A Day in the Life of Shyone
On each episode in this series, we explore everything that inspires designers and fuels their drive and motivations daily.
What is the story behind your Twitter username?
Pretty touching story, I think. I had a friend — he taught me Graphics design. His name was Johnson, nicknamed Shyson (He’s late). At the time, I was nicknamed Shyface because I was shy in secondary school with the ladies.
So, when he passed on and I transitioned into Product Design professionally, I thought what was the best way to honor & remember him?
My reasoning — He taught me design and I’m making money from it today because of him, He’s gone but he’s still in my heart, my nickname is Shyface, his was Shyson, now we are one in heart thus Shyson and Shyface are one, hence SHYONE was born.
Wow! That’s really touching and we would have never figured this out. When did you fully transition into Product Design?
As I mentioned, I started with Graphics design in 2012, used to enjoy watching Shyson work and seeing the magic he did. I eventually got curious and he started teaching me. I fully transitioned officially to Product design in January 2018.
How did your first design presentation/review go?
Lol..it wasn’t bad actually. I think my boss loved it. I got some feedback from my colleagues but they weren’t brutal, praise God!
How much was your first salary as a designer and how did you feel about it
Lol! Ah omo, my first salary as a Product Designer was 50k (50,000 Nigerian Naira) monthly. It felt alright at the time, to be honest. I guess it was because I had a second source of income that took care of my transport and feeding. Also, I was more interested in the experience than the money.
Can you walk us through what a typical day is like for you?
I wake up at 7:30 or 8 AM, I read in bed for about 30 mins then I work out (if I have a workout session that day). After working out, I take my bath and get ready for work. By 9:30 AM, I am at my work desk (I work fully remote). I catch up on messages on slack or teams and emails. Then, I prepare my to-do list for the day and start working, checking off tasks I have for the day. Tasks can range from pushing pixels to calls with the team I lead, to calls with management. When research is ongoing, then I have calls with customers.
I take a 1 hr break from 1–2 PM. During the break, I eat and scroll through Twitter and Tik Tok. I get back to work at 2 PM. To be honest, a lot of the time, I miss my break when the workload is a lot, which is basically always, lol.
Somewhere around 4–4:30 PM, I take a short nap. The naps started recently. I find that around that time, I get very sluggish and feel sleepy, so I just sleep at my work desk. The nap usually lasts for about 30–45 mins.
After the nap, I get off work for the day. I rest for about 2 hrs and handle other personal stuff. What I get work on depends on my to-do for the night. It could be working on a side gig or speaking with a fellow designer who needs my help on stuff or just improving myself reading a book or watching some tutorial before I go to bed at 12 AM or 1 AM.
What does your job entail on a daily basis?
Depends on what phase I am on a product. But summarizing,
If in the research phase, it’s usually speaking with the customers, trying to understand their pain points, and communicating my findings to management.
If in the design phase, it’s usually thinking about the customer while I make design decisions, pushing pixels, checking in with the development team on how the implementation is coming along, brainstorming & presenting to management.
If it is the post-design phase, it’s usually usability testing, tracking analytics to help me understand how products are being used in real-time.
What do you do for inspiration before starting a new project?
Hmmm… I look at competitor products, go on Dribble and Mobbin. I sleep thinking about the product. Oh, I also think about the product when I’m in the bathroom, and boy does it do wonders!
What is your most interesting project so far?
My most interesting project so far is a product called “Farmgod”. It was a product I worked on that was funded by Google. We basically wanted to help farmers digitize the way they kept records and managed their farms.
What’s your opinion on the salary structure for Nigerian creatives?Hmmm… this is tricky. Generally, I think it can be better and companies can try to up their game a bit. However, companies can’t be forced to pay more than they can handle. I know we want to be paid international/global rate, but the truth is, it’s not that simple.
There are things to consider, like the cost of living here, the company’s financial capacity, etc. So, if as a creative you try to score a high pay at a specific local company and it’s not working, I think it’s alright and justifiable to pass on the offer and move on.
Start from where you are. When you are really good at what you do, nobody cares how long you’ve been doing it for, You’ll still be seen as a badass.
What is your unpopular opinion about design?
I still think Nigerian companies don’t know how to use Product, UX & Service Designers. I also think a lot of designers are yet to fully grasp the true extent of their responsibilities.
So, random question, what does your workspace look like?
I currently don’t have one. I moved out of my old apartment to a new one and didn’t set it up before traveling for Christmas. I’m currently still with my family, so I just work from a plastic table and chair in the house.
In my old apartment though, I had my laptop, 2 external screens, an external webcam, and a phone stand.
What do you do when you’re not designing?
😅 Sleep oh, sleep. I catch up on all my lost sleep. I also watch movies or do house chores (wash clothes, clean the house, cook in bulk, etc). Mudia is always complaining that my idea of rest is sleep and movies, lol…
What are some things you do to relax/unwind?
Sleep 😬. Movies. I also hang out with friends (the TGIFPixels gang). I listen to music too and just lazy around.
What was the last thing/concept you learned?
Hmm, this one hard because I’m experimenting with multi-learning.
Design-wise, would be the difference between Art direction & Design direction.
Business-wise, would be Running lean (currently reading the book).
Personal growth would be Essentialism (currently reading the book). And yes, I’m reading two books at once, lol…
What would you say to new designers who are just starting out?
Calm down and learn your stuff. No need to rush. The person you want to be like already got a head start, which is totally fine.
A Day in the Life of a Designer is a series by the Friends of Figma Lagos community that features some of the most profound designers within the community.
Each episode explores everything that inspires these designers and fuels their drive and motivations daily. We will also learn about their hobbies and how they unwind when they are not sitting in front of screens pushing pixels to create meaningful experiences.
The publication is done biweekly, so stay tuned and join our community here.
