How I learnt to make the best of my position as a UX designer

Last year, I accepted an offer to be a UX designer for Microsoft Teams- a cloud based team collaboration tool, part of the Office 365 suit. It was a risk given that I had never designed for enterprise before and was moving to a brand new city where I knew no one. Yet, designing for a global user base, travelling for research and working across geographies was luring, signalling it to be the perfect next step to grow my experience and portfolio as a designer.

A year later, I can positively assert this to be an enriching decision. Working here has not only widened my approach to problem solving, but also exposed new ways of utilising my current position to learn and grow.

Let’s dive right into what I learnt.

1. It isn’t only about asking questions often, but also the range of people you choose to ask

We’re constantly in close contact with colleagues who bring with them different work cultures and skill sets (researchers, product managers, engineers or fellow designers). Asking them questions and engaging with them on a deeper level about the product and their approach can open up unimaginable learning opportunities.

Quick check-ins with fellow UX designers on potential solutions means that we’re exploiting their understanding of the same product but learning off of a fresh perspective. This is because they are in sync with the big product vision, but are distant enough from our own specific feature areas.

Product managers and researchers see the problem at hand from a different perspective entirely because of their role, background and skills. They also see constraints of a solution better because they are closer to a different part of the process. Understanding these parallel ideas can break the boundaries of our own limits.

2. Work closely with engineers early on

Not only are engineers people who will bring the experiences we design to life, but are also trained to be problem solvers just like us. They expose edge cases that we may have missed. They also help surface tech constraints that potentially curb our free-spirited solutions into reality. Working with them closely from an early stage can make the design process more streamlined and efficient. Some constraints have also proven to give birth to more innovative and elegant solutions.

Building strong relationships with the engineers also ensures that we build deeper trust. This helps increase our knowledge as designers and enables us to understand and speak about technology more assertively.

3. Involve yourself in product/ feature vision even if your daily tasks don’t require it

Working on potential product improvements, good-to-have features and explosively innovative ideas for the product is a great way to keep our minds brewing during the lull periods at work. It allows us to showcase our skills and knowledge beyond the required tasks. We can also learn about new technologies that would enhance current features and the overall user experience. Doing so has enabled me personally to view the product in a new light and remain excited about growth possibilities for the product and my contributions as a designer.

“[Engineers] also help surface tech constraints that potentially curb our free-spirited solutions into reality”

4. Connect with your managers often and be transparent about what you’re looking for

Managers draw from their experiences within and outside of the company to advise us on how to handle situations beyond design. Furthermore, being open can also ensure that they’re allocating projects that are of interest to us, which changes the course of our learning ever so often and keeps us engaged. During inevitable slump periods, a simple conversation can result in actionable ways of not only jumping out of that mindset, but also emerging to be a more well rounded designer. This aspect came to light during my tenure when I was advised to work closely with the PMs to analyse telemetry and found data, which would eventually lead to better decision making.

5. Introspect on the past and make actionable plans for the near future

At Microsoft, at the end of each quarter, we fill out a document where we record our latest contributions, reflect on our best practices, note areas for improvement and list what we hope to learn and do differently in the next quarter. This is an extremely useful way to ensure that we’re growing in the direction we want and that our work is truly making relevant contributions. Moreover, it enables us to identify the gaps and find actionable ways to fill them. Once again, discussing these with managers and fellow colleagues is a valuable way to ensure accountability and action.

“Engaging in self initiated product vision work enables us to view the product in a new light and remain excited about growth possibilities for the product and our contributions as a designer”

6. Leverage company perks to grow

Beyond the countless merch, free gym memberships and health check-ups, there is more to what constitute as company perks. Microsoft, being the mammoth of a company it is offers countless avenues and streams to grow, learn and explore. From yearly hackathons to budgets for college courses and team specific research trips in other countries, there is always something brewing that could be exploited to learn something new. Jump at these opportunities.

We’re also exposed to working with people from different countries and designing for those with different usability habits (eg: for accessibility). Evidently, some of these skills are a requirement and others need proactive effort on our part, needing us to extend beyond our 40-hour work week. It is worth walking that extra mile, especially when these opportunities are simply just a click away.
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Closing in on year one, I can safely say that working on enterprise and at Microsoft has been diversifying both in hard and soft skills. The opportunities it opens up have kick-started my journey to defining the kind of problem solver I want to be.

“The opportunities [Microsoft Teams] opens up have kick-started my journey to defining the kind of problem solver I want to be”

These are certainly only a few ways to make the best of a company and position. I hope to discover more along the way and would also love to hear of any other ideas out there.

Looking forward.