what kind of CV should a designer/developer have?

Placebo

I recently applied for this position at Carsonified

heres my entry

anyway i didnt get the position so back to reality, i havent touched my CV in approx 4/5 years. Will a website with all my work [portfolio] and a 2 page CV still suffice ? or are we looking at everything on the website ?

[i've noticed a huge trend with cv on the site and all designed up but tbh most of them seem like freelancers, chancing it for the laugh]

thoughts welcome

ocallagh

I think a website with a good portfolio of work, followed by a downloadable PDF is perfect. You don't want recruitment companies nicking it and changing it, but you also want potential recruiters to download it and email it.

In regards the website Dr.acute, it looks great - but what does it do? Is it simply a design showcase? It lacks a lot in usability IMO. I was half way through doing the heart rate thing but I didn't understand what it was about or how to submit my rate. I ended up on a calorie counter and not sure how to get back!

I think interaction and purpose is very important when showcasing good design.

ocallagh

I just read their requirements! I can see the point of the site now. It would be interesting to see the other entries.

Perhaps they were looking for something a bit more complex? They mentioned UX and IMO the site doesn't really deliver in that regard.

A real life app/site which monitored those 5 things might have much more complex requirements. I don't mean to slate the site - it does look great and I was amazed to see html/js instead of flash when I poked around (kudos on that). There are only a half dozen buttons though and it's very hard to even figure them out! If I was looking for an expert UX designer I'd like to see complex requirements implemented within a usable interface and then finished off with a really good design. I think Dr.acute is too simple in that regard

Placebo

They were looking for something non functional and basic. Thats what i gather from it anyway. I didnt want to spend too much time on it, that alone was more than a weeks work. I gathered it would be best to show case my talent on all ends so i wanted a good medium in everything.

I posted that because of the way companies are now hiring. The last position Carsonified had open, they again asked for no cv's or portfolios but infact just an online type CV. this girl won it with this entry: http://allisonhou.se/lovescarsonified/


some of the other entries i found on that blog entry comments; for my position,

http://www.whatailsyou.org
http://marymacapagal.com/oughtapilot
http://wesleykelly.com/myMedic/index.html

some are pretty weak but they had 160 applicants, think they're gonna show case most of them.

ocallagh

Yours is way better than all of them. It's a difficult challenge to get those 5 components into a usable interface while keeping it simple and looking good.

Spunog UIE

how did you find out about the job in the first place. Woulda loved to have a crack at that, looked interesting if nothing else.

Placebo

came across it, carsonified are pretty well known
However, i feel i've wasted my time as they hired someone thats based in SanFran [they have a base there], his entry : http://www.breakerdesign.com/carson/


i felt the whole minimalistic thing has been over done, which is why i opted for quirky look to show off all my talent, but obviously location and previous experience came to play [breakerdesign.com], which i guess is fair but thats not what they acted like they were aiming for,

their whole idea was portfolios do not do justice as its hard to tell how much work the person did

btw that winning site does not render properly in IE9, it also breaks completely in IE8 and 7. Although i checked it via browserlabs.com

tricky D

The use of light grey text should have been enough to disqualify this in my book. Especially as it is a health based concept so would have a greater than usual appeal to the older user base with eyesight issues.

It appears the deciding factors were only visual when design is more than just that. Visual design is a subset of design ie. how it works. Though I've never been a Jobs fan boy, I do like this quote:

"Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it's this veneer – that the designers are handed this box and told, 'Make it look good!' That's not what we think design is. It's not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works."

Trojan

To answer the original question, I'd expect developers and designers to have very different CVs.

I'd expect a software developer's CV to be formatted in a pretty standard way, with minimal attention to typeface, etc. What I would also expect is a lot of information about technologies and project examples.

On the other hand, I'd expect a graphic designer's CV to be lovingly crafted with particular attention to layout, typeface, even paper choice if delivered physically.

I'd expect a web developer's PDF or on-paper CV to be formatted as standard too, but with particular reference to URLs of live sites and applications with an explanation of what the candidate actually contributed to the project. I hate getting lists of URLs with no explanations (I assume the worst, not the best, in that situation).

I do like CV websites, even if they're off the shelf templates (but obviously custom is better). I even built one for myself as an example for a talk I gave to UL students on what they could achieve if they put the tiniest bit of effort into it (I built that on the train to Limerick, based on a template).

--

Regarding Carsonified, what they did was ask for spec work. You may agree or disagree with that, but it's hard to complain when you went into it with your eyes open.

Placebo wrote: »

However, i feel i've wasted my time as they hired someone thats based in SanFran

You still have the end result to add to your portfolio, and as others mention, it is pretty cool example of your skills.

One thing though...

Placebo wrote: »

i felt the whole minimalistic thing has been over done, which is why i opted for quirky look to show off all my talent

It strikes me instantly as a portfolio piece because of that quirkiness - personally I prefer the more usable real world designs (but I'm a heartless engineer behind it all)

Still great work though, it'll stand to you.

Placebo

tricky D wrote: »

The use of light grey text should have been enough to disqualify this in my book. Especially as it is a health based concept so would have a greater than usual appeal to the older user base with eyesight issues.

It appears the deciding factors were only visual when design is more than just that. Visual design is a subset of design ie. how it works. Though I've never been a Jobs fan boy, I do like this quote:

My boss used to be very critical and from working on so many strict business related sites for vodafone and irish times etc, i did eventually get my head around 'design' - away from the typical cinematic meaning its attached to.

I'm sure the site won for several reasons and im waiting for their blog update, i dont think my site is in anyway better and for many reasons could be considered worse especially when it comes to 'design'

but at the same time it does look like a subset of google analytics,
but at the risk of this thread turning into Mine vs His, i just wanted to share my experience on this, i opted for it because i never got around to sorting out a portfolio, speaking of which does anyone here have any portfolios up ?

ocallagh

I know a lot of developers/designers who could come up with something similar to his, but I don't know many that would be able to produce what you did.

If I was after a UX designer/developer who I could throw projects at and expect a professional usable app developed in a timely manner with minimal code, I would have to choose his. His is very simple, looks good and would be easy to maintain and extend as the app becomes more complex over time. I'm guessing the position they are looking to fill is more focused on this than visuals. Also, as you mention, he is in California which helps too..