The full stack designer - Create your way

Bogdan Anghel at UXDX Community: APAC Online Series. Video: https://youtu.be/asyMBEbVav8

Readable transcript: edited from the recording's captions for readability (fillers and false starts removed, punctuation and section headings added). Wording is the speaker's own. Timestamps are positions in the video. Names marked [?] could not be verified against the audio.

Career, and the pursuit of happiness within it

[00:00:00] Host: Bogdan Anghel, who will be talking about the full stack designer, create your way. So welcome, Bogdan.

[00:00:09] Bogdan: Thanks very much for the introduction. Hello everyone, I hope everyone's having a nice Thursday. I'm a senior technical designer at Bally's Corporation, and I'm taking care of design of a large part of the customer journey, with a high focus on the technical aspect of design for a marketing web product.

[00:00:36] Bogdan: I'm glad to have you here today, for a short coffee break, a full-on breakfast, or maybe you're on your way to work, or simply you came to hear my talk, which I appreciate very much. So whatever the reason, I'd like to discuss with you this important topic today called career, and the pursuit of happiness within it.

[00:00:59] Bogdan: I'm not any career guru, I'm not an expert in life or any form of advisor, but I know what I enjoy doing, and gladly for me I was able to jog around and fail enough to find my way in life and career. Maybe you are there, or maybe you think you are there, having the career that you enjoy, but there's always a chance to look back in time and learn more about ourselves.

[00:01:30] Bogdan: I'm sure you have noticed in this slide above we have three mostly unrelated pictures of different activities. It will shortly all make sense when going with those pictures.

[00:01:52] Bogdan: So I'd like to begin with the following fact. Did you know that we spend just about one third of our lives at work? So it should come as no surprise that feelings of regret and self-doubt surrounding your careers can frequently bubble up. Normally the average person, they look something like this. You sleep about eight hours on average, ideally not on a bench as this guy, or on your desk. You work for about eight hours every day, and you enjoy your life and freedom with the remaining eight hours, with your friends, different hobbies, or time with your family. So that's the average person. Maybe sometimes less time in one way or another, but that's an average.

[00:02:49] Bogdan: When it comes to taking calculated risk, it's also an important part of life and it can spell success when done properly. So it's no wonder that 78% of respondents to a survey run by Zety out of a thousand people, they wish they had taken more career risk, with the number one reason being to pursue a passion they had as part of their careers. So if you find yourself in the position where you're not entirely happy, or you're seeking, let's say, new opportunities, or just a change that you'd like to have, let me tell you a story about how I juggled stuff around and found my passion.

Growing up on games, forums and Photoshop

[00:03:37] Bogdan: As I'm sure, looking back at our past, it's a helpful way of doing things, as when we are young we don't have so many filters and responsibilities, so we are mostly doing what we like doing and what comes naturally easy to us.

[00:04:00] Bogdan: Yeah, this is a perfect representation of me when I was around 12 years old and got one of my first computers. Obviously I still had the old CRT[?] type of monitor and not the flat screen, so slightly different still from the picture, but it's a good representation. All curly hair as well, spending hours in front of my computer playing World of Warcraft, FIFA, Diablo and Grand Theft Auto. The Sims, thinking I'm an architect already. And also learning English out of necessity, of course, to complete quests and talk to strangers. Things that you shouldn't really do as a kid, but who cares, because it was all online, right, and my parents didn't really know too much about technology yet, so it was all fine.

[00:04:57] Bogdan: And just about two or three years later, I guess things got slightly more serious for me. Now I was getting tired of playing on what others built, as it didn't really meet my imagination entirely, and I was seeing things differently than what was given to me through those games. So I started to build a gaming community forum that managed to get just over a thousand members. I was managing the whole platform myself. That's still live at this point, although I lost the credentials and it's not accepting more members, because it was a free-form board type of thing that you can create for yourself and it goes live on its own domain, but I'm sure the link is still somewhere available.

[00:05:52] Bogdan: I built a private game server for World of Warcraft that made me learn SQL queries and database management. I learned a lot of scripts for player portals, or to create different vendors for non-playable characters. I also set up a website where users could see the status of the website and register their account. I also had my first YouTube channel launch, where I was making gaming related tutorials, gaining a few thousand views per video. I also learned Photoshop to design logos for my community forum and for my gaming server and website as well, and banners to promote what I was doing. Not to mention all the soft skills and management abilities that I earned out of those.

[00:06:50] Bogdan: So kind of word spread around about my skills, from people who knew me via community forums or simply Skype, as they were sharing my ID back then, and I was on people's lists and they were messaging, so I was getting paid to do graphics for them. Now, explain that to your parents, who are still struggling to work Yahoo Messenger and asking you to write holiday messages to all the contact lists on their Motorola phones.

[00:07:22] Bogdan: So anyway, during that phase of my life I postponed parts of my activities to pursue football at the local team. I wanted to be a football player, I thought maybe that fits me better. And a few years later, and my short football career, let's say, and meanwhile I figured out graphics and web design. So you can see some of my designs from around that time on the right side. I was making good side income, I would say, to get me through both high school and university. Not a lot of money, but enough for me as a teenager to be good for me.

