Yejun Wu

Thrilled to have earned my Webflow Designer credential from Design Practice! It was not easy and I still have tons and tons to learn, so it's just the beginning! Huge thanks to Maciej Mach for this knowledge-packed course and Design Practice PL for unlimited support along the way :) #webflow #lifelonglearning #achievement

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Excited to share this project I worked on with the AImpower.org team as a UX Intern! I learned a lot about content design, science communication, and the importance of diverse training datasets. A big thank you to Shaomei Wu, Ran Wei, Jingjin Li, PhD, and Rongcheng Zhang for their constant support and creating a wonderful environment to grow! ⬇️ Learn more about how AImpower.org is designing for disfluency-friendly Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) models in this website

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If you’re considering a career change into UX, attend this discussion to learn more about the UX and product deisgn field!

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🎨 To all designers looking for a new role this year, here’s your ✨ golden ✨ nugget of wisdom! Save this post, revisit these insights, and share it with your network. Preparation + clarity = a winning combo! Helena Seo, Head of Design at DoorDash, shares invaluable advice on portfolio presentations for design leaders. This article is a masterclass in empathy, storytelling, and leadership. From mastering storytelling to balancing strategy and execution, Helena’s tips will help you shine in your next opportunity. 🌟 💡 Bonus for Individual Contributors (ICs): Helena’s earlier article for IC designers dives into 10 actionable tips to nail your interviews and portfolio presentations. Whether you’re crafting your design narrative or showcasing your influence, these articles are packed with guidance to help you succeed. What’s your favorite tip or takeaway? #EmpathyInDesign

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Gratitude goes a long way, especially when we learn from those who share their experiences. A big thanks to Xu and Alechnavicius for shedding light on the current UX design industry and job market. Their deep reflections have given us much to think about as we navigate our career paths. It's important to continuously reflect on our goals and values as we move forward. #UXDesign #CareerPaths #Reflection

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Hey everyone. I'm looking forward to teaching another session of Diagramming and Prototyping for UX at UC Berkeley Extension. Class starts October 3. Join me to learn about these skills in the context of product design and development. I will share with you best practices and approaches to problem solving and offer considerations as you progress in your career. Ready to Transition or Level Up in Your Career? In today’s fast-paced, ever-evolving design industry, the ability to create clear, effective diagrams and prototypes is crucial for anyone looking to make a mark in UX. Whether you’re new to the field or a seasoned professional seeking to sharpen your skill set, our Diagramming and Prototyping for UX course @UC Berkeley Extension is designed with you in mind. 🔑 What You’ll Gain: • Learn the fundamentals of diagramming and prototyping in a UX context • Apply industry-standard tools and techniques to bring your ideas to life • Gain hands-on experience that you can immediately apply to real-world projects Whether you're looking to make a career shift into UX design or enhance your current professional skills, this course will equip you with the knowledge and confidence to stand out in an evolving market. Ready to take the next step in your career? Enroll today, https://lnkd.in/gyy3ZyhX, and join a community of forward-thinking professionals! #UXDesign #Prototyping #CareerTransition #ProfessionalDevelopment #UCBXCourses #Diagramming #SkillsUpgrade

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I really enjoyed this conversation with Alex Smith from Fuego UX on value of designers learning to code, team collaboration, culture, and thoughts for new designers entering the market in the age of AI. Plus, it's short and sweet - just under 12 mins! If anything peeks your interest that you'd like to hear more on, let me know as I may be able to go deeper in future talks or blog posts :)

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The UX job market in 2024 is a bit of a mixed bag. There are challenges due to recent economic trends, but also reasons for optimism. ✨ Job openings are down significantly from their peak in 2022, with UX being especially impacted. Competition for jobs is high, with many qualified candidates out of work. Here are some tips to help you carve your own career path in UX design given the current competitive job market: 🔹 Master foundational UX design principles 🔹 Specialize in a niche area of UX 🔹 Explore freelance and contract work 🔹 Contribute to open-source projects 🔹 Focus on transferable skills and consider roles in other industries ✨ Bonus tip: Use Lyssna to gather user feedback and validate your designs. Perfect for updating your portfolio! 🔍 #UXDesign #CareerTips #FreelanceDesign #DesignCommunity #Lyssna #usabilitytesting #userexperience #usertesting #userresearch #designthinking #ux

