Alumni Spotlight: Yazmin's Journey into UX/UI Design

Recently, we had the pleasure of interviewing Yazmin Saavedra, a UX Academy graduate, to delve into her transition into UX/UI Design. Discovering UX as the ideal intersection of her background in arts and communication, Yazmin has integrated her skills into her new UX career path. As a recipient of our Diversify Design scholarship, she now thrives as a UX Lead, dedicating herself to empowering women in technology and advocating for increased diversity within the field.

So I'd love to hear a little bit about what you were doing before you were working in the UX design space? 

Before embarking into the whole journey of UX/UI design, I had graduated with a Bachelor's in Arts, specializing in dance. I was also pursuing a degree in communications and marketing, as well as taking some courses in graphic design. 

But it all really started with my husband, who was working on a project called International Connections. He was helping people start their own podcast and presented me with a challenge to create a website for one of his clients. And so this specific project was the one which led me to conduct more deep research of how I can do things a bit more professionally. 

Once I started to gain more knowledge about UX/UI, I fell in love with it. 

It sounds like your background led you to have a lot of transferable skills!

Yes! I realized that my background, which was really diverse in arts, in visual design, communications, anthropology, and psychology were perfect. It was the perfect foundation for this field. 

I made the decision to enroll into UX Academy Foundations course after finding Designlab, which really marked the beginning of my new career path. The course literally was perfect for that because it was instrumental in grounding my basics—it was the perfect starting point. 

How was your journey throughout the bootcamp? 

I was fortunate to receive the Diversify Design Scholarship to start my education with Designlab. As I shared with the team, my vision was that I’m a Latin American woman who is eager to push beyond my limits. And obviously studying in English, which is not my first language, represented a significant challenge, but also a big, big step in my career. 

A major highlight of my experience was my mentor Serena Nichols. She provided invaluable guidance and support, and also wrote a recommendation letter that enhanced my job application. She was key for me to get the position that I have right now. 

We had a really great connection. More than a mentor, I got to have a friend who’s a really great person in general. It's amazing how you can find someone out of nowhere, and then that person inspires you to become better. 

That’s great to hear that your mentor had such a positive impact! What was your main takeaway, would you say, from the learning itself? 

The actual bootcamp requires a lot of dedication and proactive approach to the learning.You have to be really aware of what you want to learn, and it depends a lot on you. I always looked for additional information whenever I had doubts, and I always went to group crit sessions to hone my presentation skills and to learn how to defend my design decisions. Now after eight months in my position, I’ve learned this is key. 

That’s a great piece of advice. Do you have anything else you’d like to share about taking advantage of the program? 

Balancing the intense workload in the process of adapting all these new concepts was really difficult. You also have this new perspective of now seeing everything as a UX/UI designer.You start looking at your phone differently, literally. So obviously there were moments of self doubt. 

We mentioned this in a group session in group crits, about imposter syndrome. The live sessions as well as the Discord community were really supportive of this process because they're aware of it. 

My mentor was also providing the reaffirmation that I needed. She knew that I would be waiting to submit something because I’m a perfectionist, but you need to learn how to let things go and just deliver. And then you will iterate—that’s one of the things that I’m applying in my job right now. Nothing will be perfect. You keep learning and improving. 

I never have a boring day, and I always have a busy day, but it's really teaching me a lot. It's allowing me to apply the skills and the knowledge that I've learned from all my backgrounds. And I have a great team behind me.

‍You mentioned integrating your learning into your job—what is your role now? 

I work as a Lead UX/UI Designer for a business innovation consulting firm based in Monterrey, Mexico, where I'm actually from! We assist prominent Mexican brands—I used to consider working for them impossible.  

I never have a boring day, and I always have a busy day, but it's really teaching me a lot. It's allowing me to apply the skills and the knowledge that I've learned from all my backgrounds. And I have a great team behind me. 

And it only took me two weeks to find a job! 

Wow, that’s amazing! 

I was expecting three to six months. Something that was really helpful was to just pay a lot of attention to details. Every time I finished a capstone, I would make a summary, both of the things that I learned and things that I wanted to learn that I came across along the way. When I was doing my portfolio, it actually helped! And I watched a lot of TikToks on how to do a job interview for UX Design. It's a great resource.

Did you find anything else helpful throughout your time in the program, or thereafter? 

A positive mind state. Honestly, just have this awareness of giving yourself space for your emotions, for your brain to process, and to avoid burnout and avoid feeling like you're not moving on. I read a book called Think Like A Monk, by Jay Shetty. There was this bump, and I’m 100% certain everyone experiences this, which was just a low point—so I would recommend anything that helps with awareness. 

Also, make friends with other people who are going through the same thing.You will feel a little bit more accompanied through this process. And try to enjoy the process of learning a new thing. We often forget about that! Obviously, sometimes there is a need to finish quickly, to find a job. But also pay attention to your process and how you're learning. Make sure that you enjoy it along the way. Otherwise, what is this for?

This experience taught me the importance of re-evaluating my interests and aspirations, and making sure that I'm living the life that I want and that I envision myself living. That led me and guided me toward a fulfilling career path. 

Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experience? 

When people talk about switching their career, it's always challenging—it's also extremely exciting. It offers you a fresh perspective on life, like you’re shaking everything out and starting over. And this gives you the opportunity to connect with amazing people, who share your passions and goals. 

This experience taught me the importance of re-evaluating my interests and aspirations, and making sure that I'm living the life that I want and that I envision myself living. That led me and guided me toward a fulfilling career path. 

I also want to share that I’m really proud to say I've been pushing people to learn more, not only about UX/UI, but also technology and especially women in tech. I'm really interested in us being part of it. And especially in Mexico where we don't have as many big companies. I work right now with mostly women in my company—it's like 90% women. And that's really great. I feel like I'm accomplishing that goal.