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Chunbun's channel is one of the first UX Design Channels that I came across during the early stages of my transition journey into UX. Her videos provide tips and tricks on how to enter the industry without professional help, and how to navigate the field. Later on as her career progresses she started to share her experience in larger organizations such as Facebook. Her experience was not exactly pleasant, which made her decide to move back to her old workplace which was way smaller but had a tightly knitted community amongst employees. I thought it was very brave and courageous of her to speak out against a well-known organization. I was thankful to learn about something that seems to be the ultimate success goal for individuals in this industry. Learning about her experience and tips on what to expect made me realize how I should go about planning for my future.

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Marisa Chentakul is a close friend of mine who graduated from Master of Human-Computer Interaction and Design at University of Washington. Before that she got her Bachelor's degree in Textile Printing and Fashion Design. Her journey in transitioning to UX was so impressive during COVID -19 she started to share her struggles and how she transitioned from the fashion industry into UX through her Tiktok channel, now she is a full-time Product Designer at Tiktok and has her own start-up, as well as an influencer on Instagram and Tiktok.

Value: The way she uses social media to connect to people, especially in the midst of the pandemic was so successful that I wanted to hone in on that aspect for my project. She has a great way of storytelling her story and how she can bring value through her experiences to the rest of the community.

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This app will allow users to enter the world of UX Designers and into their train of thought. Whether it be issues to do with business goals or user goals, this app allows users to connect to one another, multimedia channels that talks extensively about the topic and a safespace to share stories and experience without judgmental.

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1. Design other pages
2. Test out the screens with UX Designers who are part of the target community
- Does it resolve their pain point?
- Is the app easy to use?

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https://www.figma.com/proto/aa73imQfM44tz3XNKrOXh5/Untitled?page-id=0%3A1&node-id=152%3A5538&viewport=-946%2C-10991%2C0.66&scaling=scale-down&starting-point-node-id=152%3A5538

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Users can read articles, tips and tricks on ux issues in a safe way.

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- Feature 1: Existing Discussions Joined Section
In this section, users can see what discussions they previously joined and commented.

- Feature 2: Topic Filter
Filter apparent for users to select the trending tags on discussion posts and related multimedia. As for NDA topics this filter will help screen out projects that require more attention to words and details about the project.

- Feature 3: Watch, Listen & Learn Section
Categories of multimedia related to the tags: Podcasts, Youtube Videos, Articles, and more.

- Feature 4: Popular Topics
Users can browse through the hot topics being discussed on the app by the community.

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Users can join in existing discussions to read and learn about the topic issue and join the discussion to share and provide opinions / experience / stories about the topic.

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Designission = Design + Discussion

- User Login : Existing customers can see what discussions they joined.

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App Inspiration - Rebel Girls, Inspiring Stories of Women #communityplatform

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App Inspiration - Rebel Girls, Inspiring Stories of Women #communityplatform

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Value - #Sharing Stories
This app is a collection of stories, podcasts, videos of inspirational women including iconic names like Oprah Winfrey, Lady Gaga and more. The app allows users to read/listen/watch these amazing individuals stories in an intimate and personal way at their own pace.

I like how they utilize this space for users to connect to individuals who want to share their experience. I want to include the same features to the proposed solution app.

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I like how this app creates a mood and tone for users to feel calm and relaxed. The illustrations and graphic adds ambience to the app, making the experience delightful and quite entertaining.

Features to add to proposed solution
- Illustrations
- Motivational quotes

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App Inspiration - Headspace #creatingsafespace

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App Inspiration - Headspace #creatingsafespace

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Meditation and mindfulness app for any mind, any mood, any goal

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Application Features:
- Provide non-disclosure "Tags" on topics that include NDA
- Show author role: UX Designer, Product Manager so on.
- Tag for NDA projects: Screen out information about client / business
- Discussion board / topics related to issue
- Platform can be organizational wide or individual
- Ability to add topics
- Ability to talk instantaneously with fellow designers
- Ability to chat to individuals in the organization privately
- Provide multimedia about the issue including podcast channels, Youtube Videos and more.

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1. Convenience in accessing the support is key
- Initially I wanted to create an in-person support group but hearing from the interviewees I will be shifting my project to create an application instead.

2. A non-disclosure platform that is safe to talk about issues and topics not directed towards a certain business / client.
- Since NDA projects are very common, all designers would like to have a safe space for them to communicate about NDA projects without trouble. They are open to discussing issues / topics they face as a designer on NDA projects but not details of the exact business goals.

