Aliena Design LLC

13 UX design career secrets I wish I knew *earlier* 1. You can't become a UX designer in three months. 2. Don't try to do it all by yourself. Find accountability partners. 3. Make your design functional first, then make it pretty. 4. Focus on the happy path. 5. If you are unemployed, work as if you’re running an agency. 6. Get rid of the 'Open to Work' badge on LinkedIn. 7. Don’t compete on price. 8. Intern and junior positions are gone. Become a senior designer on your own. 9. Junior designers have the longest portfolios; senior designers pitch. 10. Real money is in B2B products. 11. Constraints make a project interesting. 12. Your design ≠ you. 13. A great landing page cannot sell a bad product. What do I mean? Watch my new video: https://lnkd.in/gZhHbuEt

TL;DR: The price of my Fast Track UX Course will increase from $149 to $300 USD on September 10, 2024. If you’re interested in advancing your UX design skills, now is a great time to enroll at the current rate: https://fasttrackux.com --- After dedicating over a year to developing Fast Track UX, I decided to adjust the price from $149 to $300 USD for several reasons: 1. Reflecting the Course's Value 👑 Many of our 700+ students have shared that this course has provided more value than some $4,000+ bootcamps. Several students have successfully moved into senior and lead design positions at Fortune 500 companies, earning between $100K to $300K USD. Based on the course’s results, it’s clear that the course is currently undervalued. 2. Capturing the Value of Mentorship & Feedback 💬 While mentorship and design feedback from me are not guaranteed with enrollment, I have been able to respond to all students' design work and questions so far. If you reach out through the course comments or direct messages, there's a high likelihood I’ll be able to provide feedback. 3. Encouraging Committed Learners 🚀 The course aims to help serious learners advance to mid-level design positions, bypassing entry-level roles that are becoming increasingly limited. I encourage signups from people who are committed to their long-term career development. --- I'd also like to clarify two points: 1. This course is not best suited for complete beginners. Although I initially designed it to be beginner-friendly, the most successful students have some background, such as experience with the Google UX Certificates. If you are a complete beginner, I suggest taking this free course of mine before enrolling in Fast Track UX. 2. This course is not best suited for aspiring web designers. While web design is a common type of UX client work, this course focuses on the most valuable UX roles in the market: designing for B2C and B2B tech products. You can still apply the knowledge to your web design projects, but designing websites won’t be the focus of the course. Thanks for reading. Cheers!

𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 🥹 I donated $11,500 to GiveInternet.org, a charity that helps high school students gain access to the internet and laptops 🫶🏼 This donation is a significant portion of my business income and marks Aliena Design LLC’s first charitable contribution 🎉 When I launched my company, I dreamt of giving back one day —but I never thought it would happen this soon. 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞. A voice inside often says, "Are you really ready? Don’t you have so many other places to use money? What if your company goes broke after this?"... I continuously battle with this voice. But I’m glad that the other voice won this time: 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 "𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲" 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤. Whether it’s sharing a link, donating a small amount, or just speaking up for a cause —we can make a difference. 𝐃𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞. Doing good is empowering and rewarding. Doing good is a requirement for long-term success, whether for a business or an individual. If you’d like to help 1.1 billion students gain access to the internet and laptops for their education, you can donate here: https://lnkd.in/gRvStvWC You can also watch my reaction here 😆: https://lnkd.in/gdAU8_kG Thank you! #GivingBack #Empowerment #WomenInBusiness #EducationForAll

My YouTube channel, Aliena Cai, just hit 100K subscribers today! I hosted a red-themed design party in downtown Toronto and met some amazing designers 🎈 𝗜’𝗺 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. In the digital world, you can see 100K everywhere. But 100K supportive lifelong learners just hits differently. You continuously inspires me to learn more, create more, and be myself. 𝗜’𝗺 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝘀𝗼 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳. When I made my first YouTube video three years ago, I was rejected by my dream jobs and dream schools. I almost lost hope about my career and seriously thought about being a full-time housewife (not by choice). I’m glad I started this channel and provided an opportunity for myself when others didn’t have one for me. 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴. As a designer who runs a one-person business, there are endless things to learn, try, and conquer. I will keep sharing my learning and journey with you, one step at a time 👣 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗜 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 ✨ —my inner child is very happy. --- (Due to a 20-guest limit in my building, I couldn't invite everyone. I hope to do something similar in Toronto this year again!) #productdesign #alienacai #100K

I'm hosting a celebration party in 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗧𝗼𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗼 for hitting 100K subscribers on YouTube! 🌟 Join me for an evening of great food, fun games, and the chance to network with design leaders, business owners, creators, and other amazing people. If you're interested in joining the fun, please fill out this form: https://lnkd.in/gHsT7xYN Can't wait to celebrate with you! 🎈✨ #toronto #torontoevents #torontonetworking

Back in March (I know, I'm this late), I visited Dubai with my family and *started my role as a design manager!* Finally, this vlog is live. Feel free to put it on one of your monitors 🖥️ while going through Slack messages 💬 I'm very proud that I took this initiative and brought a team together. However, nothing compares to my pride when it comes to taking my 80-year-old grandma to travel the world 🫶🏼 https://lnkd.in/gArh99mH

𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 $𝟭 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗨𝗫 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗼𝗳 $𝟭𝟬𝟬 (𝗥𝗢𝗜 = 𝟵,𝟵𝟬𝟬%). In my new video, learn a few of my tips on how to test early, faster, and cheaper. I cover some methods like user interviews, surveys, and usability testing. I also showcase how to use research tools like Lyssna to make your life easier. #ux #uxresearch #usabilitytesting https://lnkd.in/gJ66ENGP

𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 🥹 After one year of hard work, I’ve finished producing all 30 episodes of my first product, Fast Track UX. The platform is now fully ready at https://fasttrackux.com This marks the first product not only designed but also 𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐝 by me. Today is also the 𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 of me working full-time on Aliena Design LLC 🎂 In celebration, I’m offering a 𝟐𝟎% 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 for anyone who signs up this week! Use this code: ANNIVERSARY20 This journey has been incredibly difficult but rewarding. I can't do it without you! I’ll share more about it through a series of posts. #fasttrackux #productlaunch #uxdesign

Discover how Aliena Cai built a UX portfolio using Framer ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/eVNbCGgx