8 Months Now
Tomorrow I’m starting my first live project. My role in the team is going to be the part of the in-house product designer. I use words like “role” and “part” as if I were an actor and we are about to start shooting in less than 24 hours. This is a position I have to step into, grow into and manifest, the same way the legendary actor “Heath Ledger” embodied the most iconic joker appearance ever shown on screen. In the beginning of our journeys we might all feel scared, overwhelmed or have that imposter syndrome that we are not good enough. Read between the last 2 sentences and you would understand that I only drew that comparison because I am 100% sure I would give all my effort, time and energy to help accomplish the team objectives, satisfy our users’ needs and achieve the product objectives.
The reason I am writing this piece is simply to start a culture or better still, an habit of documenting my journey but also because the supervisor of the project(s) spoke on the importance of journaling and also documenting your experiences as they happen. So a little more context to the project. I enrolled in an intensive 1 month bootcamp with a platform called “Side Hustle”. Their aim is to teach as many youths in Africa tech skills and disciplines. There are 3 distinct teams all undergoing the bootcamp for this current batch and after 4 weeks of work, the goal is to have a MVP ready for a startup company. So if all goes well, this won’t just be my first role as a designer but the first company I work for in my tech career.
Now let’s talk about my career. It’s been more of an 8-month training program filled with loads of YouTube tutorials, Udemy certifications on UI, Coursera courses on UX and reading staple design books such as; Refactoring UI by Adam Wathan/Steve Schoger, Laws of UX by Jon Yablonski, The Elements of User Experience by Jesse James Garrett and the almighty D.O.E.T by Donald Norman, just to list a few.
A little break from the narrative, I just feel I need to let you know that this is my first time writing a piece like this. I am not a writer or a blogger. My background prior to product design was music. Recording and performing music in Lagos, Nigeria. Expression isn’t new to me so fields like design or writing isn’t a stretch for me. That is just a little about me, now back to the journey.
8 Months of learning and growth has led me to this bootcamp experience I am about to embark on and I am grateful for all the persons who helped me along the way. Authors of design books, conversations I’ve had with senior product designers and all the online teachers I have learnt from. It’s time to pour out my reservior of knowledge into 4 weeks of creativity, insights, research, laughs, wireframes, fights, meetings and hopefully success when the 30 days are up.
I am excited to meet my team mates tomorrow and learn as much as I can from this new set of individuals. Hopefully you see our solution or product on your App store, Play store or web browser when all the building blocks are assembled.
Thanks for reading this far and until next time stay special, don’t be afraid to be your unique self, the world needs more of that energy. Blessings to you and yours.