UX and Product Design Notes with Noonies Nominee, Jordan Bowman

Hey Hackers! I’m Jordan Bowman, Product Designer and Co-Creator of UX Tools.

First of all, a huge thank you to the HackerNoon community and staff for nominating me for a 2021 Noonies award!

I’ve nominated in the following categories; please do check out these Noonies award pages and vote:

1. HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - Design-Thinking
2. HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - Product-Design
3. HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - UI
4. HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - User-Experience
5. HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - UX
6. HackerNoon Contributor of the Year - UX-Design

I think one of the most exciting parts of the UX/product design industry is the array of new software (and features) coming out every year. Learn more about my thoughts and opinions about this, and my journey in the tech industry, in the interview below.

1. What do you do and why do you do it?

I’m a UX designer at a tech company. I've had lots of different positions in design over the years—everything from a full-time freelance designer, to the only designer at a startup, to a senior UXer at a large corporation. I love what I do—it’s challenging and gratifying to see people use a product I helped design.

2. Tell us more about the things you create / write / manage / build!

Like I mentioned, I have a full-time job as a product designer in a software company. But I also run a side project with a friend named Taylor Palmer called UX Tools. We create content with practical techniques and tools for product designers. We also make the annual Design Tools Survey and UX Challenges.

3. How did you end up on your current career path? Do you like it?

I graduated from college with a business degree. But I decided to teach myself how to code to put something else on my resume. I eventually picked up some freelance clients that wanted me to code and design their websites. Fast forward 10 years and now I’m a senior product designer in a tech company.

4. What tech are you most excited or passionate about right now and why?

I’m excited about all the tools popping up in the product design industry right now. It’s still a relatively fresh field, so it’s almost like the wild west. But lots of companies are building really great tools and it’s fun to see so much innovation.

5. What tech are you most worried about right now and why?

I worry sometimes about the lack of transparency with some software—specifically about things like privacy. It feels like there are lots of hidden privacy matters in apps that people use every day and I just wish that stuff was more open so that people could make informed decisions. I also think software should be more accessible on the whole so that we don’t inadvertently prevent certain people from utilizing technology just because they happen to have some form of disability.

6. If we gave you 10 million dollars to invest in something today, what would you invest in and why?

I think I’d just go the boring route and put most of it in a distributed portfolio of things like Vanguard funds and crypto. That way I’d be sure to have money for the rest of my life. I’d mix in some “cooler” riskier stuff like specific companies, and put some of it to good use, too—charities, foundations, family, etc.

7. What are you currently learning?

I’m learning a lot about content creation on YouTube lately (we’re going to get serious with the UX Tools YouTube channel in 2022). There’s this little pocket of YouTube with educational, useful videos and I really like that about the video content world.

8. What’s the best advice you’ve ever given someone?

Don’t make it about yourself. Focus on others.

9. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Remember your family (and whatever beliefs or principles you live by) is more important than your work.

About HackerNoon’s 2021 Noonie Awards

The annual Noonie Awards celebrate the best and brightest of the tech industry, bringing together all who are making the Internet and the world of tech what it is today. Please be sure to check out our award categories, nominate, and vote for the people and companies who you think are making the biggest impact on the tech industry today.

The 2021 Noonies are sponsored by: bybit, Dottech Domains, and Avast. Thank you so much to these sponsors who are helping us celebrate the accomplishments of all our nominees.