A Coffee a Day, for 5 days — Day 2 with Lisa Guo
“A Coffee a Day, for 5 days” will feature a new discussion each day with a different UX professional. The goal is to understand their story and journey into the field, receive any advice and gems they can share for recent grads and junior designers such as myself, and receive feedback on my killer portfolio which can be found here: https://www.callmedak.com
You can view day one with Teunis Vorsteveld published yesterday, here.
Today, I’m sitting down with Lisa Guo. In Lisa’s own words, she’s a product designer and someone who works to optimize different areas of her life. She is passionate about her craft, which she loves and is ultimately trying to become the best she can at it so it can help her build the life that she wants to live.
Let’s jump right in. I started by asking questions to learn more about Lisa as a designer and her journey.
D: Can you describe your journey towards the UX field? How did it start and what’s next for you?
L: I dabbled in photoshop when I was younger and was always interested in visual design. But when I drilled down to what I loved about being in business (marketing), it came down to problem solving. I couldn’t exactly articulate what I didn’t like about marketing anymore after some time but it was like I was putting lipstick on a pig, constantly.
If the pig is the issue, I can’t sell the pig. I had thoughts about pivoting into strategy, or maybe something else within business but I found there were a lot of vanity titles that led to the same thing. I wanted to do something much more involved so after I took a leave from work, I took a bootcamp UX program.
D: What are some of the different skills needed between working as a designer agency side vs in-house?
L: In an agency it’s much more “playing the game”. You’re getting used to a lot of different teams that are moving all of the time with different targets. You’re getting used to new people and new working styles. I think one of the biggest constraints with an agency is that you sell through a project, you do what you can, and don’t have too much liberty to move around and try different things.
In product (in-house), you have full ownership and you’re completely responsible for the outcome of the entire product. There’s much more room to question things and change the direction of what you’re doing.
D: How has being a part of communities like DesignX helped your career?
L: DesignX has been really special in general for the Toronto community. Prior to that, the ways that I’d participate professionally as a community member didn’t fit my style. In marketing, the environments were different.
Being a part of this community (DesignX), you’re talking about your craft with other designers, and you start seeing familiar faces and getting a sense of what other people are doing. It’s much more of an inclusive and supportive environment. It feels homey!
D: If you didn’t attend a UX bootcamp, do you think you would have got to where you are now?
L: I chose to do bootcamp because of the structure it provided. Having someone impose lesson plans, deadlines, and the structure was something I needed going in. I also found attending a bootcamp helps signal to the market that I’m taking this transition seriously to differentiate me from people that have just decided one day they want to do UX. So it’s yes and no, because I would have found my way on my own but it played a huge part in getting me to where I am today.
D: You have a fun, light, and fairly casual “personal brand”, do you think that’s ever harmed or held you back when looking for employment?
L: Yes! For me ultimately it came down to learning about fit. It’s been something that has impacted me this whole time. When I was in business school, everyone was getting top internships and I couldn’t understand why it wasn’t happening with me. I could see the people sitting across from me in the interviews and they were genuinely engaged but I think they recognized someone like me with my personality style is not going to last in this environment or even enjoy it. It’s a hard thing to deal with but for me the takeaway was that I shouldn’t have to change who I am so that I could get those jobs.
Another piece of feedback I got was that I’m really fun but I shouldn’t give people reasons to judge me. I thought long and hard about the feedback but ultimately it felt like this person was enabling the bias’ of other people. I’m just going to be me. I’m always going to be dropping Drake references and I still might drop “swag” in a meeting! For me it’s about chasing fit and understanding the balance between being professional and fun.
Haters gonna hate!
Advice for junior designers
As someone that made a career transition from marketing and went through a bootcamp program, I found it would be helpful to hear what sort of advice Lisa could give to junior designers.
D: Have you ever gone through imposter syndrome? If so, how can designers experiencing the same thing get out of that mindset?
L: I think everyone has and the more that you recognize it the more you can hear it when your peers say that to you. For example, now I’m someone that’s much more experienced in user research but have I done every single method of user testing? No, but I know I have an inkling for this.
So now, I can watch myself in a meeting, and if someone is asking me something related to research, I don’t say compensating words. I refrain from putting myself in positions that make it seem like I’m too scared to take the lead on something . it’s more about recognizing that, and taking a step back. You need to give yourself more credit.
D: What sort of career advice would you give to yourself in 2014 after graduating with a commerce degree?
L: I don’t think I did enough research into the different available paths after graduating. I didn’t ask for as much help as I should have. I did ask for help but not in the right way. It was more of “help me prep for this interview”, not “am I even right for this? Are there other paths I can take?”. At the same time, I had to do those things to learn what I learned. I also had a very unique relationship with one of my previous companies where they supported my dashing around and figuring out my approach into UX, allowing me that space to grow and fail. It’s hard for me to think I could have done something different.
I started there working in the marketing team, I was the most junior person on the team. I was someone that was just ready to do anything and everything at the company and people noticed the energy, the dedication, the flexibility that I had. So that way, I was really well connected within the organization. There were some organizational changes that lead me to take a leave and go travel. When I came back from Hawaii, I did a bootcamp program without the intention of returning to my company. Because of the connections I had I was able to negotiate to return in a UX role.
Portfolio review
I shared my portfolio with Lisa a couple of days in advance so we could spend more time discussing feedback rather than going through it for the first time. Here are some of the comments she gave:
- I think your case studies’ focus on the things you were supposed to do given one of the projects was from your bootcamp program, but it’s hard for me to tell what about UX, you like to do.
- Each case study should begin with a strong punch, highlighting what is special about the project in order to make others want to keep reading.
- You should be comfortable committing to something, whether it’s UX research, interaction design, etc, and don’t be afraid to end up “picking the wrong thing”, because you’re not stuck to anything. It’s important to be as specific as possible and then go the extra mile in that area.
Look at me for example, as a product designer I’m on a team where I’m very research and process heavy but I do everything from the UI and design system. When my team was hired, they were looking for puzzle shapes that they could put together and where they could match our strengths. If you come in as a blob or a circle, even if I like your energy, I don’t know where you’re going to fit on the team.
You have to help me help you and help people put the puzzle together. Consider being more particular about the shape that you’re drawing yourself out to be, and then make that come through in the portfolio!
Extra Gems from Lisa
Nothing is precious! In order to make something work you need to understand when to seek feedback at the right stages. So you should always be ready to share your draft.
Key takeaways
I learned a lot in this short chat with Lisa. Here were a few of the main takeaways:
- Fit is important. If you change yourself to “fit in” a certain role you’ll ultimately be unhappy because you’re not being yourself. Take your time and find the role that matches who you are.
- It’s important to be intentional with your career search. Meaning, discover what you like the most about UX, and go for that. That doesn’t mean ignore everything else but choose what you want to highlight about yourself and your skill set. It helps employers and team leads figure out where you can fit and best benefit the team.
- Share your work! This is something that I still have to remember to this day but involve others in your drafts so that you can make things better instead of keeping it to yourself and becoming too attached.
Want to connect with Lisa?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/whoaitslisaguo/
https://twitter.com/whoaitslisaguo
“Catch me in real life kthnxbai”