[00:08:10] Bogdan: So you can imagine I was quite passionate about design in general, as I kept doing it. But I decided it wasn't really useful for me to get a degree in arts, let's say, as I was already skilled, and if people are paying me then I guess I must be good at it. So I decided to use my education fee loan to study programming and development, to make my designs functional. I finished my degree due to the necessity of not losing the 27,000 pounds for university without actually earning the degree, but I didn't really enjoy it as much, it wasn't so much for me, let's say. It was helpful, but I wasn't too passionate about the advanced back-end stuff. I like to learn about it, but not being actually involved coding as much. Although I had taken product design, or interaction design as it was called back then, as part of my degree in the final year, which actually uncovered a completely new horizon for me as a person passionate about design.

Look back at your past to find what shaped you

[00:09:21] Bogdan: So all those things that I presented to you today about my life are all the examples of experience that develop our personalities, skills and abilities, and shape us as persons with different characteristics and different roles in society, at the workplace. What's important now is to know that it's within our DNA to do some things right and to do some things bad. It's within our DNA to be better or be worse than somebody else.

[00:09:55] Bogdan: Take myself as an example. I found football to be cool and I really wanted to do it, and well, I still think it is and I occasionally play it, but it wasn't really the right option for me. So you have to go on a journey of self-awareness and look back at your past to identify key characteristics and abilities that you have developed and that shape you today.

[00:10:21] Bogdan: So I'm not playing football today, but I understand teamwork, and perseverance to train a skill until you are good at it. I understand and have empathy for other people, just as I was managing that thousand member community and I felt responsible for it. I'm aware of what running a business means, running a business to a small degree from back then, let's say, wearing multiple hats or managing clients, just as I was working for clients around the world as a teenager but having no clue at that time what it actually meant and how it would help me in the future. So I encourage you today to look back at your past and identify things that you enjoy doing, and identify how your personality was shaped by your past experiences, and try to break down things from your past.

Creating a role by taking every opportunity

[00:11:25] Bogdan: So in 2018 I joined Gamesys as a marketing designer initially, and slowly I was taking web design tasks more and more. By the way, on the side note, Gamesys is now Bally's Interactive. So I was taking every opportunity to do things differently and diversify my work here. If it was a task that was different, I was the first to raise my hand to do it. So as we have discussed self-awareness, I have discovered that I can't do only one thing and I need to be involved more in the bigger picture of things, and I'm always asking questions as well.

[00:12:05] Bogdan: So moving a bit forward, I was promoted to a senior and technical designer, a role that was, as I say, specifically created for my unique skill set, as I was between a few to have the technical expertise to develop working web products, but also to do pixel perfect web designs and design brands as well, while being involved in the entire customer journey.

[00:12:32] Bogdan: So you might say that your role doesn't really allow you to do what you like, or there might not be a chance to have the role that you want. But ask yourself first, are you taking each opportunity that is given to you to prove the benefits of doing what you love? Are you going the extra mile, proving your skill set is worth it? Because you have to remember that you're probably working for a business, and if you can't prove with real data that they need your skill set, then you're not going to be really worth it, let's say.

[00:13:11] Bogdan: So I ended up with a unique role simply because I was taking opportunities to do more than I was asked to. And even though it means sometimes working my own time at different points, not because I was forced or anything, but because I like what I do, and often I do it for myself, which is to learn, just because I enjoyed doing it. And this gets us to another important point: you have to like what you're doing so you can progress.

Ikigai

[00:13:52] Bogdan: There's a concept referring to something that gives a person a sense of purpose and a reason for living. That's called ikigai. I hope I'm pronouncing it correctly. And that allows us to get exponential progression towards a role once you acknowledge and leverage your attributes.

[00:14:17] Bogdan: So the westernized version of ikigai says you've found your dream career when your career includes these four qualities: what you love, what you are good at, what you can be paid for, and what the world needs. So I encourage you to take the time and write down on paper your thoughts with this concept in mind, and looking back at what shaped your past, and to identify what you enjoy doing and what you're good at.

What a full stack designer actually is

[00:14:53] Bogdan: Lastly I want to discuss a bit more about what being a full stack designer is, as I felt that I didn't talk too much about it even though it's also in the title. First of all, if you have identified yourself in a lot of things that I mentioned and you are a creative professional, it's most likely you are having a similar passion and skill set as me, where you're likely involved in many parts of the product or web development process and not only design. That's often described as being a generalist in many workplaces.

[00:15:34] Bogdan: So being a full stack designer means someone expert in one area, either being a creative design, front-end or user experience design, and having one or more side skills that are taken to a high level of expertise, such as front-end development in my case. So it's a bit of a mix and match, where you are the best at what you are passionate about and you have some side skills that are taken to a high level. So in the case where you are not necessarily doing it, you can direct others or train others to do things right as you would do.

