Fred Beecher, Author at Boxes and Arrows

Author: Fred Beecher

Fred Beecher has been working in User Experience since 1998. In that time he’s seen UX mature from a field struggling to prove its value to one driving an explosion of innovation and economic growth. To help feed the ever-increasing demand this explosion has sparked, Fred designed and implemented the UX apprenticeship program he currently manages at The Nerdery in Minneapolis, MN. Fred is an established contributor in the UX world. In 2007, he authored the first official Axure training program, which he ran until 2012. He has written numerous articles and blog posts on prototyping, iterative design, and UX career development, and he has spoken on these topics at design conferences worldwide.

Articles by this author:

Ending the UX Designer Drought

Posted by Fred Beecher

The first article in this series, “A New Apprenticeship Architecture,” laid out a high-level framework for using the ancient model of apprenticeship to solve the modern problem of the UX talent drought. In this article, I get into details. Specifically,

March 18, 2014 Business Design / Foundational Thinking / Workplace and Career

Ending the UX Designer Drought

Posted by Fred Beecher

The user experience design field is booming. We’re making an impact, our community is vibrant, and everyone has a job. And that’s the problem. A quick search for “user experience” on indeed.com reveals over 5,000 jobs posted in the last

September 24, 2013 Foundational Thinking / Learning From Others / Workplace and Career

Your Boss Works for You

Posted by Fred Beecher

This past June, I stood on the brink of achieving a major professional goal. The UX apprenticeship program I’d been working so hard on was going to begin on Monday. It was Thursday. On my desk lay a curious stack

September 22, 2009 Deliverables / Discovery, Research, and Testing / Interactivity / Prototyping

Integrating Prototyping Into Your Design Process

Posted by Fred Beecher

Fred Beecher categorizes prototypes along two dimensions of fidelity –visual and functional — and explains how to choose the right kind of prototype that answers the right questions.