Student Spotlight: Vanessa McDonald

What were you up to before you started studying with Academy Xi?

Before the course, I’d been a yoga teacher for about seven years. I decided I wanted a change of scenery, so I bought a van, packed all my stuff and moved to Queensland. 

In Queensland it’s ultra competitive to find a good studio space and fill a decent amount of yoga classes, so you really have to hustle. I knew it would only be a few years of doing 10-15 classes a week before I burned out. I wanted to find a new profession, but had never been to university and didn’t have a clear sense of direction career-wise, so I was searching around for ideas. 

A friend of mine completed the Academy Xi course and became a UX designer. I called him one day and asked ‘what do you actually do?’. He talked me through his role from end-to-end. Honestly, it sounded like every bit of enjoyable work I’d done in the last ten years squashed into one job. 

I knew I wanted a career that would allow me to make a positive impact. What I love about UX is you can do something as simple as change a button on a screen and that can influence countless people to make a choice that is more sustainable, healthier and better for themselves and the lives of others. 

I didn’t want my next move to be a quick fix, so I took a bit of time to make sure I was completely committed to launching a career in UX. After a little while I was still certain it was the right career and decided to take a course. 

My friend who’d studied the Academy Xi course is the kind of person to do research before he buys a toothbrush! I knew he would have carefully weighed up all the options. Because he’d done his research and spoke so highly of Academy Xi, I decided to enrol. 

What were your highlights of the course?

The biggest highlight for me was completing the real client projects. They were great additions to my portfolio and allowed to show employers that I had hands-on experience. 

Anybody could look at my portfolio and see that I could interpret a real brief, work with actual clients and present my ideas, rather than just working on hypothetical projects.  

As well as the two client projects, I also had the chance to develop my own brief. It was really satisfying to work on a project that I was passionate about which was also for a real client. By the end of the course, I had three client-facing UX projects, which was just an amazing accomplishment that put me in a really strong position when it came to applying for roles in the industry.  

What were your favourite projects that you worked on?

For the personal project I chose an online yoga company I’d been working for. It was the first project and definitely the hardest. I was a blank canvas with UX and was essentially learning the process by performing it. It was challenging, but a valuable learning curve. By the end of the first project I had pieced together the whole process of UX from end-to-end. I presented my proposal to the CEO and she was really impressed. She said that if she hadn’t known I was a student, she would have assumed that I’d been working in UX for years. 

The first client project was for a start-up called Linkmate. Anybody dealing with emotional challenges can connect with other people who’ve had similar experiences on Linkmate. It’s a way to get a bit of interaction and support when you need it most.  

The brief for Linkmate involved creating their app. Luckily, they’d already carried out their own research and validated a design, so our job was to step in and build it. There were about 11 designers working on the brief and everyone had their own ideas and input, which started to slow the project down. 

I realised that if we were going to deliver the app on time, someone would have to step up and lead the project. It ended up being me and another guy who took the reins. We figured out what needed doing and who would do it, which kept everyone shuffling along. 

We presented the finished app to the client and he was over the moon. He actually shed a few tears – the company was very close to his heart, so seeing it brought to life in an app was an emotional experience for him. 

How did you get on with your mentor? 

My mentor was Hayden Peters and he was fantastic. Whenever the teams hit a bit of a roadblock, he would step in and help everyone get things back on track. Sometimes the client projects got pretty tricky, so it was reassuring to have Hayden’s presence.   

It helped that Hayden and I actually have a similar energy. We’re both very enthusiastic and love getting other people involved. Near the end of the course I could tell that everyone was running out of steam. Our productivity had dropped and there was still loads of work to be done with the last project. We had a stand up meeting and I told everyone that if they just gave it one last push and put in an extra 10% effort then we would absolutely smash it. 

By the end of that day everybody had gotten so much done. I had a chat with Hayden later on and he’d noticed the team was moving and shaking again. I told him I’d spoken to everyone and given them a bit of a morale boost. He was guiding the whole cohort, but was also helping me guide the teams from within.     

Can you tell us about your mentoring experience with Academy Xi?

I began mentoring Academy Xi students a few months ago. Hayden reached out and said that a few students needed some extra help. I was so honoured and amazed that of all the people Hayden has met and taught, nearly a year later he remembered me and recommended me for working with students. What a compliment! 

I’m really enjoying my mentor role. I see a lot of myself in these students when they jump on our zoom calls, all frazzled and confused. I hear them out, remind them that everything is going to be okay and always make sure they understand the “why” behind the process, rather than just telling them what to do. 

My experience as a yoga teacher for all those years has definitely helped me in this role. I’m able to hold space and ensure psychological safety – making sure students understand that the only dumb questions are the ones that you don’t ask. 

How did you land your role with Go1?

It happened in a bit of a funny way actually. A recruiter reached out to me and we got on a phone call. We spoke about all things beach and surfing and got along really well. At the end of the call, he told me that although he didn’t have anything that would fit me, he knew his friend at Go1 was looking for someone at graduate-level. 

I reached out to the Head of Design at Go1, Luke, not mentioning the recruiter’s name (as requested) and struck up a conversation. We planned to meet up for an initial chat but struggled to find a time as Christmas was just around the corner. I told him to reach out in the new year and enjoy his holidays. 

The holidays came and went and in that time I had completely forgotten about Go1. It was actually when Luke reached out again in the new year to ask me if I was still interested that I thought of Go1 again. 

I went through three rounds of interviews with Go1 before landing the role. Luke later told me that a big tick for me was the fact that on my LinkedIn profile I state that I’m pretty good with Dad Jokes. Believe it or not, the presenters at our weekly design meetings have to kick things off with a Dad Joke! 

Are you using what you learned throughout the course in your role?

I am and I’m not. I feel that the Academy Xi course gave me a really good “skeleton” to build from. The process is always going to be unique and different depending on the company and project. No day or task is ever the same. 

I think what has really helped is the mindset of forever being a student. Everyone always has more to learn and the UX is constantly changing in our world. Luckily, I have great people that I work with who are so knowledgeable. I’m really happy to be within a team that uplifts each other and is always willing to share knowledge. 

Finally, would you recommend the course and Academy Xi to other people?

Definitely! Lots of my friends are interested in my new role and I have to explain what UX is. It’s all pretty foreign to them. I don’t even think my Mum properly understands what I do yet!

I’ve got a friend who’s curious about UX, but I’ve told her she needs to make sure it’s the right career for her. It sounds a little dramatic, but UX changes the way you view the world around you. Once you acknowledge that everything is designed, you start to notice that a lot of things are actually designed badly. Not everybody is prepared to make that realisation, which means they’re probably not ready for the course. 

If someone has a burning desire to improve the designs we all rely on day-to-day, I’d say go for it. If you approach everything with an open mind and are prepared to change the way you respond to problems, UX enables you to come up with some pretty effective design solutions.  

Academy Xi provides a top-tier learning environment. As one of the best UX UI Design courses in the country, it’s worth investing in yourself to ensure you have the correct tools and mindset to be able to take on the industry. I feel that Academy Xi not only teaches you the tools, but also that mindset of being able to see the “why” behind the “what” of design.

Are you keen to upskill and start an exciting new chapter in your career just like Vanessa? If so, check out our UX UI Design courses.