One year into UX!
Where was I? What have I done so far? How does it feel?
Background
My academic path at high school was accounting. I went on to complete my Bachelors with a honors in Commerce majoring in Accounting and Finance. And then, in Indian parlance, got a MBA degree in General Management majoring in Marketing and Finance. During my MBA project, I stumbled upon qualitative research. The nature of qualitative research, its in-depth analysis and richness of insights, led me to seek a role in the industry that would nurture this new found love.
I took a break year, escaped the usual grind of placements and job search to actually do some soul-searching! My results….
I am a keen observer and a reflective learner. INTP. I have a research mind-set. If I ever enrolled in school again, I wanted hands-on learning. I lacked international experience. Moreover, I am young! I had never attended a Computer Science class (yes, I’m Indian)and ranked quite low on technical skills. I have a constant thirst for new knowledge, to learn and to grow. I want to make a difference through my work. I had grown to be a generalist but wanted to specialise. Most importantly, I’m a great listener. People are my priority and I love to listen to them.
Putting everything together, backed by a lot of reading, I decided UX was my calling.
What did I do?
I am currently a graduate student in the User Experience program at Foisie Business School, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts. Is a degree needed to enter UX? I do not know the definitive answer. But, this path helped me put a tick mark against the many reflections I had of myself mentioned above. This degree was not just about entering UX. It has been an experience accompanied by a steep learning curve (planning an article on this one after graduation🙂).
The program does not concentrate on any one aspect of the UX umbrella. Students are exposed to the various branches of UX and are allowed to pursue a path that they choose. After attending classes in Design and Research, I understood that UX Research is what I wanted to pursue in terms of a career and oflate, I have learnt that knowing Design is equally important. How else am I to communicate my research results to the Design team?
This is a brief. Most important is the next question. A year long journey.
How does it feel?
I choose to analyse this using an empathy map tweeted recently by Doug Collins!
Major touchpoints that I personally experienced the last one year:
- I say what I believe and I believe what I say! — UX isn’t a process. It’s a mindset. This is definitely a result of my thinking aptly put as follows.
- I think I’m a UX God! Any problem and I’m ready to add a UX tag😐. And so, I certainly deserve a seat at the table!
- I feel a victim of the Imposter Syndrome:( — yes. Literally always:( As part of the school’s small business digitisation project, I had to work alongside an undergrad computer science student and a doctor — ‘the developers’. (I hope to write an article of my experience on this project soon!). At the start as well as at the end, my feelings did not change! I feel I’m the users’ only hope and the project left me feeling so curious as to why developers don’t talk to me🤔.
- I do RSVP for meetups but then don’t attend🙃. As a starter, I want to learn and do so much that the pandemic has only made it easier for me to not leave any virtual event unregistered. Yes. And I do say “that’s a UX problem” outside of work at least three times a day (unity in thought, word and deed, you see!). Not to forget, there’s a call from India and all I’m doing is coming up with varied ways to explain my career to friends and family😶. Last but not the least, I’m avidly reading tweets about personal UX problems shared by my fellow UXers!
[NOTE: This was my first jab at writing an article and a major landmark in my UX journey😊. I cannot wait to share my thoughts. I love all things UX! Feel free to comment as it will make our Medium journey a better experience.]
