What I Learnt After Transitioning from Architecture to UX Design

In 2020, I embarked on a significant career shift, transitioning from Architecture to Design—a shift that has seen much uptick in the last few years.

The transition has not been a smooth one, but as I look back - I can clearly see the skills that favoured the transition and the ones that had to be unlearned and relearned.

Invisible skills built over the years, like ease of public presentations, familiarity with multiple software, crit sessions, and feedback incorporation, teamwork, etc definitely made the shift easier.Yet, amidst the familiarity, I encountered profound differences in the approaches of architects and designers.

Architects prioritize contextual factors, while designers place the user experience at the forefront of their endeavors.

Through this series, I reflect on what I have gleaned so far —a testament to the nuanced contrasts and shared principles between these disciplines. I look forward to uncovering more of them in the future.

So, let's begin: 

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1. The 2 fields are more similar than one would imagine! The basics to designing anything - remains the same. The user and their experience while performing a task comes first.

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2. You’re always going to default to your early courses on the fundamentals of human interactions, visual perception & heuristics to make decisions in both streams. 

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3. Throughout the years in college, I always found professors stressing more on getting the process right, rather than focusing on a quickly-churned outcome. 

Asking the right questions ensures that we arrive at the best answer for that scenario. And often, the questions asked remain the same across the 2 streams.

*While in the real world, the outcome is equally important, honing the process can offer more confidence in your result - especially in a field where there are no right answers. 

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4. Shifting from designing at a physical & spatial level to a purely digital level means you will need to learn a whole new world of technical and functional detailing - and this will remain a life-long effort.

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5. Due to the nature of the disciplines, architecture firms work in a Waterfall methodology, whereas design firms may stick to a more Agile way of working.

The length of time taken for designs to make it off the drawing board is also very different for the streams. 

Personally, this can take quite some getting used to!

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6. On the whole, I found there are significant overlaps in the soft skills needed, but the actual act of design & execution is very different.

If you’re someone planning a switch, perhaps the best question to ask yourself would be - which way of working most suits your thought process.

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Hope this helps those trying to understand how they can make the shift. If you want to discuss more on breaking into design, set up a trial session and let's get started! You can follow my professional journey here.