Teachers and UX Designers

You might think of what the teachers and the user-experience designers have in common? Here is how my story goes ......

I am working in an international school as a teaching assistant for almost 6 years. I have gained a lot of experience in working with students but not only. Collaborating, learning about child psychology, growing my inquiry skills on how to approach my students' needs were part of my daily routine. With the purpose of developing high-level reading, writing, and problem-solving skills, I tailored my instruction to each student's unique intellectual and emotional needs. Collaborating with my coworkers was also great as I was able to go over challenging problems because of their help and knowledge. All I did in the classroom and my school community has now a name for me: I used every day the human-centered approach to "design" and create meaningful learning experiences for my students and also, meaningful interaction with and in my community.

A teaching assistant and a UX designer have a lot of things in common, maybe even more than you can think of. We are challenged every day by 22 students with 22 different needs, 22 different approaches to the lesson taught, 22 perspectives and expectations. And we, on the other side, are the teachers that want to deliver, to engage and keep them engaged, to offer the comfort for learning and the atmosphere where the students can open up, can learn and want to know more. To provide according to their needs (academically and emotionally), I need to know more about the students, research, find out their passions, and connect with them, to find out what is their previous knowledge and what do they need to know now and how can I support them better. And all of those taught at a pace that would not be overwhelming for them. The classrooms were student-centered classrooms where the students were discovering, were creative, and build their independence in their learning. They asked questions and they understood that it's ok to make mistakes ... it's a part of the learning. Flexible sitting in the classroom along with quiet places for those that cannot focus created accessibility to the product that I was offering - the learning, the knowledge. I want the students to realize they're not alone while they're going through a difficult time and I am aware of their emotions. For students who learn and think differently, feeling understood and encouraged in the classroom is critical. Why am I writing about all these? Because now when I am training in becoming a UX/UI designer, everything sounds so familiar: researching to find out what the clients' needs are, what are their hobbies and passions, and how to connect with them. What are they looking for and how can I create a product meaningful and useful? How do I keep them connected with the product and what do they need in order to come back? Asking questions to my students, challenging their thinking is also a part of the "classroom design process" the same way as it is working in a team: collaborating, iterating, researching, finding solutions are part of every day of teaching assistant.

What a teacher has in common with a UX designer is that both, the teachers/teaching assistants and the designers are thriving to learn about the users, their experiences, needs, and motivations.

Collaborating is vital in working in a team (design or school team). Only through collaboration and cooperation, new ideas are coming out. Testing the prototype is the same as mid-term exams where we are checking the students' knowledge so we can understand where they are in their learning path and what can we do for them to achieve their academic goals. The report card at the end of the year is the perfect feedback upon my work: Did I do well? Did they enjoy the journey? Did I do all I could and what can I do better?

Empathy is essential. The ability to empathize, or share the feelings of the user, is said to be a designer's most valuable asset. When creating a product, the ultimate goal is to satisfy a user's wants/needs while also delivering a solution. And this is one of the traits that I am using in my teaching assistant job: empathizing with students' needs and motivations to understand and support them better.

I have been through all of those not knowing back then that what I am doing is designing my classroom through student-experience!

Working in such a rich environment, with students and adults, collaborating and empathizing with their needs, their experiences, brainstorming and researching, coming up with ideas and getting to understand different layers of the human condition, made me a better human today and gave me a better approach towards UX/UI design. And how my story will go on? I will apply my skills and knowledge and make them grow training to become a good UX/UI designer, to put in my design the users' thoughts and feelings and make every aspect of their experience meaningful, pleasant, and unforgettable. It's about you, me, and shaping the world around us ...