From zero to a little bit more
How UX helped me to understand and discover the potential and influence of product design.
Over a year ago, I barely knew anything about what User Experience (UX) design was. Attending General Assembly’s User Experience Design Immersive course showed me how my background in visual design and psyhology were related to UX, and I quickly realized that this was something I could be into for a really long time. Getting into UX did not only present a new career path, but it also taught me more about design and how much it can influence people.
Getting the basics of UX, its principles, terms and definitions down wasn’t so tough. In theory, it was pretty straightforward, transferring those skills learnt in a course environment, to that which was expected in a professional setting was definitely an up-hill climb.
During my first few weeks as a Designer, I was taught by one of the Design Managers, Lin Je-We that there’s alot more to UX design than what I learnt. Observing the way my manager and the team handle projects allowed me to understand how design decisions were made or what had to be done to solve challenges or obstacles. Understanding others’ viewpoints and learning how to convince others of my work were some of the key lessons I took away during this time.
Focus on the ‘Product’
Previously, I focused on the humanistic, enabling factors of UX Design where our designs were supposed to be user-focused and aligned to usability principles.
However, the past few months have allowed me to better understand the evolving role that we as UX Designers play in the Product ecosystem. The Product mindset isn’t about defining the what and how of product design, but rather a holistic attitude that seeks to unite the different parties of management, stakeholders, technology and lest I forget, our beloved users.
This ‘mindset’ may be called something else, and it could possibly be practiced in many forms or in different roles, but I believe it is something that is key to gaining the trust of the businesses we work for, and in turn delighting all those who use our products.
Getting into the Design mindset
For those out there who’s just starting out, or have yet to fully understand what we as designers do, design is more than just pushing pixels across our screens. There’s alot more going on like ‘Design Thinking’ (one of my favourite articles on this topic below), and takes alot of practice and failure to get it just about right, sometimes.
If you ever feel stuck, or want to know you aren’t alone in your journey to become the best designer in the world, here are 5 things that have helped me:
Make mistakes as soon as possible
It is always better to learn what doesn’t work in the first half hour than finding out the next day. It may not be easy to know if things don’t work, it leads to my next point — ask if in doubt.
Ask and ask again (even if its the same question)
Don’t assume. It’s a pretty generic rule, but when there are lots of details, guidelines and requirements, it’s important to be clear on the details. This is also especially helpful when you need to figure things out with the tech development teams.
Your colleagues have the answers
When you feel stuck sometimes, and you’ve tried to solve the problem yourself, it’s good to seek a second opinion. Ask your teammates and they might be able to show you something that you had previously overlooked or would never have thought about. I ask my colleagues for advice on whether if something I designed might work or not and I almost always get immeadiate feedback.
Grow some skin
My ideas and designs may not always be ‘correct’ or suitable. I have struggled — I still do sometimes — to present my ideas with confidence and take opinions and criticism constructively. But I tell myself that I’m becoming a little bit better after each time. Being confident may help boost your ability to present better work, even if it isn’t the best right now, and in turn overcome that dreaded imposter syndrome.
Learn Something New
I try to learn something new everyday. It could be a new way to design a UI component, learning how to ask better questions, or knowing more about some new app or tech development. Learning something new everyday helps me to think from different perspectives and in turn elevate the way I approach design.
Having the opportunity to join DBS’s Design Team allowed me to experience working for a large corporation, design for products that many people use and re-discover and learn many new things. Being here also reminds me that the decisions and actions we make as Designers, affect the experience and behaviour of many people who use our products.
If you’re a designer, remember that what you create can make a person get so frustrated that they wouldn’t want to use your product ever again. But on the brighter side, it could also make people smile and just in a small way, change the world for the better. ✌🏻
