Designer Diary: From Graphic Design To UX Design Through the Transcontinental Quest

In the era where AI is starting to dominate the content creation landscape, I reflect on the significance of the true human experience.

As product designers, user researchers, or user experience designers, our challenge lies in building empathy within our companies. The rise of AI, however, introduces an unusual challenge, as AI-generated content often lacks the foundation of empathy and compassion.

This article was written by a human, with a ‘not perfect’ language, but it shares a true and real experience from the last 10 years.

Grab that favourite mug of yours because we’re diving straight into the remarkable story of numerous life transformations.

Chaos, Laughter, and a Screaming Parrot: My Wild Ride in the Russian Agency Scene

Fast forward ten years ago, and picture me as a graphic designer and art director in a noisy communication agency back in 2013 in Russia. My world revolved around commercials, events, branding, and a mishmash of advertisements across various channels. Amongst the chaos, my passion for graphic design burned bright. I was full of creativity, fueled by a mass of motivation. Yes, I was already a mom at that time, but I juggled my time to sketch and work, even well beyond regular office hours. Behance was my constant companion on the computer, and I was admired by the diverse worldwide — crazy designs, motifs, styles, and branding identities that kept me inspired.

So, let me take you back to the good agency days when I teamed up with a creative writer as my partner in producing concepts, ideas, and various abstractions. Trust me, our brainstorming sessions were more of a stand-up comedy show — with plenty of laughs! Just to set the scene for you, our boss was a bit of a ‘sun hunter’, spending the cold part of the year on the sunny side of the planet. But thanks to webcams in the office, he could always keep an eye on us. Now, how would you feel if your boss could peek at your lunch duration or the exact moments you left your desk?

Oh, and the craziest part? Back then, having an exotic animal in the office was all the rage for big agencies in Russia. Some went for colourful fishes or chameleons. Guess what enhances our office as a mascot? Drumroll, please!

A slightly grumpy and lonely Kakadu parrot named Kesha. This wingy friend had a talent for screaming at eardrum-shattering levels, ensuring our brains got a reset after each vocal performance. We tried moving him from the open space to a quieter spot, but our boss would promptly call, asking to bring Kesha back to his view via the camera.

Here’s a funny twist: one day, we let Kesha travel freely around the office and our desks, and he decided to take a bite out of one of our developers. The poor guy had a fear of blood and promptly lost consciousness. Of course, the creative couple could not leave this story without attention and we turned the incident into an office meme. Good times, right?

So, picture this: I’m polishing away, stamping out designs like a human printing press straight from my brain. Our agency was the focus at that time, applying to tenders and diving every day to a new competition. It’s like the Russian presidential election — lots of action, but the winner seems to be predefined, and a piece of the prize money magically finds its way into someone’s pocket. What does that mean for us? Well, I was putting my heart and soul into creating cool designs, but a massive 90% of my work never saw the light of day or turned into an actual project.

From Brainwashing to Breakthrough: Escaping the Russian Work Maze

Working in Russia is a whole different ball game. Feedback is served up generously, and it’s not always a pat on the back. Your boss, a team member, a manager, or even a client can directly and straight tell you that your work is, well, “bull shit” or “kaka.” I got used to these no-nonsense critiques, and believe it or not, it strengthened me. My ‘skin became very thick,’ and I learned to handle even the harshest words thrown my way.
Here’s another fact about the Russian work scene: the exit notice period is just two weeks. Wrap your head around that! You could get fired, and in a fortnight, if you are lucky you’re already starting fresh somewhere else. It’s a tornado of change, but on the flip side, it means the company sees you as replaceable.

There’s even a proverb for it: “There are no irreplaceable people.”

Fasten your seatbelt; it’s a rollercoaster ride in the Russian work circus!
The Russian government thinks the same about the whole Russian people in the country. It’s like trying to convince someone the sky is pink: you can send them to war, paint a rosy picture about salaries while folks struggle to buy decent food or school supplies and run a brainwashing marathon for two decades, making them believe the government is the real treasure, not the people.

The situation was: that I was hustling ten hours a day, occasionally throwing in some freelance weekend work. And still, I didn’t have enough money for the whole month, and I definitely could not have savings at that time. After maybe five or so years, my motivation was killed, I didn’t want to work with communication design, or in the agency environment, and I had a quite depressive mood.

