I am a UX Designer and part of the UX team here at Triad. I often work with two groups of stakeholders: the service’s end users and the people who have a vested interest in or influence over the service. It is my job to ensure that the design and user experience meet the needs of everyone involved.
I got into UX unexpectedly
I studied psychology at university, with the intention of becoming a clinical psychologist. During my degree, I was given the opportunity to shadow a PhD researcher to get some experience under my belt. The project was super cool, using virtual reality to investigate human behaviour in moral dilemmas involving semi-autonomous cars. That sparked my curiosity about human behaviour and tech. I went on to pursue a master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction and then landed a UX job after university. I’ve been in the UX space since, and I am loving it!
There’s lots to enjoy about being a UX Designer
The variety of work is incredible. I could be conducting interviews, creating prototypes, conducting analysis, facilitating co-design sessions, or working with developers. Regardless of the brief, I am always having to consider lots of different perspectives, so I am always faced with interesting problems to solve. It is satisfying to turn people’s needs and pain points into a service that can help them, and I enjoy seeing my designs come to life.
It helps if you enjoy solving problems
It can be challenging to balance conflicting priorities for a service, such as when user needs conflict with business needs or when a design may not be feasible from a technical/policy perspective. However, these conflicts set the parameters for the service that I am designing, and I see it as just another piece of the puzzle.
A culture of continual learning
To start, each of us identifies our personal objectives, so we have a plan for what we want to achieve. There are also plenty of opportunities to develop. For example, a few weeks ago, one of my colleagues organised an in-person training session for using the GOV.uk prototyping kit. It was a real hands-on session, and I felt supported and learned lots from my colleagues who were more experienced than me.
We are also encouraged to use the Udemy platform to self-learn between assignments. This is a useful tool for topping up our skills and ensuring that we are constantly developing.
If you are starting out in UX
My advice to anyone starting out in UX is to try out different things and be open-minded about where you can end up. I began my career conducting UX research on medical devices, and now I am designing a service for the civil service. If you enjoy learning and are curious, then a career in UX will always be challenging.
If you have a question for Tiffany or the Triad team, please get in touch.