[00:16:13] Bogdan: So I know that it looks a bit like a T-shaped position, but being that means you are going to be expert in one field, and relevant other skills that you are not necessarily at the level of, but which you will be able to understand, the whole position[?] doing just that skill.

[00:16:37] Bogdan: So thank you very much for listening, that was me. If you enjoyed this, I also have a YouTube channel where I post, let's say, more practical skills. We dive a bit into Figma and similar tutorials and videos, which you might find helpful. So that's my YouTube channel, I'm still trying to grow it. You have my LinkedIn there, feel free to connect with me and let me know any of your questions. And that's also my Instagram, in case you are using Instagram a little bit more than the others. So yeah, thanks very much for having me today.

Q&A

[00:17:19] Host: Great, thank you, Bogdan. That was a really interesting personal history there of how you got into, and set your fingers in, so many different pies and technical skills. One of the things that jumped out to me during your talk was, I guess a lot of people might have a similar, they're not sure what they want to do. As you said, during university you didn't really want to go down the technical route. So do you have any advice for people who are still not 100% sure which direction they should go in their career?

[00:17:59] Bogdan: So what I would say is, I think it can be simple just as looking at what you actually enjoy. I mean, it sounds cliche, but it's actually that, because as I was saying, in my case I do things, take tutorials or just try to create something by myself, just because I enjoy having the pleasure of seeing it done. I enjoy the process of doing it. So if you're not enjoying that, it will be hard for you to progress further, because you're not doing it with passion, you're doing it because you are forced.

[00:18:46] Bogdan: So I think it's just having a self-awareness about yourself, and referring to the concept that I presented during the presentation, the ikigai. I think writing down your ideas and your thoughts about yourself, and also looking back at your past, will help identify that.

[00:19:12] Host: Yeah, that's a great approach. And then the second question that's come up is, it can be sometimes difficult when you're a little bit of a generalist, in that you can do design, dev, different roles, but often companies are looking for a specialist, and that can be difficult when you're trying to apply for a job or express your skill set in an interview. So have you encountered that kind of challenge of, people are looking for more of, they're trying to put you in a box, are you a designer, are you a developer? And how do you overcome that?

[00:19:52] Bogdan: Yeah, I think, because in my case it's a bit hard to do one thing like that, let's say, because I had all these paths involving different things that are part of my personality and what I like doing. And I like to see myself as a person who's, because I'm into entrepreneurship, right, where as a person you like to see the perspective of how things work on the bigger picture. So you can't really do everything, you have to have expertise in different fields, but you cannot be the best in every field. I mean, that's the overall concept of being a generalist, what it means.

[00:20:49] Bogdan: But think about the fact that there needs to be someone to oversee all the process, to oversee all those people working, being a specialist in one thing. There needs to be someone to oversee the whole process and understand everything that's going on. So I think it also depends on what you like to do. If you like to be involved in the whole process, I'm sure there is a place for you where you get to manage the entire process and have expertise.

[00:21:30] Bogdan: Because also, you can't do everything at once. Once you learn those things you have to go, let's say, one by one. So as in my case, I was learning design, I was learning development at that point, learning how to manage clients as I was doing freelancing. So you can't do everything at once, you have to try. And obviously if it doesn't work for you to be a specialist in that, then you have the expertise, you understand what's going on there because you put the time in to learn. So it's not, let's say, time that's lost, it's time that you get some valuable skills in the end, and that helps you if you want to go and manage the entire process, as that's actually something for myself in this case. So I hope that actually answers your question.

[00:22:22] Host: Yeah, no, I thought it was a great answer, and I'm actually a big fan of the generalist kind of approach, because I think particularly with the move to product teams, you can't have pure specialists in a product team, because you need people who can move around and help out where it's needed. So I think it's a great example of where people can go and then move forward with. But I think we have another question coming from Drax, and his question is, he has a computer science background, and would it be helpful to be a UX designer? If it would be helpful, to be a UX designer, to have a computer science background.

[00:23:11] Bogdan: I would say it's helpful, just because while being a UX designer you will be involved in, let's say, a big part of the development process. You will be there at the base, where a new feature or new product starts. So you have to think not just about that, you have to think also a bit about the development process and how you are going to translate your solutions. And especially if you are working with, let's say you have an iOS app that's there, you have to think a bit about the technical limitations and how you're going to translate your solution to the development. You are going to collaborate with other people, so I think it's helpful to have that, definitely.

[00:24:14] Host: Yeah, I think, just to jump in, I think it's helpful but I wouldn't say it's necessary for everybody out there. I think it's useful. But in case, Drax, you're wondering if you have to change your degree in there to become a UX designer.

[00:24:32] Bogdan: Yeah, it's a good point, it's a good point.

[00:24:35] Host: Great. Okay, I think that's all of the questions that have come in, so we might finish up just a minute early. But thank you very much, Bogdan, for sharing your experience. I thought it was a really interesting insight into how you moved from kind of your early childhood gaming right through, and your short-lived soccer career.

[00:24:57] Bogdan: Yeah, yeah, thanks so much for having me, and have a nice day everyone.

[00:25:03] Host: Thank you.