So You’re a Designer…
But Are You Experienced?
or, how to get There and never go Back ever again!
“Do you have any working experience in UI design?”
I hated that question, and more than that —I hated the look on my interviewer’s face when I admitted, “No, I don’t,” followed by the obligatory, yet unhelpfull “But I’m a very quick study and will pick up the pace in no time.”
I left bob knows how many studio offices knowing I’ll probably never see the inside of ever again, always with the same thought in my head: “Yes, I have no exprience in UI design, but everyone has to start somewhere, right?!”
Right!
I am 37 years old and have been a graphic designer for the past 8 years. Most of my working experience was in advertising/digital agencies creating print ads, flash banners, landing pages and flash game honey-pot traps for those annoying trivia games folks spend 20 Shekels per SMS to answer (though we did give out some nice prizes).
For the past 3–4 years I’ve been reading a lot about UI design and found the subject very interesting. I tried sending my portfolio to some UX studios and software companies but I didn’t have any actual UI work to show so no one ever got back to me. I wasn’t really bothered because I had a steady job, but day by day that job was grinding me down.
My last job in advertising - the straw that broke my back — was in the performace department of a digital ad agency near Tel Aviv, working crazy hours on tight deadlines, designing stuff I didn’t really care about. I consider myself a very good Flash animator: I work fast, I know actionScript and am not shy of ditching old habits in favor of more efficient techniques. Most of the people I worked with were around my age and were pretty nice, though there were those days when stress got the better of us . That’s advertising life for you.
After nine months of working at something I was good at but was a total point of stagnation for me professionally, I decided I had enough. Add to that a long commute to and from work and needless to say I only saw my kids on mornings and weekends. I decided if this was to be the case I’d at least try to try and pursue a job as a UI designer. But I still had that wall of inexperience I needed to climb over.
The holidays have arrived and I spent most of them amping up my portfolio with personal UI projects. I love films, so my first personal project was an iPhone app for a local cinema theater chain. It took me about three weeks and I was pretty satisfied with myself (though looking at it now gives me goosbumps), so I went made two more projects: a weather app (everybody’s doing those) and a responsive layout for a film blog I like reading, which has yet to cater the mobile user. Having completed these projects I built a small landing page to showcase my new works and sent it floating down cyberspace’s white rapids.
I then made the mistake of quitting my job.
At first my wife was very nice to me. She saw me at my worst when I got back home from the office, tired, hungry and depressed, going straight to my girls’ room to kiss them in their sleep. After two months though, I was still out of a job and money was becoming an issue. I did make some earnings freelancing and my parents and in-laws were helping, but it was just enough to keep our head above water, and we were getting worried.
It wasn’t that I didn’t get calls. I actually had about two job interviews every week, but they all pretty much ended with me understanding that my inexperience in actual UI design was getting between me and the job. I didn’t really know apple’s guidelines or how to wireframe screens and even lacked some basic terminology others in the industry weren’t about to take the time and explain (MVP…? Sure! Kevin Durant had a damn good season!).
I then got a call from a friend I worked with and he offered to help get me an interview at his now ex-workplace which he left in favor of a startup company. It was a small website building company working mostly with e-commerce clientele and I’d get to sit with clients and design their websites. It seemed a good enough start and I was lucky enough to get the job. I was also approached by Sagi Shrieber, founder of Pixelperfect Magazine and co-founder of HackingUI, and was offered to come aboard as one of Pixelperfect’s editors. I love and follow both of these awesome blogs and was honored to be asked and readily agreed. Things were starting to look up.
About a month later I got a call from a UX studio I interviewed for and have been initially passed over by. They asked if I was still available for hire (No, but I’m listening…) and wondered if I’d consider coming aboard. They are a very good UX studio and I was glad to get a call-back. I replied that I’d be happy to come aboard if they’d mirror my current salary and we agreed on a two-month test term to see my abilities.
Looking back on my time there I can say that that job was a great learning experience. My employer was a very good designer with a great eye for small details. He had many high-quality projects on his plate, most of them for big clients like banks and leading newspapers websites. There was a lot to learn in a short time. It was stressful yet very exciting.
