The UX Path I Took - And Why I’m Sharing It With You
The UX Path I Took - And Why I’m Sharing It With You
Hi there! I’m Anusha, a User Experience (UX) designer at MathWorks.
When I was in school, and the time for university applications came around, I knew that I wanted to do something that combined design and engineering. I then came across a degree that seemed pretty perfect — design engineering. But trying to understand what career paths would be available to me once I had a design engineering degree was a pretty confusing experience. I had no idea what I would be qualified for; I didn’t know what would give me the same joy that Design Technology (DT) projects in school gave me; and UX design wasn’t even on my radar. Now, looking back, I realize how little I knew about how the tech space works. This is a something that comes up every time I go to school careers fairs — most school pupils don’t know about the diverse and exciting careers that are available in this area. That’s why I started this blog — to help young people understand what a career in UX design can offer, and what are some of the ways you can get there.
So let’s go back to the start, and how I got into this space.
My journey into UX design began in year 8, when at a parents’ evening, my DT teacher (Andrew Duffey) told me that I had a talent in the design field. That led to DT becoming my favourite subject. I had always had a mathematical bent of mind, and as I progressed through to sixth form, I realized that I wanted to combine my two passions — design thinking with mathematics. As I got more into the field, I began to think more deeply about the implications of design in our world. I started to understand that design had a crucial role to play in solving real-world problems, which led me into the avenue of human-centred design.
This then led me to my design engineering degree at Imperial.
Imperial’s design engineering program caught my attention because of it’s strong emphasis on tackling real-world problems. That was what had drawn me to this field in the first place, so it felt like it would be a good place to harness and nurture my interests. What really sealed the deal for me was visiting the Design Engineering Open House, and actually talking to students about the type of projects that they were working on. My one piece of advice to prospective students would be to find out as much as possible about the degree — visit universities, see the work, talk to students. Sometimes a more informal approach can work as well, LinkedIn is a great resource for this. Just reach out to people, and ask them to share their journey and what they’ve learned so far. Everybody might not respond, but you’ll be surprised by how many people are willing to share!
That said, it’s important to remember that you won’t know everything about a career path before you start university, and that’s completely normal! Particularly in the tech space, you’ll get to university and there will be whole areas you’ll be introduced to that you didn’t even know where a thing. So stay open, because you might stumble into new interests that you didn’t know about before.
I speak from experience here, because that’s exactly how I got into UX.
When I started university, I intended on becoming a physical product designer. It was in my 2nd year that I discovered that a) I wasn’t very good at manufacturing products and b) I didn’t really enjoy it all that much. That seemed like a pretty solid reason to pivot career directions. It was around this time that I started to learn more about the digital design space. This coincided with me landing my first internship at MathWorks. While I was there for the summer, I realised what a viable career path UX was. I went back in my third year for a six month placement, which led to me getting a full-time offer. I’ve now been working there for a year.
Which brings us today — to starting this blog, with the goal of opening up the world of UX to more young people. Over the coming months, I’ll be sharing interesting case studies, design methods, Figma tips, and practical advice on building a portfolio. Next month, we’ll dive into the fundamentals of UX — so stay tuned!
P.S All thoughts shared here are purely my own — no sponsorships or associations
Hi there! I’m Anusha, a User Experience (UX) designer at MathWorks.
When I was in school, and the time for university applications came around, I knew that I wanted to do something that combined design and engineering. I then came across a degree that seemed pretty perfect — design engineering. But trying to understand what career paths would be available to me once I had a design engineering degree was a pretty confusing experience. I had no idea what I would be qualified for; I didn’t know what would give me the same joy that Design Technology (DT) projects in school gave me; and UX design wasn’t even on my radar. Now, looking back, I realize how little I knew about how the tech space works. This is a something that comes up every time I go to school careers fairs — most school pupils don’t know about the diverse and exciting careers that are available in this area. That’s why I started this blog — to help young people understand what a career in UX design can offer, and what are some of the ways you can get there.
So let’s go back to the start, and how I got into this space.
My journey into UX design began in year 8, when at a parents’ evening, my DT teacher (Andrew Duffey) told me that I had a talent in the design field. That led to DT becoming my favourite subject. I had always had a mathematical bent of mind, and as I progressed through to sixth form, I realized that I wanted to combine my two passions — design thinking with mathematics. As I got more into the field, I began to think more deeply about the implications of design in our world. I started to understand that design had a crucial role to play in solving real-world problems, which led me into the avenue of human-centred design.
This then led me to my design engineering degree at Imperial.
