I took the long way home but I am almost home.
It has not been a bed of roses
I have fallen and risen too many times to the point my knees got weaker with every fall and undoubtedly, maybe eventually would have seen me stay on the ground bleeding out.
I kept telling myself that all I had to do was get through one more day and everything would be fine and I did, every single time. I would gather all my strength and energy and brace myself for one more day.
And it wouldn’t help if I had someone or something hit me in the knees just to weaken me more (which happened more often than not). But as they say, time heals all wounds right, however, some scars remain with you forever as a reminder of the pain you went through.
So what am I saying?
My Side of the Story
2023 was a hectic year, It’s the year I got to understand the depth of my ignorance as a designer from having a chance to work with a more experienced designer to which I failed to accomplish tasks assigned to me, as simple as they seemed, all because I had no idea of what I was doing, this happened twice and then it hit me.
In the beginning of September 2023, I realised that as much as I call myself a designer I was the exact definition of rusty and not really hiring material. Hence the beginning of a deep self-retrospect and a mind-blowing life-changing experience.
The road of my UX journey from August 2020 up to September 2023 had been filled with all kinds of potholes of varying sizes.
What Went Wrong?
- I had no idea what I was doing, all the while from when I started my journey up to then, I had been jumping up and about. A very indefinite roadmap if you ask me.
- I had no sense of direction.
- I had no one to hold my hand or guide me through.
- I was left at the mercy of the never-ending source of information we call the internet. If you have ever tried googling your symptoms you would know why this was not a good idea.
- I relied on YouTube and industry experts from Social Media to give me tips and tricks and while this offered me valuable resources, they were also very opinionated perspectives which ended up being quite confusing especially if they contradicted each other which happened a lot.
- Because I had gotten a lot from the internet, I felt like I knew design and what it entailed. I am not so sure if this was a result of the Dunning-Kruger effect.
- I had a lot going on so I wasn’t fully focused and intentional on design.
What Went Well?
Everything has a good and bad side just like every coin has two sides and so does every story.
- Having a very wide source of information turned out to be vital in my messed up journey. While I had no definite roadmap, I still picked up bits of information and had learned a great deal by the time I found a roadmap to which I was able to piece all together quite more swiftly than I would have done if I had begun with a roadmap (not encouraging anyone to go through this route though, it’s way longer).
- I have a cheering squad. Never-ending support from a stable support system. The support I got kept pushing me forward even when we were all uncertain about what was going on. They were there every time I fell, they would help me get up and dust myself and encourage me to keep running. They would help nurse my knee injuries every single time. I owe you flowers ️🌹 for a lifetime.
- A few senior designers were willing to take my “stupid” questions, review my messy designs, take me through how to create case studies and take me through a couple of mistakes I was making especially with my UI. I owe you big time❤️.
- I was lucky enough to have a senior designer voluntarily take me (and a couple of other budding designers) through design classes twice on different occasions after one day reviewing one of my messed up designs.
- I joined UX communities and went to as many UX events and conferences as I could, based on my location, all of them were online but very much worth it.
- I did not stop learning from industry experts on Social Media, as much as they had contradicting information on some topics, in most topics they seemed to agree on and whether or not they would take different approaches, the result was almost similar.
- I had a continuous zeal to learn, I was always hungry to understand concepts and phases and why they happened the way they did etc. It is because of this determination that I am still here because it has to start with you.
So what changed? (What needed to improve?)
- I started by acknowledging that I DID NOT KNOW what I was doing. I knew way little than I was expected to know as a designer so I needed guidance and a clear roadmap. This is the first and hardest step of all in the morphing process.
- I did a retrospect and analysed my next steps because I was tired of being stuck in a never-ending loop and not improving as much as I had expected myself to. The stagnation was killing me.
- I was chosen as one of the very few budding designers for the Friends of Figma Mentorship Program which I am almost completing. It’s been very humbling and enlightening I must say.
- Because I had begun spiralling into a dark place, I had to teach myself to love myself unconditionally. So I forgave myself for feeling like I had wasted a lot of time because I honestly had not. I forgave myself and remembered I am not responsible for things I can’t control, I am only responsible for how I react. I acknowledged I had taken the long way home involuntarily, and there was nothing wrong with that. I dove into self-love practices which included being able to have a clear mind and so I did activities that helped me achieve that.
- With the help of the book The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months I set my goals. I gave myself a second chance to live the entire year 2023 in 12 weeks, which is quite possible btw (in case you were wondering). I just figured that the year was not over yet. I also dove into self-help books on dealing with finances, life, emotions, productivity etc.
- I became intentional, my daily routine changed completely. With everything I had been learning, “having too much on my plate” stopped being an excuse. I found time.
- I invested in myself. I did the Google Coursera UX Course which was all the roadmap I needed. The pieces of the puzzle started to fit in. The bits of information I had been picking up since August 2020 started to make sense and fall into place. I highly recommend this course for any designer
This list can go on but by now I guess you know what my story is. My end goal was to land my first design job and…
Voila! You are talking to the newest Product Designer in town.
As days went by, I became so fulfilled with what I was doing, and with how my life was becoming and trust me when I say things on my list of goals just started unfolding and on January 2024 I achieved my very end goal.
I even had the energy to start a podcast that stems from the struggles I had while starting as a designer. The story goes beyond this, there’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears, look out for the episode when I decide to talk about my story in-depth in the podcast Kenyan Design Konversations. Find it on Spotify or YouTube where the first episode will tell you more about what the podcast is all about.
In Conclusion
My journey is blurry. People have their own versions of my story which is interesting because it is MY STORY. I have had people dictate how to go through my journey, they have judged and made assumptions about my story through their eyes. But no one sees behind the scenes. No one understands what adjustments I had to make, or adaptations I made and the sacrifices I made to get to where I am right now. So I am standing firm and willing to thrive while I succeed as well as make my own mistakes and learn from them.
I also know I am nowhere close to done but I understand that this is only the beginning and roses have thorns too. Nevertheless, I am ready to nurse injuries from being pricked because I believe that at the moment, this is what I want to do. These are the challenges I want to face and overcome and it’s about time I get on with it.
Your Takeaway
To be honest, if you have managed to get to the end, then you have your takeaway. Just know that it starts with you acknowledging the point at which you are and being intentional and true to yourself.
If you find value in this, don’t forget to clap and follow. Thank you for reading!
