Stay Smart.

Speaking the Greek.

Originally posted on Medium.com on April 13, 2015.

I’m a UX Designer and have a passion for research. Because of this, my super-powers are often abused to further causes outside of the realm of UX World. Don’t get me wrong. I love it. But…

“Hey Steve, What can you find out about ___________?”

Fill in the blank with just about any topic you can think of. Most recently, I was asked to give a presentation about how to build an industrial brand and how different types of branding interplay off of each other. Oh, and I had 2 days.

So I figuratively checked into a Holiday Inn Express and went to sleep. When I woke up, I was an Industrial Brand expert. Able to have an intelligent conversation about most things branding. Sorry @NickWestergaard. I’m taking over your industry now. I gave the talk and pretty much nailed it. I felt pretty confident in what I was talking about.

Seriously, though… I love the fact that I get the opportunity to educate myself in so many diverse topics. It really helps in doing actual UX project-related research. The problem comes with being able to give intelligent answers to really good questions that will inevitably be asked.

I feel like this really makes me look bad. Case in point:

The following is a case in point and bears no resemblance to conversations living or dead.

Bob owns a company and is interested in breaking into the widget field. He doesn’t know much about widgets. Only that they’re the next big thing. I’m on staff with Bob so he asks me to do a C-level presentation about Widgets and how we can make money with them. He needs it done in 3 days.

Once again, I pull out my Express loyalty card and check in and go to sleep.

Two days later, I hand my presentation off to Bob so he can review. Yup. I was a day early. That’s just how I roll.

Next day, I’m in front of the big wigs. I give my preso and I killed it. At the very end, after the “Questions?” slide, the CMO asks this great question.

“Widgets are great and all, but why wouldn’t we get into sprites instead?”

Now I’m stuck. I don’t know anything about sprites. Everyone is expecting an intelligent answer from the guy that just gave the talk… I say, “Great question. I’ll research that and get back to you.”

I guess I know where I’m sleeping tonight.

Bottom line? Take every chance you have to learn about everything you can. It’s just awesome to be able to Speak the Greek.