After graduating college with my Bachelor’s of Science degree in Visual Communications, majoring in Graphic Design; as a freelancer, I wanted to expand on my skills, yet again. As technology advanced, I redirected my keen sense of attention to detail from previous retail, warehouse, customer service jobs, combined with my design skills and inquired within the tech industry and began studying to become a Salesforce developer. Over a short span of about four months of crammed studying, I felt overwhelmed, yet underwhelmed from lack of creativity. As a contractor, my first project required me to relocate to Virginia, my second to New Jersey. This was also my first time leaving Atlanta, Georgia. I struggled with imposter syndrome everyday and after a while, I just couldn’t see this being my career path. My last Salesforce project ended due to Covid-19. I started working a plant job soon after, while searching for what it was that I really wanted to do.
Hi. I'm Rabi.
User Experience Designer
Introduction
Venturing into a career of UX design was destined to happen for me. For years, I have used the phrase: “I design solutions.” Over the past two years, I started referring to myself as a “visual designer,” because to me, it just felt better. I believe that referring to myself as a visual designer was something of a prophecy. As I began to desire my next level as a creative, I started to inquire more about the difference between the two, which is how I ended up at Thinkful. I arrived here with over twenty years of freelance graphic design experience and over a year of experience as a Salesforce developer.
My Journey
As a child, I said, “ I want to be an artist when I grow up.” This gift came to me naturally. I received an art set every Christmas. They were full of water color paints, colored pastel chalks, and crayons. Throughout grade school, I was always recognized for my artistic abilities in drawing, creative writing, and poetry, just to name a few. As a pre-teen, I became obsessed with magazine ads and loved to study them, which is where my beginner’s sense of layout practice stemmed from.
Becoming the UXer
As I look back, I notice that I never deviated from my initial approach as a designer, which is to listen intently and sketch ideas, before entering the design stage. Allowing people to talk while I take notes during a consultation, then asking additional follow-up, empathy-drawing questions. My end goal is to design a solution based on what they want and not what “I” want them to have. This approach has saved me time, while providing consistent results. I am learning that my patterns have been similar to those of a UX designer - aiming to create a successful human experience. I am excited that becoming a UX designer feels natural for me. Aside from intense research that may be required at times, this new career path I am exploring just feels like I am arriving at home.