UX Centered Career Report: 10 months in, what has the pandemic changed?

The coronavirus pandemic has substantially changed the way much of the world works. We’ve traded in our office desks for our dining room tables (or, if we’re lucky, a home office) and increasingly adjusted to the challenges—and joys—of working from home.

We were curious how this new world is affecting the way teams work.

When we asked Andrew Bourne, a Senior User Researcher at Zelle/Early Warning, he told us what it’s been like for his team:

“Overall, the transition to full remote was smooth. Many of us worked from home a couple of days a week already. The dire need was to quickly find tools for collaborating and whiteboarding in a remote environment. Instead of [having to do] in-person collaboration and reviews, we are now equipped to do it all digitally. One thing we miss is chatting with co-workers face to face. In some ways, our day to day work feels a little more robotic and a little less human since going remote during the pandemic.”

(By the way, Zelle is currently hiring a Senior Product Designer.)

When we asked Hal Sarjant, a Product Design Lead at Generation Home, he echoed some of Andrew’s sentiments. Like most design teams, Generation Home’s team has gone fully remote:

“Previously, we’ve always thought that remote working doesn’t work for design – you need live collaboration, whiteboards, post-its, etc. However, we’ve found that a small team can get by really well using Figma for live collaboration and long Slack calls to shoot the breeze and talk work.”

(Generation Home is also currently hiring a Product Designer.)

Like most of us, UX teams seem to find a way to navigate the new (yet lasting) challenges presented by the pandemic. UXers, in particular, are learning how to conduct research, brainstorming sessions, and other collaborative activities without the use of sticky notes or dry erase boards.

We’ve proven, one more time, that design is not defined by where we do it or the tools we use. UX design is bigger than all of those things and will happen wherever UX designers are.

If your organization has developed any innovative solutions to discovering working and hiring remotely during the pandemic, we’d love to hear about it. Pop into our Leaders of Awesomeness community (it’s free) and share your experiences.