Cultivating a UX Mindset
From Consulting to User Experience
My Background
After college, I started my first full-time job in consulting at a large corporation. Throughout my nearly two years consulting, I’ve learned that I was most passionate about creating top-notch visual designs and iterating directly with clients and stakeholders. Some of the most interesting projects I’ve worked on included co-creation studios, affinity mapping, crafting personas and user journeys…little did I know this was so closely related to UX!
Now, with my passions in mind, I aim to transition from consulting to UX. Although these two worlds have some crossover, UX is uniquely different. Over the course of my 5 weeks studying User Experience Design at General Assembly thus far, I am able to better clarify what a UX mindset means to me.
My Core UX Mindsets
- Be open to failing; it’s one step closer to success.
- Change and adaptation is necessary for growth.
- Design for real users — empathy is key!
Bridging My Experience
While failure was a big no-no in consulting (disappointing clients will ruin relationships and lead to huge revenue losses), failing in UX is inevitable. Design is a fluid process that requires several iterations and tons of research until it is fit for user consumption. Even after a design is implemented and reaches users, it will still need further iteration in the future to keep up with users’ ever-changing needs.
Ultimately, understanding real users in the real world is what makes UX so important. In consulting, I often worked towards the needs of my client’s organization which would in turn affect their customers. In my UX experience so far, I’ve spoken directly to users to understand their point-of-view. This direct connection with real-world users makes all the difference.
