What diverse work backgrounds can bring to UX
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In an earlier post I mentioned that I think educational background does matter when it comes to UX design. However, that is not a blanket statement implying you need to go to school for UX to be good at it. It is simply saying that to be effective, UX designers eventually need to learn formal curriculum such as evaluative research methodologies, design fundamentals, problem solving frameworks and effective documentation strategies (amongst many other critical skills).
This could be through school (the most straightforward path) or through many years of on-the-job experience.
With the rise of digital technologies, the field of User Experience was turbulent, and the sudden demand for the profession created opportunities for professionals in different industries to pivot into UX. The following is just some of the different backgrounds of designs I have interacted or worked with, and what I felt they brought to the field.
Accounting
Are you trying to consolidate 5 legacy information systems into a brand new application? Working with a UX designer with an accounting background is a game-changer. A huge part of UX is process mapping, something that happens to be the bread and butter of audit. Even when working on completely new applications, the rational thought process and critical thinking skills from years of CPA prep help them to understand and optimize complex flows. Once they learn how to use UX tools to visualize these, they become invaluable assets on complex UX projects.
Business
I am a bit biased here as I personally came from a business background. In many projects while it is crucial to try to satisfy a user’s need, that is all for naught if business objectives are not concurrently being met. It is a careful balance of managing scope creep, being aware of resource constraints, but still meeting the needs of users. Studies in management also include a plethora of useful decision-making models that are also quite effective with a few tweaks in UX. Lastly, business schools also place a big focus on teaching effective communication and team-working skills, which is a big bonus for any project.
Engineering & Development
This is another very popular background for many UX designers, and for good reason. There are great merits to a designer who understands technical requirements so well they could just build it themselves. Even if the background is not in software specifically, all fields of engineering focuses on math, and by extension, logic. Not only are the products themselves built on logic, the flows all need to have the same logical underpinning. Engineers are also great at modelling and testing, two very transferrable skills in the UX space.
Graphic Design
Probably the single-most common background for UX is some kind of visual design, whether it is graphics or web design. This makes sense because many of the deliverables for UX is UI, and UI is visual design. Designers who already are a wizard with graphic software have a thoroughly trained eye for style, can quickly visualize ideas and are used to working in an iterative process. Many that come from an agency background are very used to dealing with clients, juggling commitments and communicating their ideas. They especially thrive in an environment where they can collaborate with more process-based colleagues to produce solutions that are both functional and aesthetically pleasing.
Languages & Writing
Content is king, and it is a sad truth that many UX designers (myself included) over-rely on Lorem Ipsum. Some of my favourite past co-workers had English degrees, with many of them having worked extensively in technical writing before moving over to UX design. These are designers who are masters at consolidating huge globs of information into short and easily-understandable bites. This skill also translates very well into designing processes. As an added bonus, they often look past the visuals to make sure the content itself is both relevant and accurate.
Psychology
Psychology is actually one of the foundational paths to UX design, so it almost doesn’t even need mentioning. So much of great design relates to the way users (usually people) think. Many of the founding figures of the industry focused on Human Information Processing as well as Cognitive Behaviours. A deep understanding of these principles is especially important for simple designs which require much more finesse as the process of simplification is extremely complex.
Math
As with any profession that involves research and testing, math is very important. Any background in statistics and data analysis is super helpful when it comes to optimization. Because the level of math required to extract insights from custom data sets can be quite high, many UX designers struggle when it comes to figuring out how to use data to inform design decisions. Being good with numbers is especially great when it comes to quantitative user research, a key component of UX design.
Other Arts — Whether it is theatre, animation, dance, music etc.
These creative backgrounds all have one thing in common, they need to appeal to a certain audience. People in the creative industries are very used to collecting formal and informal feedback to optimize their offering in the field of their choice. This informal iterative process is transferrable to the field of UX, as they come into the industry expecting that their deliverables will still require changes, and are often more open to user feedback, something that is absolutely critical. While creativity is not necessary in UX, it definitely does help, especially when leading brainstorming workshops and offering discussion topics to a cold room.
Physical Product Design (Industrial Design)
These people I call the OGs of UX. Many people with this background were designing user experiences in the broader context of the word before apps were even a thing. One colleague I worked with (30+ years in UX) once told me a story about how their physical prototypes were carved from wood to be user tested. These designers know the UX process inside out and are even more intense about testing (as it costs so much more to produce a physical product to find out users hate it) and simply need to learn a new digital toolset. After a brief transition period, they often thrive in the industry.
Sales or Customer Success
This is slightly related to business, but sales really isn’t taught in schools. No one knows what the user wants more than the people spending their whole day on the phone or in-person talking to them. Not only are most sales people masters at communicating, they are also some of the most self-motivated and driven people out there. Individuals who have a sales background are great at emphasizing with the customer and as many any UX designer knows, empathy is a key skill in the industry.
Sciences
The scientific method is basically the backbone of UX research. We start by asking a question, doing research, constructing a hypothesis, testing with an experiment, analyzing data and drawing a conclusion (rinse and repeat). The main difference is the type of testing in UX could be very different than many science projects (I am thinking less test tubes). However, a foundation in the process and experience with research is extremely valuable and very underrepresented in the UX community.
Service Industry/Hospitality
Often people who work in the service industry have great communication skills and their performance is measured by customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction also happens to be a very important metric in UX. The service industry tends to be very fast paced, so its common for individuals to hone their ability to listen to customer needs, prioritize and then act in a way that resolves the right problems. Designers who come in to the industry with a desire to provide the customer with the best experience possible will be open to feedback, and ready for the work that comes along with it.
UX — Specific Degrees
These are often the most well-rounded designers you meet. They have spent their time learning the foundational principles of UX and it shows. While they are still more rare, it is super beneficial to work with these designers as they often approach problems in a holistic and structured way. They tend to be very knowledgeable on systems design thinking as well as human-centered design theory which in my opinion is something still very lacking in the industry as a whole. While they might not have some of the specific benefits of any of the other backgrounds I listed, these designers were specifically trained for the job and are rightfully good at what they do.
Once again, these are just the backgrounds of some of the designers I have met throughout my personal experiences. Have some comments or suggestions for anything I missed? Drop me a line below.