How did a fashion enthusiast land up as a UX Researcher?

“What do you want to become when you grow up?” One question, infinite answers.

Everyone begins planning their careers when they are asked about this particular question in their childhood and my response occasionally varied from being a Disney princess to a lawyer. Moving forward, just going with the flow and dramatically changing directions I found my intersection of growth and development in UX Research. As much as it sounds aimless, in reality, it wasn’t.

So here are some takeaways from my experience.

Illustration by Muskaan Jain

1. Figuring out what to do from what you don’t want to do

I seamlessly loved art, social studies and languages which led me to an aspiration that I always want to be on the creative side of the world, and thus I picked the Arts & Humanities stream in Junior College and BA in Degree College. Although I loved what I studied in BA, I lacked the passion to make a career in it and decided to drop out. These instances led me to making my core decision, eliminating any career prospects in the field of Science, Commerce and BA, by being more aware of what I do not want to do than what I wanted to do.

Quick Tip: A Pros and Cons list of the situation, subject or the object can help you evaluate better.

2. Spacing out, running trials and learning from errors

Through trial and error and taking up numerous internships, I concluded that what I thought was my calling actually did not leave me with a sense of accomplishment that I craved for, I hoped to contribute my best to the functioning of society, unfortunately, my first choice of fashion felt more of a personal expression to me than a vocation and mission.

Quick Tip: Internships are a quick way to learn and get a real sense of the work to figure out your fit. Contrary to the common belief you do not need to be a student to intern.

3. Expect the unexpected and take some time to process it

Leaving Mumbai and moving to Patna to study at the National institute of Fashion Technology was a hard decision I had to make but I cannot deny it was inevitably a blessing in disguise. Serendipitously, my core reason to move and study fashion no longer seemed like the right course of action for me but the field of design did. This revelation about my life did not just occur overnight, it took months of overthinking, self-deprecation, self-doubts and endless discussions with my mentors.

Quick Tip: “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are” – Anaïs Nin

A little change in your perspective will open up more possibilities. – Ritika Shirke

4. Knowing what you are capable of by evaluating your skills

Moving miles away from home to study just got me closer to different kinds of cultures, people and experiences which in the long run became my USP. This was a turning point in my life that helped me gain soft skills and become more aware of the current social challenges. Within my course, I had the opportunity to not only explore fashion but also communication design. Fashion helped me broaden my outlook, express and conduct myself. It taught me to consciously evaluate the importance of culture and aesthetics among people. Communication Design armed me with a vision, mission and values while also strengthening my ability to visualise and represent.

Quick Tip: Quit being modest and stop underestimating your potential, if you think you rock at something own it and note it down in the strengths section while doing a SWOT analysis.

Being inspired by the Japanese concept Ikigai which refers to having a direction or purpose in life by providing a sense of fulfilment, I brainstormed my way towards finding my purpose and goal through a little analysis prescribed by the Japanese philosophy.

My analysis

What do I love?

I love ideation, conceptualisation, learning and exploring new ideas, subtle innovations, visualising, researching, understanding the five w’s of a problem and helping people.

What am I good at ?

Communication, empathising, ideation, coming up with solutions, renovations

What can I be paid for?

Research, ideation

What does the world need?

Innovation in social issues, human-centred approach, environment centred approach, goodness along with no harm profits, positive impact through design.

My analysis using the Ikigai Venn Diagram

Quick Tip: Get it all out of your system and on the brainstorming board. Do a little SWOT analysis of yourself too.

5. Aim for the sky and research about the ways to get there

Now to understand where I would fit, I needed to be aware of the available options and opportunities. By constantly refreshing my knowledge, researching current developments and also interacting with people involved in the field (respectfully stalking professionals on Linkedin) helped to rationalise my career decision. The irony is I discovered UX research only through intensive research.

Quick Tip: I encourage you to graciously reach out and interact with people on LinkedIn, Clubhouse, Instagram, Behance to learn, get inspired and broaden your career horizons.

But what do I mean?

By gradually eliminating the unwanted, realising that resistance persists and welcoming the unpredictability means it’s not a problem anymore made me find my way towards a more defined goal of User Research at Hureo. Today, working as an UX Intern at this esteemed organisation is a fortuitous destination that makes the long and winding road that led me here an advantageous curve.

Thus, this is just a simple story that branches out from my personal experience and struggles as evidence to conclude that “Not all those who wander are lost” – J.R.R Tolkien