In Nov 2021 I completed the Harness Projects the Your Food Collective UX Advanced Research Project following the Angus & Robertson UX Fundamentals Project. I've now been able to land a UX Design role at Oneflare shortly after completing my course.
Project 1
After much back and forth with Chris. I decided to take the UX fundamentals course. I learnt so much from writing research plans, stakeholder interviews, user interviews and synthesis. The way the project was from initial problem to complete Hi-fidelity designs made me enjoy the project even more. My mentor Lara really broke down how to ask to write questions for interviews and usability testing. This was something I really needed help with.
Project 2
With my background in graphic and digital design and already working on UI design daily at work, I decided a UX research project would be so beneficial to get a more in depth understanding of the process. I loved it, from start to finish. It was very different from the fundamentals course as it was much more research and strategy based. Sue is so dedicated and really went over further queries I had about customer journey map’s, empathy maps and other artefacts. She really clarified how and when they are used.
Outcome
I landed a role approximately 3 -4 weeks after finishing the course. Speaking to my mentors they really prepared me for interviews by going over common questions and themes and how they run. The clarification on UX artefacts really helped me as I was asked to go into depth with this in one interview.
In Marcus' words
I used to work in advertising agencies and was only around visual designers. It wasn’t until I moved in house, I really witnessed the power of good UX and how it can really push business metrics like click through and sales forwards.
It is a great course to get your feet wet in the world of UX. The way it was online gave my life flexibility to complete the course. I loved the way we got to work on a real life client and talk to stakeholders, it really Is invaluable experience.
I was really able to get a better understanding of the whole picture. Instead of just looking at one piece of the puzzle, the two courses allowed me to look at all the pieces to strategize from there. This has really helped me in my current role as I am focussing on larger business problems.
Both of my course were in lockdown, so It was a bit hard to obtain interviews with people however I was able to use Askable to get proper interviews.
I would 100% recommend Harness to anyone looking to study UX. The way the courses are structured build on your skills and ultimately make you a much better designer. They have no doubt helped me get my current role changing my career trajectory.
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