What's your job about?
I’m currently working as a UX designer on various projects under the Design and Digital Experience team. During my day today, I am in meetings discussing design requirements, figuring out tech feasibility on designs and exploring new ways of implementing processes. If I’m not in a meeting I am often in Figma 90% of the time working on designs within the constraints that have been established. For the other 10%, I am doing discovery work on Miro, mainly competitive analysis comparing how different insurance companies present their data or go through a certain process.
What's your background?
During primary and high school, I was and still am chronically online, I’ve always been exposed to technology which is why it was natural for me to gravitate towards the tech industry. I was obsessed with Photoshop and sharing my designs on Tumblr, this then followed into me playing around with HTML and CSS. These experiences helped me pick software engineering where I spent the majority of the time on Stack Overflow and living in libraries till 2 am. I realised I could not see myself coding for the next 5-10 years after I graduated, so instead moved into UX design where I rediscovered my passion for design. I discovered the RACVs graduate program and saw that they had a rotation for UX design and that’s how I ended up there.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes, I’ve met many UX designers that come from various backgrounds. Psychology, Business, Bootcamps and even Medicine, if you have an eye for creativity and can emphasise with how users interact with technology, I believe you could excel in creating assessable, interactive and meaningful designs. One thing I’ve learnt from talking with others in my field is that there are always opportunities to try something new, you are never tied down to one career in your lifetime.
3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...
Join a variety of clubs to figure out what your interests are and to make the most of your university experience
You don’t need to be perfect at everything to pursue a field
Expand your network outside of your degree