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The decision to leave academia can be difficult. Often, it involves giving up a stable career path and a lifetime commitment to a particular field of study.
But as Joe Stubenrauch explains, the move also offers researchers the opportunity to pursue new career paths, improve work-life balance and geographic flexibility, and reinvent their lives.
And he should know: Formerly a professor of history, he walked away from tenure to join a big tech company as a UX Researcher at AWS. In this episode, Joe discusses his decision to walk transition to the private sector and shares thoughtful advice for others considering a similar move.
Highlights from the episode
- [04:06] Joe reflects on feeling burnt out, bored, and doubtful in academia
- [11:23] What makes you happy? Joe weighs the pros and cons of things like mental health, geographic mobility, and proximity to family and friends.
- [19:41] Breaking into a new field, experimenting, and talking to people.
- [34:47] The importance of having a portfolio that includes compelling stories
- [41:35] Tactical advice for job seekers (resumes, LinkedIn profiles, job interview strategies, etc)
- [44:23] Working in a team environment as a former academic
About our guest
Joe Stubenrauch is a former professor of British history at Baylor University, and the author of a prize-winning book published by Oxford University Press. During the height of the pandemic, he walked away from tenure and joined a big tech company in order to redesign his life. Now as a UX Researcher at AWS, Joe has found unexpected similarities between his work as Victorianist and his work in the cloud. He also writes regularly about the transition from academia to industry and is obsessed with how people can reinvent their lives and careers.
You can follow Joe on LinkedIn.
How often do you think about content design? The answer, most likely, is: “not enough”.
The work of a Content Designer involves fitting the right words in the right places, understanding the nuances of things log in vs. sign in, and knowing the right words to use to engage customers. Content Design is an important part of the user experience—and the ROI is high. Like, “millions of $s saved through content-testing” high.
Erica Jorgensen is a Staff Content Designer at Chewy.com and the author of Strategic Content Design: Tools and Research Techniques for Better UX. She joined Erin and Carol on the podcast to discuss the ins and outs of content design, the importance of clarity for effective communication, and how to involve your audience in content design.
Highlights from the episode:
- 00:02:03: What is content design in the context of UX research?
- 00:06:48: Gaining clarity by thinking about the words you use frequently
- 00:14:00: How Erica used simplified language to get customers to buy more insurance plans
- 00:26:42: Using cloze testing to ensure general content clarity
- 00:29:26: The importance of syllables and length
- 00:39:46: Resources and guides for better content design
- 00:42:56: How Microsoft saved $2 million through content testing
Sources and people mentioned
- BrainTraffic
- Chewy.com
- Cloze testing — “Cloze Test for Reading Comprehension,” NN/g.
- Curtis Kopf, Chief Experience Officer at REI
- Dylan Romero, Affiliate Instructor at University of Washington, UX at Microsoft
- Flesch–Kincaid – Wikipedia
- Hemingway Editor
- Jorgensen, Erica. Strategic Content Design: Tools and Research Techniques for Better UX. (2023) — GET 15% OFF AT ROSENFELD MEDIA WITH CODE AS15
- MeasuringU (Jeff Sauro)
- Merriam-Webster Dictionary
- Metts, Michael and Andy Wefle. Writing Is Designing: Words and the User Experience. (2020)
- Scott Kubie
- System Usability Scale
- Tracy Vandygam, Senior Content Designer at Mozilla
- Visual Thesaurus
- Winters, Sarah. Content Design. (2017)
About our guest
Erica Jorgensen is a staff content designer at Chewy.com and the author of Strategic Content Design: Tools and Research Techniques for Better UX, published in April 2023 by Rosenfeld Media.
She's a content designer, content strategist, and team leader determined to bring greater respect to the content field. To that end, Erica speaks frequently at conferences including UXDX USA, UX Lisbon, Microsoft Design Week, the Web Directions Summit, and Button: The Content Design Conference, and on podcasts like The Content Strategy Podcast with Kristina Halvorson and Content Insights podcast with Larry Swanson. In addition to working in content roles for companies of all sizes, she has taught at the University of Washington and Seattle’s School of Visual Concepts.
Erica earned her B.A. from the University of Connecticut and M.A. from the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism. In her free time, you can find her exploring Washington State’s wineries or hiking with her husband and rescue dog, Rufus.