It’s really clear that there is a rich source of UX freelancers in the Seattle area (and Portland too, I won’t forget you!) and there just doesn’t seem to be a single source for us to connect. There are great UX groups, and Seattle UX groups (some resources listed below), and there are some freelance groups, but I haven’t found any groups that bring those two together specifically. I’ve floated an idea out to some of the freelancer UX professionals I know and have gotten positive feedback, so I’m feeling inspired to start a LinkedIn Group specifically for Seattle UX freelancers. I thought I’d name it something clever like, ‘Seattle UX Freelancers.’ (Yes if you have a better idea by all means suggest it!) If I have your email address I’ll send you an invite, and if I don’t have your email address maybe you could contact me if you’re interested. Or just look for the group on LinkedIn that would probably be easier. I’ll come up with more info on that in another post. Later.

Here are some of the links that came up during our session – feel free to email with more resources in comments!

View my post with the session presenter’s bio’s and URLs here

Some Design agencies that hire freelancers directly (visual, IA, UX, usability):

- Blink
- POP Interactive
- Zaaz
- Razorfish
- GLG
- Produxs

Staffing Agencies who get the bulk of UX placement jobs:
- Allovus
- The Creative Group (TCG)
- 24seven
- aquent
- Filter
- Creative Circle
- Tech Systems
and some Smaller ones:
- Bestica
- Rylem

And start-ups! They can be a great source especially for entry into the industry:
Surf Incubator
(email eaton(at)surfincubator(dot)com)

Resources from my previous post:
Useful Resources:
http://www.meetup.com/SeattleUX/
http://iainstitute.org/
salary/rate survey: http://iainstitute.org/en/learn/research/salary_survey.php
Interaction Design Association: http://www.ixda.org/

Want more info? Here’s the low-down:

InfoCamp Seattle 2011, Sunday (slated for 11:15 am)
Successful Contracting & Freelancing in UX
Questions, Answers, and Discussion

Come and join the discussion about what it takes to be a successful UX consultant in Seattle. If you’re thinking about hanging out your own shingle – here’s a chance to ask a panel of ‘self-employment’ veterans. If you’re already a contractor or freelancer, join us in the discussion about what makes contracting and freelancing most successful for you.

Participants – Leigh Allen-Arredondo, Laura Barbosa, Jason Blackburn, Sue Ann Harkey, Justine Kamionsky

Choose a question or discussion that interests you. Here are some we find interesting:

• Discussion: skills that make a UX consultant more marketable?

• Discussion: going back & forth between contract and full-time employment

• Discussion: contracting for an agency or consultancy vs directly with a company or an in-house team; dealing with an added layer when contracting for an agency which includes adapting to both their client and the agency who brought you into the project.

• How do you market yourself? How do you get new work?

• How do you stay in touch with other UX professionals?

• What’s more motivating – money or flexibility?

• How do you deal with the lack of security of self-employement? What about health care and other benefits? How do contractors address these “fears”?

• Talk about the differences between working through a staffing agency or directly for a client… pros and cons?

• How did you transition from full-time to contract?

• What are the most important characteristics for a person to have if they’re considering contracting or freelancing?

• Do you bring your own UX process to each job or do you work within the clients’ UX process?

• What is one important lesson you’ve learned from working as a contractor?

• As an independent contractor, how do you keep yourself up-to-date with new processes, technologies, methods, etc?

• What are some helpful systems/tools for a contractor? (ie- time tracking software, design programs, invoicing systems, etc)

Participants:

Laura Barboza | User Experience Research & Usability Consultant

In 2007 Laura traded the comfort of cuban food and sunshine in Miami Beach, FL for the music and mountains of Seattle, WA. Following a kick start at the user experience powerhouse Blink Interactive, Laura branched out on her own to independently conduct user experience research for various clients around the Puget Sound region. She’s now gained the valuable ‘vendor’ status working at Microsoft, as well as working with many other clients in Seattle including Fell Swoop and Valid Concept. Laura is also a recent graduate from the Masters Degree program at the UW Human Centered Design and Engineering.

www.DesignCentered.com

www.linkedin.com/in/DesignCentered

——

Sue Ann Harkey

Sue Ann has over 12 years experience in designing user interfaces for complex business and systems environments. After years of both visual and IA design in Seattle, Sue Ann moved to London and found challenging work at several agencies there. She finally achieved UK citizenship in 2009 and decided it was time to return to the US, where she is currently a UX design consultant. Recent clients include: AT&T, Microsoft, Franklin Templeton, and Eddie Bauer. Sue Ann was an instructor at Seattle’s School of Visual Concepts for 4 satisfying years and hopes to pick up teaching again soon.

sueannharkey.com

www.linkedin.com/in/sueannharkey

——

Jason Blackburn

Jason is a UX designer with 15 years experience designing and collaborating on user experiences for websites, web applications and software for a wide variety of companies. He has been consulting for the last two years. He enjoys the combination of technical and creative challenges that UXD presents and understands the value of a seamless progression from information architecture and wire framing through to final creative and branding–and the challenge it is to achieve it as in independent consultant. He has worked one-on-one with large and small clients and as a sub-contractor for larger vendors, and can speak to the unique challenges each represent.

www.jasonblackburnux.com

www.linkedin.com/in/jasonblackburnux

——

Leigh Allen-Arredondo

Leigh has 15+ year experience as a UI/UX designer and manager in software and web development. She specializes in highly functional and complex interaction design and architecture for web and mobile applications. In 2007 Leigh traded the stability of full-time employment for the flexibility of consulting. She enjoys the wide variety of work this brings, with clients ranging from startups and non-profits to better-known companies like Windermere, Qualcomm and Microsoft, and everything in between. She works through creative staffing agencies, directly with businesses, and as an independent contractor with several design agencies in Seattle.

www.arredondodesign.com

www.linkedin.com/in/leighallenarredondo

——

Justine Kamionsky

Justine is a UX designer with 15 years experience in web and software design. In 1999, Justine moved from sunny South Africa to Seattle, where it rained for 90 days straight. She has worked for both large corporations like Microsoft, T-Mobile and Getty Images, and small start-ups, and has spent about 9 of her professional years as a contractor. The flexibility of contracting has allowed her to experience a wider variety of people, company cultures and working methods than a traditional career would ever have afforded, and has given her the luxury of time off for international travel, a personal passion. She is currently employed full-time as a Senior User Experience Designer at Nordstrom.

www.linkedin.com/in/justinekamionsky

——

Useful Resources:

http://www.meetup.com/SeattleUX/

http://iainstitute.org/

salary/rate survey: http://iainstitute.org/en/learn/research/salary_survey.php

Interaction Design Association: http://www.ixda.org/