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What being a solo UX UI Designer in a company means?
Well, it means a lot of things.
Things such as being responsible to create a design system for B2B/B2C platforms from the ground up while working on an ongoing project from a previous designer (who no longer works in the company) or agency and no one has any clue where the files are, therefore, it’s up to you to organize them. My favourite one would be whatever you read on the job description it’s more than that.
I’m not done yet.
Working closely with product managers, devs, engineers, sales and merchant/customer success team. Not to mention completing projects in a fast-paced environment, with less design process (unfortunately) and attending meetings. Last but not least, when gathering feedback and you choose not to apply some of them, those people will be upset with you. Even though, my favourite quote is “you are the design”.
It‘s a lot of work and sadly the salary and the responsibility doesn’t match.
As designers, we‘re taught whether in university/college or bootcamps that it’s essential to apply the design process. Of course, that depends on the size of the project. I get that. Starting a project with a design process helps understand the problem and reduces revision. All of the W’s are answered by the time you get to the UI portion. No matter how much you explain that to your boss, colleagues or stakeholders they just don’t care because time = money.
I’ve been designing for almost 14 years now and worked with some of the largest brands in the world.
In 2013, I was hired at an advertising agency to redesign one of their client’s websites in the automotive industry and was looking for a designer with the mobile experience.
At the time a designer with mobile experience was hard to find.
My job was to redesign their website from the ground up and provide them with their first mobile platform where customers can review car details, able to book an appointment at the nearest dealership, build and price, and more. For this project, I had to wear multiple hats. UX UI ( of course), designed all of the headers — which was not my responsibility, that…
