Reflections: My Experience at Design x Us
Design by Us (DxU) is a creative collective that extracts and distills wisdom and insights from leaders in the design industry. The goal at DxU is to inspire and motivate other creatives through these leaders’ stories and the lessons evoked from their experiences. The key takeaway that I’ve gained through my experience at DxU is that we (designers) come from a multitude of different backgrounds, and this diversity should be celebrated within the design community. This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes, by author Marianne Williamson, that “as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” I think that this sentiment is embodied at DxU, because by sharing experiences with one another we are able to inspire others and build a community of motivated and empowered individuals.
As a new designer, I myself have found great inspiration through my conversations with other designers and reading their thoughts and advice. Prior to my immersion into user experience design (UXD), my initial assumption was that I was behind most of my peers, because I did not go to school specifically for graphic design, or human-computer interaction, for instance. What was revealed to me from the interviews, conducted by myself and by my teammates, was that there are many successful design professionals that did not go to school with the explicit intent to work in design. Further, I found that there is not one, right or wrong, straight-and-narrow, pathway to a career in design. In fact, DxU features professionals and their unique journeys into design, which range from backgrounds in; medicine, psychology, academia, engineering, and business, just to name a few. Personally, I took comfort in learning that I am not alone in this way because there are many other people with different professional backgrounds, and we all can bring a different set of skills, insights, and unique perspectives to the hypothetical table.
For example, Catherine Idylle, an interaction designer at Google, of whom I had the pleasure of interviewing last summer, shared that her background in neuroscience and psychology both helped guide her into a career in design, and has influenced her perspective in accessibility and interaction design. Learning more about Catherine and her experience was insightful and inspiring to me, because I think she perfectly summed up the daunting experience of starting new in any career, but allowing oneself to draw from their previous knowledge and skills, to drive them forward in a new space. Further, in my conversation with Catherine, I was reminded that when any of us feel behind, there is always room to “catch up,” and to teach ourselves something new. Even more so, Catherine mentioned that she tries to allocate time to learn something new everyday. This was a suggestion so self-evident, but it helped to hear it from someone else, especially a designer that I look up to. Catherines’ persuasion was echoed by Felicia Wang, a product designer at Okta. In my conversation with Felicia, she had said that as designers we have to be able to adapt with the ever evolving field of design. It is for this reason, designers should expect to constantly be learning, in addition to contributing their own intuitions. What I took this to mean, is that design is not a stagnant field, and there is limitless room to grow, learn, to teach, and learn from what we teach.
Like many other designers would tell you, my previous experiences led me down a one of a kind path into design. While my professional journey has been rather unorthodox, it has been through this winding path that I discovered my passion for UXD, and more specifically, UX research (UXR). Truthfully, I never imagined myself taking on the roles that I did after college, but my seemingly opposite majors in Biochemistry and Political Science, led me to a career as a legal investigator. That experience gave me an opportunity to talk with people from all walks of life; to hear about their experiences, and share their stories as well. And, I am grateful to be doing something very similar to that now as a contributor at DxU. I am naturally a people curious person, and this lended a heavy hand in my decision to pursue a new career path in UX, and it has helped me conduct interviews at DxU. Even though my journey to become a UX designer has been a little unconventional, to say the least, my past roles have been instrumental to my interests in asking a lot of questions and learning about individuals. I am able to draw from my experience as an investigator, conducting interviews with hundreds of people, to ask pertinent questions in order to understand people and their lives better.
I believe that people are an amalgamation of their life experiences, instincts, beliefs, and values; and it is for this reason that we all can bring a unique perspective to the design process. With that said, our professional journeys do not end once we have a career, rather this is just the beginning.