I decided for myself to leave that area of design and became a web and mobile interface designer. And after Crimea’s invasion, my sixth sense just told me to move from Russia completely.

Kiwi Quest: From Russia to New Zealand

Now, let me bring you into my journey to the land of kiwis — New Zealand. Why, you might wonder, did I choose this far-flung corner of the planet? Well, it’s super simple: back then, I could get a student visa, work part-time for 20 hours a week, and, a cherry on top, receive a work visa after my studies.

So, picture me, diving towards the Western world country for the first time. Sure, I’d been a traveller, but as they say, there’s a difference between backpacking and setting up your life. My goal? To land in a company and kickstart my career as a UI and UX designer. Now, I had some web design projects in my portfolio, but let’s be real — they were not professional and quite raw. I was hungry for more knowledge and experience to polish my craft.

Mmm, the first year in immigration.. Anyone who’s danced the immigration cha-cha knows the pace. It’s like being a puzzle piece trying to find its spot in a new environment. Yep, my first year in Kiwi land was a rollercoaster ride, to say the least.

From Sleepless Nights to Kiwi Bytes

Now, let’s dive into the sitcom that was my life in New Zealand. Picture this: I’m hitting the books, mastering the art of software development in college. But wait, there’s more — I’m also hustling as a morning cleaner in a traditional clothing store in the heart of Auckland. That was pure luck to find that job. Why, you ask? Because living in Auckland is like living in a five-star hotel — pricey!

And, I’m burning the midnight oil as a freelance graphic designer for my clients back in Russia. Four to five hours of sleep a day? Sure, why not? I even lost 10 kg during this time. And believe me, I was not on the chunky side before!

But hey, it was a super time! I met amazing people — Kiwi locals and fellow Russian-speaking folks. Did you know there’s a thriving and interesting IT Russian-speaking community at this far corner of the Earth? I was surrounded by professionals and mega-talented and clever people: software developers, testers, UX designers, etc. I was on a hunt for that ambience, mentally far away from marketing ‘pointless points’, far away from Russia.

I remember how I first time went to a Russian community meetup and all the people in the cafe were working in various IT companies. But to find a job in those companies was a real challenge. New Zealand is a really small country, compared to many others. And the market is quite enclosed, everyone knows everyone.

The problem is the classic chicken and egg dilemma: you need a job to get local experience, but you need at least some local references to get a job.

I cracked the code and started as an intern designer, working for free in a major Kiwi media holding. Yup, me, with over 8 years of design experience and even team-leading entries, was an intern all over again for free. Talk about hitting the reset button!

Did I learn much in my new role? Not so much about the domain, but I gained an impression of the inner workings of a real Western company. Additionally, they had some kind of development cycle, so it was also a valuable experience for me. I met nice and kind people there. One guy showed me and tried to teach me some new technologies for cross-platform mobile development, which was really nice. However, they couldn’t offer me a job due to visa requirements

Oh, and did I mention I was still juggling college, morning store cleaning gigs, nighttime freelancing for Russia, and now, interning during the day? How long could my body keep up with this circus act? Your guess is as good as mine!

Landing My Breakthrough Job

So, here’s the piece on the magical morning that changed the game. A friend of a friend dropped the golden question: “Are you on the job hunt?” Well, duh! Who says no to that? Turns out, it was a classic Kiwi company, not quite IT, but having an IT department and a few digital projects.

The problem I had, was that the company had to provide documents for me to get a work visa if they wanted to take me on board. So one of the goals during interviews was to convince them, that I was the only good designer who applied for the job, and that there were no kiwi designers better than me.

Now, picture this: I’ve got two shining references from the internship company and a college professor. The company did its homework and actually called them up. Boom! Glowing reviews all around.

I remember that call like it was yesterday, those 2 minutes. So, I’m chilling in my room in the student-shared living space, and suddenly, an unknown number pops up: ‘Hi Kate, it’s Josh from Y. company. You successfully passed the interview process and we are happy to offer you a job in our company.’ In my coolest, most collected voice, I reply, ‘Thank you, I’m happy to become a part of your design team.’ I hang up the phone and my bloodstream is flooded with a full cocktail of serotonin and dopamine. I’m jumping, I’m screaming, and the next minute, I’m speed-dialling everyone my family, my friends. Cue the confetti; it was a full-blown fireworks display of awesomeness.

