My Journey To Becoming a UI/UX Designer

Enrolling for the SGA (Stutern Graduate Accelerator) program was totally unanticipated for me.

When I got the e-mail invite, I shrugged it off and almost didn’t apply. I had thought to myself “Hmmm, do I really want to venture into UI/UX and Front-end development again?” You see, I had previously worked as a Junior Web Developer for four months but I left the company because I wasn’t really enjoying what I was doing; not that Front-end design wasn’t interesting, but I hated the company’s culture, this made me hate my job, and it ultimately made me apathetic towards Front-end design.

I had been out of a job for six months and wasn’t doing much with my time. It was a period of heavy brooding and introspection and I had been taking online courses in different areas of technology in a bid to figure out a befitting career path for myself. I told myself “Why don’t you try it out, you have nothing to lose. If you get into the programme, fine, if you don’t, no pressure”. That seemingly random thought inadvertently led me to make the best decision of my career.

The selection process was very competitive and after going through three selection stages, only ten of us were selected out of a pool of about two thousand applicants. The journey so far has been intense and enlightening. There were so many sleepless nights and tight deadlines to submit projects. I was tested and stretched and it made me realize how much I could learn in one month; I grew from “dummy” to proficient in several UI/UX tools and concepts. I especially liked that we had guest tutors that came around weekly, this really helped to provide insights into the real world while instilling confidence in me. Ultimately, I’d say it’s a superb programme.

My most challenging experience was during my final project. It was particularly challenging for me because I had to deal with an actual client; not just any client but CKDigital, one of the best design companies in Nigeria. I had to put aside the fact that I have little experience in design and see myself as a professional so as to churn out the best possible design.

I met a lot of amazing people: my classmates, our tutor Uche, Kenny and Taiwo (The brains behind the SGA programme), and of course how could I forget Seyi; the only lady on the Stutern team. I can now confidently say I have joined a community of UI/UX Designers.

Some of the projects I worked on during the programme include the redesign of the WhatsApp landing page and E-commerce product page design.

You can check out more of my designs on my Behance page .

I’m delighted at this opportunity and I’m excited to see where things go from here. I now look forward to securing a full-time role as a UI/UX designer in a reputable firm.

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