome?
• What’s the timeline on this?
• When do you expect to be ready for production?

And my very intuitive and sometimes very chaotic process was under pressure.

I couldn’t show them a timeline, budget, or list of outcomes upfront.

I NEEDED TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE!!!

It was a brutal awakening for me (and my intuition) in the corporate world.

Since then, I’ve worked at a large agency with a structured process.

But also, a “fancy-look-at-me” process with fancy design words that needed explanation before the client understood it.

If they ever did.

A process with way too many details that sometimes got me stuck as designer and didn’t allow me to reflect on my own process.

Now, I have started my own business and put some effort into designing my own process.

Or, that’s a lie…

I didn’t know I had a process until last year, when I realized that there’s a structure to my process when I work with clients.

A process structure that has developed and evolved as I have learned from my mistakes.

• A process that doesn’t include fancy words; it speaks “business.”
• A process with just enough details to satisfy the stakeholders without boxing me in.
• A process that allows me to reflect and change things as I get wiser about the business and the challenges.

I’m proud of the process I’ve built (or discovered from trial-and-error).

And on Monday, I’m sharing it.

Until then, have a great weekend!

- Christina // Design with Chris