I'm a web UX Designer -- that new term "User Experience" designer that folded together a whole bunch of specialized practice areas into an umbrella term that connotes you are advocating for the consumer or end user of a website -- and designing to achieve the marketing or business goals of the site but thru the lens of the end user based on a consumer's behavior and reaction to what he sees or perceives upon arrival to a site.
The specialty design areas UX has now come to umbrella include information architecture, navigation design, content structure design, visual transition design, interaction design, form submission design, transaction design (any registration or ecommerce system that proceeds along a sequence), wireframe design (page-layout from a generic content inclusion point of view, not its actual design layout) and demo/overview design that teaches user how to use the site.
The simpler way to think of it is this: UX design is like screenwriting is to a movie. It creates the entire experience and all choices and sweeping arc of content. Graphic Designers come along and develop the top layer, the look and feel, the branding and distinctive execution of everything that has been specified in the UX "script". UX is not engineering, though, sadly, when engineers assume that role, as they often do at Google, you end up with Google Wave.
I used to perform these services for others, but now I make websites for things I actually like and want to use, and if I can make them become profitable, I am happy.
I wanted to differentiate here that I am not a "portfolio" holder, if that is what it is called, brokering in names, as the way I make money. Though I may be wrong, I think a large majority of people here are, and so I am the aberratioin from the norm, but I ran into some problems recently with a sedo.com transaction, got tired of not knowing how to deal with bad faith negotiation, and sought to find a community where I could seek advice and assistance at times.
MORE BACKGROUND, just fyi -- I realize my introduction is probably more than anybody cares to read, but for the one or two who might, "this Bud's for you". Prior to working in interactive media, I worked in Film & TV development & production in L.A., then advertising & marketing design where I learned and honed branding skills. Over the years thru the multiple media disciplines I've moved though, I've always increased my knowledge of what people want, what they like, what they don't like, and why.
I have a good ear for what works for the sites I choose to build, or develop as a proof of concept prototype. So, as it pertains to DNforum, and domain mames, 99% of the time I register the names I actually want for a project, and when or if they are taken, I move to other candidates, because it is rare that a specific name is a show-stopper. And quite often the unavailability of a name I thought i really wanted, forces a new brainstorm round and I breakthrough with a completely new take, and find a better name.
*** BUT *** Periodically, of course, there come times when I'd like a specific name, it's not available, and I'd like to buy it, if reasonable for my budgets. I use the WHOIS tools and contact the owner and give it a shot. And maybe 5, 6, 7 times I have tried a site like sedo or snapnames or some other -- but this is over course of past 20 years, so I don't have day-in/ day-out transactional experience in these matters.
I have acquired a few domains over time from the hundreds of dollars to the several thousand dollars but it's never been anything close to $5000 and beyond. That's just not the league I am in and won't be in, unless there comes a time in future where there is a huge project I do that becomes funded as a true business startup with legal entity, and some partner has financial resources.
I am laying out here, in this extraordinarily long intro, the category of User/Member I am so that I can make best use of the wide knowledgebase of experts here who ARE in the domain buying & selling business -- in how to handle certain types of transactions where I hit snags.
Such as: We disagree on what something is worth, and worth is a subjective matter. So is there anything I can try to do to move things into my price range? And what are the signs that it's not going to happen, so just move on...
The whole back-side to this industry I don't understand, and sometimes there is posturing, other times something is out of my league, and that is perfectly fine. But that is why I have joined here. To get help in those very occasional situations, because I am not brokering. Everything I seek is because I want to develop it, or it surrounds a property I already am developing.
To the one person who finished this long intro, the secret code word is green. Hah hah. Thank you for reading.
The specialty design areas UX has now come to umbrella include information architecture, navigation design, content structure design, visual transition design, interaction design, form submission design, transaction design (any registration or ecommerce system that proceeds along a sequence), wireframe design (page-layout from a generic content inclusion point of view, not its actual design layout) and demo/overview design that teaches user how to use the site.
The simpler way to think of it is this: UX design is like screenwriting is to a movie. It creates the entire experience and all choices and sweeping arc of content. Graphic Designers come along and develop the top layer, the look and feel, the branding and distinctive execution of everything that has been specified in the UX "script". UX is not engineering, though, sadly, when engineers assume that role, as they often do at Google, you end up with Google Wave.
I used to perform these services for others, but now I make websites for things I actually like and want to use, and if I can make them become profitable, I am happy.
I wanted to differentiate here that I am not a "portfolio" holder, if that is what it is called, brokering in names, as the way I make money. Though I may be wrong, I think a large majority of people here are, and so I am the aberratioin from the norm, but I ran into some problems recently with a sedo.com transaction, got tired of not knowing how to deal with bad faith negotiation, and sought to find a community where I could seek advice and assistance at times.
MORE BACKGROUND, just fyi -- I realize my introduction is probably more than anybody cares to read, but for the one or two who might, "this Bud's for you". Prior to working in interactive media, I worked in Film & TV development & production in L.A., then advertising & marketing design where I learned and honed branding skills. Over the years thru the multiple media disciplines I've moved though, I've always increased my knowledge of what people want, what they like, what they don't like, and why.
I have a good ear for what works for the sites I choose to build, or develop as a proof of concept prototype. So, as it pertains to DNforum, and domain mames, 99% of the time I register the names I actually want for a project, and when or if they are taken, I move to other candidates, because it is rare that a specific name is a show-stopper. And quite often the unavailability of a name I thought i really wanted, forces a new brainstorm round and I breakthrough with a completely new take, and find a better name.
*** BUT *** Periodically, of course, there come times when I'd like a specific name, it's not available, and I'd like to buy it, if reasonable for my budgets. I use the WHOIS tools and contact the owner and give it a shot. And maybe 5, 6, 7 times I have tried a site like sedo or snapnames or some other -- but this is over course of past 20 years, so I don't have day-in/ day-out transactional experience in these matters.
I have acquired a few domains over time from the hundreds of dollars to the several thousand dollars but it's never been anything close to $5000 and beyond. That's just not the league I am in and won't be in, unless there comes a time in future where there is a huge project I do that becomes funded as a true business startup with legal entity, and some partner has financial resources.
I am laying out here, in this extraordinarily long intro, the category of User/Member I am so that I can make best use of the wide knowledgebase of experts here who ARE in the domain buying & selling business -- in how to handle certain types of transactions where I hit snags.
Such as: We disagree on what something is worth, and worth is a subjective matter. So is there anything I can try to do to move things into my price range? And what are the signs that it's not going to happen, so just move on...
The whole back-side to this industry I don't understand, and sometimes there is posturing, other times something is out of my league, and that is perfectly fine. But that is why I have joined here. To get help in those very occasional situations, because I am not brokering. Everything I seek is because I want to develop it, or it surrounds a property I already am developing.
To the one person who finished this long intro, the secret code word is green. Hah hah. Thank you for reading.
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