MASTER SERIES TO GAIN UX MASTERY / S01-E03
48 min
English 26 January 2019
In this interview, Menaka shares with us the lessons from her very successful UX career. Having worked in diverse industries and organizations, Menaka shares some of the most practical ways to create a rewarding UX career even when you don’t know where to start.
Her journey is epitomized how there is no shortcut to success and the only way you know if something works or not is by doing it. She shares how not asking questions might be holding you back from being a better designer. Make sure you are taking notes as she shares extremely practical ways to start a career even when you feel you have nothing to start with, on how to find mentors, how to do reach outs for jobs and much more.
TIMESTAMPS QUOTES BOOKS ABOUT COMMENTS
TIMESTAMPS
| [7:28] | How can someone make that decision whether UX is a career for them or not? |
|---|---|
| [12:53] | How can someone from a different background than design make a portfolio? |
| [18:59] | What are the paths and skills that are important to enter into UX Design? |
| [23:02] | What are the mistakes a young designer make? |
| [25:12] | How can someone find a mentor? |
| [28:04] | Why asking questions is important? |
| [33:53] | How should one approach towards UX Jobs? |
| [37:53] | How should one decide whether to do freelance or a Job in a company? |
| [41:47] | Product Company or Agency – What path to choose? |
QUOTES
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- Don’t redesign for the sake of a portfolio, It needs to be solving a genuine problem. Because understanding the problem is a very different skill and it comes with practice.
- Just keep your eyes and ears open to any sort of news. It doesn’t need to be design related but reading about generally what’s happening in different parts of the world is very helpful.
- Education or learning is something that never goes to waste.
- Read a lot of blogs and articles. That’s a lot of inspiration to take in.
- You have to do the homework of what kind of jobs you want to apply before you apply. Don’t consider it like a machine-gun approach where you apply for all the jobs at once. I think it’s better to be a sniper and sort of target the companies you want to go in.
BOOKS
ABOUT
UX Designer
Menaka Chandrasekhar is a senior UX Designer at Property Guru which is Asia’s Most Influential Brand for Online Property Search. From creating brochures for her freelance clients to now designing a product with 2 million property listing and 50,000 agents, Menaka’s journey is quite remarkable.…
Though she make it sound so smooth and easy, there is a lot that has gone into making it a successful one.Over the past 10 years, Menaka has worked in diverse working environment and with clients across the globe including names like Huge Inc., Avanade Singapore, SapientNitro Singapore, Qern among others.
Formally trained in Graphic Design, she transitioned into UX with a lot of hard work, self learning and Grit. Now she loves to learn and share with others.Though she specializes in creating human centered products, she also understands the value of business needs and goals.In past she has worked closely with the multiple stakeholder to build both successful and usable products. Read More
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