Begin Agains

When I first graduated from college (ya know… last century?) I made a resume. It wasn’t long by any means, but I titled it “A Begin Again.” I figured resumé was just a fancy way of saying resume; which is to say, to begin again.

I’ve had a number of Begin Agains since. And in that spirit, I’ve repurposed my site in order to promote myself as a UXer for Hire.

How We Got Here

I spent the last few months trying to find a new job with varying degrees of success: degrees all the way from Almost to Not So Much. As time progressed (it’s only been the summer) I realized I was getting bored. Really bored. So I reached out to a few friends who have their own overflowing work and offered my help.

Within a week I was on a new project. With 4 more projects from various sources in the works. I thought, while it will be tough, especially as the sole income for the fam, being a freelancer really fits the way I like to work.

I like to solve problems. I like to make things work better. I like variety. I like working with different people (sometimes engineers, sometimes marketers). I like challenging problems. I like dropping off and picking up my daughter from the bus stop.

While being an employee certainly brought me many good things like experience, stability, and low-cost insurance it just wasn’t me.

I don’t like having a boss. I don’t like having to be in the office even when I don’t need to be. I don’t like bureaucrats.

Where We Are Going

So. Freelancing. For Hire. Indie. Call it what you want (I’ve been using many terms interchangeably) it means a lot of opportunity, freedom, and challenges. Which is cool. By which I mean both, “Holy Crap!” and “Fun!”

All those aforementioned terms can be pretty vague. So let me tell you what it is I do do. Briefly… User Experience Strategy & Design, Interaction Design, Information Architecture, Usability Testing (remote & in-person), Copy Editing, Business Analysis, Communication Strategy, and, and, and.

All that stuff? Really? Well, as I say on my handsome-picture-of-me-having About page:

I take a “big D” approach to design. Which is to say I think anything that is created goes through a design process; even design processes.

You start with a problem or opportunity and need to create something to fill a perceived gap. How well one perceives a gap usually influences how well one bridges it.

And strangely enough, I’m really good at both perceiving and bridging.