Job shadowing: From logic to creativity

29.10.2024

Author: Marc Büetiger

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to jump from logic to creativity?

As a software developer, I am used to focusing on the technical side of things. But my enjoyment of visual and creative work has long sparked my interest in design. At jls, I was lucky enough to spend six days job shadowing in the Interaction Design team. These six days were an exciting journey that showed me how strongly the two worlds are linked and how valuable it is to combine UX/UI design with development skills.

My job shadowing was more like a mini design project than a classic «watching». In a short space of time, I was able to go through the most important steps of a design process. Under the guidance of my colleague in the ID team, Cyrill, I designed parts of a mobile app - from the initial idea and definition of the core functions to the first mockups and the design in Figma, the design tool used in the Interaction Design team.

A highlight for me was creating a persona that represented a fictitious but ideal user of my app. This phase helped me to put myself in the mindset of a designer and understand how important it is to know exactly what the users' needs and expectations are. The first sketches on paper, which were later implemented in Figma, gave me a feel for the rough and iterative processes of design. I quickly realized that this world is less about perfection from the start and more about continuously improving and refining.

One clear difference to my day-to-day work as a developer was the even stronger team orientation in the ID team. While software development also requires a lot of teamwork, collaboration in the ID team is particularly intensive due to the creative nature of the tasks. The team often brainstorms, develops solutions together and looks at problems from different perspectives. In software development, on the other hand, teamwork focuses more on the coordination and management of individual tasks within the team.

The iterative approach to design, where rough drafts are created and improved step by step, was an exciting challenge for me. As a developer, I often work to find the most efficient and solid solution right from the start. In design, on the other hand, there is rarely a «perfect» solution - it is about constantly optimizing through feedback and adjustments. This change in perspective has shown me how important flexibility and attention to detail are in creating a great user experience.

These days in Interaction Design have made it clear to me how valuable it is to combine knowledge from both worlds. The ability to understand both design and development creates great added value - not only for the team, but also for the projects I work on. I have learned how important it is to build a bridge between the design and development process to ensure that the technical implementation and the creative vision support each other.

I am very grateful for the insight into our Interaction Design department and the support of the team. This experience has further strengthened my interest in creative work and has shown me that I would like to work even more intensively with design in the future. The combination of UX/UI design and software development offers many exciting opportunities and I hope to continue gaining experience in both areas. The job shadowing has also shown me that in this hybrid role I could be a valuable interface between design and development - a perspective that gives me great joy both professionally and personally.