Belonging in design
My talk for UX Australia's Succeeding in Design Conference. I unpack the barriers to belonging as a designer and how we can collectively support each other to find our place in the industry.
Coming from a Chinese immigrant family, I’ve grown up feeling quite disconnected with Australian history and culture. It wasn’t until the past few years where I have learnt to appreciate and understand the significance of Indigenous affairs and why we do AoC. And so I take every opportunity to recognise my past ignorance and ongoing privilege to call this beautiful land my home.
Today I’ll be sharing some reflections on my career journey about what has helped me find my place as a designer. I hope it prompts you to reflect on your own sense of belonging and how we can collectively support each other to feel welcome in the industry.
One of the top 3 reasons people resign is because they felt like they didn’t belong at their organisation. We know what it’s like when we don’t belong - you feel out of place, different, uncomfortable and insecure.
I’m no stranger to feeling like an ‘other’ - I sound Australian, but don’t look it. I felt like an outsider starting school knowing no English. The food I brought from home looked and smelt different to what the other kids had. To fit in, I studied The Simpsons, Home and Away and Neighbours. But one of my most vivid memories from school was actually how proud I felt when teachers and other kids came to tell me how much they loved the spring rolls/dimsims I brought in on Multicultural Day. Suddenly our weird cultural food made me feel cool.
I like to describe belonging as “feeling safe knowing that it doesn’t matter that you’re different because your uniqueness makes you valuable”.
Belonging is one of those emotional qualities of our human experience that’s subjective so it can mean something slightly different for everyone which can be hard to describe and define. But here are some things people agree on about a sense of belonging:
It’s when they feel connected and accepted as a valued member of a group.
Underpinning that is having psychological safety, when they trust other group members to respect and listen to them.
Finding my sense of belonging as a designer at work was more complex than the situation I described about school. Let me explain by sharing where I come from.
After school, I got into optometry - what my parents believed is a nice, clean, stable, successful career for a girl. They were very happy with this but I felt like something was missing. Clinical work wasn’t for me because there wasn’t much space for creative freedom.
I dropped out of optometry to find something I’d enjoy more. My parents hated this of course and it’s a rough patch we now laugh about. I stumbled on UX looking for what might combine my transferable skills and experience in the service industry. I tried to enter the industry with little to no experience in business, tech or design. To bridge the gap, I read books, learnt from case studies, took a Graduate Certificate in CX from RMIT and completed a short course at Academy Xi.
My career started as a graduate consultant in the Salesforce implementation team at Capgemini. I applied to this organisation knowing they had just acquired Idean, a global design agency and I got an opportunity to work really closely with a senior service designer on my first project as a Salesforce business analyst.
Even though I got my foot in the door and was working with some amazing people, I felt out of place in the tech industry and kept wondering if I’ll ever be enough.
Some of the things I was saying to myself.
I’m not professional enough when I use simple language and not enough tech jargon.
I’m not extraverted, outspoken or charismatic enough to influence people and present ideas.
I’m not qualified enough and my work isn’t at a high enough standard.
I compared myself to other designers and professionals who were many years further in their careers. I focused on their strengths and only saw my weaknesses. Comparison and negative self talk definitely stole my joy.
Seeds of self doubt also came from my internalisation of norms and biases.
Part of the reason I didn’t have the tools to express myself confidently in front of people was my inner introvert, but also because I grew up believing girls should be modest, people-pleasing and not too assertive.
I heard conversations in industry about the shortcomings of graduates from design bootcamps and short courses. I questioned my investments to learn the fundamentals of design through short courses and worried about how much more I needed to invest in education to really be qualified.
My success felt undermined by the misconceptions people had about diversity quotas. I wondered if I only got hired because I’m a woman and I have a STEM background. Maybe I wasn’t good enough but that helped?
All the self-doubt crippled my confidence and mental health. It led to a vicious cycle of not feeling confident no matter how much competency I gained. I felt like I had to change so many things about myself to fit in.
Have you ever felt like you needed to be something other than yourself to fit in and succeed as a designer
Well you’re definitely not alone.
It took me some time to realise that my differences and ‘otherness’ were actually my unique selling point (USP), by reframing my negative self talk into positive affirmations. My unconventional background in optometry surprised people I met and helped them remember who I am. Needing time to reflect meant I came up with thoughtful ideas and answers.
I sought mentorship from other designers whose stories resonated with my identity. I connected with designers coming from all walks of life and different backgrounds, learning from how they carved their pathways. Seeing is believing which is why we need representation of all communities in design leadership.
I moved into the design team after that first project because my managers recognised my aptitude and attitude. Even though I thought I wasn’t good enough, I got promoted after 1.5 years because leaders tapped me on the shoulder encouraging me to go for it. And got my current role through referral.
One of my favourite quotes is “a candle is not diminished by giving another light” (Earl Nightingale) “a candle loses nothing by lighting another candle” (James Keller). I shone because others were generous to light my candle with theirs.
Since then, I’ve become a mentor myself. I joined a platform called ADPList which is a global platform democratising design mentorship so that designers can learn from each others’ experience. Most of the designers who reach out to me happen to be women. The topic that comes up time and time again is imposter syndrome and self doubt.
It’s funny because I’m still learning how to manage this imposter syndrome myself. I’ve heard it never really goes away, but i know that doubt kills dreams. One of the ways I’ve found help keep doubt at bay is by talking about this topic openly.
So summing up how I’ve navigated belonging in design and building my confidence.
Unpack where the negative self talk comes from. Have you internalised any external biases? For example, where does your definition of professionalism come from? Would you say the things you say to yourself to a friend?
Celebrate uniqueness. I do this with myself using positive affirmations and I’ve surrounded myself with people who celebrate each other’s uniqueness.
Uplift each other through mentorship. I received support from others and now I’m also in a position to support others too.
I can only say these strategies worked for me based on my lived experience. Rather than giving you solutions, I hope this talk has made you reflect on how you can be kinder to your unique self in finding your place in design because it’s not only your inner critic you’re facing but also external biases too. And if you’re in a position to bring others up, this is your sign to start today. You don’t know who is looking up to you and lighting their candle would mean the world.
Thank you.