It's 2021, we now have more tools to bring to life ideas from paper to something we can experience interactively and realistically. On the night of Singapore Polytechnic's Diploma in Experience and Product Design, I didn't manage to catch a glimpse of the familiar dirty paper sketches I'm so fond of.
Regardless, it was again refreshing to see younger generations of designers raising the bar we've observed year on year. On this occasion, I candidly spoke to graduating students on topics relating to their portfolios, finding jobs and further design education,
The schedule was tight. Check out the personal timetable below.
At the tender 19 years of age, these students are definitely of a different breed; most already have a set path they fancied post-graduation. A good start, generally. We opted for a Q&A straight off the bat instead of the usual cookie-cutter design critique.
The questions were thrown at me fell under 2 categories :
Answering the first category question requires us to understand what the broad industry is today. The most crucial sector for hiring UX designers today is Tech. Caveat emptor, while job searching, some companies would masquerade UX roles to be Marketing or even Graphic Design. Tread carefully!
Refresher: UXers work alongside developers, product managers, or even data folks to bring digital experiences to customers. Junior designers are hired as part of a design team and be attached to a project team where cross-collaboration is a must. Though UX as an individual capability is more likely to exist in medium-sized to large firms.
Otherwise, UX Design hires in a startup or small business wear multiple hats, with 'design' being the main hat.
To slice UX roles further, one can specialise in Visual Design, Research, UX Engineer, Interaction Design, or Motion Design. To be honest, I've yet to meet any single individual who has claimed a master at all these. If you meet one, catch them real quick, you've found yourself a unicorn.
All in all, I'd recommend not to worry too much about specialization early as a UX Designer. On a personal note, I've started my education in Architecture and have switched to Product Design later. Let's cross the bridge when we get there, aye?
The topic surrounding portfolios and university admission is a tad trickier. For NUS SDE and NTU ADM, the first cutoff is primarily your CGPA of your Diploma. Only after this initial cut, then they'll ring you up for Portfolio interviews. Overseas admissions are arguably more accessible, with higher admission placements for foreign students.
Regardless, the projects presented in SP are of excellent quality. The processes demonstrated by the students are tight. Design outcome treatments are still rough around the edges, but these time to iterate and made better!
To share, here's a battle-tested framework for portfolios to capture and retain attention with your portfolio. I assign a value to each section for the amount of time to read and consume the content: