Brenda Gutierrez

Can you tell us a bit about your education and career background?

I have a background in graphic design and advertising. Back in Argentina, I focused on art direction in the advertising industry. For the past six years, I worked for a software company as the only in-house Graphic Designer, working closely with developers and the marketing team. I was in charge of all design tasks, from print and marketing design to multimedia and web development.

I transitioned into UX after taking the Full-Time UX Design Bootcamp Program at Brainstation in the fall of 2019.

Why did you choose to study at BrainStation?

After doing some thorough research, I chose Brainstation based on its amazing reviews and the fact that the course was full-time and in person.

The fact that classes were on site was a major factor in my decision. I'm more old school when it comes to learning. I'm not very good at organizing my time when studying online and I really wanted to be 100 percent focused on the classes, and immerse myself in the Bootcamp.

The second reason was the reviews and recognition in the industry. The fact that Brainstation is so well connected with big companies and offers career support was another big motivator for me.

I'm aware of how important networking is, and Brainstation has a vast list of alumni working for major companies all over North America. The Brainstation Community is definitely an asset!

What motivated you to start digital skills training?

Personally, I was always fascinated by psychology: how people think, how they feel, and why they do the things they do. When I learned that UX was all about analyzing user behavior and creating better value for users, it felt like a perfect fit for me!

When I considered a career transition, another thing that attracted me to UX was the possibility of leveraging all my previously acquired knowledge and experience from my graphic design career, and applying it in a more holistic approach, to implement more of my analytical skills, and not just the design ones. In the end, I get the best of both worlds: I’m able to discover and understand user needs and behaviors and design better solutions for them.

What was the highlight of your learning experience?

Demo Day! I worked so hard on my Capstone Project, I couldn't wait to show it off to the world! I even printed a shirt with the logo on it, created business cards, and had some giveaways at my stand.

My project was called Conversa. The idea behind the app was, after adding a new contact into your phone, the app would leverage all the available public information about the user from social media, and create a communication profile for that contact. Based on that profile, the app suggests tips on how to communicate better with that person. The motto of conversa was: ‘Your message, their way’.

I will always remember that day, sharing my design process, getting feedback, and seeing people truly engaged with the project I had created. It was the perfect wrap-up to an amazing program and experience!

What was the most challenging part of your learning experience?

The most challenging part was getting over my public speaking fear. I remember having to present our design sprint project in front of a few professional design representatives...I was so nervous!

What really made a difference, was having an amazing TA in my cohort, who went above and beyond, and organized an extracurricular workshop for public speaking every day after class. Today, I can say that I'm much more confident when presenting my projects at work.

How has your BrainStation experience impacted your career?

It changed my life! I got offers from two big companies, I accepted one of them, and less than three months after finishing my Diploma, I started working for Samsung Ads as a Product Designer. I love where I am now in my career. I get to create meaningful and relevant experiences to make users' lives easier, every-single-day - it's the best job ever!

The experience at Brainstation was so good that I'm currently taking the Product Management course to upgrade my skills.

It changed my life! I got offers from two big companies, I accepted one of them, and less than three months after finishing my Diploma, I started working for Samsung Ads as a Product Designer. I love where I am now in my career. I get to create meaningful and relevant experiences to make users' lives easier, every-single-day - it's the best job ever!

What would you say were the most valuable skills you learned?

The main skills I learned were design thinking, artifact creation, qualitative research, wireframing, and prototyping. I also learned how to leverage my soft skills: empathy, storytelling, flexibility, and curiosity - these are all vital skills for a designer.

How have you incorporated those skills into your current role?

The design thinking process is the holy grail of UX. It's the framework we use every day to uncover new ways to meet users’ needs. During the discovery phase, I develop all the artifacts I learned to create: journey maps, empathy maps, personas, workflows, etc. I use my qualitative research knowledge, especially when I conduct interviews with users, for usability testing and surveys. I also learned the technical skills and best practices for user interface creation that I apply during the prototyping phase.

What advice would you give to professionals considering a BrainStation course or program?

I'd recommend not to wait as long as I did. Most of the courses Brainstation offers are hot in the market and are in high demand right now. If you decide to sign up, my advice is to give it your ALL during those weeks! You'll get out what you put into it. Take advantage of the awesome instructors, they all have experience in the industry, and the Career Success team. Network. Embrace ambiguity... and never stop iterating!