Published on | Prototyping: From UX to Front End — Medium Nimisha Soni

It was the job I interviewed for that I didn’t want but here’s how I survived my first UX job at a startup.

Having worked on a few UX concept projects and bagging my first BBC documentary I knew I had to eventually get an actual UX job! I attended a number of interviews, countless meet-ups and networking events and was told I was either over qualified or under-qualified for the roles I applied for.

What I wanted

Being a junior I wanted my first role within a team where I would be surrounded by more experienced UX designers and opportunities to work on different platforms. I completely dismissed the idea of joining a startup.

Why would I pay fifty billion pounds to change careers and join a startup where I would be stuck on a single platform, be expected to wear twenty billion hats and stress for a potentially terrible rate?!. No, no, no this was out of the question!

Desperate times

After months of trying I thought sod it, let’s see which startups are looking for a UX designer. So applied for two opportunities. One company went bust and the other offered me a position. This was the position I really (REALLY) didn’t want. Why? Well you hear horror stories when you meet other UX designers at events some of which are because of reasons stated below.

Solution first. I was presented with the solution that was going to revolutionise the industry…hmmm
Most of my interview was spent looking at wireframes a marketing intern created and I just didn’t get it. Who was it for and how exactly was it going to help?
The product was already being pitched to clients … the product didn’t exist!
Not a single person in the team had experience working on a SaaS platform.
They needed a UX/UI/product designer and I considered myself a Junior UX designer.

So in the week leading up to the phone call, I started crawling the net desperately for other opportunities. Anything would have done even dog walking was an option! Not because I needed the money but so I had an excuse to turn it down. I know what you must be thinking; “why wouldn’t you just be honest?” Because out of a hundred billion interviews sods law this would literally be the only one that wanted me. Innit!

Actually…

Before I carry on, I can see that I may be coming across a bit negative Nancy right? (sorry if your name is Nancy) Let me tell you that joining a startup was the right decision to make and provided me with greater appreciation from a business perspective, as well as providing me with more experiences, challenges and opportunities than I had expected. Working in a startup also reminded me of why I become UX designer and perhaps one day I may consider being a product manager.

Ready, set, JUMP!

I accepted the job. I remind myself to leave my ego at the door (cheers Andrew Godfrey), I reflected on my last post about how ‘I UX’d my life to discover who I am’ for a confidence boost and then prepared to immerse myself into an industry I knew very little about, digital content marketing and publishing.

My tips on surviving

So my initial contract was three months. Three months to go from concept to MVP and the more people I told the more I was told the platform was going to fail…great!

Tip 1

Take other peoples experiences in startups with a pinch of salt. There are good days, bad days and damn right awful days but I feel it really comes down to getting perspective on each situation and getting super comfortable with change.

Tip 2

I know to some this may sound obvious but I feel like it needs to be said. If you are the only UX designer in a small team you need to manage your own time, pick and choose your tools and decide what deliverables are necessary.

Tip 3

I worked more closely with developers than I ever thought I would so my advice is get to know them well, they are bloody awesome! Find out how they work and agree on how best to prepare deliverables.

Tip 4

Whether you’re creating a product from scratch or picking up where someone left off, get to know as many people as possible that are involved with the product in any way including the sales team … I did this and discovered the product meant something different to everyone so I had to align the team, set business goals, define end users and create a mission statement that everyone agreed on.

Tip 5

Share your UX knowledge. I bought in my favourite UX books, encouraged my team to come with me to UX events and even went as far as putting up daily UX quotes on my little bit of wall space. Did it work? Well I didn’t get one of my favourite books back and I think the product assistant may soon become a talented UX designer.

Tip 6

Time is precious so always set a clear objective at the start of a meeting or workshop to avoid wasting it. Literally write the objective somewhere and display it! Although it’s easier said than done try your best to get your team away from their computers. FOCUS PEOPLE!

Tip 7

Park it. I wish I could remember who to credit for this! During your meetings or workshops people may digress, so if it isn’t in line with your objective ask them to write it down on a post it and stick it in a designated space called the ‘car park’ This way they wont feel like their input is being ignored.

Tip 8

If you’re working on an in house platform don’t worry about prettifying your insights straight away, just ensure they are always visible. So find and claim a wall or notice board. Don’t get me wrong, I love designing beautiful personas but sometimes a sharpie, paper and stick men will suffice!

Tip 9

Get the team involved in the discovery stage of your process. It was important for me to make sure my product manager attended some user interview sessions. It was a great way for him to understand the end users needs, goals and pain points. This meant he was able to contribute and highlight some key insights!

Tip 10

Reach out to more experienced professionals. I was so grateful to have been able to reach out to Andy Marshall, head of UX from Rufus Leonard. He helped me design a workshop to align the team, and on another occasion; where I was thrown a curve ball; he helped me get perspective and context on a task by asking me a number of questions relevant to what I was trying to achieve.

What did I learn?

Yes I wore wear multiple hats and I learnt how to facilitate and help a company define their product so it was no longer just a concept. I learnt the granular complexities that go into designing a product from scratch and how integral the role of a UX designer is within the product team. I learnt how my insights contributed to strategy and I think I may now be an expert in content marketing and publishing!

Also…

It’s become apparent to me that UX is still a fairly new concept for businesses to understand the value of and still a struggle for me to put into a simple sentence. My dad tells people I’m a design developer…don’t ask, just don’t.

I hope this is helpful to those of you who have just changed careers and thought about joining a startup. Thank you to Andy Marshall, Andrew Godfrey, and Nejal Patel.

How I survived my first UX job at a startup (start-up, start up?) was originally published in Prototyping: From UX to Front End on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How I survived my first UX job at a startup (start-up, start up?)

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