I was fired after 4 weeks.
I won’t deny I was somewhat unprepeared for the sudden spike in the quality of work I had to produce. My new employer was more keen on quality work then any I have ever worked for. I also had to balance working on projects with more logistical stuff like getting to know clients , answering emails and remembering to keep time on projects for billing, something which this ADHD boy always had trouble juggling. I slowly came to feel a certain lack of patience from my employer to train a young padawan. He was getting more and more irritated by my mistakes and I was becoming less sure of my design decisions, as well as my organizational skills. And so my time there has come to a premature end.
I was pretty beaten emotionally after that. My wife was getting anxious and I resumed mailing my protfolio to digital agencies, looking for a fast hire in a place where I knew the rules. Another month went by and I got two calls. One was from a large ad agency and the other was from a startup called Newsfusion who were looking for a lead UI designer. Both liked my portfolio, in both places I had a good interview and both gave me the “complimentary” home assignment to do (I get it, but I still hate it). I spent all of the next day working on it, mailed the works in and assumed a waiting position.
I didn’t have to wait long. I got accepted to both jobs.
Guess which one I took?
I have been the lead UI/UX designer of Newsfusion for the past three months and so far it’s been pretty much what I hoped it would be. I quickly learned that being the only designer in the company gave me some great tools to work with and the responsibility and authority to wield them. Responsibility requires that you give your best work (true to any job) but authority demands that you critique yourself as your own art director or creative manager. Gone are the days when you could simply email the design and wait for instructions. You have to sell it to your employers and the rest of the team and for this to succeed you need to sharpen up and pick up on your mistakes early in the process.
I will even give credit to the UX studio from which I was fired: In the month I spent there I managed to learn quite a lot about better approaches to design and typography, and have aquired important organizational skills which I now apply at my new job, and for that I am grateful.
So, what did I learn during my five month career changing experience? (these conclusions are, of course, my own personal experience so feel free to take what you think works for you):
- Get yourself in the room: Most studios will only call you in based on your portfolio so if you want to become a UI designer you need to exhibit your potential. Make the time to create 2–3 personal projects and send in only those. Don’t waste the interviewers’ time with any unrealated work.
- Once in said room start selling: And by this I mean sell yourself. That means being relaxed, articulate and confident. I have been passed over by one or two great studios just because I wasn’t relaxed enough. It’s a crucial point if the work demands working close with clients.
- Research your potential new workplace: When I started looking for a new job I began applying to studios I wanted to work at the most first and only when that didn’t work out I began branching out. However, you shouldn’t get all starry eyed when a studio you really want to work in calls you in for an interview. Make sure they’re good people to work with, try making conversation with one or two of them and get a feel for the place. If something feels too wrong don’t be afraid to decide against taking the job. It’s important that you feel at ease in your new workplace. Work is going to be stressful anyway so why add social stress to the mix?!
- Make things clear: You and your new employer have an understanding about your new role in the company. If you’re a novice UI designer it’s expected that you to learn fast and keep mistakes to a minimum, but it should also be understood that your employer — as well as the rest of the team — are now your teachers and should have the patience to go through the motions with you. If you feel this isn’t happening make sure you speak up first.
- Learn to code: At least to some extent. I won’t get in to this eternal debate here, but I took an 8 month coding class a few years ago and it did me a world of good. I am not a very good coder but I can find my way around a CSS or HTML file and I have a better pipeline with developer teams then before.
- Don’t be afraid to fail: Most important life lessons are only learned by falling on your ass so expect it and when it happens, pick yourself up. Feeling down is part of the process. Try and stay focused on the big picture.
As a final note, I’d like to recommend Mike Monteiro’s excellent book “Design is a Job”. Anybody who heard about Mr. Monteiro knows this guy doesn’t waste time on bullshit. I’m a bit sorry I hadn’t read it until after I got hired as a UI designer. Mike’s advices have put in perspective what I’ve been going through and what I felt about myself.
That’s pretty much it for my experience. Thanks for getting all the way to the bottom. In hindsight I can say that my journey, though not easy, was worth taking. It was great reading other peoples’ new years resolutions and suddenly being aware I had achieved one of my own.
