This is one of many documentaries you will find on the internet. But this one is mine, I invite you to share my journey with me and also my hope for the future. Maybe I can inspire you, maybe you will find it a waste of time. You decide.
My Journey into UX
I am working as an engineer in Cairo, Egypt, when I realized that after Covid19 the world seemed more closed in real-life and expanded more in virtual life. More people started either getting laid off or they left their job for different reasons (getting paid less, fear of pandemic return and deciding to go remote, etc.…).
Around that time, I discovered a scholarship from my government for learning aspects of design, programming, marketing, cloud software, and others, teaming up with Udacity, to either increase tech. awareness, or rehabilitate the market (couldn’t find a better word for making the market active again). Either way, I was interested and took my first course, which was about HTML/CSS programming. I passed it and applied for JS as an advanced course, but I stopped midway.
I turned my attention to marketing (while started looking for freelance opportunities on the side with my newly acquired knowledge) and took a course on digital marketing from the same source, Udacity.
That’s when I came across the term User Experience, it got my attention and I started looking it up, reading articles, and watching videos about what it meant to be a UX designer. This helped me understand the basics of what they do and gave me some ideas for how I could get started myself!
Exploring UX
I found a YouTube video on how to know if UX is right for you or not. And it directed me to Career Foundry’s 7-day free course. I completed it and found that I wanted more. That’s when I knew I was doing it for real and it clicked with me.
Looking for a way to know more about UX was not difficult but it was a bit expensive for me to explore those options. That’s when I found that Google had a course program dedicated to teaching UX Design, and it was affordable, I took it.
I was shocked and somewhat nervous figuring out that only about 30% passed and completed the program, but I was determined. From July to December 2022, I was in a never-ending learning and amazing improvement, and by the 2nd of December, I got my certificate with 3 cases under my belt. You can view them here.
Developing my skills and the future
Owing to my almost decade of experience in the engineering field, I felt that the UX part suited me well. But I was not as good in the UI part, so I will complete the journey I said. And Here I am after 6 more months of taking courses in Photoshop, Illustrator, and even InDesign.
Working as a freelancer with some friends and clients during this time helped me hone them and provide better results and know what works and what’s not (while also helping me earn a bit). I still have a lot to learn and more projects to try but it is just a matter of time and effort.
I can say for sure that I became a UI/UX Designer and a Graphic designer.
I will keep learning and improving as the market keeps improving and the only way is forward.
Though it may seem difficult to get in the industry and switch careers especially as I am getting paid well as an engineer. But I am confident in the future (am I sounding too optimistic? Maybe!).
Tell me your story. Want to read more?
I can help you to design your brand, email me.