Co-host of the Design Lota podcast, where she tells the stories of designers and creatives from various fields, in the past Angeline has studied and worked in software engineering. After asking a lot of questions about the interface while working as an engineer, she went to NID and has worked in design for the last 10 years including an education startup, a UX design agency and a software firm. She’s also the mother of a 3 year old and enjoys illustration, hand-lettering and singing.
How are you planning to celebrate Women’s Day this year?
I want to celebrate and encourage women doing and trying to do excellent work.
Would you say there is an under-representation of women in UI/UX design?
In my own experience at the workplace, I haven’t seen that but in public spheres and in the online world we do need more voices of women to be heard.
What are some personality traits of women that make them better (or worse) UX designers?
I have personally known my women colleagues to be better and thorough listeners, and I believe that makes any human a better designer.
Who are some design leaders (male or female) you look up to?
Chris Do, Joe Natoli, Paula Scher, the late M.P Ranjan, Karthi Subbaraman, Prof. Balaram and Ellen Lupton.
As a woman, what’s the greatest challenge you’ve had to face as a designer?
Being treated and perceived differently as a professional after becoming a mother. Our workplaces need to be better sensitized to overcome the biases we have against mothers and their time and abilities.
One simple guideline is to ask the person what they can handle and not make assumptions on their behalf.
What, in your opinion, could we UI/UX designers do, as a relatively young and collaborative fraternity, to solve the problem of gender inequality?
Take a serious look at our own teams and take steps to hire women. This means to make an effort and look for good candidates who are women, so that they can have the opportunity to enter into the hiring pipeline.
We also need to see more women in leadership, and that can only happen if we play the long game and make changes at different levels – mentor young women, hire women and also make the workplace conducive for women of all ages and stages to grow in their careers.
Your message to young women looking to make their careers in UI/UX?
Be flexible, take bold steps, and don’t stop moving forward.
Keep your eyes on the road and pay attention to voices who are rooting for you.
Keep learning every single day and celebrate your growth.
