Friend and colleague Jeff Patton floated an idea a few weeks ago around the thought that there are 3 types of User Experience Professionals: Before-, During-, and After-People. I think this is a brilliant way to characterize UXers…simple and to the point, with no big-giant-confusing-wordiness. Of course, all the qualities of these different types of people should exist in every User Experience Pro, but naturally we’ve all got our strengths and weaknesses.

So what kind of User Experience Professional am I? In true self-report form, I’ll this is how I categorize myself at this very moment:

It’s important to note, though, that I don’t intend for my pie to look like that forever. I’ve got big goals for my talents, and most of these goals reside in the “During-people” stage. As of now, I’ve got alright Graphic Design skills, but I can tell that they’re still somewhat raw. One day, I hope my pie looks more like this: Of course I think the “After-people” part of UX work is important, and I’m pretty highly trained in that area, but I just don’t find it all that interesting. I really enjoy being part of the Design side of UX, as opposed to Evaluation. But that’s just me.

Hey all my User Experience friends out there. What does your pie look like? What would you like it to look like? Oh yeah, and, what do you think my pie looks like?