Here are the things I did to graduate debt-free:

1. I didn’t go to Harvard. My high school grades weren’t spectacular, but I probably could have gotten into any number of schools with significantly higher tuition than the one I ended up attending. When applying for schools I weighed the prestige and job/network opportunities with cost, and found a solution that gave me the best bang for my buck.
2. Employment was part of my education. School was my priority, but I worked. During the school year I worked part time to pay for food, dates, etc. When I first arrived at school, I was lucky enough to find a job cleaning carpets on campus from 10pm to 2am. So yes, I missed out on a few parties. But the job didn’t really interfere with school or homework, and it paid the bills. After being in the program for a while, I started applying to jobs that helped with experience a little more. I got jobs at the student newspaper, the campus radio station and the student advertising agency.  These jobs actually paved the way for my first job straight out of college.
3. I worked during the summer. Even though this extended my schooling by about a year, I took summers off and found jobs that paid a little more to pay tuition for the next year. Jobs included road construction, installing alarms and fixing sprinklers.  I’ll concede that there is an argument for graduating earlier and working full-time for an extra year, but in a down economy there’s no guarantee.
4. I took advantage of grants, scholarships, and any “free money” I could get my hands on.  The amount of time it takes to research and apply for available funds is well worth it.  For my wife and I, the day that government Pell grant came in was like Christmas.
5. I lived like a college student.  Dollar movies.  Five buck pizza.  Cars that wouldn’t stay in park unless a brick was behind the tire (yes, I actually had a car like this).

So I graduated with my bachelors degree debt free. Instead of racing right into a masters program, I decided to apply for jobs, get some real-world experience and hopefully find a job that might help me pay for another degree. After a couple of years working at small agencies, I found one. Tuition reimbursement programs seem to be declining slightly, but they’re out there. I took one class at a time and after 3 years, finished my degree.

Graduating debt-free can make a big impact on your financial future.  It can affect your ability to achieve financial goals like buying cars, homes, and raising a family.  Again, I don’t believe there is anything wrong with going into debt for education.  Just don’t believe the propaganda that student loans are the only way.

$(document).click(function (e) {
if (e.target.className != 'drop')
{
$('#header_main_nav li .align_right').fadeOut('fast');
} else {
$('#header_main_nav li .align_right').fadeToggle('fast');
}
});

So, if the user clicks anywhere except the dropdown button (in this case, given the class “drop”), the dropdown fades out.

if (e.target.className != 'drop')
{
$('#header_main_nav li .align_right').fadeOut('fast');

If the user clicks the dropdown button, it opens or closes it with the toggle method.

} else {
$('#header_main_nav li .align_right').fadeToggle('fast');
}
});

It’s a fairly simple solution (especially to those better versed in javascript than me) but it took me long enough to figure out that I thought it was worth posting. You can view a demo here.

Why it’s ok to leave a tech job at 5 pm

Communicating the UX Proposition

Hype

A Gamification Framework for Interaction Designers

One of the most beneficial parts of the User Experience design process for me is imagining the product in the context of a story. In my personal process, this step usually falls somewhere between discovery and wireframing. Defining the scenario(s) where the product will be used is a great way to share the ultimate vision for the app with your team. I’ve been involved with too many projects where the team members had no clear understanding of the business objectives. When your team doesn’t have a clear picture of how the product will be used, they will make decisions based on how they think it should be used and you end up with a product that has no clear purpose. Storytelling also helps me identify an initial flow for the project that usually extends fairly quickly into further documentation like a flow chart. In many ways this is the hardest part of the design process because you’re working out details of how the app will be used – it is the most beneficial for the same reason. Once you understand how the product will be used in real life, you’re just writing down what you already know. Here is my patented (not really) 5-step process for creating the User Experience story:

1. Get down and dirty with your business objectives
Get specific. Don’t just say, “Our objective is to sell toothpaste”. Each objective should be accompanied by at least a “How” and “Why”, if not “Who” “Where” and “When”. This level of detail isn’t always available from executives and project management but giving it some thought will help build a good foundation for the project.

2. Brainstorm possible solutions with the team
Once we know what we are trying to accomplish, I like to meet with the entire team. At this phase I try to stay open to any possible solution. For instance, I may have had it in my head that the best way to accomplish the objectives was through a mobile app, but after brainstorming our developer may suggest that we’ll get more leverage with our use base out of an optimized web app. Brining the team in at this level gives them a sense of ownership and gets them excited about the project.

3. Create the characters (Joe Shmoe)
This step requires a fair amount of research and discovery. In order to design a great experience, it makes sense that you would need to know about the people who will be using it. The best way to is sketch out a quick bio of your main target audience and things about that person that will help you as you tell your story. I usually include basic demographic information and add any psychographic generalities I can extend such as preferences and aptitude.

4. Write a script
Now it’s time to bring it all together. After writing a brief summary about Joe Schmoe, I create a basic two-column script that has dialogue on one side and actions on the other side. Then I walk through step-by-step what the user would do while using the app. Each of the steps should show how the user is using the product to satisfy one or more of the business requirements. How are they accomplishing their objectives? What are they doing with the mouse or fingers? What appears on the screen? You’ll also want to put some thought into what the best perspective to write from is as well. For instance, I usually write mine from the 3rd person as an observer, but some projects may need to be viewed from the 1st person user’s perspective.

5. Present it to the team
Once you feel like you’ve ironed out any significant wrinkles in your scenario, call the team back together and present the vision. They can help spot any potential pitfalls you might have missed, and can contribute new scenarios. I like to use this as my principal reference document going forward because it includes the business requirements, the user profile and the basic idea for the interface.

How to get Sign-Off

Work Life Balance