Designer Journey: The Convert
In performing arts school we were taught to smash our personalities to pieces, only so we could then build ourselves up again. It was an exercise in self-reflection…going back to the basics in order to gain a better understanding of human behavior and thus ultimately create more interesting characters. We learned how to be part of a team, how to be egoless so we could be part of something bigger, how to constantly push our limits and rehearse long into the night. Most importantly we learned to recognize the value in establishing strong relationships with colleagues, building a cohesive community and, in turn, an unstoppable team.
My time at school was to have an enormous impact on my personality, though in the end I decided against a career in theater. I would never have anticipated at the time, however, the extent to which these exercises would inform my future career.
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I started as a campaign manager at Zalando Marketing Services in 2016. I loved working in what was then an emerging business and having the opportunity to engage with a wide range of topics (campaign management, product proposition, in-house tooling). I shortly realized, however, that I was mostly drawn to more technical projects, especially those involving processes and tool improvements. I did a deep dive into some of these technical topics, spending time with the product manager and engineers to better understand the relationship between business and tech. I eventually came to the conclusion that UX would be a good fit and I started studying it on the side.
The discovery of product design as a career option was thrilling. I had finally found something that requires both analytical and creative thinking skills, involves constant learning, and if done well, can really enhance people’s lives.
In some weeks I will start my new position as a product designer with Zalando Lounge, Zalando’s shopping club. My journey to get to this point started with my enrollment in an online UX course 2 years ago and subsequently asking my lead if I could join an UX project. She agreed and I’ve been working with a team to design new features improving internal workflow. I am so grateful for the regular feedback, my advisor Hanna gave me. I also reached out to the product design community here at Zalando, starting with a meetup in which I met a design recruiter and the product design operations lead, Gloria Rupprecht. Gloria took me by the hand and scoped out the new leads program to help me find a mentor, Lana Criggs.
I strongly believe mentorship is a determining factor in terms of career success, and Lana has been one of the best. We have bi-weekly check-in sessions where we talk about everything from design theory to work processes to general career guidance. She’s also taught me the importance of being part of the wider Berlin design community. We have co-facilitated a workshop at the REDI School in which we taught refugees about problem solving through ideation and wireframing. We also co-facilitated a design thinking workshop at TOOLFEST last year. Later, when a junior designer position opened up, I applied and several interviews later I got the job! I have also been fortunate enough to find Brian Yeung to mentor me once I’ve started my new position. The entire product design team here has been so great at making sure I’m set up for success in my new-found career.
In the end, it’s been a great personal discovery to realize how much theater and design have in common…namely empathy. I still regularly do improv which I find helps a lot on the job in terms of brainstorming and ideation. In fact, I regularly make use of the “yes, and” rule of improv. That is, agree with an idea first and then build upon it. It’s about empathizing with your partner first, in order to properly understand what is being said and then going on to find agreement.
Fanni Fullar is a campaign manager at Zalando and will soon be starting her position as a junior designer with Zalando Lounge.
Are you interested in taking the leap? Have a look at some of our other open design positions.