Imperial’s design engineering program caught my attention because of it’s strong emphasis on tackling real-world problems. That was what had drawn me to this field in the first place, so it felt like it would be a good place to harness and nurture my interests. What really sealed the deal for me was visiting the Design Engineering Open House, and actually talking to students about the type of projects that they were working on. My one piece of advice to prospective students would be to find out as much as possible about the degree — visit universities, see the work, talk to students. Sometimes a more informal approach can work as well, LinkedIn is a great resource for this. Just reach out to people, and ask them to share their journey and what they’ve learned so far. Everybody might not respond, but you’ll be surprised by how many people are willing to share!
That said, it’s important to remember that you won’t know everything about a career path before you start university, and that’s completely normal! Particularly in the tech space, you’ll get to university and there will be whole areas you’ll be introduced to that you didn’t even know where a thing. So stay open, because you might stumble into new interests that you didn’t know about before.
I speak from experience here, because that’s exactly how I got into UX.
When I started university, I intended on becoming a physical product designer. It was in my 2nd year that I discovered that a) I wasn’t very good at manufacturing products and b) I didn’t really enjoy it all that much. That seemed like a pretty solid reason to pivot career directions. It was around this time that I started to learn more about the digital design space. This coincided with me landing my first internship at MathWorks. While I was there for the summer, I realised what a viable career path UX was. I went back in my third year for a six month placement, which led to me getting a full-time offer. I’ve now been working there for a year.
Which brings us today — to starting this blog, with the goal of opening up the world of UX to more young people. Over the coming months, I’ll be sharing interesting case studies, design methods, Figma tips, and practical advice on building a portfolio. Next month, we’ll dive into the fundamentals of UX — so stay tuned!
P.S All thoughts shared here are purely my own — no sponsorships or associations
Hi there! I’m Anusha, a User Experience (UX) designer at MathWorks.
When I was in school, and the time for university applications came around, I knew that I wanted to do something that combined design and engineering. I then came across a degree that seemed pretty perfect — design engineering. But trying to understand what career paths would be available to me once I had a design engineering degree was a pretty confusing experience. I had no idea what I would be qualified for; I didn’t know what would give me the same joy that Design Technology (DT) projects in school gave me; and UX design wasn’t even on my radar. Now, looking back, I realize how little I knew about how the tech space works. This is a something that comes up every time I go to school careers fairs — most school pupils don’t know about the diverse and exciting careers that are available in this area. That’s why I started this blog — to help young people understand what a career in UX design can offer, and what are some of the ways you can get there.
So let’s go back to the start, and how I got into this space.
My journey into UX design began in year 8, when at a parents’ evening, my DT teacher (Andrew Duffey) told me that I had a talent in the design field. That led to DT becoming my favourite subject. I had always had a mathematical bent of mind, and as I progressed through to sixth form, I realized that I wanted to combine my two passions — design thinking with mathematics. As I got more into the field, I began to think more deeply about the implications of design in our world. I started to understand that design had a crucial role to play in solving real-world problems, which led me into the avenue of human-centred design.
This then led me to my design engineering degree at Imperial.
Imperial’s design engineering program caught my attention because of it’s strong emphasis on tackling real-world problems. That was what had drawn me to this field in the first place, so it felt like it would be a good place to harness and nurture my interests. What really sealed the deal for me was visiting the Design Engineering Open House, and actually talking to students about the type of projects that they were working on. My one piece of advice to prospective students would be to find out as much as possible about the degree — visit universities, see the work, talk to students. Sometimes a more informal approach can work as well, LinkedIn is a great resource for this. Just reach out to people, and ask them to share their journey and what they’ve learned so far. Everybody might not respond, but you’ll be surprised by how many people are willing to share!
That said, it’s important to remember that you won’t know everything about a career path before you start university, and that’s completely normal! Particularly in the tech space, you’ll get to university and there will be whole areas you’ll be introduced to that you didn’t even know where a thing. So stay open, because you might stumble into new interests that you didn’t know about before.
I speak from experience here, because that’s exactly how I got into UX.
When I started university, I intended on becoming a physical product designer. It was in my 2nd year that I discovered that a) I wasn’t very good at manufacturing products and b) I didn’t really enjoy it all that much. That seemed like a pretty solid reason to pivot career directions. It was around this time that I started to learn more about the digital design space. This coincided with me landing my first internship at MathWorks. While I was there for the summer, I realised what a viable career path UX was. I went back in my third year for a six month placement, which led to me getting a full-time offer. I’ve now been working there for a year.
Which brings us today — to starting this blog, with the goal of opening up the world of UX to more young people. Over the coming months, I’ll be sharing interesting case studies, design methods, Figma tips, and practical advice on building a portfolio. Next month, we’ll dive into the fundamentals of UX — so stay tuned!
P.S All thoughts shared here are purely my own — no sponsorships or associations