Our slides from our SXSWi 2010 presentation

1. BRIAN “LE ROUGE” TALBOT · M. JACKSON “THE RED” WILKINSON
JACKS MASTERS
of
ONE?
of all
TRADES
AUSTIN CONVENTION CENTER Under the
Auspices of SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST

2. TALBS
Sr. UX Designer, Viget Labs

3. JACKSON
Sr. Product Designer, LinkedIn

4. HASHTAG! (NOT POT RELATED)
#jacksofalltrades

5. DEFINING THE TERMS
GENERALISTS &
SPECIALISTS

6. TECHNOLOGY
SPECIALIST
GENERALIST
BUSINESS DESIGN
Hat tip to

7. G
Generalist
WEB DESIGNER
G
(with markup chops)
S
Specialist
S
WEB DESIGNER
(visual only)

8. G
Generalist
USER EXPERIENCE GUY
G
S
Specialist
USER RESEARCHER
S

9. S
G
Generalist
G
FRONT-END ENGINEER
S
Specialist
DATABASE PERFORMANCE
ENGINEER

10. THE SET UP
The Great
DEBATE

11. LAYING OUT THE ARGUMENTS
“Honestly, I’m shocked that in
2010 I’m still coming across
‘web designers’ who can’t code
their own designs. No excuse.”
Elliot Jay Stocks

16. SKILLS
DEPTH

18. G

19. S

20. [DAVINCI]
G

21. S

22. G

23. S
S S

24. LAYING OUT THE ARGUMENTS
A little taste of the prevailing
POINT &
COUNTERPOINT

25. SPECIALISTS ARE
THE PERFECT TOOL FOR
THE SPECIFIC JOB
http://www.flickr.com/photos/walker_ep/3789085333/

26. A GENERALIST
TAKES CARE OF
WHATEVER IS NEEDED
http://www.flickr.com/photos/indigotimbre/66258903

27. A GENERALIST
TAKES CARE OF
WHATEVER IS NEEDED
http://www.flickr.com/photos/frandallfarmer/255322431/

28. A SPECIALIST CAN
KEEP UP ON CURRENT
TRENDS & TECHNIQUES

29. GENERALISTS CAN
ENSURE THAT EXECUTION
MATCHES INTENTION

30. A SPECIALIST’S THINKING
ISN’T LIMITED BY
EXTERNAL CONSTRAINTS

31. A GENERALIST CAN
SEE THE BIG PICTURE
IN A PROJECT

32. LAYING OUT THE ARGUMENTS
“High degrees of specialization may be rendering
us unable to see the connections between the things
we design and their consequences that ripple out
into the biosphere and technosphere in ways we
aren’t trained to see or may never fully understand.”
Terry Irwin

33. SPECIALISTS CAN TAKE
ADVANTAGE OF SPECIFIC
MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

34. GENERALISTS CAN
EASILY PIVOT IN
THEIR CAREERS

35. Making choices in
YOUR CAREER

36. IN MY CAREER
DO YOU FEEL THE NEED
TO BE THE ABSOLUTE
BEST AT SOMETHING?
YES S
NO G

37. IN MY CAREER
DO YOU LIKE HANDLING
THINGS FROM START
TO FINISH?
YES G
NO S

38. IN MY CAREER
DO YOU LIKE WORKING
ALONE ON PROJECTS?
YES G
NO S

39. IN MY CAREER
CAN YOU LEARN AND
UNDERSTAND FOREIGN
CONCEPTS QUICKLY?
YES G
NO S

40. IN MY CAREER
ARE YOU COMPETITIVE &
A PERFECTIONIST?
YES S
NO G

41. IN MY CAREER
DO YOU WANT TO WORK
ON THE NEW, HIP,
SEXY PROJECTS?
YES G
NO S

42. IN MY CAREER
DO YOU NEED MUCH
VARIETY IN YOUR CAREER?
YES G
NO S

43. IN MY CAREER
ARE YOU GOOD AT
KNOWING WHEN YOU’RE IN
OVER YOUR HEAD?
YES G
NO S

44. IN MY CAREER
IS JOB SECURITY A
PRIORITY FOR YOU?
YES G
NO S

45. Making choices for
YOUR TEAM

46. FOR MY TEAM
ARE YOU SMALL?
YES G
NO S

47. FOR MY TEAM
DO YOU HAVE A DECENT
PROCESS IN PLACE?
YES S
NO G

48. FOR MY TEAM
IS THAT PROCESS MORE
AGILE THAN WATERFALL?
YES G
NO S

49. FOR MY TEAM
IS AMAZING EXECUTION
YOUR TOP PRIORITY?
YES S
NO G

50. FOR MY TEAM
CAN YOU KEEP A
SPECIALIST BUSY FOR THE
LENGTH OF THE JOB?
YES S
NO G

51. FOR MY TEAM
DO YOU NEED SOMEONE
WHO CAN PITCH IN IN
VARIOUS WAYS?
YES G
NO S

52. FOR MY TEAM
ARE YOU HIRING A
MANAGER, EXEC, OR
VERY SENIOR ROLE?
YES G
NO S

53. Now...
QUESTIONS?

54. Feedback on SpeakerRate please!
http://spkr8.com/t/2516
Follow us on Twitter:
@whafro & @talbs