Why I Quit UI/UX Design.

Summary

In this video, the speaker shares their decision to quit professional UI/UX design after six years to pursue a different career path that aligns with their personal interests. Despite stepping back from UI/UX, they continue to take on design jobs out of passion. They explain their growth as a team lead, the stagnation they felt in their design career, and the importance of having a diverse skill set in the tech industry. The speaker now works as a front-end developer, leveraging their previous experience and expressing excitement about building their own designs. They also hint at upcoming content on tools like Framer and Webflow for non-coders and a course on Framer.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker has been a UI/UX designer for about 6 years and has recently decided to quit this profession.
• 🔄 They informed their head of technology about this decision, which was met with questions to ensure they were certain about it.
• 🤔 The decision was not made hastily; it was the result of careful thought and self-analysis over time.
• 📉 The speaker's reduced activity on their channel over the past 6 to 8 months is attributed to this decision-making process.
• 🛠️ They have shifted their focus to a different career path, which they had been involved in before becoming a UI/UX designer.
• 🔄 The speaker is not abandoning UI/UX design but rather making it a secondary skill set to their new primary career path.
• 💡 They believe in not limiting oneself to a single career path or skill set and have explored various interests such as backend development and digital marketing.
• 📈 The speaker felt they had stopped growing as a designer, partly due to their role as a team lead which involved more management than hands-on design work.
• 🧩 They value having a variety of skills, especially within the same niche, as it broadens knowledge and increases opportunities.
• 💼 Despite quitting professional UI/UX design work, they still take on design jobs and find more fulfillment and purpose in doing so now.
• 💻 The speaker has transitioned into front-end development, leveraging skills from UI/UX design and prior experience as a front-end developer.
• 🛠️ They find joy in being able to both design and build out their own designs, which is one of the perks of being a front-end developer.
• 🔑 The speaker plans to share more about front-end development and other tools like Framer and Webflow in upcoming videos.

Q & A

Why did the speaker decide to quit UI/UX design?

The speaker decided to quit UI/UX design because they became interested in a different career path and wanted to invest their energy there. This decision was not due to a lack of validation in UI/UX design but a personal interest in another field.

What was the speaker's previous role before becoming a UI/UX designer?

The speaker used to work in the same career path they are returning to, which they had been involved in before becoming a UI/UX designer.

How has the speaker's decision affected their activity on their channel?

The decision has led to a decrease in the speaker's activity on their channel over the past 6 to 8 months, as they were less active than they should have been.

What is the speaker's view on limiting oneself to a single career path or skill set?

The speaker believes in not limiting oneself to a single career path or skill set, and encourages exploring various interests and learning new skills that catch one's attention.

How does the speaker describe their experience as a team lead?

As a team lead, the speaker was involved in managing people, time, and resources, as well as reviewing team members' designs, which led to a decrease in hands-on design work and a feeling of stagnation in their growth as a designer.

What is the speaker's perspective on having a variety of skills within the same niche?

The speaker believes that having a variety of skills within the same niche can increase one's chances of success and provide a broader understanding of their work.

Did the speaker completely stop doing UI/UX design after quitting their professional role?

No, the speaker still takes up UI/UX design jobs occasionally, but they took a break initially after making the decision to quit their professional role.

What career path did the speaker switch to after quitting UI/UX design?

The speaker switched to front-end development as their primary career path after quitting UI/UX design.

How does the speaker's previous experience as a front-end developer help in their new career?

The speaker's previous experience as a front-end developer, along with the transferable skills from UI/UX design, helps them in their new career as it allows them to build designs themselves.

What are the speaker's plans regarding their channel and front-end development?

The speaker plans to continue taking on UI/UX design jobs and also share more about front-end development on their channel, including tools like Framer and Webflow, and possibly a course on Framer.

What is the speaker's opinion on the importance of being able to do more than one thing well in the tech ecosystem?

The speaker believes that while it's good to be excellent at one thing, it's also important to be able to do more than one thing well, especially if they are within the same niche, as it broadens one's knowledge and understanding.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 Transition from UI/UX Design to New Career Path

The speaker begins by greeting the audience and explaining their decision to quit UI/UX design after six years of experience. They had a conversation with their head of technology about this choice, emphasizing it was a well-considered decision. The speaker's reduced activity on their channel is attributed to this career shift, which involved a lot of introspection and analytics. They clarify that their decision was driven by personal interest in a different career path they had previously been involved in. The speaker also discusses their openness to learning new skills and not limiting themselves to one career path, while maintaining a balance between exploration and specialization.

05:00

💼 Embracing Multi-Skilled Approach in the Tech Ecosystem

The speaker shares their perspective on the importance of having multiple skills within the tech industry, especially when one is interested in various areas. They admit to feeling stagnant in their growth as a designer due to their focus on team management as a team lead. This led to a desire to diversify their skillset. The speaker confirms that they still engage in UI/UX design work but have taken a break to refocus and find fulfillment in their work. They have transitioned into front-end development, leveraging skills from their UI/UX background and previous experience. The speaker expresses excitement about building their own designs and hints at upcoming content on tools like Framer and Webflow, as well as a course on Figma for those interested in front-end development.

