Things I’ve learned whilst being mentored in UX
As a strong advocate of mentorship, particularly in the field of UX, I wanted to create a series based on mentorship, in order to bring to life experiences from others and highlighting the importance of peer-to-peer learning. I also want to highlight the power of mentoring in creating diversity and inclusion in the field of tech.
Within this blog post, I wanted to share my experiences of being mentored over the past year. Personally, I can vouch to say it has been one of the best learning experiences that has helped me to grow and develop within my dream career path.
The benefits I have already seen from the mentorship relationship are:
● The encouragement and help to become more autonomous in my work and development in UX
● Increasing my network within this field and helping to develop other skill sets outside of this field (such as speaking, writing and design skills)
● And most important one of all, achieving my dream role as a UX Product Manager in the tech industry!
On reflection, when looking to enter this field and considering a mentor, I wasn’t sure what to expect or guidelines surrounding the mentee-mentor relationship. In addition, I have recently seen an influx of people inquiring about how I found my mentor and my experience of being a mentee in UX.
Along with my mentor, Laura Yarrow, this 10 step guide has been curated to help those of you currently looking for a mentorship, particularly within the field of UX:
1. Define your purpose of why you want a mentor
Although mentorship has been highlighted as a growing need in UX, you need to define the specific reasons of why you are seeking one. This could be (but not inclusive) one of the following reasons:
● To enter a new, unknown field and are seeking development advice
● To work on a new or existing skill (such as design or technology)
● To progress to the next steps within your career (such as a lead or specialist role)
2. Research a potential mentor and try to create a personal connection
The next step would be to create a list of potential mentors you would think would help you with that fit the needs of the purpose as defined in point one. This could be a written list or an Excel document that describes their experiences and how they can closely match with what you’re seeking from the relationship. Some of the resources I used to find mentors are:
· UXPA-A UK based mentoring programme for people interested in UX.
· Medium-A blog based platform that is great for finding individual’s and contributors within any given area.
· Megamentor-Another mentoring-based programme for people interested in UX and design.
One ideal piece of advice would be when reaching out to potential mentors, try to find out a bit more about them (either an interesting fact or something that can relate back to yourself). This way, it makes the relationship more personal and breaks the tension when meeting for the first time.
However, when reaching out for the first time, remember not to ask directly “will you be my mentor?” as a mentoring relationship takes some time to develop and both parties need to feel comfortable.
Instead, message them about your personal background and why in particular you are seeking their help. Then ask them for an initial chat, with two or three questions you would like to ask in the initial session. This could be about their experience, their mentorship journey or advice on getting started within the desired field.
It’s also good to lay out some of the challenges or aspirations you have, and then see if there is a fit between your needs and what they have experience in as a mentor. It should be noted that one of the biggest stresses from the mentor’s side is that someone wants help with something you haven’t any experience with at all!
3. Specify your ideal end goal
When looking at how to define the end goal within the mentorship relationship, look for having one large goal (like achieving a role in UX). However, it is beneficial to create many other smaller goals that can also be achieved. For me these were:
● Curating a portfolio
● Completing a UX Design Course
● Developing UX research and design skills through voluntary projects.
● Gaining confidence in speaking and giving public presentations.
4. Define what metrics and KPIs you will measure progress against
Continuing from the last point, it is important to establish what the duration of the mentoring relationship will be and curate how the process will be measured. Within each session, plan a rough outline of what you want to cover before each session and prepare some questions that will help towards the goals.
Something I personally forgot to do was to reflect on progress achieved and note down any lessons learnt from the experience for future development. This can be tangible (such as % increase in projects or intangible such as acquiring and applying specific knowledge)
It’s important to capture these wins and achievements in order to create confidence builders to help keep the momentum of the mentor/mentee relationship going. Mentees like myself want to know they’re gaining something, and mentors want to know that the time they are giving and skills they’re sharing are having a positive effect.
5. Establish how you want the sessions to run
When starting out the mentorship relationship, it’s important early on to consider early on defining how the sessions should be run. A great piece of advice I received recently for facilitating these sessions is through Purpose, People and Process This can include:
Purpose
· What is the reason of this session?
· What is the outcome of this session?
· What are the key questions needing to be answered?
People
· What is expertise and experience can they bring across?
· What perspectives can they bring?
Process
● How often do you want to meet and when would these meetings take place?
● How long will the sessions last?
● What will be the format of the sessions? Would it be advice, feedback on work or a teaching session?
(Thanks to Stratis Valachis for his additional input on this piece)
Remember your mentor is volunteering their time and has other commitments, so use their time wisely and plan beforehand what you want out of the session.
6. What resources and learning materials would you want advice on
Going back to my first point about your reason for finding a mentor, break down what experiences and knowledge you would like to obtain from your mentor to use as self-development tools. This could be:
● Blogs
● Books
● Courses
● Networks and key contacts
7. What skills do you want to develop
It is important to establish what skills the mentor can teach you to help you grow within this field.
● Soft skills (such as writing, public speaking or planning skills to name a few)
● Hard skills (such as wireframing, interviewing or prototyping)
Look to create a Personal Development Plan (PDP) to define what tasks and tools you can practise this skill against.
8. How will you help the mentor to develop
Mentorship can sometimes be defined as a one-way learning process. However, the mentor will also be learning at the same time and is establishing what you can give back as a gesture of thanks for helping you to develop. Therefore, it’s a good idea to ask them how you can help them within their development journey.
9. How will accountability be used to measure progress
It’s worth mentioning that you should work out the amount of accountability you want to feel in the mentoring relationship — if you want the mentor to set tasks or formulate a learning plan, this is something to discuss at the beginning.
Ultimately within this process, it is about yourself being responsible for your own development and what actions will you take from the session and how will you work on this before the next session.
10. What will be the channels of communication outside of the sessions
From the last point about accountability, define which communication channels you will be using in order to keeping up to date with progress and questions you many have before the next meeting.
From this reflection piece, I hope I have given you some insights into the UX mentorship journey and key takeaways for you to use for your own journey.