The design lead who was building a new design team in this company, is still my hero. He took responsibility and offered me a job as a UI designer. I didn’t have too many UI projects in my portfolio, but in terms of graphics in general, my portfolio was quite good. He believed in me and my skills and took me on board. So from that point everything turned and I started a completely new journey.

And just like that, the winds of change blew my way. I closed my freelance projects in Russia, said Sayonara to student share-living, and quit that morning cleaning job in the store. Sure, my salary was not that high compared to the market, but hey, it felt like I’d hit the middle-class jackpot. Finally, I could start saving some cash away for a rainy day.

From Deadline Daze to Design Wonderland

What about the working environment and what impressed me? I was shocked, during my onboarding, as actually they were happy to have me and, they valued my skills. They ask me if I feel ok, and what is missing for me to feel comfortable at work, what kind of hardware I need. And even offered me one day to work from home. That was a long time before corona. And I couldn’t understand why they trusted me.

Everyone stops the work hustle after a cool 8 hours and heads home. Imagine that! No more overworking hours, no lunatic freelancing to fill up the bank account, and no racing against project deadlines. Deadlines? What are those?

The company was big, and the design team? Also pretty sizeable. I had my first one-on-one with the design lead, the manager extraordinaire. And get this — he was genuinely interested in developing us. He cared about my growth and asked what I was into, and what I wanted to learn. Hold up, is this a dream? Before this job, managers and directors never bothered to ask what floated my workboat.

In the Russian work environment it was more like, do you still have some horsepower to finish the project before Monday morning? Those questions were addressed to me often.

Finding My Voice: From Silent Struggles to Kiwi Confidence

Let’s chat about my journey from being a voice in the shadows to feeling valued at work, in the country, and in the world. As a human being, I had my wishes, my concerns, and my goals and those were important. I started to feel more confident.

Over in New Zealand, even the streets have a say through strikes, and guess what? The government takes note! The same magic unfolds at work.

For the first time, I realized I was not just a pawn in the game. In Russia, I felt more like a slave, if I didn’t like something at work, nobody cared. Nobody holds you, find another place and try to be happy there, no one will miss you. Same actually with the Russian government, that is why so many people immigrated from Russia in the past and nowadays even more. If you don’t like the regime, the president and the situation, please no one hold you back, choose another place to live, as nothing will change in the next 20 years.

On a more profound note, I realised the deep-rooted influence of old Soviet Union ideas and current government. The impact stretches into people’s lives, even in the working environment. In Russia, your life can often feel like it doesn’t cost much.

In New Zealand, for the first time in my life, I started to understand, that I’m a talented specialist, I’m motivated and in the end, I’m great. The company needs me because there are not that many people like me, I’m unique in my way of doing things. And truly everyone is unique.

New Job: Focus on Innovation

After one year with the company I got a new offer from a cool and interesting project and a pure IT environment with a good salary and I could not resist as there were still a lot of things that I wanted to learn.

That was a SaaS application with very complex functions, dependencies and everything that we love from a UX designer point of view. The team was super nice and completely international, I think we had colleagues from all continents. I learned scrum processes, I learned more about UX research, and workshop culture and I had an opportunity to lead the design system project (that was in 2018) with a white label feature. Later on, I even gave a speech at the UX conference about that project.

That marked the grand kickoff of my Product designer journey. Ever since it’s been a hurricane of tackling complex features and SaaS apps. I guess I can say I found myself. While my love for design remains, my true passion lies in cracking intricate problems and giving users the keys to navigate those complex features with ease. I gained a wealth of knowledge during those years, and I’m incredibly grateful for the people who surrounded me at that time.

In that company, I had the pleasure of meeting a girl, the UX lead, and we became good friends. I got a wealth of knowledge from her, and now, I’m passing that knowledge on to my team and the people I work with. It’s a real treasure, one of the main sources of satisfaction in my work.

Cue my next adventure: Europe and the spotlight shines on Germany. A whole new journey, a startup vibe, but still a product design, still SaaS, and still deliciously complex. I’ll write about this in the next story, drawing comparisons to my previous experiences. It’s true Germany, with its ultra-traditional, hyper-democratic, rule-oriented vibe, threw yet another challenge my way. And don’t even bother asking me why I moved from one of the amazing countries in the world back to Europe.