My experience of working remotely as a UI/UX designer

I started my professional career when I was still in University finishing my bachelor’s degree. This was my first full-time job and it was a remote position for a company based in the United States. At the time, my previous work experiences (internships, personal projects and student consulting work) were all in an office setting.

I was super excited to start this new role. I already knew some of my colleagues from the engineering team in Portugal. I had high expectations, but at the same time, I had some fears and questions such as: Will I be too distracted working from home? Will I be able to finish my degree? Will I get lonely?

It’s a tough position for someone who is starting their career. In the beginning, working remotely was actually beneficial, since I was still studying and planning an education event called Lisbon.ai. But then, once I finished my degree, I was having issues separating my work life and my personal life.

So, let me guide you through some tips that I think will help you if you ever work remotely:

1. Communication: it’s the key for the success of those who work remotely. And this is something that I am still working on. When I started, I already had this in mind but it is something that is hard to improve on. As an example, if you get stuck in a problem or if you have doubts, you basically have 2 options: schedule a meeting to talk with your colleagues or be extremely clear when explaining the problem through Slack or other communication tools. Choosing one of these 2 options is not easy, because it’s hard to draw a line between what requires a call and what can be solved via asynchronous communication. I always try to do an exercise that I learned with a friend. It begins by trying to write (or wireframe) what I want to say. If it gets too big or messy, it’s a sign that you need a call. Also, having clear topics of the things that you want to discuss in meetings is instrumental.
2. Documentation: A place where you can find documented meetings, tasks, exercises, user testing, and other relevant documents. This is an easy way to keep track of what is happening in the company and to put new employees up to date after their onboarding. In the end, this saves the team a lot of time.
3. Choosing the right design tools: Yes, like George Kedenburg III says, “no tool will magically make you a better designer”, but they can help you working with your team, especially if you are remote. Apart from Google Docs (including Spreadsheets and Draw), there is also Zoom, Bluejeans, Trello, JIRA… But my top tools which are related to design are: InVision, Zeplin, Figma, and Abstract. These do a really nice job helping people like me every day.
4. Be aware of the timezones: You can take advantage of getting some work done before some of your colleagues wake up (or after they leave), but you have to be prepared to deal with late meetings or late replies. And don’t expect Slack to be a synchronous tool! First of all, you can’t expect people to have Slack on their phones with the notifications on. Secondly, your colleagues might not do the same schedule as you.
5. Separate your work/private life: For me it’s really important to have a balance. And things like working in your pajamas or working from your bedroom will probably not work. I try to start working after a cup of coffee, and after work I like to have time for side projects, exercise and other personal activities. Having a good and regular setup is also important for me, because it improves my mood while working. By “regular setup”, what I mean is having your notebook, pens, headphones, chargers (…) always in the same place. (I don’t imagine myself being productive with a nomadic life).
6. Go out with your team! For me, this is critical — not only having the team buildings but also the time I spend working near them. It is important to get to know them in person, to gain trust, empathy, to feel included and sometimes to know their work (if you are on different teams).
7. Change your work environment once in a while! Try going to coffee shops, libraries or coworking spaces, as it might boost your productivity.
8. Ask for transparency: how the company is doing, what is happening in the office (if there is one)… These simple questions augment confidence in the company because you are up to date.
9. Make sure your company already has a remote culture. I see this as: if you and your company don’t have experience working remotely, you are going to end up lost and overwhelmed by basic things. If you have remote experience, you definitely have the power to turn your company into a company which is remote friendly.

Of course you get lots of freedom, but with freedom comes more responsibility… You have to always be adjusting and improving. I am still trying to figure out the best way to work remotely and to make improvements every day. In the end, to accomplish great things you have to be surrounded of people who inspire you and who are mentors or references to you. And if you are inspired by your teammates, perfect! If not, search for references outside your company (try coworking spaces, meetups, conferences or even social media).