I’ll let you in to a secret: I started my UX bootcamp completely misunderstanding what UX was. I had experience with visual design, and when I began the bootcamp I thought I’d just be making some pretty screens. I wondered what could be so difficult about it. Then I found out that it would involve research and actually talking to people (?!?) and I very quickly realised that my perception of UX was just wrong. Was it too late to turn back? Could I actually do it?
It turns out that the parts of UX that scared me are the parts that I most enjoy, and that the skills I need to do those things are actually the skills I’ve been practicing and perfecting during my whole career. Yes, I know my way around Figma, but what really sets me apart as a User Experience Designer is my ability to understand people. Coming from an education background, that’s exactly what I’ve always done.
As a UX Designer I aim to leave no one out of the equation. I aim to learn the needs of those who most depend on it, to never make assumptions, and to bring neurodiversity into the conversations around accessibility. I aim to hear every voice.
I’m someone who always wants to learn new skills, so in 2019 I embarked on the journey to teach myself graphic design from the ground up. I started out by tracing my friend's cute illustrations with the pen tool on Illustrator, and quickly experimented with my own colourful, geometric digital art, which you can see on my Dribbble profile. I then learned the fundamentals of graphic design, including typography, colour theory, Gestalt principles, and visual hierarchy, which I now apply to my user interfaces with ease.
Since 2020, I’ve taken on a number of successful freelance projects, with deliverables ranging from logos and business cards, to photo books and flyers, and packaging. My visual design skills and my experience dealing directly with stakeholders were invaluable when it came to transitioning to UX, and I'm glad that I had the ambition and drive to not only learn everything from scratch, but to create designs that go beyond what my clients expected. Five years ago I had no idea that something I decided to learn for fun would end up being the first stepping stone in my design career.
In 2016, at the tender age of 23, I decided to uproot my life and move to the other side of the world to start teaching English. I’ll be honest here, when I first had the idea to teach, I thought of it as a great excuse to travel before I started my ‘real’ career. I never expected to enjoy it as much as I did. 1 year in Vietnam ended up becoming 2.5 years there, and a further 3.5 years in Taiwan, and I don’t think I would have stayed for so long if I hadn’t loved teaching as much as I did.
When I left Saigon for Taipei in 2018, I had gone from being a newbie teacher who had no idea of basic grammar rules, to an experienced one who modeled example classes for teachers on development plans, led workshops, facilitated co-planning sessions, and left a legacy behind.
Even though they’re now six years old, my engaging, accessible, and visually appealing teaching materials are still used to this day in a company that employs over 1000 teachers. The people working there now might not know who Chelsea Chapman is, but they certainly know the type of teacher she was. That was only the beginning. Since then I’ve only grown as an educator and as a person who strives to help others.
I didn’t know it then, but my experience as a teacher really does go hand-in-hand with a transition to UX. As a teacher I have been a leader and a planner. I have designed lessons, tested them in the classroom, and iterated when they didn’t work out as expected. I’ve been flexible and adaptable when I’ve had to cover classes at the last minute. My cultural awareness, sensitivity, and curiosity about my learners have meant that I’ve built excellent rapport and relationships, not only with my students but with their parents too, and because of that I always had at least a 90% re-enrollment rate when I taught in the classroom. These are all skills that I carry over to the world of UX.