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There's been much discussion about the threat from AI in UX design, especially with the recent Figma debacle. I have been following Mia Blume, a UX leader that's been writing about emerging AI technologies for several years. Her takeaway was spot on: AI isn't going to replace designers, but UX leaders need to continue to prove our worth to stakeholders, emphasizing that UX is not just about drawing boxes. My personal advice to designers: continue to grow your skillset beyond visual design. Visual design gets you through the door and makes a great first impression, but strong UX skills (such as UX strategy, critical thinking, systems thinking, understanding human psychology, delving into the "why", and creative problem solving) will always be in high demand.

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Defining the "ROI of Design" is pointless because we don't define Design in terms of money. Point me to someone who says, "Our re-design saved the company $146,423", and I'll point you to someone who doesn't understand: * Multiple people (Designers, Engineering, Sales, Marketing, and Executives) contributed to the final product * Justifying the logic needed to show how Design = $$$ is incredibly hard * There are better ways to express the value of what Design does. Want to know a better way? Talk about behavior change. A far more effective way to showcase the value of design is to describe how a re-design helped Designers understand user pain points and resulted in "20% more users signing up for a paid subscription." Is it still related to money? Sure. But it's something that both IC Designers and Design Managers can quickly speak to. Want to learn more about becoming a more effective designer? Subscribe to my Substack for weekly articles, resources, and more: https://lnkd.in/eHsTKbm2

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[UXMC 2024] We were privileged to share Gavin Lew's session at UX Masterclass 2024 on "A11y: Universal Design Research to Make Products More Accessible." Key Takeaways: 1) Evolution of Accessibility Research: Insights from 20 years of in-person research sessions. 2) Target Audiences: Supporting individuals who are hard of hearing or deaf, low vision or blind, require mobility assistance, or have cognitive needs. 3) Research Insights: Key lessons learned from extensive studies. 4)Logistical Considerations: Practical tips for conducting effective research. 5) Recruitment Techniques: Strategies for reaching specific demographics. 6) Innovative Case Studies: - Design process of the first hands-free mobile device operated through audio input. - Mobile app studies focused on diagnosing mobility issues. 7) Engagement: New research on cutting-edge technologies and a call for audience discussion. The session was incredibly detailed and provided invaluable insights! #UXMCDubai #UXMasterclass #Accessibility #A11y

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I’m kind of tired of takes on Japanese or worse “Asian “ ux, done without understanding context or language, mentioning things that happen both in western design and in the country or region being “analyzed”. Making halfhearted references to badly understood history and religion. Want to understand what japanese people expect from products? Look up Japanese products business cases. Perfect days has just come out, try to catch a brand in the background and then find out about their digital products, then look for a Japanese designer doing a business case and translate that (understanding that especially with llms the translation will be imperfect) This trend borders on cultural appropriation and exoticism.

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Tune in to our latest podcast series (https://lnkd.in/gJBTX69E), where Zack Chia (UX Instructor at VI) dives deep into how the industry is booming, and how one can be more prepared for UX/UI job interviews. Some key takeaways: 🚀 Why UX/UI is important to businesses ❓Clarifying misconceptions about UX/UI  🔮 The role of AI in the world of UX/UI Whether you’re a beginner or looking to advance your career, this episode is packed with actionable tips to help you thrive in UX Design. #UXDesign #IndustryTrends #CareerAdvice #FutureOfUX #podcast

