4 Experts on the Future of London Tech
London has established itself as a global tech powerhouse. How will the city make the most of this movement to ensure prosperity for businesses and talent?
Meet Silky, a UX/UI Designer at Best Buy.
Silky had professional design experience when she decided to take the UX Design course at our Vancouver campus. We caught up with her to find out more about her current role and her experience at BrainStation.
BrainStation: Prior to your enrolment at BrainStation, what was your education and career background?
Silky: I have a degree in Communication Design and Marketing from Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and I have been working in the design field for five years.
Which BrainStation course(s) did you take and what made you decide to take it?
I took the part-time UX Design course at BrainStation. I wanted to step back, properly learn the fundamentals, and then take my learnings back to my team.
How did you hear about BrainStation?
My friend is an instructor at BrainStation — Guramrit!
Learn design skills to boost your career – from home!
BrainStation offers Online Live Certificate Courses in UX design, UI design, and design thinking. Attend live classes and interact with peers and expert Instructors from anywhere in the world.
What is the biggest takeaway from your BrainStation experience?
It was refreshing to be a student again after so many years, and unlike my past experience at school, this time I was in a room full of professionals who were eager to learn. It was exciting and inspiring.
How has connecting to the BrainStation community impacted your career growth?
It’s had a significant impact, both for networking and personal growth. BrainStation hosts many design events, which cover a range of topics (from AI development to branding via Social Media). Listening to different speakers, and mingling with like-minded people, is always a great motivator, so it’s great to be part of this community.
What is your current role?
I currently work in UI/UX design and front-end development at Best Buy Canada.
What does your day look like in this position?
I work with a cross-functional team to come up with solutions to design problems that meet business objectives. We work in two-week sprints to identify KPIs, conduct data research, create wireframes, design prototypes, and finally push to development.
What is the culture at Best Buy with regards to continuous learning and employee skills training?
It’s something that’s encouraged at Best Buy, for sure. We currently have lunch and learns, and weekly Community of Practice meetings to share new skills and inspiring findings to help each other grow.
What is it about your field (or organization) that it gets you out of bed on a Monday morning?
I am most excited about working with my team every day! Working in UX design is in many ways like working on a puzzle, and I find it very fun to be able to tackle difficult design problems with a team of talented and knowledgeable people. Ours is an Agile work environment, which allows me to interact with (and learn from) peers in different roles and departments.
Tell me about a recent project you’ve worked on — what challenges, insights, or rewards have you drawn from this experience?
My team was responsible for the Google Home launch at Best Buy Canada. It was a huge project, not only because it was one of the biggest product launches of the year, but also because of its complexity. We had to hash out all of the user flows and journeys to make sure we’re guiding and educating customers about this product accordingly. Since voice assistant is a relatively new technology, one of the biggest challenges was to educate customers on how voice assistant can enhance their everyday lives. In the end, the launch was extremely successful and Best Buy Canada was Google Home’s number one seller in Canada.
Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
I want to take on a design lead.
If you were able to go back in time to speak to the version of yourself that was enrolled in the BrainStation course, what advice would you give her?
You have more than a month to work on the final project! Don’t leave it to the last minute again!
Would you recommend BrainStation to a friend or family?
I would. The course really helped solidify my knowledge of the major principles and concepts of UX, and then gave me a chance to apply these concepts. I was much more confident in my UX design skills after the course, and that’s all down to the experience I had at BrainStation.
If you want to learn more about the UX Design course that Silky took, click here!
