I’m Katie, I love dogs and Pandas and I’m a Senior Experience Strategist at The User Story, a UX design agency based in Norwich. My role is quite varied but generally, I spend most of my time helping our clients prioritise their roadmap and feature development, conducting research and feeding that back to the design team.
How did you end up doing the job you're doing now?
It was a complete fluke to be quite honest. I had completed my Masters in Social Psychology and was in desperate need of a job. I didn’t want to be a Psychologist, but I did want to apply my knowledge in some way. I came across an advert for a User experience researcher. I had no idea how tech worked or how it was built, I had never thought of a career in tech, but I had done research so I thought I’d give it a go. Luckily I got the job and actually enjoyed it and over the past few years, my role has changed a bit to suit the skills I have learned along the way.
If you could say something to yourself before you started a career in tech what would it be?
Look at careers in tech! Even if you have not thought about it before. I had no idea I had knowledge and skills that were transferrable to this industry because it’s not always made clear at university/college. The people I have met are wonderful so it’s really worth exploring the different possibilities in the industry.
What's the most challenging thing you've found about being a woman in tech?
Unfortunately, it has to be going to events. On countless occasions I have attended events which are 90% male attended and the talks/seminars that are given are written from a male perspective. It can be quite off-putting because you feel like you shouldn’t be there or the event “Isn’t for you”. Everyone is always lovely, but the general feeling can make you feel a bit uncomfortable.
Lockdown bonus questions:
How has lockdown affected your life and your job? Are you working from home? Furloughed?
Are you enjoying the downtime or can you not wait for things to go back to normal(ish)?
Lockdown has been strange. As a company we are lucky that we still have clients to work with and working from home is quite normal for us, but as time has gone on it has started to wear me down. It’s hard not seeing the team because we’re really collaborative and we rarely complete something alone. Keeping motivation and concentration has been the most difficult, but it’s important to recognise when you’re not being productive and just taking some time to get back to a positive headspace.
Lexi (Labrador) and Phoebe (Vizsla) have been enjoying the extra company at home. They have a very hard life.
