6 Things You Need To Know If You Want To Improve as a Designer

Episode 003: Journalist to UX Designer — Jem Rosario

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Designers don’t always have to come from an entirely design background. Oftentimes, designers start off with an education in fields completely far away from where they are now. Take, for example, Jem Rosario who started off with a degree in Communications, majoring in Journalism from the Ateneo de Manila University. He then transferred to the University of Toronto where he got involved with design. The shift wasn’t as massive as you’d think — Jem used the fundamentals of Journalism like conducting interviews, and crafting stories to transition into UX design.

Through Jem, we come to understand the transition from one field to design, mentorship, relevant skills, and where design is headed.

#1 You can apply a lot of the skills you have to design.

At the center of design is the user you are creating it for. As a designer, you have to realize that in order to build the best products and services, you have to really think of your user through and through. Ask yourself the following questions:

  1. What is the background of your users?
  2. What are your users’ contextual needs?
  3. What is really going on in their lives that would make them want to use the products you are building for them?

These are just something questions you can ask yourself in the beginning of every project. Answering these questions will have you thinking deep about the best way to communicate your solutions and content to your audience.

Having Philosophy as a second degree in University of Toronto, helped Jem grasp many design concepts. Similar to philosophy, you begin with the big convoluting problems. From there, you distill it down to its different components and conceptualize from there. It’s all a matter of finding the right practical avenue to be able to use certain skills well, no matter what context you come from.

#2 The amount of experience you have doesn’t dictate whether you can be a mentor or not!

Substantial design experience began a few weeks after graduation, when his mentor brought him on board a project with her team. He got a lot of big jobs and experience from it, which really jumpstart his career as a designer. Jem stresses that it’s really important to have a) a mentor who is b) willing to vouch for you. It has to come to the point where they know you well enough and have seen your growth to be able to refer you to jobs they know you can handle.

When it comes to starting out, there’s gotta be someone you consider to be the wind beneath your wings.”

From the mentor’s perspective, it’s important that you have the mindset that your credibility does not rely on the number of years you’ve worked in the industry. No matter what level of expertise you’re at, you have to understand that people can teach people certain skills. There will always be something you can teach to anyone who’s willing to listen. Avoid the mindset that this is a typical case of “the blind leading the blind” syndrome because, in any way or form, you’re still giving value to someone who is looking for it. Of course, it’s important that you know the ropes before teaching other people but you don’t have to wait too long to be able to say that you can be a mentor. For Jem, if you’re so far off into the field you’re in, it’s much more difficult to relate or distill back your empathy or experience to someone who just started.

The intermediate practitioner might be the best person to teach because they’re not suffering from the curse of knowledge* syndrome.”

*Curse of knowledge = you’ve mastered the field to the point where it’s hard to see things through the eyes of a beginner.

Experts who are a few years into their career are at the sweet spot where they can still recall what it’s like to be at the start without considering themselves are total experts. In the end, it’s what you do with the information and experience you’ve gathered — sharing them with the world — specifically, design, an intrinsically collaborative industry.

#3 Study user experience and where it’s headed

Looking at the industry of design as a whole, you quickly realize that there is so much to learn and how it will quickly evolve, given the rapid progression of where the industry is headed. What’s important to realize is that we are now in the humanistic era of technology. We’re now in the business of making technology bend to our needs and desires, instead of the other way around.

Technology has to exert every single option to make the experience as simple, as better, and as intuitive as possible for everybody.”

You have to have the mindset where you’re thinking of the people you’re designing for — all in realm of user research. With regards, to the company, it would do you well to understand who they are as an organization, why they do what they do, and what makes them the best org for the people they are serving.

#4 Make things work between your passion and the business

The main concern of your job should also consider what your client needs from you. They’re still the ones funding the project, paying you for your work, bringing your ideas to life. As much as you’d like to be a an advocate for user experience, you still have to take into account that it’s a job

“If you want that particular design idea, there’s got to be a business component injected into it.”

You have to find a way to put your passion for user experience with the business of your client. It can’t just be one or the other. Putting the two together will be simple if you come to understand your company’s why. You have to truly grasp the ideas that brought this company into existence in the first place. You have to get a good feel of the history of the company, their mission and vision, their successes, and their long-term goals. From there, you can ask yourself, “how will I help sustain this company not just with my talent but also with what I can offer them?” Once you know the company well, that’s when you can properly convey your work.

#5 Stay ahead of the curve

Looking into what’s currently happening in the realm of design, it’s interesting to note that it’s more utility-driven; solving specific user needs, with a sprinkle of marketing work involved. In Toronto, Jem states that it’s headed in the direction of AI, specifically predictive user experience. Jem foresees that the field of design is headed into the direction where the collective mindset is in catching people before they fall off the edge. This idea is seen in that of Google Home activities where both the software and the hardware have the ability to know in advance what a user might need and anticipate for the moment they might request it. As a UX practitioner, you must ask what might you be able to do in order to start serving information or some kind of assistance for your user.

When asked about how designers can prepare for such a leap in technology, Jem shared his encounter with the Design Director of Wattpad, Andrew Jack. He told Jem that,

“He wanted to have someone who can be autonomous and is capable of statistical analysis.”

What this means for designers is that we’re going to need UX researchers who is able to work with the algorithms and predictions the data analytics department of a company come up with. In essence, designers need to understand the ‘what’ of a company and its audience through understanding the relevant data. As a designer, your skills must progress with the times. If it means learning things completely out of your comfort zone — so be it.

#6 Empathy is key

As designers, you have to recognize that we are empathetic individuals. We’re in tune with what people feel and we have the urge to help them solve that. It’s two things: 1) knowing what the users’ pain points are, and 2) asking yourself what you can do to make things a little better. On a cultural level, Filipinos are naturally gracious and loving people. We’re willing to suffer for the sake of the people we care about. We have a deep sense of love and devotion, paired with how we care for the field of design. If we didn’t have these qualities — devotion, love, and empathy — expect that you will burn out really quickly.

In the end, it’s also about working with people who share the same ideals, qualities, and goals. In any field, it’s heartwarming to know that,

“You cannot go wrong with the best of intentions.”

Other amazing reads

Want more? Listen to 25+ episodes of high-caliber Filipino designers on Roots at https://rootspodcast.design/

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Alexis Collado
Roots  —  A Podcast On Filipino Designers

Co-Founder and Chief Design Officer at Swarm · Co-Founder of UX+ Conference · Host of Roots · https://alexiscollado.com