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A few weeks ago at Stanford, the former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, gave a very informative and controversial interview. Some key points stood out to me - I think many designers would feel very excited about what’s coming. If you want to grow your design career alongside AI innovations, subscribe to my blog under my LinkedIn headline to get detailed long reads every month. Here are the key takeaways: 1. Very large context windows will be here in the next 1-2 years. This will unlock new functionalities of large language model (LLM) applications. Large context windows will enable AI agents to use SearchGPT to provide the most up to date information in a summary, along with referenced web links as information sources. If you’e not familiar with these terms, I explained them with specific use cases in public health and travel in the latest blog post under my headline. 2. AI development is rapidly evolving. Eric Schmidt said he might need to give a debrief on the new updates every 6 months. He was right. Just a few days ago, the new LLM with exponentially larger context window is available months after Google first announced its groundbreaking 1 million tokens context window in February. Designers need to pay close attention because it will reveal many opportunities to solve existing problems across industries. 3. Eric Schmidt thinks the companies hire employees who are willing to prioritize work would succeed. This is not new, but it received many controversies around work-life balance and remote work. We make the decision that’s right for our current circumstances. #ai #llms #productdesign #design #ux #ui #startup #entrepreneurship

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What AI dimensions matter most to users? Here's what we commonly find through UX research for our AI product design: 1. Trust. AI isn't trusted. What design patterns can overcome this? 2. Tone: What is the tone of the LLM? Friendly? Corporate? Helpful? 3. Memory: What does it remember about you and the last time you spoke? 4. Integration: What access does it have to the rest of the users' digital worlds? 5. Assistance: What is the utility of the AI?

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Japan’s digital landscape is undergoing a remarkable transformation. The country that once enforced information dense websites with complex visual hierarchies is increasingly embracing Western minimalist design principles. This shift reflects broader changes in Japanese society and represents a fascinating case study in the globalization of digital design. #uxdesign #userexperience #japan

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A really great article about being a UX/UI designer expat living in Japan. If you think that you are interested in this field and are going to move to Japan to pursue it you definitely want to read this article.

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DESIGNERS! First, I have a favor to ask of you, and in tandem with that, I want to share something personal/vulnerable with you all. 💖 For those interested in an action-based course that would take information from the playbook and put it into a presentable, FAAANG-approved format, if you don't mind filling out this lil survey to kick things off, that would be amazing. https://lnkd.in/gTay8Y-Y Second, I am deeply passionate about design. For those who don't know, I am self-taught. I come from a single-family household, and attending college wasn't an option for me when the time came. I wasn't sure I'd ever be successful in this world. I feel incredibly strongly about making design education and resources accessible to the community. 🌱 I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for the kind designers along the way who offered me advice and attention. I find boot camps to be predatory, and the amount of content online is nauseating when attempting to learn or receive an answer. How do we know what to trust today 🤔? More importantly, how do we implement action behind these articles and content? Some of us don't learn just by reading - we learn by doing. For me, I need to see things in action to understand the best way to approach or implement them. It's not because I'm not smart enough; it's because I've found this works for me and my neurodivergent brain. No matter how you learn or how much money you have, passion should be enough to get you where you want to be. I believe learning the things we're passionate about should be accessible. Producing the playbook is only the first step towards my goal of enabling designers everywhere to be the most successful and confident version of themselves.

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As I look out at the landscape of product design tools and techniques I can't help but notice how we are at the tipping point with AI where deterministic design meets its transformative counterpart: generative design. Unlike deterministic approaches, which focus on predictable, pre-defined solutions, generative design leverages AI to explore multiple possibilities based on user behavior and needs. It’s like moving from a single road map to an entire network of paths tailored to individual journeys. This shift isn’t just about technology; it’s about empowering designers to think bigger. Generative design helps us focus on intent and outcomes, enabling solutions that adapt and evolve dynamically. As UX Product Design professionals, we have an exciting opportunity to craft experiences that are not only functional but also fluid, responsive, and deeply personalized. If you’re as excited as I am about the future of UX Product Design and the transformative power of generative AI, this article is a must-read. It offers a fantastic overview of how these technologies are reshaping design and opens up new ways to think about crafting user experiences. Ready to explore what’s next? Dive in here: https://lnkd.in/dqW3s48z What’s your take on generative design? Let’s discuss! #GenerativeDesign #AIUX #UserExperience #DesignThinking #InnovationInDesign

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