With a background in tech advertising and occupational therapy, Serina Murphy is eager to grow her career in Product Design. Having just graduated from Dribbble’s Product Design Academy, Serina joins us today to share her experience and offer advice to budding product designers.
Tell us about your background and experience with design.
After spending a decade of proven success driving revenue in tech advertising (Yahoo!, Miniclip, Disney), I sought out a new career that leverages my creativity and experience in tech. I married two distinct areas of my educational background in occupational therapy (earning a Master’s degree) and UX design (completing a design bootcamp at Avocademy).
Fast forward to today, I currently design products and I mentor budding designers at Avocademy, guiding them on coursework and giving project feedback.
Why did you choose Dribbble’s Academy?
I got involved in Dribbble’s Product Design Academy because I really wanted the opportunity to develop better UI/UX skills. As a solo designer at my company, I don’t get too many opportunities to learn from other seasoned designers, so I was looking for a way to get those connections and become more efficient with design tools and overall processes.
Did you make any meaningful connections throughout the course?
Absolutely! There are truly some amazing people in this course and Kaity Hammerstein was such a fantastic mentor! I’m so grateful for her guidance throughout the process.
What have you been up to since graduation? Where do you see yourself in a year?
Since graduation, I was approached by a few companies interested in my newly learned skills and experience. I was thrilled when I found the perfect fit with United Health Group (UHG). I’ll be starting with them this July!
A year from now, I hope to be doing exactly what I’m doing with more fluency in understanding and designing for the healthcare field. My aim is to be able to lead and mentor the next generation of designers that help to make people’s lives better through human-centered design.
What advice do you have for new or aspiring product designers?
My advice to new or aspiring designers is to learn how to design your life and career just like your projects. Be willing to put in the work, keep practicing (even if you aren’t working in a role yet), and be curious and try new things.
Risk failure because you will fail a lot—and that’s ok! Try to have fun along the way. Don’t forget to ask for feedback and help, continue to research and learn, iterate, iterate, iterate, and of course, network. Find yourself a mentor. Also, don’t worry—everyone has imposter syndrome and it never goes away. Trust yourself! You’ve got this.
Want to keep up with Serina? Explore her work and follow Serina on Dribbble. ■
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