A Day In The Life Of UX Designer -ImaginXP

If you think being a UX designer is all about being lost in a world of colors, typo and Photoshop then you are in for quite a surprise! 

A UX designer plays various roles like a researcher, planner, manager and dreamer, with a general work day filled with a plethora of differing activities.

Let’s take a peek into what a day in the life of a UX Designer looks like!

Although this is not definitive guide, it is a reasonably accurate depiction of a UX designer’s daily routine.

7:00 am: Wake up early and get ready quickly

The day usually begins with an early morning shower followed by breakfast.  I feel that waking up early and going for a quick run usually gives me a great boost for beginning my day.

8:30 am: Leaving for work

Commuting to my workplace requires leaving home early. I generally zip to work on my red scooty and reach office whilst listening to a few of my favorite tunes. The early morning air whipping past me as I ride sets my day just right.

9:15 am: Coffee and Catch-up

I reach office and have a quick coffee with my team while we discuss everything from last night’s party, to new intern who joined my project to difficult clients and unrealistic delivery schedules.

9:30 am: Mail Time

I generally start the work day with spending about half an hour reading and replying to mails. As a UX designer one of my major tasks is communication and project management so being on top of mails is important. 

It is also a good idea to spend a little time in the morning getting this task out of the way and then focusing on other work through the day.

10:00 am: Time to get going

Followed by mail time is usually a sync up call with different clients where we discuss progress on projects, updated requirements, review on work sent in etc. This sync up call leads to prioritizing on work for the rest of the day.

11:00 am: Wireframing & Prototyping

One of my core responsibilities as a UX designer is designing interactions for products that we are designing. Today I am working on the workflow and interaction for an innovative new fashion styling app. In layman’s terms we call it wireframing and prototyping. Axure is currently my tool of choice for prototyping.

1:00 pm: Lunch

This period is usually filled up with quick emails and social media check followed by actual lunch and catching up with colleagues who might be working on other projects.

2:00 pm: Get out the paper and pencils

I have just kicked off a new project, so I will be spending a big chunk of my time on the initial conceptualization for a new eCommerce application. 

It involves studying the user research done by the research team and an intensive brainstorming session with the rest of the designers on the project. This gives us a good start on ideas and concepts for the product. We quickly sketch user stories, scenarios and thoughts on the product.

4:00 pm: Break Time

I spend some time with my beloved cup of coffee and take a fifteen minute break to read latest installment of my favorite comic!

4:15 pm: Back to work it is

Now it is time to really get my hands really dirty and get back to my project from the morning. It is all about reviewing, reworking and enhancing the interactions that I have been working on along with starting the first draft of the User Interface design with my visual guy. 

He is a wizard with Photoshop by the way.

6:00 pm: Lets call it a day

So today was filled with client calls, meetings, wireframing and a very productive brainstorming session. It is quickly back to my mailbox to send out last minute mails and updates. Logging in my hours on our personnel management portal and a sign off on the day.

I am on my way back and looking forward to a cold beer and good music with some close friend.

Hope you guys had as much fun reading this I have living it everyday.

Adieu!

-UX Designer, ImaginXP