3. A safe space for designers AND product managers to talk about balancing user vs business goals from different perspectives.
- Not ONLY UX designers feel this pain point, product managers do as well. We should not exclude these communitites outside of the conversation. Therefore, this app may need to cater to different roles in the project.

4. Ability to add topics
- See common threads of similar topics / issue discussed

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Accenture UX/UI Designer - "I want a safe space to discuss the business goals vs user goals I am trying to balance in my workplace without exploiting the details (NDA) of the project. Usually, since the project is so secretive, it is hard to talk about businesses with fellow designers for support."

TikTok Product Designer - "Although I can walk up to my fellow designers and ask for their support, sometimes we're all too busy to chat during work hours and since COVID-19 all of us are working remotely, so it's hard to even meet up with co-workers."

T-Mobile Product Manager - "It is important for designers to be able to balance the user and business goals since they are designing products for users but under the restriction of a client's business model. Having a safe space for product managers and designers to talk about how to collaborate and balance these goals is essential for a healthy dynamic in the workplace."

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What I planned to do:
I will be interviewing 5 UX Designers ages between 25-28 who works at Apple, Google, Spotify, TikTok and T Mobile and will be asking them questions on their experience as a UX Designer and how they navigate balancing user and business goals.

What I actually did:
Interviewed 3 designers:
Female 27 @ TikTok - Product Designer, 2 years experience
Male 25 @ T-Mobile - Product Manager, 2 years experience
Female 26 @ Accenture - UX/UI Designer, 2 years of experience

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Comm Lead has curated a series of talks with designers to share their experience and their journey of getting to where they are.

In this talk for example explores tips and tricks in getting into UX.

About the event:

Glassdoor has recently listed UX designers as one of their best tech jobs for 2020. However, as many UXers have found out, breaking into UX or finding a UX job can be challenging.

Whether you are a new UXer graduating from Comm Lead, a seasoned graphic designer looking to transition to UX, or an experienced pro looking for your next UX job at Google, you are invited to join our April First Friday to hear from three experienced Google UXers on how they have gotten to where they are today.

Interact with senior UX recruiter, writer and designer at Google and get answers to questions like:

Recruiting process at Google

How do you build a portfolio that catches the eye of Google’s hiring manager?

What skills are critical to demonstrate in interviews?

There will also be ample time to network with panelists in the breakout room session.

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Comm Lead April First Friday with Google

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Listen to the target audience #Valuestoproject

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Listen to the target audience #Valuestoproject

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I think having a support group within the community is great, but one thing that Comm Lead does well is listening to their target community. I remember doing a survey or hearing friends who work as part of the Comm Lead Consultancy Program, asking everyone what they want through the program. What topics, events, talks or help that students are seeking. Without this consultancy program, I would not have had half the support for job finding on my own. Therefore, this is a great way to collect data from targeted communities, making sure the support is answering the community's pain point.

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I think it is very valuable to learn about both positive and negative reality of the industry. UX industry is often portrayed as high-tech, cool and pays well, however, there is always a dark side to every industry that is not explored enough. Seeing how her bad experience gave me such a motivation to pivot my future goals, I think it will also be useful in my project. By providing a framework of support for designers in the workplace, I should not consider only positive experiences but also highlight negative experiences that people are going through so that everyone can relate and find comfort knowing they are not alone.

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This is a great sign that such a large organization is taking an initiative to encourage relational support amongst co-workers so that everyone feels at home and connected. The value I want to bring from this example is to see the type of talks they provide for employees and how effective it is in remote-settings. Especially for new-joiners, how do they feel being part of the large organization, fears, pain points and what they wish they had. Knowing this, I can curate a model for an organization wide support system that provides the right support and motivation for designers who are specifically struggling to navigate between users and business goals.

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Having a safe space to connect and broadcast experiences from professional designers is very important. Although this podcast is aimed at new-incoming designers who are looking to transition their career into UX design, I imagine the same kind of support is needed for those who are current designers feeling burnt out or pressure in their field of work. This podcast is a great start to providing creative ways to support the community through storytelling, I wish to amplify their success into my project. Having support in a form of a weekly podcast might just help someone through their toughest times.

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Balancing business goals and advocating for users needs often clash in work places.

