3 things my UI UX design career taught me that I wished I knew when I started
By: Ananthakrishna S
Tags: Careers, UI Design, Startup, Ui Ux, Life Lessons

The last two years of my life have been remarkable. I started as a UI UX designer and have been in love with design ever since.

I got introduced to the avenue of UI and UX a few years back and, I finally came to terms with myself, realizing that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

Something about designing app interfaces and playing around with different colors and elements got me ticking.

I was awestruck by the possibility of designing app interfaces, and I still find it to be one of the best things I do on the job.

However, the journey from being a college graduate to a successful UI UX designer was not an easy one. It was a journey that had a lot of self-learning and a series of life lessons that I want to share with you.

I am here to share with you three things that I wished I had known when I started as a UI UX developer.

Some of them are not necessarily industry-specific and is applicable for any form of life.

1 — Not keeping it simple!

When I started in my first professional job, I wanted to make a strong statement to everyone at work.

It was only later I realized that my version of making a great first impression almost got me fired.

I wanted to show everyone that I knew every trick in the book. So for every single project that came my way, I used everything I knew and applied all the different traits.

So there was no filter to what I used. I even went to the extent of learning complicated approaches to keep the first impression intact.

That is when I realized that everything that I did was coming back.

It took me time to come to terms that the best designs are not the ones that have everything in them but the ones that are simple yet sophisticated.

The concept of simplicity got me questioning my skills a little bit, but it was then I realized it was all about painting a complex picture with the use of simple elements.

Also, think about the number of times that you navigated back from a website because you couldn’t find what you were looking for on the web page in a matter of seconds?

Today the attention span of the digital user is 8 seconds and is rapidly decreasing. So serving the user with what they need most straightforwardly was the way to go in design.

At first, the whole concept of simplicity looked infuriating to me. But It made me realize that the new challenge was to fit in and prioritize your design over everything else, and I found a new purpose in my design career.

2 — Not Understanding Priorities

I hate to admit this, but when I first started, every day was a misery.

Trust me when I say this, I hated every single bit of my time.

I had completed a certain level of studies, and I was in this bubble where I believed that I wanted to make a difference in changing how we see the world (yes, very ambitious).

So I tried to fix everything that came my way, the way I thought was correct. So applied all the design rules, corrected every one when something was wrong.

And I pissed people off.

But at that time, I did not see that I was overstepping my boundary, but I felt that it was my responsibility to speak out.

I used up everything I had learned, brought in the design jargon, and related my tale. This pissed people off even more.

It almost escalated to me getting fired, and I figured out that picking a fight every single time is not going to help me get any better.

For the next two months on my job, I switched my role from being a narcissistic UI UX developer to a vivid listener.

I think that was my turning point because it was during the time that I understood that there was more to design than what I thought.

The meetings where I voiced my design dictionary out had project managers, backend developers, and business managers who had insights that went way into what I did.

Until then, I had not realized that they were voicing concerns in terms of UI and UX. That is when I realized what was going wrong.

I opened myself to understand what the real needs were and what my role was to fulfill these requirements.

My priority was to help the client dig out his expectation and not park my design view on his requirement.

After three months, I got myself back in on voicing opinions in meetings, and I spoke after collecting valuable input from all the stakeholders that were working on making a project successful and not just from my perspective.

Now, everyone listened.

Understanding teamwork and keeping my design ego aside was a valuable lesson for me, and if you are starting, it is always advisable to think this way.

Yes, your views and their views will not match, but always think of whatever you do in a holistic aspect and not just by your point of view.

3 — Not Asking for Help

Nobody in this world has everything figured out.

During most of my first few months, I suffered alone, trying to figure out everything all by myself. I was scared to show that I needed help, assuming that it would bring out the weak side of me.

I was wrong.

Instead of asking someone else to help out on my assignment, I ended spending countless hours fixated on one thing, and most of the time ended up getting nowhere.

Sometimes, the more we think of a problem, the more we restrict ourselves into a box. The harder I tried to find a solution, the lesser it made sense.

Most of the time, we need someone outside to help out. Don’t be afraid to ask help from someone when you are stuck or hit a dead end.

This lesson I learned the hard way, and I wished I had come to terms with it way earlier. Seeking out help does not make you less of a person, nor does it put you down professionally.

And most people are glad to help you out. You need to ask!

Two years into the UI UX profession, I try to help out anyone who comes seeking help. Also, I have not stopped me from asking for help either.

There are still things that I need help with, and I am glad to have a support team that brings in more clarity when I get stuck.

Also, do not go about assuming that people cannot help you because they are not from your field. The best advice I’ve got in my two years have come from people outside the design field — they were the developers and project managers.

The beauty of it is that they see my problem from a completely different angle and, this helped me understand the missing pieces.

Everyone has something to offer. Your challenge is to get the best out of everyone and apply it to your life.

Don’t be shy. Be honest and seek help.

Even superheroes call out for help. What is stopping you?

Looking back, I am glad that I picked out this avenue. I was passionate about design, and something clicked when I was working with interfaces and elements.

But I am even more glad that the two forced me out of a shell to become a better individual.