4 Lessons I learned in the beginning of my UX career
Learnings from my ongoing journey as a UX Researcher/Designer.
After graduating from college, I have worked as a UX Researcher/Designer for almost 3 years in design consultancy firm and global information technology company. Throughout, I grew a lot both as a professional and as a person. I feel like this is a good timing to share some of my learnings and insights as a reflection to myself and to others in similar situations.
1. Take time to understand your company’s directions and how your individual goals could align with them.
“Ask what you can do for the company, not what you can do to get ahead. ” — Julie Zhou, Product design VP at Facebook
As junior UXer, I tended to jump right in and focus on our day-to-day work. I paid full attention to perfect research and design executions and detail improvements. It is equally important, however, to take time to get a better understanding of your company’s long-term business goals, directions and short-term main focuses. Figure out where the company needs help, and think about how you can help others be more successful. These would help you work across your organization more smoothly and deliver research results and design deliverables with much greater impact and value. You would also clarify the purpose of your work and what to focus on more.
Therefore, if you are now making a career decision, take the company’s vision, goal and strategic direction into your most careful consideration. When you cannot fully identify with your company’s goal, you will very likely formulate endless doubts, questions and confusions on your assigned tasks and even your own work value.
2. Always learn from people.
“A satisfying work life is due in large part to the connections you forge with your teammates. ”— Catherine Courage, VP of Ads and Commerce User Experience at Google
When I first started working, sometimes I rushed and focused on myself too much to see the whole picture. I looked inwards and wondered questions such as “What can I get from this job?”, “What can I achieve in this role?”, “Will I be able to take charge of interesting projects?”, etc.
Most of our job revolves around working with others. The success of our work relies on team collaboration. It is therefore important (a must!) to build strong relationships with your team members. For example, at the beginning of projects and along your work process, spend time talking to your team members, managers, clients or key stakeholders. Learn about what they think about the project, what their motivations and expectations are, and what helps do they need. Build empathy and put yourself in their shoes just like what you do for users. With those in mind, you could map out a clearer direction and principles of your work. More importantly, to grow as a UX professional, getting inspired by different perspectives really helps a lot.
3. Put yourself in a team with the right cultural fit and a growing/established UX culture.
“We ourselves are works in progress, so a good job is one that gives us ample opportunities to learn and grow. Do you like and are inspired by the people you’ll be surrounding yourself with? ” — Julie Zhou, Product design VP at Facebook
At the beginning of your career, work in an environment where you could learn and grow. I did not know how important this is and how to consider about it. After few years, team culture is definitely one of my first priorities when evaluating future job opportunities.
What kind of people would you want to work with?
The answer might vary from individual to individual. It does not matter what the majority of people seem to prefer. Only you know your own preferences and needs the most. Therefore, when evaluating whether a UX job is worth taking, make sure you take time to understand the people that you will be working with. Meanwhile, take the following questions into consideration as well:
- How do the company/team approach design?
What is their UX culture? How does their current design process look like? - Are your peers and managers receptive to UX perspectives?
What is their understanding and expectation towards UX roles? - How do they cultivate UX professionals?
(Do they?)
4. Find your own purpose of work.
Overwhelmed by fierce peer pressure and others’ expectations, I was inclined to evaluate jobs heavily based on company reputation and job title as a new graduate. Yet the beginning of our career has great impact on our professional passion and points of view towards work. It is important to find a job that aligns with your own career aspirations and values instead of a job that sounds cool and fancy. In that way, you could develop your potential, achieve more and feel satisfied much more than you imagined.
This is why self reflection is so crucial. Instead of looking for a destination with perfect answer, self reflection is more like a journey where you have to keep wondering and exploring. Speaking of personal growth and self improvement, I personally find the following questions very helpful:
Who are you?
- What do you believe in? (Core values and beliefs)
- What do you care the most? (Issues, topics and challenges)
- What are you interested in? (Interests and hobbies)
Why do you work?
- What do you think of work? (Purpose of work)
For you, what is the difference between job, employment and work? - What are you working for? (Goals for work)
What is your career aspiration?
- Where do you want to be in the future?
How do you imagine yourself in 3, 5, or 10 years? Is there any role model that you admire? - What are you currently doing?
Do you think your current job is taking you to the direction that you want to go? If not, how could you change?
Final Thoughts
To sum up, align your personal goal with bigger pictures, learn from people all the time, find a team with culture that fits you, and develop your own purpose of work. These might seem obvious for senior UXers, but I find these learnings especially important for juniors. UX is not a job that can be done by a single person. As mentioned, our goals and responsibilities rely heavily on team collaboration and communication. Keeping these in mind could help us become better UX researchers and designers.
Thanks for reading. ☺️
Hope this helps and I will be happy to know how you think.
