Josh Meyers

Where are you from? Where are you based as a UX/UI Designer and/or Student?

I was born and raised on the east coast of the USA 🇺🇸 in New Jersey, but I currently live and work right outside the city of Chicago. I moved out here for school and decided to stick around during the pandemic.

A lake by my house in New Jersey 👇

My home city, Philadelphia 👇

View of Lake Michigan from my office in Chicago 👇

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

I completed the UX/UI Design bootcamp and absolutely loved it! I originally enrolled because I wanted to pivot my career and become a UX Designer. My goal was to work remotely in order to have more flexibility to visit family and travel.

Looking back, the UX/UI Design bootcamp was definitely the right option for me and it set me up to pursue my dream of becoming an Experience Designer. Oh, and I met some pretty cool people from all over the world along the way!

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

I was inspired to pursue UX/UI design because I found that it fit my personality and my strengths. One of my passions has always been to empower people to flourish in their lives and in their work. In the digital world, UX design feeds that passion by designing with user-centered outcomes in mind.

The idea that I could creatively design and build experiences for people in virtually any industry gave me all the inspiration that I needed to jump right in and make the decision to enroll in the UX/UI Design Bootcamp.

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What do you find most exciting about UX/UI Design?

I think that the emphasis on people is the most exciting thing about UX/UI design. At almost every stage of the design thinking process, you are interacting with teammates, stakeholders, users, and peers to design something bigger than the sum of its parts.

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What does a typical day look like for you?

My day looks pretty flexible based on the needs of the day.

Nevertheless, a typical day for me always starts with a delicious cup of home brewed coffee (I think I'm in good company here...).

In the mornings I like to get up and spend some time reading and getting stuff done. The morning is definitely my most productive chunk of time, so I tend orient myself and my tasks, do some focused work, and take care of any key meetings.

The afternoon is usually a wildcard work-wise; but, come evening, I'm always up to cook something new. Cooking is definitely a passion of mine and I try to make my Italian ancestors proud 🇮🇹

I think there is actually a pretty cool connection between design for the digital world and design for the kitchen. Both worlds take an interest in people and provide the best possible experience through hospitality, innovation, and community.

After dinner, I will usually do something active — like go for a run or go to the gym — then, hangout with friends.

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What is your current desk setup?

My current setup is a clean standing desk with minimal clutter. Similar to Zander, before he went the desktop route, I like to use just my laptop. It's essential for me to keep things organized in my physical space in order to help me stay productive mentally.

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And your work station setup across devices?

I could never live without Figma and Notion. I use both of these applications everyday to design and document my work.

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

Participating in the Memorisely virtual classroom is nothing short of engaging and fun. The memorisely team does an insane job of keeping energy high and valuing each perspective and voice in the virtual room.

I can't imagine doing a pre-recorded bootcamp experience, because the live teaching environment delivers this marvelous collaboration between you and your classmates. I definitely miss the morning classes and seeing my classmates.

What was your favorite part of Bootcamp?

I loved getting to meet people from such diverse walks of life. We all live so far apart, but it was magical to come together for live classes. When we collaborated and laughed with each other, it was my favorite.

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Name one learning that has surprised you in Bootcamp!

I was surprised by just how important it is to document your work. I think that I suspected a lot more design decisions were subjective, but I found out that so much (if not all of it) is a thoughtful approach to solving a specific user problem.

And the best way to assure that your work meets a user problem is to document and keep track of your decisions for later iterations. Notion is super helpful for organized documentation and it has loads of plugins to practically drag and drop files and screenshots.

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What challenges did you face as a UX/UI Student?

It can definitely be challenging to juggle the amount of time needed to devote to the bootcamp. It can be easy to hold back, especially if you are working, taking care of a family, or just have other things going on.

All the same, the more you lean into the bootcamp, the more you will be rewarded. It was a challenge to sustain being plugged in like that.

Since the bootcamp is definitely an intensive experience, you learn a ton in a relatively short period of time. It should be tiring to an extent but I have found that the team at Memorisely does a fantastic job of keeping motivation and energy high.

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What work or project are you most proud of?

I am most proud of the work that my team and I did on the Anyone app. The anyone app connects people seeking advice to an expert in virtually any subject or field. It essentially provides access to quality advice for anyone and everyone.

My team designed a new video feature to help break down social barriers and increase trust/confidence before contacting an expert or advisor.

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What product recently blew your socks off?

Notion still blows my mind. It is such a simple application but it is incredibly versatile and organized. It even hosts the content for my portfolio site! 🤯

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What tunes do you listen to while designing?

I listen to a bit of everything, but when I want to get into the zone, I usually play music with a strong beat. This is one of my go-to playlists recently.

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Share three suggestions for fellow and/or future students?

1. Lean in. The more you engage with your instructor and fellow students, the more you will learn and the more your classmates will learn because of your questions. It's also more fun 🙃
2. Build as you go. Never feel like you don't have the skills to attempt something. Even if you fail, you learn twice as fast and put every ounce of your knowledge into practice.
3. Invest in people. I highly encourage you to get 1-to-1 sessions or group sessions with your classmates, instructors, or peers in the Memorisely community. People are so important and it is such a privilege to meet so many amazing designers.