Architecture to UX Series — 8 Reasons Why I Left Architecture for UX
The first in a series of articles answering common questions about my pivot from architecture to UX
Q: Why did you decide to pursue UX?
During architecture school, I’d always enjoyed the process of design thinking and visual communications. While doing contractual academic research, I realised I also enjoyed the process of research and building infographics from insights. The awareness of what I enjoyed sparked an interest in learning more about alternative careers for architectural graduates — namely digital graphics design, data visualisation and UX.
The year after graduating, I went to a local UX meetup to talk to professionals in the industry. The field of UX Design sounded really promising, but it still felt nascent as a field in New Zealand. I decided to work in architecture for the meantime, to make sure that my desire to pivot careers wasn’t just a spur of the moment gut reaction to recently graduating.
Working in a range of practices (boutique high end residential and interior firms, a mid sized family run business working on community and civic projects, and one large practise specialising in high density housing), gave me the conviction to transition out of architecture with the following reasons.
8 main reasons for the transition:
⚖️ 1. Work and life balance
It’s a lot of stress working in construction. There are a lot of things out of our control and we end up doing a lot more than in our job description. I was doing a lot of overtime (from 8am to sometimes midnight and some weekends) and not getting paid for it. I had never questioned the culture before, but now that I’m out, I realise how bad it is compared to other industries! In bigger architecture firms, this culture isn’t as bad and some even pay or at least pay for dinner if you do overtime. However, for me personally, it got to a stage where I was really questioning the worth of that sacrifice in my personal life.
💸 2. Pay
While there seems to be a folklore amongst the general public that architects get paid a lot, it’s a common understanding within the industry that the salary progression in architecture does not match the range of tasks we complete, the amount of overtime we do and the fact that we are usually required to have a Masters degree. I was lucky to have some older colleagues who were open about discussing their own experiences, and the disappointment regarding remuneration was consistent as people progressed. Over time, I realised my motivation to progress was slightly hampered by this knowledge. Of course there are ways to make more money beyond being an employee for someone else. Getting registered and owning your own practice is usually the way most architects try to increase their income. However the next few points will explain why even this path was difficult for me to justify.
🔗 3. Liability
Starting my architectural career, I’ve always aimed to get registered and own my own practice. I was actually in the process of preparing for registration but the more I studied and prepped, the more I realised the responsibilities of an architect meant a lot of contracts, finding clients and liability. Like any owner of any business I think it is definitely worth it if you are passionate about the subject-matter and craft but it is a rather stressful weight to carry given how little control you sometimes have over the final built outcome (see Leaky Building Crisis).
📐4. Scalability
I’ve found that architecture is in the business of uniqueness. For a smaller product, the initial efforts to design, test and build can be optimised by selling multiple copies of the same product. A building is case and site specific and heavily relies on external factors such as material costs, labour costs, the economy, engineers, other consultants and the quality of the contractor’s craft. Looking at getting into the business of architecture made me realise it is quite difficult to scale the business without a consistent clientele of wealthy clients as well as a trusted directory of consultants and contractors.
🧐 5. Disconnect between user needs and serving the top 1%
I found that a lot of the design decisions, while claiming to consider end users, usually ended up relying more on the person paying for the project i.e. government ministry or developers. When design decisions aligned with end users, it was usually extremely wealthy clients who were building their third or fourth house overseas. I started to wonder if this kind of design distribution was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I don’t condemn anyone who finds this work satisfying, but I was personally unfulfilled.
🎯 6. Creative satisfaction / Optimising my personal skill set.
I wasn’t getting creatively fulfilled in my career despite choosing this path hoping it would be a convergence of my practical and artistic sides. I ended up exploring creativity outside of work (metal making, illustration, writing) and I found myself really enjoying creative expression outside the pressures of making a living out of it. I took some time to reflect over my natural skillsets and I found I loved research (specifically gathering data, analysing and communicating that back to people in a visual or narrative), learning about people and how design at a high level could improve people’s lives. I realised that perhaps architecture wasn’t the best place I could optimise these skill sets and I could finally accept that I didn’t need my career to be the most traditionally creative path.
🤸 7. Flexibility
During lockdown, I found that I enjoyed working remotely. I also realised that I wanted a career where I could easily travel or transfer overseas. In architecture, it is difficult to work fully remotely unless you solely become a concept designer. With site visits, client meetings, physical materials and liability, being in the same location of a project affects the quality of the build exponentially. Of course, you can always find a job as an architect overseas, but there is also a bit of a learning curve in understanding new building codes and technology depending on different countries.
🍎 8. Senior architects / designers advice.
Finally, to round it all up, most of my senior colleagues were telling me to get out while I was still young.
Once I combined all the points above, I was essentially a 26 year old ball of cynicism about the future of my career in architecture. Despite dreaming about being an architect since primary school, 5 years of a Bachelors and Masters, plus almost 4 years in the industry, I fought off the mentality of sunk-cost and decided that I had to try something else before I regretted not doing it sooner!
I say all of this with the caveat that this is my own opinion and experience with the industry. I’ve made some great memories and still have many friends who continue to work in architecture and are thriving in their own ways. The skills learnt from studying architecture and working in practice have helped me in my current career and while I no longer work in the field, I still have respect for the craft of architecture.
I only hope that by sharing my story of leaving the industry, others in similar situations don’t feel so alone in their struggle — and that they know there are options beyond!
Which points did you agree or disagree with? I’m always open for new ways of looking at things so feel free to leave your comments below! 🙂
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The content of this article are my own personal opinions and do not in anyway reflect my current or past employers.
