In my opinion, there are two conversations that are a waste of time. One is “should designers learn […]
Why Design Needs Entrepreneurship (and Entrepreneurship Needs Design)
Designer as Founder: Week Two Class Notes
This week the students presented the insights they gained from talking to users and how the evolved the […]
Designer as Founder: Week One Class Notes
I’ve begun teaching a class at CCA called Designer as Founder. Having made that transition myself, and with […]
27 Thoughts on Product Management
Riding the train this morning, I thought about what it takes to be a Product Manger. I was […]
Don’t Kill Your Channels
A channel is a way you can reach your users. It can be email, notifications, stories in a Facebook stream or even […]
Your Number
A designer friend sat across the table from me. I took a sip of my wine, she crunched […]
How to Hire a Designer
A few days ago, I read an article with the same title as this post. Oh, maybe it was How to Hire a User Experience Professional, or Interaction Designer or Information Architect, or whatever. I don’t recall. There isn’t so much difference anyhow. I do remember it said things like “look at their presentation skills”, “see if their personas are based on research” and something about their wireframes. I tweeted that’s why I wouldn’t hire a designer, which caused some kerfuffle with my followers. And it’s hard to clarify in 140 characters what teed me off about the original article.
Here’s why I wouldn’t hire someone based on wireframes, Powerpoint and persons: it’s not because these are necessarily bad (well, except the wireframes, which are so 2001 that they are the mullet of deliverables, and like the mullet I cannot wait until they are finally gone and I’m not asked to stare at them any longer.) I was bummed because these are merely artifacts and not necessarily the vital critical thinking skills you need to find in a decent designer.
I really don’t care if you never do personas, or if you make them up from a guy you talked to in the grocery story. I don’t care if you use keynote, Powerpoint or Illustrator. And honestly, I would hire someone if they did wireframes even though I hate the darn things.
So how do I vet designers, if not by their paperwork?