Keywords

💡UI/UX Design

UI/UX Design refers to the process of designing user interfaces and user experiences for digital products. It is a core concept in the video, as the speaker has been a professional UI/UX designer for six years. The speaker's decision to quit this career path is central to the video's theme, illustrating a shift in professional focus.

💡Career Path

A career path is the trajectory of professional development and job opportunities an individual pursues. In the video, the speaker discusses shifting their career path from UI/UX design to front-end development, which is a significant decision affecting their professional life and the content they produce.

💡Analytics

Analytics is the process of systematically analyzing data or statistics to draw conclusions. The speaker mentions using analytics as part of their decision-making process to quit UI/UX design, suggesting a thoughtful and data-driven approach to their career change.

💡Value

In the context of the video, value refers to the worth or usefulness provided by the speaker's content on their channel. The speaker explains that their decision to quit UI/UX design has affected the value they can offer through their channel, indicating a commitment to relevance and quality.

💡Personal Interest

Personal interest is the inclination or passion an individual has towards a particular subject or activity. The speaker's decision to quit UI/UX design was driven by a personal interest in another career path, highlighting the importance of personal fulfillment in career choices.

💡Skill Set

A skill set refers to the collection of abilities and expertise an individual possesses. The speaker discusses not limiting themselves to a single skill set, emphasizing the importance of versatility and adaptability in professional development.

💡Team Lead

A team lead is a role that involves managing and guiding a team, often including responsibilities such as time management, resource allocation, and team member reviews. The speaker's experience as a team lead in UI/UX design contributed to their growth but also led to a feeling of stagnation in their design skills.

💡Product-Oriented

Being product-oriented means focusing on the development and success of a product, often with an emphasis on user experience and business goals. The speaker mentions becoming more product-oriented as a result of their role as a team lead, which deepened their understanding of how UI/UX design impacts businesses.

💡Front-End Development

Front-end development is the process of building the user-facing side of a website or application, using technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The speaker's decision to switch to front-end development represents a shift from designing UI/UX to implementing it, allowing them to combine design skills with coding.

💡Fulfillment

Fulfillment in a professional context refers to a sense of satisfaction and achievement derived from one's work. The speaker mentions feeling a greater sense of fulfillment after taking a break from UI/UX design and then returning to it, suggesting that a period of reflection can enhance job satisfaction.

💡Framer and Webflow

Framer and Webflow are tools used for designing and prototyping user interfaces without writing code. The speaker mentions these tools as alternatives for those who do not wish to code, indicating a recognition of diverse approaches to UI/UX design and development.

Highlights

The speaker decided to quit UI/UX design after 6 years of experience.

The decision was made after a lot of thought and analytics.

The speaker's decision has affected their activity on the channel.

The speaker has shifted their focus to a different career path due to personal interest.

The new career path was previously a secondary skill set for the speaker.

The speaker believes in not limiting oneself to a single career path or skill set.

The speaker has explored various fields such as backend, server-side applications, and digital marketing.

Curiosity drives the speaker to learn new skills, even if they don't pursue them deeply.

The speaker feels that they have stopped growing as a designer.

Being a team lead involved managing people and resources, which reduced hands-on design work.

The speaker's experience has grown in understanding the business impact of UI/UX design.

The speaker needed to diversify their skills in the tech ecosystem.

The speaker still takes up UI/UX design jobs but with a renewed sense of purpose.

The speaker has switched to front-end development professionally.

Skills from UI/UX design can be transferred to front-end development.

The speaker plans to continue taking on UI/UX design jobs alongside front-end development.

The speaker finds fulfillment in building their own designs as a front-end developer.

The speaker will be creating content on tools like Framer and Webflow for designing websites and web applications.

The speaker is working on a course to help others get started with Framer.

The speaker will share more about front-end development in upcoming videos.

