How I started with Photoshop and became a UX UI Designer (2)
While I was working at a local Korean newspaper company, there were some internal issues. Soon after, it closed.
Working at the restaurant
But while I was working part-time graphic designer, I’d worked at the sushi restaurant for almost three years. When I was working as a server, I learned something significant to me. I hate serving people as a waitress. I don’t care how much tip I earn in cash. I was like an automated machine. Not that I don’t appreciate their hard work as a waiter. Instead, I can understand it more. But the job was just not for me.
As much as I didn’t like the role, I’ve learned a lot from the experiences. How to work efficiently without getting complaints from the customer. Thinking from the customer side, what are things they would need before they ask?
Another thing is remembering all the menus for regular customers. The one thing in common is that they order the food, at the same spot, and the same day. Until I work as a waitress, I didn’t know that was a thing that people do something regularly.
The primary thing that I’ve learned as a waitress is time management. When it’s busy, prioritizing the work has to be done in a second unless customers may dissatisfy with the service. In my mind, I would think, ‘who should I go first so everyone can satisfy?’
With all these thought processes and problem-solving skills as a waitress was very precious and valuable. Especially when it comes to planning, thinking about the user flow, and customer journey map, I can imagine from a different perspective.
After Undergrads, no job.
When I graduated from college, I thought I could get a job right away. I thought everyone would hire me for their company, but it didn’t. It was a year without the job. I spent a lot of time searching and applying for a job, but I didn’t get any response back except one from the sales team. (I still don’t remember how I submitted that role.)
Because I had a lot of time, I’ve thought about how I should live the rest of my life. What would be the things that I could do and enjoy?
- I love to work in front of the computer all day.
- I love visual things.
- I like to criticize.
- I love analyzing.
- I love helping people with all my skills.
Knowing UX Designer
Then I found out the UX Designer role seems a perfect position for me. Except I didn’t know where and how to start. Then I went to the General Assembly Intro to UX classes. I went to three different intro classes, and I’ve tried to learn by myself from Interaction Design Foundation courses and went to meetups. I also had a chance to hear how Google works. They talked about how they work as a team and who they are working for. And this slide struck my head.
When I found out I want to learn more about the UX Design and applied for a Master’s degree at CU Boulder. I was also accepted to an internship at Boulder. Because an internship is not a full-time job, I decided to work as an intern and thought I could go back to school in August.
But in August, I was promoted to work as a full-time UX UI designer. I hesitated for a few weeks and decided to accept the offer and asked the school if I could defer my enrollment, and I did. After a year-long experience at my job, I’ve earned trust from my boss and colleagues. So when I decided that I wanted to learn more about UX design, they encouraged and trusted me that I could work and study both at the same time.
Conclusion
There were many challenges. I never thought I would like to work at Google when I was learning photoshop ten years ago. Last month, I submitted a UX design intern application to Google and turned in my assignment.
I’ve spent the whole two days working on the assignments with all the skills I’ve learned from work and at school. But even though I was short on time, I enjoyed every moment of it.
I woke up 6 in the morning and worked on research and wireframe until 1 am. Because I drew so many wireframes, my pen was out of ink. At night, I couldn’t sleep because I was excited to solve the problem. When I accomplished the assignment, I was grateful that I had this chance to do the assignment.
Last week, I received an email that I am moving forward to the next stage. Now, I’m waiting for a response back from Google for the UX internship interview.
