Tripp Radcliffe

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

From: Richmond, VA. Based in: Dallas, TX.

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

I come from a web design background (shoutout Webflow) and have enjoyed the ride of starting my own remote agency, but I’m now looking to focus solely on the portion of the job I enjoy most. Having worked a few ‘customer service’ and ‘sales’ positions prior to starting my own agency, I was stuck using cringe worthy softwares, and I remember that internal urge to re-design them to be better for my teammates, as well as for myself.

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

I enrolled in the UX/UI bootcamp because I knew I enjoyed creating UI’s in Figma, but I wanted to learn the UX side as well to make sure I truly understood the research that went behind the design decisions I was making, and not just blindly pushing pixels to look pretty. While in this bootcamp and learning to create UI styles and components - I became enthralled with design systems and libraries in Figma, which led me to enroll in the Design Systems bootcamp.

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

Truly terrific. The class is small enough to give me that familial feeling you get when you travel abroad with 15 other people, but large enough to gain insight to perspectives from incredible people from other cultures all over the world.

What has been your favorite part of Bootcamp so far? What's one learning that has surprised you in Bootcamp?

Easily the interaction with the instructors. These teachers don’t just go home at the end of the day the way other courses/bootcamps teachers do - they are in constant communication with you and create a safe space for you to feel heard and offer great career/design advice and instruction.

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

My biggest challenge I face in learning UX/UI Design is breaking all of my old bad Figma habits. I have a tendency to get caught up in the design process and forget to pause and create the necessary styles / components / variants that would actually help speed up my process in the long run. Memorisely does a great job of providing a ‘best practices’ design structure, and I wish I had discovered them much sooner.

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

Owning my own business gives me a great many liberties when it comes to scheduling my time. I usually grab a hot coffee on my way in to my ‘office’ (my in-laws’ house) around 10am. Depending on the workload - I can usually knock out some client work in the mornings and have some time to jump into the homework for the UX/UI bootcamp in the afternoon before class starts.

What is your current workspace setup?

Tech wise - a little lame currently, but you’ve got to start somewhere 👨🏻‍💻:

• 2015 MacBook Pro 13”
• Keychron K2 (essential from my coding days)
• Logitech MX Master 3 (amazing scroll capabilities for navigating Figma)
• 13” portable external monitor (you say small - I say backpack sized)

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

Desktop + Mobile:

• Figma
• Notion
• Spotify
• Slack
• Safari / Chrome / FireFox ( I have all 3 for cross-browser functionality testing)

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

Figma is hard to beat but my favorite will always be Spotify.

What tunes do you listen to while designing?

Depends on the vibe -usually

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

1. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side - it is greener where you water it 🌱. Don’t count on copying ideas from other designs and calling it “speed”. Put in the hard work to perfect your craft. Spend time strengthening your weaknesses. It may take a little longer, but before long you’ll have established best practices and the ability to stay original and therefore - valuable.
2. Break bad habits 🙅🏻‍♂️ . I didn’t find Memorisely and learn proper processes until two years after jumping into Figma and “teaching myself” design. Currently, I’m working on correcting my own bad habits of not pausing during the design process to create my styles/components and naming frames to help with cleanliness and collaboration, instead of just copy/pasting.
3. Seek out help 🤔 . I was diagnosed with ADHD at the ripe young age of 32. Growing up, school was an uphill battle that I barely won because I didn’t pursue the best version of myself, but rather accepted that there was just ‘something wrong with me’ and I was just destined not to succeed in my work life. It took a supportive tribe to convince me otherwise. If you believe the same, I implore you to talk to a health professional and get the help you deserve.

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