Migrating from academic research in architecture and urbanism to UI / UX design

Why I decided to interrupt my academic journey to explore an apparently so different field (and I realised that it is not that different).

Note: This is the English version of an article originally published in Portuguese on June 30, 2019. When I originally wrote this article I was just starting to study UX / UI design and looking to develop my knowledge and experience in both the UI and UX fields. Despite knowing that these are two fields that work together, but that have their own concepts, I chose to talk about them as a unit to list the reasons why I chose to take this new path. Though almost a year has passed, I chose to publish the English version just like the original one.

I have a BA degree in Architecture and Urbanism as well as an MPhil in Theory and History of Architecture and Urbanism, which I enrolled just after my BA graduation.

I was always sure that I would pursue an academic career, but after finishing my MPhil, I realised that something was missing, that I was not fully motivated and happy to carry on with a PhD.

Finally, after many months of reflection, anguish and LOTS of research, I discovered the UI / UX design field, which seemed to offer everything I had been looking for!

Thus, I will organize this article in two parts: the first pointing out which features of the UI / UX caught my attention; and the second showing how I think my background in architecture, urbanism and research will be helpful to develop a career in this field.

Why UI/UX?

1. The possibility of working in technology

Acting as a researcher in Theory and History of Architecture and Urbanism, I ended up moving away from technology, which is something that has always caught my attention.

Studying and understanding how people interact with new technologies and how it affects people’s lives and the way society is organised is something that I’ve always found interesting.

In addition, technology is one of the fastest growing and constantly developing sectors worldwide: it is a sector that points to the future and new possibilities, which fascinates me a lot!

2. Multidisciplinary

I am not the type of person who saw myself working in a certain profession since I was a child.

On the contrary, I have always found myself doing many different things, as I am interested in the most diverse areas of knowledge: from art history to astronomy.

I studied Architecture and Urbanism precisely because of its multidisciplinary character and the possibility of acting in several areas.

I am discovering that as a UI / UX designer, I could work in companies that offer products and services in the most diverse sectors, which strikes me as one of the most attractive features in this field.

3. Design and creation

One of my favorite things in Architecture and Urbanism is the process of thinking, organising and developing a project.

However, what has always frustrated me a lot is how limited an Architecture and Urbanism project is in terms of allowing tests to be carried out with users and a constant evolution to improve its quality.

As a UI / UX designer, it is possible to build prototypes that can reach a level of fidelity very close to that of the final product, test them with users and make changes, adaptations and improvements in a very dynamic way, constituting a much richer process with better results.

4. The possibility of making people’s lives better

I entered the MPhil program with the goal of conducting research that could point out ways to improve the people’s quality of life in cities.

However, the reality in academic research is that the work takes a long time to be developed. In addition it does not reach the people who would benefit from the research findings, mainly due to the poor connection between university and community, at least in Brazilian reality.

Working with UI / UX design, I believe that it will have a much greater contact with the users of the products that I will help develop, through the empathic relationship with these people, the possibility to collect their feedbacks and tho use them as resource to improve these products.

5. Work dynamics

A MPhil research or even an architecture or urban project takes a long time to be developed. In addition, most of the time the results end up distancing a lot from the original conception.

Thus, another reason that made me look towards UI / UX design is the possibility of solving problems and seeing results that can be quickly tested and iterated (or even discarded).

Moreover, the possibility of working not only in front of a computer at all times, but also interacting with people, interviewing users, presenting projects, discussing team problems and facilitating design dynamics with work teams is something that motivates me a lot to follow this path.

6. The possibility to keep researching and learning every day

I’ve always tried to work in a field that allows me to learn more each day. As a UI / UX designer, I am sure that I will be able to work in companies that offer the most varied types of products to the most varied types of users, which means that I could learn a lot about different areas and different cultures.

I can say that my greatest passion is to discover and explore new things and so, when I discovered UI / UX design, I felt that this was exactly what I needed to do!

How can I start working with UX/UI design?

I confess that my first feeling was that of incapacity. If I studied 10 years to become a Master in Architecture and Urbanism, how will I start working in a new field “from scratch”? And how could I “abandon” everything I have studied and learned so far to start something new?

However, when I first got to know the world of UI / UX design — and with the help of very amazing colleagues, such as Paulo Ricardo and Luiz Arthur Nascimento — I started to realize that I would not be “abandoning” acquired knowledge and nor “starting all over again”.

As an architect and urban planner, I have knowledge and experience in how to develop a project taking into account a number of factors such as:

• the wishes and needs of the clients;
• the cultural, social and economic conditions from which the project will be developed and built;
• how to align aesthetic and functional;
• how to deal with deadlines as well as performing multiple tasks and steps.

In addition, my undergraduate course and my internship in architecture have allowed me to learn how to deal with work teams of people with different backgrounds and opinions and, mainly, how to present my proposals, justify and defend my decisions to diverse audiences (teachers, bosses, staff, customers).

As a researcher, I learned to rigorously follow methodologies, check the facts and analyse the results, pointing out ways for the development and iteration of processes.

Again, by being a researcher I was able to develop my skills on arguing in favor of my decisions and disseminating my scientific work to people who do not necessarily have extensive knowledge about my field of research.

By conducting a multidisciplinary research, I had to learn concepts from totally different fields, such as marketing, branding, strategic planning, business management, political science, art market and major events planning.

As a scholarship holder, I learned to develop research with a limited amount of resources and as a teacher assistant, I learned to transmit complex knowledge in a clear and didactic way to people who had just started university.

Finally, have I also developed my skills in graphic design, since I was responsible for the layout of both my graduation work and my master’s dissertation, both currently viewed as inspiration in my university.

I would like to close this article with the understanding that the processes that I have studied and participated in over the past 10 years are really design processes, and my approach to facing them was also a designer approach, aimed at solving problems efficiently, taking into account the conditions, resources and people involved.

I can conclude that my training in architecture, urbanism and research has provided me with precious skills and tools to act as a UI / UX designer and nothing I have learned so far will be “lost”: all this makes me more qualified to start explore this field that fascinates me more every day!

I hope that this text can help motivate others who want to migrate to UI / UX, but are still afraid to take the next step.

I will use this blog to share other experiences of my journey towards becoming a UI / UX designer. I am always open to feedbacks so that I can become a better professional.