Last week I enrolled in an online course in UI design on Coursera. And like many other courses on Design, this one is also being taught by Computer Science professors. In the very first video, they introduced themselves and told their stories of how they got into Design. Even if they design something or the other, or they teach design they are still Computer Scientists/Engineers/Professors. In the same video they spoke about the Human Computer Interaction and how it is an intersection of different fields of study such as Human Psychology, Design disciplines and Computer Science.

I recently graduated in Computer Science and Engineering. But in the last year of college after 2 months of design internship at Snapdeal, I decided to make my career in designing. Why I changed my mind is another whole story. It’s not that easy to shift from engineering to design. But of all the work that I had done in the past and of all the possibilities in future, I took this bold step. I started looking for jobs outside the campus. So, I connected with an HR PROFESSIONAL of one of the wallet biggies in India after a couple of months. We exchanged some messages on LinkedIn and finally decided the date of interview. That interview did not go well at all. Of all the questions in the world, they asked questions like these - “Why do you want to be a designer, you have studied Computer Science?”, “Why did you not drop out of the college when you decided of making a career in design (in the final year)?” I guess that they thought of me as a programmer who can’t do any sort of designing or someone who knows a little bit of UI design. All those questions indicated that they thought a Computer Science undergrad does not know anything about design as these fields are radically different. After that interview, I was told that I would have to complete an assignment in order to take things further. I left and never got any response from their side. I do not know why this happened. I tried contacting them. They responded with “Your profile is on hold”. Never listened from them again and did not even try contacting them.

Experiences like these make me think again on my decision of a career in design. Sometimes I think after graduating in Computer Science and Engineering, do I really need a degree in Design? Then I come across experiences like these courses and my doubts dwindle. Computer Science Engineers/Scientists can also be designers. Heck, anyone can be a designer. Without a degree I may not be a good designer today, but whatever I am doing in the present or I have achieved in the past, I have learned by my own. I'll keep on doing that work basis on how much I know and if I don't know things, I'll figure out them on my own as I have done in the past.

// KEEP MAKING