The career advice that got me to Amazon
Hey there! I’m Raika, a Senior UX and Conversation Designer at Amazon. If you’re new here, welcome! You can subscribe to my Secrets to Great UX Design newsletter for weekly insights. I share actionable ways to create great experiences, grow your career and more… for designers and non-designers.
I’ll always remember my summer internship in Chicago. I was sitting in a conference room for a roundtable at Razorfish, a digital consulting agency.
It’s where I got the advice that, without a doubt, shaped my career.
The advice:
Become an expert.
Pick something, go deep, learn all you can about it and establish yourself as the UX expert.
Expertise takes time tho. Years, right?
Yes and no.
They let me in on a little secret, the reality is that to be an expert you just need to know more than the next guy.
To be a bit more knowledgeable. To have the willingness and curiosity to keep learning and finding answers to questions people have. And be willing to put a stake in the ground with your point of view (POV).
Example 1: New Devices
When iPads hit the market in 2010, they were the new and exciting device. But what made an iPad app great was unknown. Which meant there was an opportunity to be an expert. Getting my hands on the office iPad wasn’t easy, so I made a $500 investment in an iPad of my own. I explored the device, understood the uniqueness and put together a POV on what to do and what not to do when designing for iPads.
Example 2: eCommerce
At the beginning of my career, I recognized the opportunity of eCommerce with the iPhone opening the door to mobile shopping. The ability to purchase something via your phone was a massive shift. Personally, I loved shopping online so I had a good baseline. As I would shop, I noted what worked well and what didn’t. I found the Baymard Institute (an independent web usability research institute) and used their data to support my design decisions and to get buy-in during presentations. Referencing the data gave me credibility and boosted my recommendations.
Examples 3: Conversation Design
Then, Amazon announced Alexa in 2014. The headlines claimed screens were going away and in 10 years, technology would be ambient and conversational.
So I worked to become an expert at the next big thing, Conversation Design and AI. I didn’t have a linguistics education but I had a unique perspective as a UX designer that I leaned into. I dove deep into the technology, understanding the capabilities, the limitations, what worked well and what didn’t. I studied the art of conversation and storytelling. And I designed chatbot experiences in my free time. What makes it enjoyable? What makes it boring or painful? What problems are best solved with conversation? Who can benefit most?
I found my way to Moonshot, a digital product studio, where I started writing about Conversation Design. I wrote about my research, opinions, personal anecdotes, and made predictions. I posted my articles on Medium and LinkedIn. And I submitted presentation topics to conferences and went to speak. Sharing my POV on what made a great experience as we helped brands enter the space.
I became an expert by learning. Doing. And sharing.
Thought leadership content helped me put myself out there. Establishing myself as an expert beyond my design portfolio.
Then a former colleague and mentor saw that I was working on voice and approached me about joining Amazon.
Being an expert isn’t for everyone tho.
Why you shouldn’t become an expert?
No one looks to you, you can live safely in the middle of the pack.
You don’t have to try as hard.
You have more time for TV and hobbies.
You don’t have to put yourself out there, you can be agreeable.
Why should you become an expert?
It’s more fun and intellectually interesting.
You’re self-motivated and curious.
You’re willing to be anti-mimetic, disagreeable.
You get to be a pioneer on the frontier.
It gives you career security.
So, if you want to become an expert, start by picking something that interests you.
It could be an emerging technology - generative AI, blockchain, augmented reality. Learn everything there is to know about it. Or how to design a type of experience - dashboards, iOS apps, marketing websites. Maybe being an expert in an industry - logistics, eCommerce, education, healthcare.
Remember, you don’t want people to request a UX designer for their project, you want them to request you. Being a designer with expertise is what makes you a “must-hire”.
Get resourceful. Find a mentor. Start doing. Develop a POV and share it.
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Until next week,
raika
I love this story and how you managed to spot trends and build expertise around them.
I have a general aversion towards being an expert, however. I'm a generalist through and through; I like knowing many things, exploring unusual things and then combining them if it makes sense. My personality makes it hard for me to just focus on one thing. I used to think it used to be to my detriment, but now I think that regardless whether you are looking to become an expert or a generalist what matters is intentionality, curiosity, and persistence.
Great post!
I am trying to do this with an aspect of AI design now and love that you had a similar path - any chance I can get a link to some of those conversational design articles?