Why Teachers Should Consider A Career In UX (and how to do it)

Illustration by Olha Khomich from Ouch!

One year ago my 7-year career in teaching came to an end — pushed over the cliff by Covid and left where it landed by my inner desire to pursue a ambition that had long been lingering in the back of my mind — to move into User Experience Design (UX). After a crazy past year I now work as a User Experience Researcher (my dream position!) as part of an amazing team at Glovo. Looking back at my past experiences and my transition into this new world, I’d like to share with any teachers thinking of making a change (or any hiring mangers looking to hire former teachers!) why teaching skills lend themselves to a career in UX.

First of all, if you’re not already in the industry you might be asking yourself “What the hell is UX?” and for the long answer I will point you here — for my own answer that I give to people who look at me with confusion (think parents, grandparents) I generally describe it like this:

UX (User Experience) is the human side of technology. UX designers make sure that things work for people — they observe, interview, design, test and make changes based on what works and what doesn’t until something works well for people. This is usually on apps and websites nowadays, but could also be on physical products like the buttons on a microwave!

How a career in teaching lends itself to a career in UX

Understanding (Users’) Needs

In UX one of the main goals is to understand and interpret users’ needs. This means, for example, identifying things they don’t understand, things they struggle with, and things they expect when using a product. This is something that teachers are doing every day. In a classroom full of students with mixed abilities trying to learn new content, teachers have to be very attune to the needs of their students. Teachers can accomplish this through completing needs analyses, observing classroom dynamics and identifying various learning needs and styles in the classroom. UX designers use their own toolbox to better understand their users. They might use in-depth interviews to understand how their users feel about a topic, or they might use tools like card sorting, or tree testing to better understand users’ mental models. The end-goal for both teachers and designers is to not be making assumptions about their users’ needs – by being empathetic both are able to create useful experiences. As a bonus here, teachers are also well versed in patience, which can be very useful when observing users.

Designing and Iterating

When working as a UX designer you learn that a design is never done, it just arrives to a point where it’s good enough to push out to users. After this point it is still up to a UX designer (along with other members of the product team) to monitor how it is working and make changes if need be. For designers this might mean interpreting reviews (e.g. Are people complaining about something?) or looking at key metrics (e.g. Are more people finding page X? Are less people contacting support?). To dig even deeper, UX designers might also use usability testing and watch users interact with a product hands-on to see how they really use and feel about a product. All of this helps to understand what should change in the next iteration of the design to make the product even better. For teachers, their product is their lessons. When a teacher presents a lesson to their users (students!) they will learn what works and what doesn’t (e.g. group or pair work, games, using visuals). This will be measured through things such as concept checking questions, observation, evaluations and class feedback. If a teacher sees that their lessons aren’t having the desired effect, they will iterate on their lessons to improve their students’ experience.

Communicating With Stakeholders

UX designers are the voice of the users. This means that they often have to fight for what they have learned is in the best interest of the people who are going to be using the end product. UX designers have to craft a message and often times a story to help other people on the product team (product managers, developers etc.) understand why findings about users’ needs are valid and important. UX designers can use tools such as user personas and user journey maps to make these points more salient but at the end of the day it is up to the designer to meet with stakeholders to tell the story and craft compelling arguments about design decisions. Teachers of course communicate for a living – a teacher has to motivate, guide, inspire and inform students on a daily basis. A teacher may have to synthesise complicated information into an easy to understand lesson, craft clear instructions for a group of confused students or set clear goals and a path to get there at the beginning of a new term. These skills, sharpened by teachers over their career, are invaluable when it comes to interacting with stakeholders on a product team.

Finding Creative Solutions

Any teacher with a bit of experience has found themselves in situations that required some split-second creative problem solving — arriving to a classroom with no AV equipment with an video lesson planned, a class full of students who have all forgotten their books, or even a lesson that just isn’t working. These (initially very stressful) situations train teachers to look for creative solutions to get the job done. An often quoted phrase in the tech industry – Done is better than perfect – comes to mind here. When the time crunch is on and design decisions need to be made, a teacher’s flexibility and creativity come in very handy.

While these are a few of the most transferable skills from teaching, at the end of the day both UX design and teaching are people focused careers that share many other skills. That’s not to say that a teacher could go to being a UX designer from one day to the next. The process requires a commitment. But for teachers looking for a change into something new and exciting while taking advantage of their valuable skill set, a career in UX design is worth exploring.

For those that are interested in this change I will set out a few steps that could introduce you to the UX world and make steps towards a career change.

1. Take a free introduction course — A mini course like this one at CareerFoundry is a great course to get a taste.
2. Deepen your knowledge – Consider signing up to an inexpensive but more structured course with the Interaction Design Foundation.
3. Speak to people in the industry – Ask around if any of your contacts knows anyone working as a UX designer and see if they will introduce you for a coffee! Make a list of questions and try to speak to 4–5 people about their career. If you don’t know anyone, try reaching out to some people on LinkedIn, the design community is very open and happy to help.
4. Take the leap to more formal education – The nice thing about UX design is that there are many study options that don’t require going back to school for multiple years. Consider a bootcamp course such as Ironhack (there are many others available) to boost your knowledge and get hands-on experience. A course like this will often help you develop your portfolio and enter the job market.
5. Land your first UX job – While it does require some patience and hard work, finding your first job in UX is not as difficult as you may think. While some people opt to do internships after their studies, many others are able to find junior positions right off the bat. The job market for UX designers is hot and only set to grow.

If you would like to speak to me about making a career change into UX please feel free to contact me through LinkedIn. If you are interested in what we do at Glovo check this out! Big love to all the teachers out there!