Hard Skills
Adobe Photoshop: Out of all adobe programs I’ve spent the most time on Photoshop with my background in photography. I’m able to use it for many different purposes, whether that be editing photos, putting together a poster, and many things inbetween.
UI/UX & Branding: These two hard skills are strong areas of mine largely due to being a hardcore empath, I find that I can intuitively problem solve. I find it very easy to consider the emotional response of users and the variety of emotions that could potentially be experienced and make decisions accordingly, I find that making these considerations below the surface truly allow the ability to fine tune a visual experience.
Soft Skills
Empathy: This skill has come in handy many times when communicating with fellow classmates and when taking into consideration the needs of others within the service industry. I’ve found that it also translates well with user experience projects because I can easily visualize the potential needs of users based on diverse backgrounds of users.
Open-mindedness: When conclusions are drawn, that’s when curiosity dies. So I try my best to keep an open mind regardless of the situation and take everyones opinion or feedback into account when developing projects.
Willingness to learn: I consider myself a lifelong learner and am always willing to learn something new if the opportunity presents itself. I’ve had many different jobs and a couple of career changes through the years, all of which were filled with many fresh learning opportunities.
Skills I would like to develop
Time management & Effective Communication (soft):
I need to practice better time management that way I’m not neglecting other projects and tasks, more specifically I need to know when to stop perfecting something and consider it finished until the next round of review. Communication has always been something that I have struggled with at times, I would specifically like to hone in on communication within my presentation skills, that way I’m able to explain my projects more effectively and make sure whoever is listening understands where my ideas are coming from.
Illustrator & Illustrator (hard): With both of these programs I would like to learn the tools more in depth and expand my skills set in order for them to become more intuitive. As of right now, I feel that projects take longer than they should because I’m not entirely comfortable and don’t have a solid work flow. I’m sure with time and continued practice this will be resolved.