Transcripts

hi guys welcome to today's video it's

been a while and I hope you all are

doing great so today I'm going to be

sharing with you guys why I decided to

quate UI design so I've been a uiux

designer for about 6 years now and at

the time when I made this decision I did

walk up to my head of technology and

tell him I no longer want to work for

the company as a uiux designer of course

he asked a lot of questions and he

wanted to make sure sure I was very sure

of this decision and I did try as much

as possible to let him know that this is

something I have been thinking about

over a period of time this is something

I really want um because I have thought

about it and I have actually spent a lot

of time doing some analytics in my head

and I do feel like this is the best

thing for me at the moment and the

reason I am sharing this with you guys

today is because this decision have also

affected how much value I give on the

channel if you notice over the past few

months let's say 6 to 8 months I haven't

really be as active as I should be on

the channel and I feel like it's

important for you guys to know why so

there are a couple reasons for this

decision of mine and the very first

reason is the fact that I really got

interested and I decided to invest my

energy in a different career path other

than uux Design This doesn't mean uux

design is no longer validated this

doesn't mean there are new jobs in uux

Design This is just a personal interest

of mine as a matter of fact this

particular career path is something I

used to be involved in I used to work as

even before I became a uiux designer and

during the course of these six years of

being a professional uux designer once

in a while I still take up jobs I still

take up um projects in this particular

career path so it's something that I

have always been with but during the

course of these years I have focused on

uiux design while taking this career

path as a secondary skill set but now I

decided to make it primary and make the

uux design career path secondary and I

know a lot of you guys might ask if

you're interested in this what happens

when you get interested in something

else are you just going to keep moving

from one career or one skill set to the

next for me it's a no but I am

definitely not going to limit myself to

a particular career path or skill set

right while being a uiu designer I've

also tried out a lot of things I've

tried out backend and ser side

applications I've also tried learning

sess I've tried learning digital

marketing and a lot of this which is

anything that gets my interest at a

particular point in time sometimes after

investing a lot of energy and resource

into learning a particular skill set if

I don't get reward scenarios to apply

this skill set I might not be able to go

deep into this particular field or

sometimes just knowing the basics is

enough for me I don't intend to know

everything but I intend to feed my

curiosity as it comes so yes I'm going

to try as much as possible to learn

anything that catches my interest but

definitely I'm not going to completely

switch as soon as I get interested right

in this particular case this particular

Niche is something I have always wanted

is something I have always done it's not

just um a thought it's just not a

spontaneous interest it's something that

has always been with me I just decided

to make it like a primary career path so

that is the very first reason so the

second reason is because I felt like I

stopped growing as a designer which for

me is okay because few years ago I

became a team lead and a lot of

activities that come with being a team

lead involves managing people managing

time managing resources um reviewing

your team members design and all kinds

of things right not just the Hands-On

design so while I was still very much

Hands-On I was also very focused on

other aspects that involves leading

people right so I wasn't investing so

much time in improving myself as a uiux

designer per so it easily felt like I

was stuck in the same thing but of

course mentality have grown um

experience have grown I was more product

oriented I understood how how uux design

affects businesses more I could

understand the business goal and I could

map out what the user experience needs

to achieve in order to be aligned with

the business goals I could test the

success rate of UI design in respect to

the business goals and all of these

things that comes with a product

designer or a product design lead right

so which is also really good which is

also really important another reason why

I stopped being a uiux designer was the

fact that I needed to obscure right yes

I'm a UI designer yes I was leading a

team but I needed to have more than that

I felt like in the tech ecosystem it's

okay to be really good at something but

it is also really important to know how

to do more than one thing and be really

good at it right some people might have

a different perspective to this a lot of

people might say it is better you just

focus on a particular skill set for me

that is also good but I do feel like if

something else interests you it's better

you have a variety of skills

especially if it's within the same range

of Niche this helps you increase your

chances this helps you get broader

knowledge on understanding of what

you're doing so a lot of you guys might

ask since I quit uux design do I still

design the answer is yes although I quit

working professionally as a uiux

designer I still take up uiux design job

but the first few months of making this

decision I felt like it was important to

completely take a break as born out

might be another reason for this but

then after a few months of taking a

break now when I take on design jobs I

feel more sense of purpose I feel more

sense of fulfillment and I feel myself

happy to take on this job and happy to

deliver these jobs so yes I still do

uiux design so this brings us to the

question what exactly do I do now um

currently I switched from uux design

into front end development I currently

work professionally as a front end

developer and as you might have guessed

there are a lot of skills that can be

transferred from U design to front end

development and the fact that I was a

frontend developer even before I became

or even before I started working as a u

designer professionally really helped me

this is what I mean by I just didn't

think about this this is something I've

been doing this is something I still did

while being a u designer and this is

something I want to get back into fully

right I want to make it like a primary

career part so yes during the process of

this being a font end developer I still

definitely would take on uu design job

because it's something I love and my

whole career Parts have been branded

around uux Design This is what people

know me for so I'm definitely still

going to keep doing this I love the idea

of creating amazing user experiences but

I also love to be able to build these

designs out myself there's a lot of good

that come with being a frontend

developer for me personally Al one of

the most amazing thing is the fact that

I can create a design and still build my

designs out myself the way I want it

which is super amazing and if you don't

want to write code there are other

options like framer and webflow that can

help you create amazing websites and web

application in my upcoming videos we'll

be diving more into nood tools such as

frema and webflow I'm currently working

on a course on frma that is going to

help you guys get started with frma so

front end development is actually the

reason why I quit uiux design and if

you're asking if you can juggle both

conveniently yes you can um not

conveniently but you can definitely do

this and if you're looking to become a

front-end web developer subsequently

also on my channel like I mentioned I'm

going to be talking more about front end

development and bringing you guys along

my career path so thank you all for

watching thank you all for tuning in um

I'm going to see you guys in my next

video bye for now