Designers are having to bear those colliding goals.

This issue is often not exploited or talked about enough to help designers handle the stress and implication they might face when dealing with this situation.

As a result, designers are left with having to create a product that they don’t believe in and knowing their product will exploit users and their vulnerability.

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I believe this issue unresolved can lead to burn out and design fatigue.

It is more apparent in UX designers since we are creating experiences that will dictate how people will interact with a product, this can either be supportive or harmful to society.

Producing bad experiences or supporting dark patterns in products may lead to innocent lives being broken or people being scammed from loopholes of our design.

It could be handled better if only designers know how to balance the importance of users vs business goals.

Having the courage to stand up for users, advocating their rights and knowing when to draw the line with businesses.

A community that understands these struggles should also be created in a workplace, having a safe space to share hardships and frustration can bring together positivity and immense support.

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Topic: Creating a safe space for designers to empathize with users, NOT just business goals

Where does it occur:

In workplaces, projects and team discussions

Organizations that provide UX services to customers

Whom does it effect:

UX Designers, UI Designers, Product Designers

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Why I left my Facebook design job *the honest truth*

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I want to learn the framework she uses to create content on both social media channels and in turn, this will curate into how I go about promoting my project. For my project to add value to the community at target, people have to know about it. Only then the power of supportive community can arise. I also may want to collab with her on ways to integrate the types of mentoring she provides, both technical and mental support, to her followers in a larger setting such as a global organization.

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UX Talks is a podcast series on Spotify hosted by two amazingly talented UX Designers Loana and Anfisa. Together they have 20 years of experience in the UX field. The series include honest weekly conversations about UX design career, challenges, portfolios, mental health, and all the things UX.  They aim to share their experiences, techniques and motivations to help anyone to transition to design overcome fears.

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#5 Mental health. Burnout. Bare minimun | w/Gabriel Kirmaier as UXbites

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Listen to this episode from Honest UX Talks on Spotify. 2020 is FINALLY behind! But after such a rollercoaster year, we've all left feeling a little burnout or et least mentally drained. In this episode, we've invited our friend Gabriel Kirmaier (@uxbites) to discuss why he took the whole 2020 year OFFline and how it impacted his productivity.

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Accenture Interactive is a large consultancy organization that has operating teams across 125 hubs, studios, innovation and delivery centers, in over 120 countries, united by a common vision.

With so many UX Designers in their organization working amidst the remote-working environment, they have found ways to connect and improve relationships between employees and even clients through a series of talks and events hosted internally and externally that are open to all employees.

These events are free of charge and are encouraged to participate.

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"Building products for Users require empathy and transparency, something business goals may not align"

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"Building products for Users require empathy and transparency, something business goals may not align"

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I plan to join this project as a host of one of their podcasts to find out more about the struggles in the UX field, especially for incoming UX Designers and tips and tricks on what they have been working on since the project launch in 2018.
Their expertise and experience will be very valuable to my project since it is something that I want to implement not only as an external project but integrate within the organizations so that everyone effected is accessible and encouraged to participate.

Project Website:
https://marisachentakul.co/project/design-picnic

Podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/show/5txFz3fClzCntnjrrNeZ8D?si=b3c378116baa439e

Project Brief:
How might we build a community where Thai design talents around the world can inspire each other by co-creating, fluidly exchanging information, and mentoring.

Channels:
Youtube, Spotify, Soundcloud, Anchor, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

Role:

User Research, Podcast Moderator, Branding, Content Creator, Social Media strategist.

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An initiative created by 2 designers who came together to help mentor incoming designers in tech navigate the industry.

Background:
Design Picnic is inspired by Mind's (Co-founder) design mentorship program from 2018. With the rapid startup growth in Thailand, the demand for designers is getting higher but there is a very limited resource for Human-Centered Design in Thai. Wanting to give back and pay it forward to the Thai community, Mind Apivessa and Marisa Chentakul (UX Designer at Tiktok) started Design Picnic to cultivate a design community in Thailand. They took this opportunity to grow their design network and learn from the talented designers that they collaborated with.

Painpoints:

Lack of mentorship: There are not enough Senior Designers for aspiring designers to learn from in Thailand.

Language barrier: There is barely enough design resources in Thai. Almost every design-related articles, books, podcasts, and blog posts are in English.

No formal design education in Thailand: Since this field is still relatively new, there are no boot camps and universities that offer digital design.