Good UX and UI are at the heart of every project, whether a new website or mobile application. You need to understand the problem before you can solve the problem. This is where the UX/UI designer comes in. There are specific skill sets that a good UX/UI designer needs to have. For example, excellent product design requires empathy and an understanding of human behavior. You also need good communication skills. As an educator switching from a classroom environment, I already have these soft skills in place.
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UX/UI designers often benefit from taking psychology or behavioral science courses. As an educator, I have already taken psychology and human development courses to prepare myself. In addition, I already have experience in qualitative and quantitative research. So the methodology in UX/UI design isn’t all that different.
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As a former educator, I can excel in the Education Technology sector, where children are the target audience. Unfortunately, UX/UI designers cannot always survey children as you would an adult. Instead, children often need to be observed in the field for behavior and reactions. I already know what to look for in those cases. Frequently, teachers make anecdotal notes on their students, notating how a student behaves in a particular situation and how they are progressing on their learning. This skill can quickly transfer to field study testing.

In addition to observing children for data collection, I also know how to ask questions. Much of my original job was asking questions. I would ask questions that developed problem-solving and critical thinking skills in my students. These are the same questions designers use when determining pain points and possible growth areas for a product. Questions such as “In your own words, what do you like most about the product?” need a critical thinking response, while “What are things that you would like to see improvement on?” necessitates a problem-solving response.

After data has been observed and collected, it must be analyzed to become functional. Again, this is where I can excel. Much of my responsibility was to gather student data to determine where the student was struggling. I would then redirect my teaching efforts to improve student learning. As a teacher, I used previous and current quantitative data to measure growth in reading ability in my students. I also used qualitative observations to enrich the findings and make them more substantive. From this data, I could determine the learning priorities for each student. In the same way, I can also collect data from surveys and field studies to determine which user pain points need the most attention or which could be solved using the fewest resources.

Lastly, as a former teacher, I am comfortable speaking with others and have the polished communication skills to present findings to stakeholders. I know how to put together a presentation, tell a story, and engage the listener. I know how to interpret research findings in a way that is understandable and digestible. As a former educator, I know how to create objectives and reach those objectives by the end of my presentation. I also know how to outline the next steps.

I have implemented these skills in my classroom for the last ten years and already understand human behavior. I can ask good probing questions and analyze data. I can also tell the story of those findings. I haven’t even broached the most important quality- empathy. I went into education with one goal in mind- to change the world by touching the lives of our most valued resource, our children. You cannot do that without expressing empathy. Teachers have an abundance of it.