How SheCodes helped Wanyoung start her career as a UX/UI Designer!
🙍♀️ Before SheCodes
Hailing from the United States and currently residing in Michigan 🇺🇸, Wanyoung is a creative person with a passion for writing, enjoying long, reflective walks, binging movies, and growing a unique collection of crystals and perfumes.
Before embarking on her coding journey, Wanyoung dedicated herself to the world of editing 📚. She nailed her career as a freelance editor, refining graduate dissertations and academic books. This path was natural to her given her academic background: she got her PhD in Philosophy, Art, and Critical Thought back in 2018. Yet, university couldn't satisfy her curiosity and desire for a more dynamic career.
Her initial encounter with coding happened casually at the age of 13 👩💻. Back in the days of Xanga and Myspace, she picked up basic HTML and CSS to personalize her blog spaces, enjoying the process of tweaking layouts and colors. Yet, she left her interest behind until the pandemic in 2021, which marked a significant turning point in her career aspirations.
During this period, Wanyoung noticed the work-from-home trend growing 🏡. The flexibility of remote work particularly appealed to her, prompting her to revisit her coding interest but this time, with a professional look. She aimed to pivot her career entirely, aspiring to become a remote software engineer 🚀.
“I really enjoyed expanding my skills by taking the SheCodes Basics, Plus, and React workshops during the pandemic in 2021. At that time I noticed that many jobs had gone remote and my goal was to be employed as a remote software engineer working from home because of the flexibility it offered.”
After seeing a SheCodes ad on social media, she decided to take the leap and embark on an exciting coding journey! 🤩
👩💻 Her SheCodes Experience
Wanyoung had a blast with SheCodes! The classes were a breeze for her, and she really got into the groove of things 🤩. She really liked the pace of the classes and Matt’s teaching style.
“Fantastic, I breezed through the classes”
The whole experience wasn't just about learning; it was a joy ride. She didn't just get through lessons; she enjoyed every bit of them, especially seeing how those web pages adjusted perfectly on different screens! 📱
“The responsive design I picked up in SheCodes became extremely useful as I design mobile-first webpages and pages for the client portal and ensure the pixel dimensions of the screens are exact.”
Thanks to SheCodes, Wanyoung didn't just learn; she thrived, turning lessons into skills she uses every day in her work.
🙋 How SheCodes has Helped to Change Her Life
SheCodes totally changed Wanyoung's life! How? By arming her with the skills she needed to become a UX/UI designer. Through SheCodes, she dived deep into the world of responsive and UX/UI design, skills that were key for her career 👩💻.
Post-SheCodes, Wanyoung jumped into freelance gigs, crafting websites and UX/UI designs. But that's not all! Her awesome work caught the attention of an IT services company and she landed a job in December 2022.
“I really enjoy working as a solo UX designer at my current company. It allows me to apply my eye for detail as well as my knowledge of social, behavioral, and cognitive psychology to cater to users’ needs”
Now, she spends her days designing everything from websites to client portals and other sales applications at her company 💻. She's been a game-changer there, improving up their homepage, client portal, security portal, you name it! 🤩
“Often I work directly with front-end web developers who are translating my designs in Figma to code. Sometimes I know more about front-end than these developers, for example, I introduced one of them to using pt for font sizes rather than px. I write detailed directions for the developers’ code.”
And knowing how to code? That was key to her role! She often teams up with front-end web developers, guiding them to bring her Figma designs to life with code. And yep, sometimes she even teaches them a thing or two. Like, who knew using 'pt' for font sizes was cooler than 'px'? Well, Wanyoung did, and now they do too! 🤓
👩💼 Advice to Future SheCodes Student
Wanyoung's tip for future students is simple: if you like designing websites, go for it! 🚀 If you have a few free hours every week, that's enough.
“If you enjoy designing websites I would say go for it with no hesitation if you have a few hours to spare every week.”
Don't hesitate, just start learning. Wanyoung's story proves that a little time and passion can lead to big changes.
“I breezed through this class and the challenges made learning fun and rewarding. Matt's teaching style is very straightforward and easy to follow. I really liked that this class was self-paced because I could complete it on my own time.”
🎉 Wanyoung’s SheCodes Plus Testimonial
“Plus Workshop was a challenging, fun, and rewarding experience. It's only been 3 weeks since I started coding and I have learned so much.”
🎉 Wanyoung’s React Testimonial:
“This was another fun and challenging workshop. I learned a lot and I'm glad to have a very popular skill under my belt that can lead to job opportunities.”
