Being a design chameleon

Adapting to the ever-evolving field of design

Last month (on Feb 13th to be precise) I had the opportunity to speak at a Women Who UX, Boston event called Women Talk Design. I can’t express how wonderful this experience was. This blog post summarizes the key arguments I was trying to make.

A little background about me. I was a Geeky-Artsy child who studied Engineering in India. However, I wanted to explore my creative side and got through a “D-school” where I specialized in User Experience Design. I interned at Samsung, India and worked at Microsoft, India as UX researcher for a year before transitioning into a full-time role of a UX designer. I am currently pursuing information design and visualization at Northeastern University, Boston, MA. Here are some learnings that I have documented that are hopefully useful for others interested in or are involved with the fast-paced constantly changing world of UX-design.

1. BE A STUDENT

You can learn from everything and everyone

First of all, be like a curious student.

I try to be a human sponge trying to absorb everything that is happening around me and learning along the way.

Someways, I do achieve this is, of course, the traditional learning(seems obvious considering I am pursuing my third formal degree ;-)), attending meetups/talks, by being a passive observer. Attending talks have also helped me think about ideas in ways I wasn’t used to before. You may be out of the student life, but the student life should not leave you, ever.

2. ALWAYS BE HANDS-ON

As you climb the career ladder, you will get less time to actually make things. Ensure that you don’t get rusty

Always be hands on because as you grow in your design career, you will find less time to actually do things. I learned early on that it is only by doing that you learn, and also stay relevant.

When I switched roles from research to design at Microsoft, I got feedback to work on my visual design skills.

My first feeling was that of dejection. But I got myself a Wacom and started doodling regularly. If I were stuck, I would look for inspiration online. I’m happy with the results which can be seen in the form of the illustrations in this blog (made in a few hours!). They are not the best but they come in very handy when I want to communicate my ideas. This practice of mine also helped me in my role as a research assistant at Wellness Technology Lab where hands craft experience was crucial for a research project. I also realized I was able to mentor better where I was more hands-on.

3. DOCUMENT YOUR PROCESS

Writing is like leaving a trace in time, it’s always nice to come back to your younger self to see how stupid you were

I started writing on Medium in 2016 to channel my thoughts on design and design methods. It helped me organize better and communicate well.

When I look at my older articles I laugh at how naïve they are, but also feel proud how far I have come in this process.

Find a way to document your work in the form of a blog, diary, sketch notes or anything that works for you! And when you do that, try to be as detailed as possible. It helps you reflect well on your past decisions.

4. DIVERSIFY YOUR SKILLS

The field of UX is undergoing another shift with design systems getting in place, let your skills grow to stay relevant

Diversifying your skills is important and one way to visualize that is using the “Broken comb” structure of skills by Jared Spool, as against the traditional “T-shaped” designer. Here you can see what my ‘broken comb’ looks like.

This helps you position yourself as a designer and helps you visually see the skills you might want to improve or add to the structure. It also makes you more adaptable within an organization when requirements change.

5. DISCOMFORT IS GOOD

Only when you are uncomfortable you are learning the most

After I completed my first 6 months at Microsoft as a UX researcher, I felt I was doing the same things all over again. That is when I thought of switching gears to do more design work. I got into the technical details of a B2B product that were generally frowned upon. But this experience actually gave me the confidence that I can easily step into an unknown problem and work my through it.

When I thought design work was getting predictable. I moved to grad school in a different branch of design. Today I work on novel data communication, information design, and visualization methods. I now enjoy programming in D3 and P5.js and wrangling data in R which I would not have, had I not decided to step out of the comfort zone.

6. ALWAYS HAVE A PORTFOLIO

Opportunities can come anytime, don’t be caught off guard

It goes without saying that having a portfolio is a must in the field of design.

Like most designers, I chase a dream of making a portfolio that blows everyone out. One that is so perfect that it is a piece of design and art.

Well, I have never achieved that. I am lazy that way, I procrastinate.

One thing that has helped me though is to give a commitment to recruiters saying that I’ll send out my portfolio in a week.

And that really makes me really go out of my way to deliver on the promise. But, seriously, get started on your portfolio early on. The world wants to see your work in one place.

7. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH SMART PEOPLE

Always be on a lookout for people who can inspire you (or intimidate you sometimes)

Surrounding yourself with smart people is important to keep you inspired.

Make allies of people in design and outside who are motivated to make better products and who are constantly aspiring to grow.

I have a big basket of special friends and mentors, they are former classmates, colleagues, and professionals who I reach out to whenever I need guidance.

I also am lucky to have great cheerleaders in the form of my parents and my husband.

8. LEARN TO ADAPT

Roles, Tools, Technologies, Businesses are changing at a rapid speed, you will need to keep up

I hate to break this to you but there is no secret sauce.

To adapt to the field of design, you need to learn to adapt as tools and technology which are constantly changing.

The best way to be able to adapt is to be tool agnostic.

If you are really good with your fundamental design frameworks, you can be a chameleon of a designer, always adapting and evolving with time. Always stick to your fundamental “elements of design” class, you will see that it boils down to how well you know those concepts.

Don’t forget to hit on ‘clap’ if you found this helpful. Happy to discuss more over chai and samosa :-)