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Summary
Lou Rosenfeld is Rosenfeld Media's "product guy". He oversees the acquisition and editing of dozens of UX books, and is responsible for programming of four annual UX conferences (DesignOps Summit, Advancing Research, Design in Product, and Designing with AI). In this informal session, participants gathered to share ideas, get recommendations, and ask Lou burning questions.
Key Insights
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UX is shifting from a standalone profession to an embedded attribute across industries.
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Design and research operations roles are more resilient during economic downturns than frontline UX jobs.
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AI is currently replacing routine, low-level design tasks, freeing designers for higher-level work like service design and information architecture.
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Tech companies show hiring freezes and layoffs, but traditional industries like finance remain stable in UX investment.
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Networking and maintaining authentic personal connections is crucial for successful UX job hunting today.
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Telling compelling stories about how you deliver value, including ROI 'money slides,' helps differentiate candidates.
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Broadening UX identity to encompass CX, human-centered design, and other synonymous terms increases job opportunities.
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Intersecting UX with one’s unique interests or adjacent industries creates niche opportunities with less competition.
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Some government and public sector UX roles evolve slowly but offer rewarding mission-driven work.
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Self-care is an important, often overlooked component of enduring the stresses of long job searches.
Notable Quotes
"The state of the UX profession just totally sucks, doesn’t it?"
"Operations infrastructure is hard to lay off because it's something already built and valuable."
"Companies are investing in AI to replace some tasks, not necessarily people, especially low-level design work."
"UX might just become an attribute, like how the telephone became ubiquitous and invisible."
"Having a narrative and point of view about how you deliver value is key to standing out in hiring."
"Networking deeply, even with people outside UX, can open unexpected doors."
"People often struggle to convey the ROI of UX work, but a money slide showing impact can help that."
"Intersecting UX with other domains is where the most interesting and less competitive opportunities lie."
"We have to keep reinventing ourselves and evolving with new tools like AI, CX, and design thinking."
"It's okay if the role you find is called CX or human-centered design instead of UX — the work is similar."
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