This was shared with me and I want to be able to find it again. It certainly applies to interaction design / UX design / front-end development as well.
Category: UX Engineer
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What Prototyping Tool?
I am getting some contacts about business analysis jobs. It’s hard to ignore opportunities for paying work. But it’s abundantly clear that from a career perspective, BA work is not going to take me where I want to go. So I’ve decided to respond to those requests by asking, “What prototyping tool would I be using for this position?”
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Continuing React, and Indy.js
Today I continued working through React lessons in FreeCodeCamp. Didn’t make it all the way through. Lots of non-intuitive stuff that is forced by making accommodations into kludges against EcmaScript syntax. I’m glad I have enough of a CS background to see why some of the more confusing things must work the way they do. But React is still a massive kludge, however useful it is.
I also attended my first meeting of the Indy.js meetup. There were four very informal lightning talks, and some chatting afterward. Again, even when I don’t follow everything they’re saying, I feel more comfortable with the developers than the designers. I also learned that there’s a very active FreeCodeCamp community in Indy, so I’ll be looking into that.
Oh, and I applied to some developer jobs and places I think would be good to work. I’m not as prepared for those jobs as I’d like, but they have openings NOW so I need to apply NOW. And keep learning.
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Starting to React
Yesterday I applied for another Software Engineer position. I’m starting to see jobs in that area that don’t require a ton of experience, so I think I have a shot. But I need to keep cranking through FreeCodeCamp. I just started the React lessons yesterday, but they’re really pretty easy so far. Very similar to what I remember of Vue from my internship with The Game Crafter.
I think the best thing I can do to get such a job is to finish these certifications and start creating a meal planning app for our personal use.
But I should probably still apply for one job a day while I’m learning, as long as I can find places worth applying to.
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Better Buildings
I’ve redesigned the Building cards for my next non-solo playtest. Here’s what they were like before.
And here’s what they are like now:
I wanted to show that when the building is first played, sideways, to the Build line, there are three job slots. Then when it is completed and moved, upright, to the Work line, there is only one job slot.
Speaking of which, I also changed some terms to use shorter words that are more relevant from the perspective of the villagers. That’s a little weird, because usually you want to use terms that are relevant to the players, but I want the players to empathize with the villagers. We used to select projects to be constructed by villagers from the unemployment line, so they could become completed buildings. Now we select Building cards on the Build line to be built by villagers from the Idle line, so they can be moved to the Work line.
I still have some other ideas for improving the design of the Building cards, but this is good enough for our next test. I have other, more pressing changes to make before the test.
Working on these visual design changes made me realize something. I have been feeling pretty underconfident in my visual design skills. It’s actually been an impediment to my current job search. But I’m quite confident at giving design direction. I know I have a good sense for how things should look, I just don’t have that much practice in executing the design. But if I keep my design planning hat separate from my design execution hat, I know that I can eventually execute anything I plan. That makes me feel a bit more confident.
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Doors Closing and Opening?
Yesterday I finished that coding challenge and sent it off. I don’t think it will persuade that organization of anything. But at least I feel like I have closure.
Spent the rest of the day preparing for a UX Designer interview, which went very well. The downside is that they have many qualified applicants, and my salary target (less 75% of what I was getting paid as a Business Analyst) is apparently higher than the rest. The hiring manager still wants me to interview with two other people on the team, so I’m definitely still in the running. Reading Never Split the Difference and preparing a negotiation sheet seemed to help, especially when I heard the hiring manager say “That’s right.” This morning I’ll drive over to their office and leave a Thank You card.
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The Best I Can
I spent an hour or so in the morning sending out social media announcements for our next Indy Tabletop Game Creators playtest session. Between ITTGC and Indiana UXPA, I’m concerned that social media is the skill I’m developing most right now. But I feel like I need to spend an hour or so each day on engaging with my various communities, both to help them and to build the networks to help me find my next job.
Most of the rest of the day was spent solving a coding challenge I was given during a recent interview for a senior developer role. Going through FreeCodeCamp has knocked some of the rust off my coding skills and I feel a bit more prepared for this challenge, but it’s still pretty hard. I saw that the same company now has an opening for a non-senior role, so I thought I’d apply for it and include my solution to the challenge. However, contacting that company about the new role resulted in them suggesting that I wait a year before applying again. Might as well have told me to go away forever. Still, I’m going to finish the dang challenge and send it to them. I guess I have some pride at stake.
I have a video interview for a UX Design role this afternoon. I feel now like I’ve been burnt so many times that I can’t get my hopes up. But I need to push that aside and prepare anyway. Just do the best I can.
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Coding Outside the Box
I had a coding interview earlier this year for a senior software engineer position. I did pretty well for someone who hasn’t coded on a daily basis for over ten years. That is to say, not well enough. That organization still has openings, but before I re-apply, I want to solve the second coding challenge, which I flailed at so hopelessly during the interview.
It really is a tough challenge. I’m not sure that in my prime I could have solved it in an hour. And trying to work on it in codepen.io was causing serious problems as it kept re-running the code as I tried to write it. It was time to install a real coding environment.
At the React.Indy meetup, I was told VS Code is pretty nice. And I used Visual Studio for many years, so I’m hoping a lot of those buried memories will help. It was pretty easy to install, but it wouldn’t run my JavaScript. The recommendation is to install Node.js and use that runtime for debugging. I ran into a conflict with an old install of NPM from when I was coding for The Game Crafter, but found help online to fix it. So I should be set up to continue on this coding challenge.
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Social Day
Lots of socializing yesterday. IWUD planning meeting. Talking with the IUXPA president before and after the meeting. Talking to one of the other board members about job opportunities that he’d been approached with. Talking with a game designer who wanted to drop off a copy of his published game in thanks for the Protospiel connections I’d helped him make. Talking with another game designer about a 3D-printed component that he wants to use in a game… somehow. Talking with an ex-colleague to comfort her on the loss of her cat and how we should go hiking together. Talking with my sister and mom, just because you should talk to your parents at least once a week for as long as you’re alive. Playing games with my own kids and nephew.
But I finished the second FreeCodeCamp certification that I know I want before applying to front-end development jobs, and I stared on the third. And I found the second coding exercise that I flubbed in a senior software development engineer position interview, because I want to solve that problem and apply there again. And UX Designer positions are starting to come to me instead of me seeking them out, at the same time that I’m starting to realize I’m not sure I want a job that doesn’t let me code.
Progress. Slowly. Things Take Time.
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UX Engineer, Step 2
