Ben Griggs

Where are you from and/or where are you based as a Memorisely student?

I was born and raised in Georgia, and for some reason I never really left 😆. Now, I’m based just a little bit north of Atlanta in a city called Marietta.

I also spend time in Atlanta 👇

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What inspired you to pursue UX/UI and become a designer?

I started out thinking I’d want to be a graphic designer, but I quickly learned that what I really enjoyed doing was solving problems through creativity and design. After lots of googling, watching tutorials, reading articles, and taking online courses…I somehow stumbled into this amazing field.

I once heard UX design described as a combination of art, psychology, and science, which is really compelling to me and not something I could pass up!

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Which Bootcamp did you choose to enroll in, and why?

I enrolled in the Design System Bootcamp. Mainly for two reasons:

The first reason was to simply learn about design systems! I started working on a design system at the startup I work for with my design team. When we started, we had very little to no experience building a design system, so we had to quickly learn on our own. It was during that initial research that I realized I really enjoyed thinking about and building UI components, styles, etc. and seeing it all come together in a system. But, I still felt like I didn’t know what I was doing 😅 So I enrolled in this course to understand best practices and deepen my understanding.

The second reason was to meet other designers 👋 I’m still very early in my design career, and I wanted to connect with other designers to hear their experiences and learn from them.

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What's it like to be a student in Memorisely's virtual classroom?

So much fun! I really liked the rhythm of attending class every Tuesday and office hours every Thursday. It was great learning alongside my fellow classmates and I made a few friends a long the way 🙂

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What has been your favorite part of Bootcamp so far?

The live classes were probably my favorite part of the bootcamp. Because the class is kept fairly small in size, I felt like I wasn’t lost in the crowd (of Zoom squares). Plus, we could all pile into one Figma file and it was amazing seeing everyone working live together.

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What's one learning that has surprised you in Bootcamp?

One thing that surprised me was the utility of design tokens in a design system. They’re a really great example of design and development working together.

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What is the biggest challenge you face learning UX/UI Design?

The biggest challenge for me is often knowing how to start building a new skill. UX designers have to wear many hats and the industry is constantly changing and evolving. There are so many skills related to UX that I want to learn, but it’s overwhelming sometimes knowing how to start. Bootcamps, like the ones Memorisely offers, are great for this purpose.

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What does a typical day look like for you as a student?

It varies a little day-to-day but typically I start my day with a nice cup of coffee, breakfast, and catching up on reading some newsletters and articles. If it’s a Tuesday or Thursday I would then jump on the Zoom call with my class ⚡️

Then, I start my workday around 9am. I work remotely as a product designer for a startup and my schedule varies widely throughout the week. But, this usually consists of a daily standup meeting with my team, a focus block of dedicated design time, probably another couple of meetings with various stakeholders, a coffee break, and then another couple of hours of design time. For me, it’s always a balance of finding time to focus in between meetings 😆

Somewhere in there I try to go for a walk, do a workout, yoga, or run a few errands. Occasionally, I’ll work from one of my favorite local coffee shops ☕

In the evenings after work, I would tackle some of the bootcamp homework and read some of the related articles and links people shared during class or office hours.

What is your current workspace setup?

It’s always a work in progress and I’m still figuring out how to make it more comfortable and cozy (send me desk plant recs!). But, I've set up my "office" in this little corner of my apartment.

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What are your go-to or "must have" apps?

• Craft: A beautifully-designed document and note-taking app. I started using Craft a few months ago and never looked back!
• Castro: I love listening to podcasts and Castro is by far the best podcast app I've used. If you have trouble keeping up with a large influx of podcasts, this app is for you
• Things: I like Things for it's simple and fluid interface, it's such a joy to use and play around with. Each interaction is so finely-tuned. Oh and it helps me keep up with tasks I need to do 😆

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What (digital or physical) product recently blew your socks off?

An app called Play, a native iOS design tool. The UI is insanely well-designed and very unique. Somehow they managed to make a powerful, contextual, on-device design tool 🤯 I've hardly scratched the surface but I'm looking forward to playing around with it!

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What tunes do you listen to while designing?

I listen to a wide variety of music in general. But, when designing I like to listen to down-tempo, lo-fi, or chill-hop because it helps me focus and find a flow. Besides that, I often like to listen to City Girl, A.G. Cook, or Lane8 mixtapes.

I use Apple Music as my streaming service of choice (I’m so sorry); but, here’s one down-tempo playlist I like to shuffle 👇

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Share three pieces of advice for fellow and/or future students?

1. Be curious. Ask lots of questions, even ones you think you know the answer to. Try to get feedback on your work from people with different backgrounds and levels of experience. It’s good to stick to design conventions but also don't be afraid to try something new!
2. Connect with your classmates and the design community. I'll be the first to admit I've done a bad job of this in the past, but ever since I started engaging more with a design community and other designers I've seen a lot of personal and professional growth I would never have experienced otherwise.
3. Take time to relax. There’s a lot of hustle culture in the design industry, and while there’s nothing wrong with working hard on something you’re passionate about, always make sure you find time to rest and recharge.