The tone of voice of my story is…
This story is about...
How common is this sort of experience?
What makes this story meaningful to you?
- Well, I am happy about my work because I am always thinking how my work is useful to my team, and to the organization, and sometimes to the system and the community as well (depending on the use case). Ever since I started my technology career, I was always thinking of fresh ideas and learning the most workable practices from the best in the world without even asking or telling my peers or managers—my investments should show in my work. I had no other way of working on anything in technology because UX and design are part of everything, in every role. I did not choose *design* as a career; it is in everything that I tried. This story gives me the joy that I raised my standards and I worked for those standards without really caring for the rewards.
- Finally finding out something meaningful and interesting that I could do to find enough money to sustain myself was a joyful moment in my life.
- It is my story so it is obviously meaningful to me.
- I felt pretty lost at times and uncertain that my choices/path would lead to long term security and success. Especially true considering I lived in a city that was rapidly becoming way more expensive (Austin) I feel proud of what I've been able to accomplish and because of my path and my awareness of what my background brings to my work today,I am a strong advocate for other "non traditional" designers.
- it's my personal story that tells of a time at the turn of the century and how design has grown with emerging technology, and is continuing to grow with businesses having design at the core of their work.
- It's meaningful because it was 12 years of soul searching that I had to do and finally found a path forward.
- I feel like it validates a part of myself I have negated for a long time
- this is a story of pursuing a dream
- It's my history. That can be cool, to look back and think about it.
- It is my story, so it has to be
- It defines my work persona and how I got here. It also fills me with pride to know that I have been on a this journey for 15 years and I am evolving.
- The most meaningful part about my story is that I have been very lucky to find a career that makes me feel fullfilled. I have gone from a impostor syndrome that cause me intense anxiety and depression. To now being able to say that I really enjoy the work that I am able to do. Not a lot of people are able to say the same.
- It was a personal project that inadvertently helped me kickstart my career.
- The fact that I don't cope well with uncertainity, but living also means dealing with it. May we unknown our future paths, but patience and trust are necessary to keep on. Something that I never expected I'd like (working with kids!) guided my decisions about major and possible future jobs
- It's my story, and, while someone else's story might touch me, I could hardly relate. It's a story that had the answers to where I was going since the beginning, but I couldn't see it as such. I had to grow. It's not heartfelt, but it's everpresent in my experience. It's not extraordinary, but it's brought me closer to who I am.
This story makes me feel…
My story is about...
In my story, motivations revolve around...
In my story, I needed...
Where did you learn/do you learn most of what makes you a designer?
Could you share an experience about your difficulties in becoming a designer
- I did not face any difficulty because I never saught a permission from any of my managers or employers to join conferences, communities, or subscriptions. My investment in my learning was self-driven and I curated a lot of evidence to support my claims in the product meetings and decisions. Every organization has their own constraints and priorities and so my job is to propose the best with the right referneces and evidence and the trade-offs and then the final call is there. If I get a feeling that the job does not align with my standards any longer, I had the choice to move on. So to answer this question, I never faced any difficulties in becoming a designer.
- Lots of uncertainties. I was still in my engineering years, doing engineering studies, so it was difficult to dedicate time to study design. On top of that job search, as it is, was very difficult. Had to work very hard to accomplish the little things I have.
- There are none. Depending on how you define designer it may be easy or hard for you. thinking about being a pixel pusher is not how i define design
- Most things went pretty smoothly when I think about it but that was largely due to luck, good community and my own focus on becoming a designer. I think resources were a challenge for me but I am resourceful so was able to navigate things. I never could have afforded the bootcamp format.
- - Foreigner in another country - lack of local experience in the early years -
- I think my biggest hurdle is that I'm a U.S. Citizen that lives in India temporarily for family reasons. Finding a company that understands that has been very difficult. I have to push through barriers to even get interviews. Many times people post on the Slack channels job boards to make their company sound extremely welcoming and when you message them because there's a lack of audience, they fail to respond with a rejection message.
- getting a good mentor and experience are the most challenging, yet the most important moments.
- A not-insignificant portion of this job is taking shit from people. The earlier in your journey, the worse it is. But I never thought about plan b so you roll with it.
- Well I have had a few changes in my life, so it was quite hard at first ... but when i let if flow it went just fine...without feeling preassured
- 1. The lack of clarity of what I am doing, what I am going to do, where my strengths are and what I should 'market' myself as 2. people dont appreciate generalists as much as they should. Not all industries need one either. So you can be full of self doubt sometimes. 3. Feeling of being a mediocre or jack of all trades is heavy in the world of experts
- Although fullfiling and worth it, the design space can be competative. I have taken unpaied roles to get real experience. It took me almost a year to get my first paied role. When took the leap into UX Design, I also had no idea that a portfolio of work would be involved. That alone is a lot of maitenance in itself.
- First would be Illustration and Drawing classes. Those aren't my favourites and I struggled a lot there.
- It was hard to become confident in my skills, but the freedom of choosing which designer hat to wear made me persevere. Nothing matches real life experience, but researching and constantly learning should never be treated lightly. The power of collaboration was tremendous as it helped me learn, apply and test ideas as well as articulate them. My team helped me grow and see that grow reflect in the work we do.
How difficult was it/is it for you to become a designer?
Some of the reasons for these difficulties that you are able to identify are...
Today, I think of myself as...
Today, others think of me as...
What is your age?
- 46
- 21
- 26
- 34
- 40
- 34
- 30
- 41
- 50
- 32
- 32
- 27
- 52
- 25
- 25