Image from Freepik

In February 2020, after 3 years of a lot of research and indecision, I finally took action to change the course of my career from interior architecture to Product Design (UXUI).

It was one of the most assertive decisions I had made.

Since then, I have received several messages from other professionals considering making the same transition.

Everyone has a different reason and background, so I will describe mine.

Keep reading as I listed the 3 strong objections that prevented me from changing careers earlier. I explained 6 key reasons that encouraged me to change.

Objections to switch from physical to digital

This is me, building a model on my sophomore design studio at IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology) in 2011.

1. Time, money, and effort

Like many architects and interior designers out there, my initial investment in time, money, and effort was too high to consider starting all over from zero.

• I invested 5 years of my life getting my bachelor’s degree in interior architecture.
• It cost me close to $200 Thousand dollars on tuition + materials + certifications
• I spend countless years as an all-nighter in a zombie lifestyle to deliver the best projects on insane deadlines.

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2. Successful career journey

I put a lot of energy into creating a career roadmap to succeed in my practice. My ultimate goal was to become a licensed senior interior designer and it took me a lot of coffee, heart, hard work, and countless hours developing projects.

• I dedicated 10 years (education + work) to architectural design. Everything seemed to be moving in the right direction as planned.
• I worked in a prestigious interior design firm co-creating my dream projects all over the country.
• I moved to a Fortune 500 company to co-create and deliver new concept design stores on a global scale.
• I gave up evenings and weekends studying to pass the NCIDQ interior design license.
• In 5 years of professional practice, I became a Senior Interior Designer making very close to a 6-figure salary.
• I earned the freedom and trust from my bosses to work remotely from Brazil, prior to Covid.
• I was already a designer nomad prior to Covid.

How could I just let go of all of it? With all my accomplishments, would it be worth starting from zero?

3. Status and fear of failure

At that time, I wasn't able to identify clearly the reasons why architecture was not fulfilling me anymore (which you can read below). I could not share my feelings with my colleagues without little empathy or judgment.

If my career transition fails, would the architectural design community still embrace me?

I did care about what the industry would say and think about my choice, especially my design network. But we must be true to ourselves in order to be happy.

Why architecture was not fulfilling my soul

Image from the Ellen Decor Magazine

Please take the comments below as my personal reasons. I still love architecture from bottom of my heart and do not regret a single day of my previous projects. I enjoyed it all, learned, and collaborated as much as I could. I also met amazing people and made great connections.

Below was what I identify as my pain points:

1. Projects take a long time to design and construct

• The design cycle of a physical project can take from a few months to years to be completed. I was extremely frustrated designing spaces and having to wait years to see the completion of them. Many changes can happen between the time of design and construction, directly affecting the success of the project for the end-user and the business objective. I also have little control over changes that owners or contractors make on-site. So I always see disappointments in what I designed versus what was actually built.
• Product design has a shorter amount of design cycles. Sometimes can be done in few weeks. I feel I have more control over the design.

2. I don’t always get a chance to see and access my own project

• Most of the projects I worked on were outside my city or even outside the country. It is very sad for me to admit that I never touched or visited 80% of the projects I co-created. I only see it in pictures years later. This caused a sour gap between my design and the final product.
• Digital Products are more accessible. I can access a website, a portal, software, a platform, etc… from my personal devices. I don’t need to spend my own money for transportation and expenses to visit a hotel or coffee shop across the country to experience my design.

3. We hardly ever iterate the design after it is built

• In order to test our design, architects create 3D models, digital or physical walk-through space, build temporary model rooms, physical mockups, sample rooms as a way to test our ideas before scaling. I don’t often see a lot of end-users testing the space before full construction. Feedback is slow and comes from few stakeholders. After the construction is completed and occupants use the space, problems start appearing. Making the post-construction changes are extremely hard as each revision can take a lot of time, energy, and money. This can mean closing down a property for renovation. Most owners cannot afford that.
• Digital Products can be iterated and tested faster with real end-users, which increases the potential for success and better usability. Products can evolve and improve in a shorter amount of time. Products can be updated overnight.

4. Designing for the client instead of creating the best experience for the occupants

• I understand the world is not a rainbow in the sky and we must take business goals into consideration. I may be very naive here. However, I am quite ashamed of some design decisions I had to make in my career in order to please the client. I spent years mastering ADA (American Disability Guidelines) requirements and ergonomic design to be “forced” to intentionally create an awkward experience for the occupants of the space to sustain client happiness.
• Digital Products are typically oriented to provide the best experience to the user. It is much harder to ignore a bad experience in the long run. (Yes, I am aware the “cancel subscription buttons” can also be hidden in hell.)

5. Little to no measure of the success of previous designs

• Measuring the success metrics in architecture is subjective. After the construction is complete, it is hard to make significant changes without a lot of effort, coordination, time, and money. As mentioned earlier, architects do simulations and occupancy surveys, but these are up to the client and they don’t always provide us their end-users feedback. How do we know if the project was successful if we don’t have clear success metrics?
• The Product Design metrics are in the form of KPI and they can be measure by numbers. This is very objective and no one questions the data.

6. Salary does not justify the amount of work we do

• Most designers are perfectionists and we learn when to stop and do better time management. However, the volume of work can be quite overwhelming. Depending on where you work, there is a culture of the first one to arrive and the last one to leave. We are often doing unpaid overtime to meet our deadlines or cover the design changes based on some non-designer opinion. Although I can be recognized and happy with the results, I still need to pay my bills in monetary form.
• According to the Payscale research from April 29, 2021, it can take an average of 10 years for an interior architect to make $70k/year. Think about this for a second: a bachelor's degree cost can easily average $200k (tuition + materials + room and boarding). It can take a decade for a professional to see the ROI.
• For a Product Designer, you can make $60k/year as an entry-level designer.

I wanted to make more money to afford some freedom of my time and enjoy life as a normal human being without feeling guilty. Money was never my main motivation, but as I get older, it became more relevant.

https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Interior_Architect/Salaryhttps://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Product_Designer/Salary

Conclusion

Transitioning can be very scary and intimidating. I can have all the “success” in front of me but if I am not happy, I must change. One must be true to your personal feelings and run with your decisions and risks.

Everyone’s lives are quite different. I listed my personal reasons to leave the design of physical spaces and consider UXUI. I wish I would be happily ever after getting my interior architect degree, but it was not my case. I absolutely do not regret a single inch. It gave me a strong foundation to be a better Product Designer and it certainly helped me transition smoothly. I am still a newer Product Designer, but I am absolutely confident that the background architecture provided me will take me a long way.