UX Journey of a Corporate Lawyer
I’ve been planning to author my story of transformation — my journey from a full-time corporate lawyer to a future UX Designer.
Hello reader, my name is Ruchit Rohatgi, and I have put a lot of effort to pivot my career with elbow grease in the past few years. I am always pushing to know my interest and what my next step will be. Especially, when I was not excited from the perks as a corporate lawyer. Alright, it doesn’t sound exciting enough, right?
After I got my professional degree — B.A.LL. B (Hons) from Amity Law School, Delhi (GGSIPU), I had working experience with some of the esteemed companies like Policybazaar, 1MG, and HealthKart as their corporate lawyer for 3+ years. During this time, I’ve met talented people and charismatic leaders who were very excited about this breathtaking field. However, in my case, I wanted to transform this dream, considered to be one of the best career options, into a calling full of innovative learning to change the outlook of society. Indeed, Corporate Lawyer was a great career option, but it could not satisfy my inner passion for creativity. I started feeling lost in the empirical research, drafting, and reviewing all sorts of legal documentation that any corporate lawyer can relate to or imagine.
Learnings from my past experiences
I started to feel the weight of the corporate chains, which held me back to solve peculiar and social problems. A solution that can help bring in something new and impactful for the country. I often felt excited about how we can build and design a website into an e-commerce business while working with these key players in the e-commerce industry. Like, I was a bit amazed at how 1MG was selling pharmaceutical products online and how even rural India was purchasing medicines online through a platform. I was also stunned to notice how Healthkart started manufacturing MuscleBlaze, a Make-in-India supplement and held larger shares in the health & fitness market.
While working at a billion-dollar unicorn in making — Policybazaar, I learned how big goals are achieved by comparing insurance and selling it online in the PAN Indian market. This unique position taught me to sell all the ecosystem partnerships of big insurance companies to a small web-aggregator platform. That was undeniably a billion-dollar idea!
The grinding and disrupting culture at these stunning companies is proof of how things are changing at a fast pace in the digital era. The overall business of these three e-commerce players inspired me for more than three years. I went from Noida to Gurugram, covering literally three states (Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Haryana). It might sound funny, but it completely changed my outlook towards life. As career opportunities were abundant, as many businesses were now turning to e-commerce and changing the game. They were nailing it with marketing and the ripple effect these players were causing in different industry segments. It was exciting to look at, and that is where UX Design and Design Thinking comes in and helps in disrupting the industry at a faster rate.
The Bhagwat Gita mentions that a man’s obstacle to a bigger goal is the path towards a smaller goal, an inspiring line worth remembering.
The transition
Changing careers is a well-thought decision because one has to measure the pros and cons. It is also going to take a lot of time, perseverance, and capital. Nevertheless, if you are determined, then you should choose a career path that aligns with your passion, making it a win-win situation.
At this point, we all have questions like whether to stick to my current circumstances or to try a hand in other creative fields. I understood that it was a change of direction from the discipline I studied. In December 2019, I realized that I should utilize 2020 to explore my passion, but this year had something else to offer. Yes, Coronavirus!
All of us might agree that we don’t always get to choose a career path that is a perfect fit for our skillsets. That very question that pops every time in the mind, “Should we do something else?” or “Let’s switch to a career in which you have passion.” In this dilemma, we struggle to find an answer to a question to succeed.
Then I started exploring a career that made me feel passionate and motivated. Having said that it has to be equally inclined towards the creative side leading to innovation and problem-solving. I started my research about many fields, started to get to understand my interests, and tried my hands into marketing, social media management, sales, entrepreneurial skills, litigation, lawyering, etc. Then, I came across a field for User Experience (UX) Design.
This ever-evolving field is underexplored in the Indian market but very much in-demand abroad. The discipline of User Experience has become a highly coveted career path promising a flexible work-life balance for aspiring designers. It comes along with rewarding work that involves problem-solving and invites exciting challenges to become a future leader. It also has a hefty pay (median annual salary is around Rs. 6.1 lacs per annum), and multiple avenues for career growth in every sector of the industry.
Now you must be wondering — what is User Experience (UX) Design?
In layman terms, User Experience (UX) Design is how a user interacts with a product to gain valuable insight and experience. In extension, it is also an interaction with the organization. A UX designer helps the organization to understand the pain points, behaviour, action-points, needs of the consumers, user journey, empathy mapping, etc. to provide useful and quality experience to the consumer of the product.
A word to the wise — If you are passionate about your work — love solving problems through analysis and creativity, then you can to make a career in UX.
Lastly, a distant relative suggested one of the leading UX Design and Design Thinking Organization in India — ImaginXP through word of mouth. I am enrolled in their UX Jumpstarter Course currently. With its extraordinary team who are helping me immensely to become a full-stack UX Designer. Well, with a bit of knowledge that I gained after studying UX Design, I can proudly say that this is the field that makes me deeply passionate. Looking back on the road not travelled, I can say that the sooner you start pushing yourself, the better it is. Still confused about how to start your UX Design journey — click here.
I can say that one must always think about their next step or else they are letting an opportunity go to waste. I admit that everyone initially was a critique, an advice-giver, or going bonkers for the decision I took. But then, this step changed my life for the better. Today, I am doing what I love to do, and I am always learning something new every day in the ever-growing field of UX Design. One only needs to take that first step to find their interest, prove their metal with elbow grease, perseverance, and the world will exemplify you.
All of us should transform ourselves for the better to become more agile. We should always be open to risks and challenges. It’s okay to fail, as failure is the stepping-stone to success and figure out things that make you passionate and most alive.
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