Background

Hi I’m Jack! I graduated from my masters degree in Creative Digital Media and User Experience design in 2021. I felt like the degree was great in certain aspects, but it left a bit of a gap between education and employment. Over the course of the UX Tree Mentorship Programme, I’ve improved my skills in certain areas that have helped me land my first job as an Associate Product Designer at Genesys. 

Here are some of the skills I improved thanks to the UX Tree:

 

1. Research skills (Design Thinking)

The first area I felt I improved throughout the course on the mentorship programme was my Research skills. My mentor Pranjal has an extensive knowledge and background in Design Thinking which was really invaluable throughout my experience of the mentorship programme.

Before starting the programme, Design Thinking felt a bit alien to me. But it was one of these phrases I found kept recurring on job specs. Having someone as helpful as Pranjal actually break the steps down into actionable steps was brilliant.

As design thinking is quite research orientated I felt I improved my own skills in actually conducting UX research through empathising with actual users needs, user testing, gaining qualitative insights sending out surveys getting more quantitative feedback which also informed empathy maps and customer journey maps. Gaining  a solid understanding  of a design methodology that is becoming more and more industry standard. 

 

2. Confidence for Interviews

Through doing the UX mentorship programme I began to feel a bit more confident when talking about design. I think fresh out of college there this kind of imposter syndrome people go through and this is something I definitely experienced.

I found the mentorship programme was structured in a way that allowed for conversation and collaboration around design which in turn built confidence, which is something I felt I could bring into the interview process. Communication and storytelling is a big part of being a designer.

Through group chats review sessions one to one calls with Pranjal over Slack and larger group presentations with all the mentors and mentees the programme definitely facilitates growth in this area. 

 

3. A Solid Case Study 

The stand out thing for me from the programme was gaining a solid case study that I could confidently talk through in my design portfolio. I have so much gratitude for being paired with Pranjal as his advice on how to structure the project and feedback he provided throughout the process was first class.

The project consisted of reevaluating the current renewal process of the Irish motor tax website. In an attempt to reduce usability issues with the current website, and lead to an overall better experience for users. 

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Conclusion 

If you’re fresh out of college and looking to improve your design skills and gain experience from a more senior designer I would Highly recommend the UX Tree mentorship programme, to sharpen your design skills, grow your network and help you land a job in UX.