Navigating the Tech World As A Budding Product Designer

I am Peace Oluwaseun Ojo, a graduate of the University of Ibadan, where I pursued a degree in Sociology. I hail from Ekiti State.

I decided to pursue a career in tech because it’s something I have a 100% interest in, and I genuinely love it. It all began when a friend of mine shared a list of tech skills with me because he believed I had the potential. Intrigued, I conducted my research and discovered a strong interest in Product Design. Another motivating factor was my curiosity about the inner workings of various applications I’ve used in the past, including who designed the interfaces and how they function.

I embarked on a career in Product Design in 2021 during my final year of studies. Initially, I taught myself the basics of Product Design, and later received scholarships from various training schools.

I had the opportunity to work with a team of designers during one of my training sessions to create a website where users could generate QR codes for their businesses, social media accounts, photos, and more. Working in a team environment enabled me to learn about design systems and improve my collaboration skills. We designed a visually pleasing and user-friendly interface, which we passed on to the Front-End Developers for coding.

My Tech4Dev journey began when a friend of mine participated in the program in 2021. She frequently spoke about her experiences in the program, and I was inspired by her story. After reading about her journey, I decided to inquire further and eventually applied for the Women Techsters Fellowship Program.

I applied because I was searching for a well-structured organization where I could learn, grow, and be part of a community of young people who are also on a learning journey. Tech4Dev seemed like an excellent platform to achieve these goals, with the added possibility of securing an internship role after the training.

My experience was incredibly positive; I acquired valuable technical skills and improved my soft skills. I had the opportunity to collaborate with participants from different learning tracks, and I gained a deeper understanding of Product design, which has proven beneficial in my current job.

I have encountered various challenges in my tech journey, such as finding the right organization for learning, improving my communication skills, dealing with imposter syndrome, and navigating the process of establishing myself and securing a job.

I was able to overcome these challenges by first sharing my interests with people, which led to receiving valuable information about which platforms to learn from. Additionally, to showcase my skills, I began participating in design challenges, allowing me to demonstrate my design abilities.

Tech4Dev has been of significant help to me. Before joining the Women Techsters Fellowship program, my knowledge of product design was limited, my soft skills needed improvement, and I felt somewhat in the dark about the tech industry. However, once I enrolled with Tech4Dev, my knowledge and skills improved significantly. I became more proficient in design, and my collaboration and communication skills also saw significant growth.

Tech4Dev opened a world of resources and opportunities to me, ultimately leading to my first internship role in the tech industry. My highlights of the Tech4Dev program include: the well-detailed classes and approachable facilitators who are accommodating, the weekly soft skills training sessions, the engaging study group discussions and interactions with fellow participants, active involvement in the Tech Girls Drive advocacy, the challenging and rewarding capstone project, the opportunity to work on my personal project, being part of the supportive and vibrant community within the program and so much more.

My facilitator is the best; Mona Muhammad Al-Gharib ensures that she includes everyone in the class. She explains topics in detail, often going over them repeatedly until the entire class comprehends. She is also approachable, and I can reach out to Mona even after the class for assistance and to ask questions. I encountered a challenge with a particular topic and reached out to Mona. She organized an additional class, not just for me but also for others who faced similar difficulties.

My tech journey has been challenging, interesting, and I have learned so much over the years. One of my proudest moments was when I was awarded the Tech4Dev scholarship after self-learning. Additionally, I experienced a sense of accomplishment when I won two design challenges on Twitter.

I was thrilled when I secured a role to work at Prunedge as a Product Design Intern. Moving on, I am focused on learning and growing, to challenge myself to achieve more than I ever have, and to ensure that my skills remain up to date.

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