6 advice for my younger self starting a UX design career
Things I wish I knew when I first started my UX career
When I first started my UX career 18 months ago, fresh out of the Bootcamp, I thought I was ready to change the world, and soon I realized that there is so much more to learn in this field. For those of you who are committing to start your career in UX, I know how intimidated and overwhelming it feels, and I’m here to tell you — you CAN do this!
Today, I’m a senior UX/UI designer at a leading IT consulting agency in Australia. While celebrating my small wins, I also wanted to share some advice (outside of technical skills) that I would tell the younger version of myself when I first started my UX career:
1. Having a good (looking) portfolio is not enough
To win the job, you need a solid case study that best represents your skill sets to the specific position you are applying for, and most importantly, you need to confidently present your design process to the audiences that don’t share the same domain knowledge or experience.
It is really important that you can speak it out loud rather than just showing the visuals or text because once you started the job, you will have to talk about your designs to other designers, developers, stakeholders, clients, and managers throughout your entire design career. So be prepared.
2. The industry is rapidly changing (so are the tools)
The UX, UI, and product design field is always changing. Some of the most popular tools that we use today didn’t even exist five years ago. Hence, don’t get too hung up on a particular tool or feel the need to master all of them. Instead, try to familiarize yourself with the ones that are most widely used by your favorite companies. 😉
3. Document the process
Document your entire process as you are working on the project — take photos, screenshots, notes, recordings, drawings, whatever you need to explain the details, and save them on multiple locations on your local drive and on the cloud (if your company allows).
At the end of each project, take all the materials that you’ve collected, and update your portfolio or case study when it is still fresh in your mind. Highlight how it has affected the business and/or end-users through the project you’ve done.
4. Get feedback often
Be humble, ask questions, and get feedback. When you come across people who you think you disagree with or even angry about, try to put that emotional feeling aside and instead, get to know those other people. See if you can build common ground. Show respect, listen, and never be too confident in your point of view ever. Communication is an essential part of your career development.
Be specific on what you want to receive recommendations on, and ask about both the good and bad. Be sure to ask for details and examples; this will help you understand what steps to take and how to improve moving forward. Keep your positive feedbacks in a “compliments file.” Not only will it keep you motivated at work, but it will also come in handy when you are interviewing for a new role, requesting for a promotion, or rightfully ask4more.
5. Be Proactive
Similar to asking for feedback, if you are interested in a particular project that your colleague(s) are working, raise your hands and ask to be apart of it. Put yourself in a position to assist and support others in their projects. May it be helping with note-taking in interviews or participating in brainstorming sessions. You will be surprised to see how people respond to your enthusiasm.
6. Learning by Teaching
Last but not least, the best way to learn is by putting your new knowledge and skills into practice — Teaching in a sense ‘forces’ you to build knowledge by elaborating on the materials, fixing misunderstandings, and developing an in-depth and long-term understanding of the topic; so that you can be confident enough to explain the subject to someone else. Subconsciously, you will develop higher self-efficacy and become a competent learner.
Suppose you are reading this because you are starting out your UX/Product design career. I’m so excited for you. 👏🏻 👏🏻👏🏻
If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave your comments below, and I hope that this post can be helpful to you in some way!
