7 Ways My English Degree Makes Me a Better UX Designer
From the first time I announced that I was studying English literature in college, I learned that it was inevitable: The Question.
My friends asked it. My classmates asked it. Even my mom asked it. Every time I mentioned my major, without fail, someone would emerge from the shadows to ask:
“Oh, so you want to teach?”
Don’t get me wrong. Teachers are essential; they quite literally build the future by educating our youth, often pulling from their own pockets to do so. I highly respect what they do. And I actually did teach English in Thailand for a bit — a wonderful experience with incredible students — but my ultimate goal has never been to become a teacher.
The Question is telling. It reveals the assumption that the study and analysis of literature and writing are only useful in the classroom, but this assumption couldn’t be further from the truth. The study of words is incredibly helpful in nearly any field. I’m now a UX designer, and the skills that I acquired from my degree have helped me immensely in my career.
Here are 7 of the ways that my degree has made me a better designer:
1. Empathy
For UX design, empathy is essential. To solve our users’ problems, we have to understand their needs and frustrations. We have to conduct research to learn more about them. We have to put ourselves in their shoes.
As someone who’s been peeking into other people’s minds through the power of books since I was four, empathy is one of my greatest strengths. My English degree only enhanced this, as it exposed me to books from an even wider range of perspectives in terms of gender, class, race, and more.
By reading, researching, and writing about books from a diverse range of authors, I soaked up important insights beyond my own experiences of the world. I developed a passion for continued education into social and racial justice, which is vital for designing inclusive experiences that go beyond my own limited experiences and privileges as a cis-gendered, able-bodied white woman.
2. Storytelling
Storytelling transforms complex ideas and facts into meaningful experiences that prompt deeper thought and inspire us to take action. As stories help us make sense of the world, harnessing their power for UX design helps us engage users in a compelling, human way.
Storytelling also helps us guide clients through the process of how and why we make decisions, communicating the value that we provide as we encourage them to implement designs that benefit users.
I spent years analyzing the techniques that authors use to create impactful stories, ranging from micro-stories or even Tweets to novels and television shows. I learned how to implement these techniques creatively and effectively. Thanks to my degree, I see the value in stories and I know how to craft them.
3. Micro and Macro
As a UX designer, I have to balance the micro and the macro; I consider the information architecture of a site and how all of the pieces relate to one another while also sweating tiny details like the alignment of a button that’s too far to the left. I create the hierarchy of each page by prioritizing information at a high level in wireframes and then crafting the details within.
My English degree taught me to pay close attention to detail while also building a strong overarching structure for the whole. A piece of writing that lacks structure can quickly devolve into a confusing mess, as can a piece of writing that’s organized immaculately but riddled with typos and grammatical awkwardness.
I practiced the process of prioritizing information and creating outlines based on that hierarchy over and over. I learned how to consolidate the main idea into a single sentence before diving into the details underneath.
Both the big picture and the small details are vital for success, and I’ve developed skills for analyzing both.
4. Written Communication
UX design requires teamwork, and teamwork requires clear communication. Emails and Slack messages are vital to a team’s ability to make progress on projects without constant time-consuming meetings.
These micro exercises in writing are vastly underrated, but they’re incredibly useful tools, especially in the era of remote work. My English degree taught me the value of choosing words carefully and deleting unnecessary fat, which greatly improves efficiency and builds a stronger team.
5. The Why
In The Design of Everyday Things, Don Norman discusses the 5 Whys, a technique invented by Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota Industries, in the early 1900s. This technique involves digging deeper into a problem by asking “Why?” five times to uncover the root cause rather than the symptom.
Similarly, my English degree was all about digging deeper into the why. Studying literature is not just about the beauty of words (although that’s objectively the best part), but also about analyzing those words to uncover the less obvious meanings.
This practice of in-depth analysis instilled within me a curiosity for digging deeper and finding the core problems and themes rather than simply sticking to the surface.
6. Less is More
So much of UX is about reduction and embracing simplicity to lower cognitive load, avoid overwhelming users, and achieve a clean aesthetic. Taking away the bloat of unnecessary features and bells and whistles makes for a more usable and enjoyable experience.
This reduction means that you often have to “kill your darlings.” In other words, abandon ideas that seem brilliant to you but may not actually work for your users.
Much of writing, just like UX, is the practice of reduction. My English degree taught me how to ruthlessly prune words to reveal the clearest message underneath. In fact, about 80% of the time spent writing this blog post has been deleting unnecessary words.
I’ve killed many darlings, both in design and in writing, and my work is stronger for it.
7. Continuous Learning
UX design is an ever-evolving field, and there’s always more to learn.
My English degree taught me to read quickly, and now I devour a plethora of books about different aspects of design, from international design to biases in research to the art form of writing short. These books, in addition to video tutorials, podcasts, and more, constantly level up my skills and teach me new things about the field.
Closing Thoughts
My English degree has been far more helpful to my journey into UX design than I could have ever predicted. So many of the skills that I developed over those four years — conducting research to develop a sense of empathy, crafting narratives, developing both the micro and the macro, and more — have made me a more empathetic, insightful, and skilled designer.
In other words, English degrees are secret superpowers that shouldn’t be underestimated. It’s time to retire The Question.
