How I got into UX design as a non-designer
My crazy, bittersweet & memorable 4-year journey as a graphic designer-turned-UX designer
Prior to college, I knew some Photoshop from my high school Multimedia class and AP Art classes. Unfortunately, the height of my graphic design knowledge stopped at wrapping text around a shape.
After graduating, I went to university and was like any bright-eyed, eager first-year student — wanting to be involved in every organization possible. Soon, I was part of five clubs, including the freshman business org, communication council, and college council. (Now I remember why my grades were so poor during my first semester).
Within these organizations, I decided to be more involved by running for leadership roles. Because I felt pretty confident in my design abilities, I looked for positions where I could use my graphic design skills. Besides, I wasn’t particularly charismatic to be a president, or outgoing enough to be a social media or outreach chair.
I made a whole bunch of posters and flyers for my organizations. Below are some curated samples of my early work…
Despite the above examples, by the end of my first year in college, I became pretty proficient in Photoshop. Yet it remained a hobby because I didn’t know people did graphic design as a career. So in the midst of looking for a summer internship, I tried to find a job that was related to my major.
While being an IT intern was a good learning experience, I found out it was definitely not for me. Learning about hardware, WLAN protocols or IT security wasn’t my thing. Entering my second year, I continued to grow in my newfound passion for graphic design, and started to make stuff that actually looked decent (hopefully).
When time came again for me to find another summer internship, I decided to make a portfolio of some of my graphic design pieces. Remembering my past internship, I thought — why not do something I enjoy? And started looking for graphic design jobs.
By God’s grace, I got a position as a Mobile Design Intern at IBM. There, I got to work on some innovative and speculative design projects, talk to some cool and inspirational people about design, and learned about the world of HCI (Human Computer Interaction) and UX design.
It was also at IBM that I met a fellow intern who introduced me to his friend, who was looking for designers to join her friend’s org, Design Collective. Soon, I would be part of a team teaching non-design students about UI, UX and design tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator.
Well, the saying goes that you never learn something until you teach it. Through DECO, I got to help grow other students’ knowledge and love for design, but also grew on my own — I learned the rationale behind why I do what I do (design fundamentals) and grew in a deeper understanding of various UX and UI principles, such as design systems (shoutout to my favorite class in Google Material Design).
Looking back, one thing I regret was not continuing with this organization into my last year of college. But there were two reasons I did this — first, I wanted to focus more on my schoolwork. Second, I wanted hone my interests in UX and be taught, not just teach. I wanted to learn and actually do UX design.
Despite my regrets, I think this was a necessary step in my life. It was hard to not look back and continue teaching what I knew best.
One thing I loved most about Design Collective was seeing students from a range of majors, from computer science, electrical engineering, to anthropology get excited about the things that excited me. I loved learning about each person — their background, their interests, their passions. How they got into design. How design fits into their lives.
But I believe things happen for a reason. With the time I had from quitting most of my clubs, I changed my portfolio to be more UX-focused and got an internship as a UI/UX designer at an ed-tech startup. It was in my five months there that I experienced a period of immense growth, yet most self-doubt as a designer.
I remember the day when I received a long Slack message from my boss. A few hours before, I had hurriedly sent him links to my prototypes before catching a bus to my evening class. During class, I opened it up to see a message critiquing the quality of my work and his sentiments of frustration and disappointment.
I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. I couldn’t help myself from tearing up as I responded back. I apologized, as there were no excuses. I had given him second-rate work. I endured the consequences — a delayed sprint, more work on both my and his part, periods of highs and lows as I went through the imposter syndrome and self-doubt.
But again, everything happens for a reason. Through this opportunity, I became a better UX designer by learning not to take feedback as a personal attack, but words of wisdom to help me grow. I learned the true definition of being “detail-oriented.” I also realized that there are sometimes more important priorities before work.
And that’s where my journey as a “graphic designer-turned-UX designer” ends, and where my current life begins. I wish there was a more grand or heartfelt ending, but that’s the point of my story — life is not about the destination, but about the journey, the process. At least it is for me now.
This story was written for the UXPA UT Austin blog (currently under construction). If you’d like to see some more examples of my work other than the ones at the top, please check out my portfolio at susan-seo.com!
