Let’s start strong: I’ve never done one of these, so bear with me. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s look at some big milestones from the past year.
I left a great job…
After nearly a year working in an agency, I found I still longed to work on a product with a team unified around shared goals. While I liked the variety of projects that came along with working in an agency, I missed having a connection with my users; knowing my personas inside and out; I missed the Agile process and meetings with stakeholders and startup culture.
So I began searching for that missing link. I was scared. I had a great job at a small agency that really didn’t feel like an agency, but more like a family. Starting a new job is always a risk, but I knew it was something I needed to do to feel fulfilled.
…for an even greater one.
HubSpot marked my first job at a large company of over 1,500 employees worldwide. Previously, I’d worked at a small startup that grew from around 30 employees when I was hired to over 250 employees when I left. And the agency sat comfortably at 40 employees.
All that to say…I was terrified and excited to start at HubSpot. ‘Terrixcited,’ if you will. But I’ve since learned my way around HQ and can confidently say HubSpot was 100% the right choice for me. Working on the Web Strategy lane challenges, pushes, and motivates me every day. My coworkers are talented, lovely, and as excited about our growing design systems and brand strategy as I am. And at HubSpot, I feel valued. It know it’s corny and dated, but I feel #blessed, and so I can’t wait to see what’s in store for 2019.
I moved to Salem.
Another scary move! It was hard enough to convince myself to move outside the city from Beacon Hill to Melrose three years ago. I’ll admit, when the last boxes were unpacked and the keys to the Beacon Hill studio I’d called home since college were returned, I cried. I sobbed. I called my boyfriend and told him I’d made a terrible mistake.
And then, ever so slowly, Melrose grew on me. I came to love the quaint city center, the cafe across the street, the landlords who actually cared. I couldn’t imagine ever leaving. But three years in, prices kept rising and the Orange line was really testing my patience. So I began looking for cheaper apartments with more square footage further from the city.
I already had friends in Salem and I wanted to live in a walkable city, so I focused my search there. And that’s how I wound up in a lovely apartment with a dedicated office, granite countertops, and more storage space than I know what to do with.
I went back to school…
…in a manner of speaking. Thanks to HubSpot’s generous tuition reimbursement program, I decided to look into User Experience coursework. I considered programs like General Assembly and Gracehopper, but I already had a foundation of knowledge and didn’t want to waste money and time on anything that might wind up being too introductory for me.
I knew plenty of people in my field who espoused the virtues of Bentley University, so I researched their UX certificate program. After talking all the options over with my boss, we agreed the certificate was the best fit for me and I signed up for four two-day courses: Human Factors and the User Experience, Usability Testing, Content Strategy, and Customer Experience.
Boy, did I underestimate my tolerance for homework as a working adult (although I felt a renewed confidence in my choice to pursue a certification over a graduate degree). Homework aside, I learned so much. I learned how better to express myself, how to develop influence with stakeholders, and I conducted my very first solo usability test. Most importantly, I gained confidence and renewed my passion in UX.
I began working on my hardest project to date.
I can’t say too much about this one as it’s currently in development and will likely warrant a post all its own. Working cross-functionally with the product design team, I led the user experience design from the marketing side as we set out to redesign the most-visited section of the website: the pricing pages.
These pages are crazy important and the sheer number of stakeholders involved is mind-boggling. We ran an initial usability test with three low-fidelity concepts to pinpoint the most influential and most frustrating steps in the product evaluation phase. Based on those insights, we refined our prototype, reviewing with internal teams along the way. In our second round of usability testing, we recruited a mix of new users and existing HubSpot users with varying levels of technical expertise.
Based on the final round of testing, we finalized a fully responsive prototype incorporating the multiple states of our new design elements in time to meet our ambitious deadline. Phew. While the work isn’t done yet, we are definitely over the hump in the design process and I couldn’t be more proud.
Wow. I’ve gotta say, after reflecting on those milestones, I totally get the point of these Year in Review posts. This year definitely wasn’t easy—in fact, it mostly kicked my butt. Looking back, I can see why—I took a lot of risks. I put myself out there—a feat in and of itself, given how much of an introvert I am. I pushed myself even when I thought I didn’t have any gas left in the tank.
Most importantly, I got to know myself. I took those risks because I thought they’d make me feel happier, healthier, more fulfilled. And they paid off!