A Day in the Life of Julia

Tell us about who Julia is?

Took me time to figure out who I am. I’m still on a journey of self-discovery. But currently, what I know about myself is that I am passionate about my work, I love to plan often and challenge myself. I’m more of an adventurer and I love to explore new things. I’m also an introvert.

What is that one misconception people usually have about you?

Someone once told me she thought I was too serious. Well, I am a bit of that sometimes but not necessarily. On most days I am playful, chill and love to have a great time.

What is your happy food?

Has to be bread and avocado

How do you eat it? Do you sandwich it or eat it separately?

Sandwich o Like bread and akara Can I do PR for avocado? Because a lot of people don't like it and it's sad 😅

When did you decide you’d want to have a career in design?

Well, last year, I was interested in learning a new skill and at the time, the start.ng internship (now Zuri internship) was starting. It was the beginning of the lockdown and what better way to be productive than trying new stuff. Learning design wasn’t exactly something planned… At the time it seemed like the least “stressful” tech skill to learn so I went with it. And it was one of the best decisions I've made. I enjoy designing and I do it with great enthusiasm.

When you started learning design, what was the most difficult part of it?

The learning process wasn't so challenging...Had all the resources I needed then to learn properly. My biggest challenge however was always feeling like I wasn’t good enough.

For context, I knew I was just starting and I had a long way to go, but I’d always look at the work of others (especially those good-looking designs on dribbble), and always feel like I’m not designing well enough.

I mean it’s okay to aspire to be great at your craft, but doing so without thinking about how long those people you look up to have spent trying to be that good, will only leave you feeling inadequate. I try to tell myself that when I feel that way.

What was your first design project about and what you learn from it?

One of my earliest design projects was an incentive app. It was an app that would help children save better. Thinking about it now and I realize there were a few user experience processes that I could have done better. Anywho, then I did pretty bad in using colors and was able to make some changes in the final iteration.

Are you allowed to talk about your work?

If yes, tell us about where you work and what you do?

I work at Bitsika. At Bitsika, I get to design mini mobile apps and work with developers to see to the completion of the projects.

Tell us about the best part of your work?

I love the work culture at Bitsika. Team collaboration there is wonderful. And most importantly, I love how innovative the leadership is and how they push me to be super creative and do the best work.

On weekdays, how does a typical day go for you?

I’m currently a student. So I spend my weekdays at school. A typical day would start with me getting up by 5 or 6 am. Then I'd have to get ready for classes that start by 8. My classes run from 8 am to 5 pm. When I’m back, I’d most likely be on my phone for a while and work later. Then sprinkle some amount of readings before midnight.

Are you a morning or night person and why?

I’m a night person. Love to work late into the night while jamming to loud music. Although recently I’ve discovered that early mornings are a productive time for me. So I might be a bit of both. Why? Those are the times I'm less likely to get easily distracted.

With the world being virtual, what’s your hack for going through long virtual calls? Do you have a routine?

To start with calls suck. It’s hard to focus when you’re not being spoken to during the call. And then when you zone out for a couple of seconds, you hear “hey Julia, did you get that?”. I didn’t get anything 😭 So back to hacks, I sometimes scroll through Twitter. You could also spend that time doodling or drawing up sketches for your next design project.

What is that one fun activity that you miss doing pre-COVID?

The freedom of freely hanging out with friends and family without the fear of contacting Covid-19 in public places and not having to wear a face mask.

What does an “awesome” weekend look like for you?

Personally, an awesome thing for me is a weekend spent hanging with friends. Anything I do with friends is always fun. I love being around people. Could be a dinner in a cool place or an amazing time in “Fun World”.

Which part of design do you think doesn’t get discussed enough and why’s that?

Accessibility! I think in this part of the world, we pay less attention to designing accessible products for some reason. There are conversations about how to improve user experiences for products but not much of that conversation centers around the fact that each product has a diverse set of users with specific needs and how we can build products that are inclusive and focus on those needs.

The Friends of Figma Lagos chapter is a community of Web Designers and other creatives Developers and Engineers inclusive who are committed to helping each other grow and scale their careers among other shared values. We also thrive to become the go-to place for everything related to design in Africa.