X to UX Design Stories #3
Who is a UX UI Designer? Do they only create beautiful screens and know a lot of tools? Do they code? Can I switch my career into UI UX Design from HR, Engineering, CA, Software Testing? Will my past experience be an asset or liability when I switch into this career?
Here are some stories which will clear your misconceptions about becoming a UI UX Designer. These folks were able to successfully start their career in UI UX Design and were part of the UI UX Design Training Program at Designerrs.
1. HR to UX Design
Deepa
After completing my post-graduation, I had to choose a field of my choice to pursue my future career, and I was inclined towards Human Resources. I worked as HR predominantly for reputed multinational firms like Deloitte and Accenture. Apart from this, I’ve also worked for a few other companies. I’ve learned immensely about ‘Management’ throughout my career with these organizations. In 2017 I underwent eye surgery which impacted my morale and I had hit at the rock bottom of my life. I decided to put a hold on my career to recover.
A couple of years later, I wanted to restart my career. I wanted to explore new options as I always had this self-belief that I could perhaps get into the creative side. So, while I was discussing various fields of work with my husband, he mentioned UI/UX Designing. I was intrigued by it and researched to know more and while searching Google I stumbled upon ‘Designerrs lab’ It has been a wonderful journey with them and I’ve learned to a great extent about this fascinating field.
My people management skills played a big role in helping me understand user requirements and their nuances in detail. The sole reason that any product in the market does well is when the designers know ‘what your customers really want’? In UI/UX it is crucial to understand user’s likes and dislikes and make an end product appealing/easy to use for the user.
What does design mean to me? Well, if I was asked this question a few years back, I would have said, that design is anything that appeals to me, it could be color, shape, or simply the structure of the product. Today, after having a brief idea about UX Designing,
I would say that design is a culmination of numerous aspects right from ‘user research’, ‘creating initial blueprints of the product’, ‘problem-solving’, empathizing with user’s frustration.
Isn’t it interesting? The best part of UI/UX is that there are no prerequisites, you could be from any walks of life and pursue your career in this field. I look forward to learning more about it.
2. Engineering to UX Design
Even after joining engineering, I was not sure whether it was my true calling. Although the field is interesting, I found myself inclined towards the design part of Automobile development. When I attended a workshop on Automobile Styling, I found that there is more to design than just creating components that don’t break. After digging more on the web,
I found that products either tangible or digital aren’t just successful because they look good but because they make people’s lives easier by helping them complete their tasks with ease and simplicity.
The creation of these products requires immense research before they are delivered to people for use and also saw how a small change in design can improve a product substantially. It was then when I decided to pursue User Experience Design and started searching for ways to educate myself about it online. However, I felt that it would be better to get hands-on experience rather than just studying theory and stumbled upon the Designerrs Lab page on Instagram. They taught me to ask ‘why’ before thinking about ‘what’ and ‘how’ in every design decision I made while working on my project. I am grateful to Designerrs Lab for my great learning experience there.
Kunal
3. Chartered Accountant to UX design
Karishma
I stumbled into UX by accident (or so I thought). But looking back it feels like I was heading in that direction all along. I’m a Chartered Accountant and started my career as a functional consultant. Over the course of my career, I found myself gravitating towards work that combined business/finance and technology. While planning my next career move, I attended a meetup on design thinking which intrigued me.
I realized that design is not just aesthetics and visuals but instead focuses on understanding problems and figuring out solutions, and it felt like a switch had been flipped in my brain.
This was something that I had always done without realizing there was a term for it. I remember coming home and trying to find out what job would combine business, tech, and design and that’s when I found out about UX. Until that point, I had confused UX with UI. I’d always been analytical rather than artistic and hadn’t thought that it was up to my alley.
I started reading up about UX and learned that the role dealt with understanding user behavior and motivations and tying business goals to user needs. This appealed to the part of me that loves solving problems and I decided to make the switch to UX. I am excited about where this journey will take me and look forward to deep diving into user problems and finding ways to make their lives even a tiny bit better.
4. Software Testing to UX Design
I have been working into the software industry past 6 years. During this time I had faced many challenges in terms of work and learning. However as I moved into experience, it started to give boredom. The work I was doing from years had become highly structured and monotonous with very little scope for a fresh perspective and use of creativity. It became a typical 9–5 life. I have always been intrigued by human behavior and loved to be around art and literature.
After analyzing the reasons for the boredom, the realization was that I have gone away from the things I enjoyed the most. These were things that used to keep me fresh and active. This is where I decided I need to either get these things in my work or get into something similar.
On a random day, while scrolling through a blog post, I came across an article about the difference in UX and UI. This was the point that triggered my interest in the ever-growing world of Experience Design. I started researching to get more insights. The most interesting thing that I found on every UX expert’s lips was that you need to be a good observer to be successful in this field. This sparked my interest and I got convinced it to be the right choice. I knew this is the field that will connect me back to something I love, the desire to understand human behavior.
Himanshu
After much of the research, I got to know about Designerrs Lab. They specialize in training people and help them get into the world of Experience Design. After attending the course and doing the intensive hands-on project, I would say, it’s a long journey of continuous learning. Though it is not so straight forward and easy path, yet if you can focus your mind and be a good observer. It will start to become fun. You will start finding out patterns, problems and thus eventually the creative solutions.
We hope these success stories will inspire you and help you to chase your dream job by taking that leap of faith you have been patiently waiting for. To learn more about UX/UI Design, Design Thinking, Conversational UX Design, and Virtual Reality UX Design, you can check out the Courses and learning materials available on Designerrs Lab. To bust and detox your myths around UX and UI, watch our Dtalks (Designers Talk UX) sessions by Design Industry Experts on Designerrs YouTube channel. To find more stories of transitioning into UX Design, click here. Join Designerrs Dtalks community for more Personal Interactions, Portfolio Reviews, UX design Jobs, and much more here.