Intern Diaries: How did a fashion enthusiast with a Bachelors in Design Degree land up in User Research at Hureo?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. Remarkably, I also came across the blog The life of a User Researcher published on the Hureo website that helped me gain deeper insights about the role and analyse my potential. The irony is I discovered UX research only through intensive research.