From Beer Pouring To Design Thinking.
How I shifted the course of my life with post-its and sharpies. Part II
Ext. Someone’s backyard — Day
REWIND. July 2012. Near Bordeaux, France. High school graduation barbie (or BBQ for the Europeans, i.e. my family).
Here we are, we did it, high school is over. After 3 long, hard, never-ending (or so it seemed) years of ingesting and digesting literature, equations, and historical dates, we finally graduate TODAY. We have just received our diplomas, dressed with our traditional “cap and gowns”, and have thrown the latter in the air. Just like in the movies. Now we are all happy and cheerful, munching on a sausage roll, sipping on a glass of “piquette” (the french equivalent of goon), some of us being only fresh 18 year olds… This is all so cool. We can legally call ourselves adults (even though today I still believe I am yet to deserve that title). As of today, we don’t have any educational obligations… THIS IS FREEDOM.
Everyone is chatting away, talking about Uni classes, dorms, parties… But all I can hear are voices resonating in the distance. I’m just thinking: “F***, I need a job” or “How can they be so sure about what they want to do, I don’t even know what I am doing tomorrow”. I nod, smile and laugh, pretend to be envious, but deep down I feel like I am “not normal”. “Why I am not going to Uni ?” “How come I have no interest in any of those subjects ?” “Why does everything seem so BORING ?”
The beginning of the rest of my life.
Int. Academy Xi — Day.
PRESENT YEAR. February 4th 2019. Our UX Design classroom for the next 10 weeks.
Man, I thought I was a ball of nerves... Everyone is. “Thank God” I tell myself, as we all sit quietly at the U-shaped tables that have been arranged for us. I look around. It is a pretty big room, with whiteboards instead of walls, super-green grass (though I am 99% sure it’s fake), and hanging plants that run down the ceiling lamps. We even have some fresh water-bottles and a bowl of fruit. If only high school had been as cool !
Enters Robert Williams. Akubra around the head, R.M. Williams around the ankles. The real deal. He kind of reminds me of the farmer I worked for a year and a half ago whilst attempting to log in my 88 days of regional work, just in a much younger version. He formally introduces himself to us, and takes us through a humorous slideshow of his life. We even got to see the newest addition to his family: an adorable 6 week old puppy.
“All we have to decide is what do to with the time that is given to us”- Gandalf The Grey.
Rob has been in the industry since forever. Since when UX was only just starting to be a thing. He knows all the ins and outs of it, and speaks with real passion. You can sense that he is a man of knowledge; his way of teaching is clear yet detailed, but most importantly it is understandable. For someone who has never attended a “higher education” institution, that feeling of “this is so interesting” and “I definitely came to the right place” is So. Damn. Reassuring. Nevertheless, as Monsieur Williams said: there is always something new to learn in UX.
“Supposing is good, finding out is better”- Mark Twain.
The rest of the day then flies by. We throw post-notes at him (literally — with questions on them, bien sûr), pair up with a class mate, get to know them, and present them to the class. That part was particularly nerve wrecking for me as I absolutely hate public speaking, especially in front of people I don’t know. The first couple of groups go, and, to be honest, we were all pretty nervous. At the end of the day we are all in the same boat, and everybody seems friendly, genuine, and respectful. But that doesn’t stop my stress levels from shooting up the roof. Oh dear Anxiety, how I have NOT missed you.
It is our turn. “Do you mind if I go first?” I whisper to Akshati just before we walk in front of the class. I start talking, trying to look at everyone around me and not focus on one person, but it felt as if I was looking straight through them. However it ended up by going fine. I presented Akshati, a 26 years old Visual Designer from India, who loves gardening and plants, especially succulents, and who identifies the most to a cat, because she likes her alone time away from humans. “Away from humans”. Man, tell me about it… After working in the hospitality industry for 6 years, time away from humans used to be what I craved for the most.
Amongst our fun group activities of the day, we also had to build a tower. A spaghetti tower. With a marshmallow at the end. No joke, I’m being legit. All in the good purpose of UX, of course — collaboration and team work towards solving a (spaghetti) problem. We also had to come up with our own definition of UX, and ended the day with a small piece of work around some serious problems at Townhall Station. I mean come on, we all know it’s a sh**fight getting around that place !
We call it a day at 5, and our fuzzy brains walk themselves home, either by bus, or through that terrible train station. I am lucky enough to have my partner meet up with me, and it is with a huge smile on my face that I make my way home.
The week that then unfolds in front of my eyes must be one of the fastest I have ever witnessed. We dive right into theory from Tuesday, from problem statements straight through to research. Wednesday is THA-BIG-DAY. We meet our first client, we start working on out first real life project. My level of excitement is as of Agnes receiving her fluffy unicorn (see below ⇩):
It is Wednesday morning, and I wake up late. Today is also the day we are meeting: The Client. Shit. In my rush, I unsuccessfully try to unlock my phone 3 times before being able to check Maps. Dammit, which bus do I have to take to get to Central ! … Boom, 395. I run out of the door and catch my bus literally as it arrives. Me: 1 — Bus 395: 0. Noice.
Thankfully Sydney traffic was quite fluid that morning. I meet my fellow newborn UXers at the coffee shop around the corner, chit-chat for a few minutes, and follow our fearless leader Rob towards the tall, grey tower that is home to The Client. We are greeted by their lovely UX team, and are quickly thrown into — insert dramatic music — THE DEEP END. Jokes. It was challenging but fun.
After a quick brief about the product, we form our teams and get to work. Alright, let’s put to practice what we have learnt so far. We pick a folder full of research with the words “First time mother” on it. I guess that will be our targeted user! Let’s now come up with a problem statement… We read, read, and re-read. So much info, so much data, so many % and numbers, yet nothing comes. I look around, everybody is full-on immersed into their work. Crap. We don’t have anything yet. Is this normal ? Shouldn’t we have come up with something by now ? What is going on ??? Aaaand here it is. My first time ever caring for something enough to experience a little Impostor Syndrome. Little did I know this was NOT going to be my last encounter with the latter. Welcome new friend ! Slowly but steadily, we are finally able to come up with a problem statement that makes sense and that has an interesting potential. Shweet.
After an intense morning with The Client, we make our way back to Academy Xi and finish the day with some much loved theory. I am absolutely brain dead, have a sore back, a headache and slightly blurred vision. Yes, I am 24 years old… I’m just French I complain a lot. Little did I know, the intensity of that particular day was nothing compared to what was awaiting us for the next 4 weeks. Oh ma gash.
Note: It took me 5 weeks to finish this blog post, so I’ll see y’all in 5 weeks from today… Nah kidding, I’ll make an effort and make it 4 weeks.
