With a background in customer service, UX Academy alum Erik Peets (who goes by Peets) wanted to find a way to transition into tech while still helping others with his work. After discovering UX design, he leveraged the skills cultivated in UX Academy to transition from a retail job at Apple to the Apple UX team. We spoke with Erik about his motivations for pursuing a UX education, his journey through different roles at Apple, and what comes next for him in his UX career.
I’d love to start off by learning a bit about yourself and your background!
I’ve been working in retail for most of my life, mostly in customer service roles, from Wendy’s to B&H Photo in New York, cell companies like AT&T and Sprint, and now most recently Apple.
I’ve always enjoyed customer service, but as I got older and started a family, I wanted to do something more meaningful. Something that wasn’t super customer-facing, but where I could still help people.
Was that your main motivation for pursuing a career in UX?
I didn’t know about UX at the time—if I had known about it earlier, I probably would’ve jumped into it sooner. My cousin, who’s a software engineer, introduced me to the tech field. He threw some ideas at me, and I actually started with coding, which I thought was cool, but didn’t see myself doing long-term.
After researching more roles, I found UX, and saw there were a lot of transferable skills from customer service to UX design. The design side of things was new to me, but I already had the soft skills needed for UX, and that sparked my interest. I didn’t feel like I was starting from scratch. So, I decided to take a stab at it.
I started with the UX Academy Foundations course to make sure it was the right fit. I had a great mentor during Foundations in Michael Clifford, and that’s when I knew this was something I wanted to pursue.
That’s awesome! We definitely speak to a lot of folks from a retail background, and those soft skills are really important and so transferable. Can you also speak to your experience in the main UX Academy program?
I really enjoyed my time in UX Academy—I think you all do a great job at keeping communication open with students, and that’s important, especially for people diving into something new for the first time—you really want that support.
Whether it was feedback or a meeting to discuss progress, it was always easy to communicate with my mentor. Even though I was coming in with no design background, he didn’t make me feel like I was behind or lacking. That was really helpful.
I also really liked how you have the flexibility to work with a mentor who suits your needs. My first mentor actually wasn’t the right fit, and I was able to fill out a questionnaire about my preferences and get rematched with Matthew Schneider, who was great. He was straightforward and made it clear that he was there to help in whatever way I needed. Whether it was feedback or just a meeting to discuss progress, it was always easy to communicate with him. Even though I was coming in with no design background, he didn’t make me feel like I was behind or lacking. That was really helpful.
And the curriculum is thorough—it covers the whole design process, but was still flexible timewise, which was crucial for me. I have a child, a wife, and a full-time job. Being able to work at my own pace, see my progress, and complete projects on my own timeline was really helpful.
That’s great to hear! Flexibility is huge for a lot of our student population. Was there anything in particular that was challenging for you?
Balancing everything—like working full-time, having a family, and managing the coursework—was tough. The most challenging part for me was probably that burnout. After a certain amount of time, you start to feel it, and you have to find ways to stay motivated. But one of the great things about the program is the option to take pauses—your team was really accommodating when I needed a mental health break, and that helped a lot.
There were times when I requested pauses or breaks, which was another great option DesignLab offers. They were really accommodating when I needed a mental health break, and that helped a lot. The burnout hit me around the second half of the course, but at the beginning, everything was exciting and new.
It is an intensive process, but I’m glad to hear that you felt supported by the team. And how’s the process of graduating and finding a job been?
Career services were amazing. My mentor for that phase, Jacques Debeuneure, was incredible. He was a great mentor and just a really good person. The Career Services course was perfect for me. It covered everything I needed to check off during the job search process, which can be really hard.
But my experience is a little unique. I work at Apple and have been there since 2019. Apple has this internal internship program where employees can apply to work in any department, even outside their current role. I knew I wanted this opportunity, so I put everything into it. Designlab helped me feel more confident about reaching out and networking with folks inside Apple. That was something they emphasized, and it really paid off. So, earlier this year, I applied for an internal internship with Apple’s product design team.
That’s incredible! How was the interview process for that role?
It was very similar to a typical product design interview. I went through two rounds—the first was with a product manager, and the second was with a lead designer and another product manager, and had to present my portfolio.
One key thing I learned is how important it is to have a presentation-ready portfolio. There’s a big difference between scrolling through a portfolio and presenting a case study with slides or a keynote. It makes a huge difference in how you tell your story. And I ended up getting the position!
So for the next six months, I’m a product designer at Apple.
That’s amazing! Massive congrats—that’s a huge accomplishment. So what will happen after the six months are up?
I go back to my original role after that, but everyone’s journey is different. This internal program has been around for years, and people have very different experiences, with some folks moving into full-time roles. There’s a lot of opportunity at Apple, and I’m learning about that now as I work in this design role.
No matter what happens, though, I’m just grateful for the opportunity to get this real-world experience. It can be tough to get your foot in the door in product design, and I’m working on real projects.
Absolutely. Even if you don’t stay in that role long-term, having that experience on your resume will be huge. So, what kind of projects have you been working on?
I’m working with the retail app design team, which is responsible for the apps used by employees in Apple stores. I’ve been working on updating those apps and implementing new features, updating UI components, and working with developers and product managers. It’s the whole design process, including meetings and critiques, which is exactly what I learned in Designlab.
That’s very cool. So, are you still looking for full-time roles, or are you just seeing how things play out after the six months?
I’m definitely going to keep looking. I want to capitalize on this opportunity and build some momentum. When you’re working full-time in customer service, it’s hard to keep up with design on the side. But now, for 40 hours a week, I’m fully immersed in design.
My mindset today is so different from two months ago when I was juggling customer service and design on the side. So, I’m definitely going to keep looking, both at Apple and outside, for full-time opportunities.
PQ: “My advice is to commit and see it through. Whatever your background is, try to identify the transferable skills you have and leverage those. That’s what made sense for me, and I think it can work for others too.”
Do you have any advice for folks who are considering switching careers to product design?
One of my biggest concerns was making a career switch at 33 years old after working in retail and customer service for over 10 years. It can feel intimidating when you see people on LinkedIn with years of experience, and you start to question if you’ll ever get a job or if you’re good enough. Imposter syndrome is real.
So, my advice is to commit and see it through. Whatever your background is, try to identify the transferable skills you have and leverage those. For me, customer service taught me a lot about understanding people, communication, and problem-solving. I focused on those skills and used them as my talking points in interviews because I didn’t have a design background to rely on.
That’s what made the most sense for me, and I think it can work for others too.
Check out some more student stories below:
Chofi's Journey: Finding New Purpose Within an Existing Design Career
Galyna’s Path to UX Designer: A Journey of Passion, Persistence, and Growth at Shopify
Mert's Journey from UX Academy to Tech Entrepreneur
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