I remember waking up on Monday morning, January 2017, and dreading getting out of bed. Gradually over the course of the 2 years I stopped traveling for work, my start time pushed later and later. I told myself it was because my clients were on the West Coast or because I wasn’t on call until 10:30am anyway... but really... I knew.
I hated my job.
And I felt GUILTY. I loved my coworkers, I loved my clients, I loved knowing the answers when clients had problems and being able to figure it out. So... what’s the deal? But I knew. I knew that’s what it was. That I could be doing MORE. BETTER. IMPACTFUL things.
I remember my first Monday morning walking into General Assembly 6 months later. The nerves, the excitement, the... possibilities. And that was my first Monday morning after my last Friday working at that old job. The contrast between the Monday before and this Monday was stark. And the reality was... this Monday was actually a totally different reality than all other Mondays. I was in a possibility vortex. Anything was possible. The world was my oyster!
Fast forward to today. This Monday. July 2020.
I was laid off from my job last Wednesday. This is my first Monday. It’s no wonder that the only place I want to be is Ponce City Market (General Assembly’s Atlanta location) today. So that’s where I’ll be this afternoon. Because I can feel it. The nerves, the excitement, the... possibilities.
Do you feel it too?
When I first worked on my portfolio at General Assembly, my goal was to get a job. And that was it. My portfolio was a means to an end — showcase that I could in fact design some interfaces, a prototype, using some sort of UX process.
So you’ve been hearing about UX design for a little bit now and you’re wondering if it’s time for you to make the career switch. You’ve got all the bootcamps pinned in your browser, you’ve heard about some local (or virtual) UX Meetups but haven’t mustered up the courage to go, and you just discovered the magical (overwhelming) world of Medium.
When I think of the core tenets of UX design, I think of these: You are not the user. If you’re too close, ask someone or take a break. When in doubt, test it
I’ve been feeling STUCK. 2020 really threw me for a loop, and while I know I’m not alone in that, it feels pretty lonely in quarantine with Netflix and my dog.
Last week I received the surprising news that I would no longer be working at PGi. And while I’m grateful for the way they handled it and the timeline they’ve given me, it’s kind of like that break-up that you sort of saw coming and wish you had gotten to it first (except not really because #severance).