A Dream to Work in Silicon Valley as a UX Designer: Building My Career as a Foreign Student
Photo Credit: Chris Behrendt
This article is based on my speech at Zenefits’ event, UX Careers: Turning Points, Mistakes, and Lessons on Wednesday, June 26, as a part of SF Design Week 2019.
Quick introduction
My name is Jennifer Yoon and I’m a San Francisco-based Lead UX designer. I have over 10 years of experience with companies like Zenefits, Salesforce, Upwork, Yahoo!, and various design agencies and startups in Silicon Valley.
As a design lead, I strive to practice a lean UX design process with just enough user research/testing and positive leadership that connects everyone to one target — delivering the best human experiences that solve our customer’s needs and support business goals.
I joined Zenefits last July and have worked on Time, Payroll and HR products. The team and I have worked on 15 major features over a year, all of which we successfully delivered to our customers. So I’m happy to come to work and make an impact on the product with great people!
Turning Points: How did you set your career goals and reach them?
First: Growing up, I wanted to be a painter but at the same time, it was important for me to be independent financially. So I decided to major in design. While studying visual information design at university in South Korea, SIGGRAPH was held nearby. I went to the conference and was overwhelmed with possibilities of this new world called the internet, and knew it was my playing field.
Second: I was anxious to come to the U.S. to learn more about UX design, and when an opportunity to go to Parsons in New York City as an exchange student presented itself, I jumped at the chance. For 10 months, I got to see everything, meet everyone, and experience all of New York City. However, I realized that I was not ready to go to graduate school without some work experience. Before returning to Korea, I visited SF and immediately fell in love with the city and its people. Three years later, I came back to SF for graduate school and since then have never stopped learning and working.
Photo Credit: Chris Behrendt
Mistakes and Lessons: What would you do differently?
Enjoy your career journey and life: One of my biggest mistakes in my life is not living life. I never went to graduations (high school, university, masters’ degree) because I was always working on something new. My husband and I had our wedding at city hall to minimize time away from work. I remember on our wedding anniversary day, I had a session with my professional development coach instead of spending time with my husband. Then, I realized that I had a problem. I had never celebrated my life! You can work on your career but you should not miss out on life.
Be kind to yourself: When I was taking a women’s leadership class at Berkeley extension, I interviewed at one company, and was turned down. I was so upset with myself. I shared what happened with the instructor and she said something very surprising: “That’s great, what did you learn?” It was an eye opening moment. One of my favorite books is called Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday. Don’t give yourself a hard time! Turn rejections/mistakes/difficult situations into learning opportunities and keep going!
Think big: I know getting VISA sponsorships are hard these days. Remember that you have other great choices! Many companies here have offices overseas (Zenefits has ones in Vancouver and Bangalore.) and there are so many great tech companies in many other countries. Also, remote working is the future. I’m excited about this evolving work landscape and encourage you to embrace these opportunities.
How do you think your career and job will evolve over the next 3–5 years?
Head of UX design: I love going through a creative design process with various stakeholders and customers to deliver simple and straightforward solutions. Life is already challenging, no one wants complicated solutions. I also enjoy helping designers and other people to be more successful and happy. Good people should become leaders and executives and I’d like to be one of them so I can influence more people to do good in tech industry.
Photo Credit: Chris Behrendt
Q & A
“Could you share your journey into UX leadership?”
Be curious, humble, and keep improving yourself for a greater cause! Here are books that had helped me to be a better human/designer/manager:
Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson
The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhuo
Articulating Design Decisions by Tom Greever
Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday
The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday
Here are classes that have helped me enhance my presentation skills and presence:
Thanks for coming by! Photo Credit: Chris Behrendt