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At a glance
- Before: Graduate in architecture
- Now: UX Designer at Chalo, a mobility startup
- Program: NextLeap UI/UX Design Fellowship with industry instructors and feedback sessions
- What made the difference: Two detailed case studies, an internship that became a full-time role
- Biggest lesson: "Don't jump to assumptions."
Aditi moved from architecture to UX designer without any background in UI/UX. She graduated in architecture, saw how much design shapes people's lives and found that UX uses the same foundation for the digital space. She now works as a UX designer at Chalo, a mobility startup, where she started as an intern. On the NextLeap Podcast she explained how she made the switch and what she would tell others.
What does the architecture to UX designer switch look like?
By noticing that the foundations match. Aditi says it happened in her final year of architecture college. She liked how design impacts people's lives and began researching how psychology affects design, which led her to design thinking and then UI/UX.
She looked at Coursera courses and realised the base and the processes were the same as in architecture. The only difference is that architects make physical buildings, while UX designers work in the digital space, for people. Psychology, design and people were exactly what she wanted to do.
How is UX design at Chalo like architecture?
In both, you start by understanding what people need. In architecture, Aditi says, you handle one project from start to end. If you design a house, you have to understand the requirements and what the family wants. At Chalo she does the same with a product: she finds the pain points, where people struggle and how to solve them.
Aditi has been at Chalo for around two and a half years. She joined as an intern and then moved into a full-time UI/UX role there.
Chalo works on mobility in India, with different user groups. Passengers who ride buses daily often do not know when the bus is arriving or how long to wait. Bus operators do not know how much they have earned each day. Aditi worked closely with the operators to simplify how they manage their business and make their earnings visible at their fingertips.
What was the biggest challenge in switching?
Getting a job. Aditi says you can learn the process from many sources, but the hard part is stepping in: what the industry needs, which tools to learn and how to upskill in order to get hired.
She started with a Coursera course, which was foundational. What she found at NextLeap was instructors from industry and feedback sessions with people working in different companies. That streamlined the whole process, gave her a deeper grip on it and gave her confidence to build a portfolio and start applying.
What three skills did the fellowship teach her?
Her answer is one skill, repeated: understand the problem. After completing the fellowship and a graduation project, Aditi realised there will be many problems in industry, and you must understand the problem very well. Talk to many people to find the common problem that everyone faces, then solve for it. Once you have clarity on that, she says, the whole process is easier.
Don't jump to assumptions.
Listen to what users are saying, she adds, and make things according to that rather than your own assumptions.
How did she get her first UX role?
With two detailed projects and persistent applications. Aditi had no UI/UX background, so the fellowship helped her build a portfolio. She had around two projects, followed end to end into a final case study of the kind companies look for. She applied through cold emails and posted openings, and landed an internship.
Her internship was real work, she says. She landed an interesting project on making buses digital, a pilot in Mumbai where riders tap their phones instead of buying tickets. She learned the constraints of working in a company and how to solve a real-life problem, which she says differs from the imaginary problems of coursework. Hard work and a deeper understanding of the problems helped her move from intern to full-time.
What mistake did she make as a beginner?
Starting with Figma. As soon as she joined the course, Aditi began learning Figma because it was interesting to make designs quickly. Eventually she realised Figma is just another tool and very secondary.
She says many people focus on aesthetics and the visual side and later wonder why it does not work. The reason is that they did not dive deep enough into the problem. Her advice is to understand the process and the things around it first, and go to the tools after. The most important thing to do first, she says, is to look at the problem itself. If you have clarity there, everything else becomes easier to do.
Which tools does she use every day?
Figma comes daily, once the team knows what it wants to deliver. Aditi also uses Lottie a lot, because people want delight, and its animations give a visual relief.
Then come ChatGPT and Claude. She does not go to them first for ideas. She lists her own ideas and then iterates with Claude to think outside the box, especially when she has hit a wall. She also uses them for copywriting, which she considers very important in UX, since the message has to reach different users in a way they understand.
What was her biggest mindset shift?
From polishing pixels to understanding the process. Aditi says she began by wanting to improve visuals and make every pixel perfect, but on the ground she saw that this comes last. First understand the process, work around solutions and find what is working for people and what is not. In her words, that is about 90% of the job, and the other 10% is the tools and execution.
Watch the full conversation
Aditi shared her story on the NextLeap Podcast.
Start your own switch
Aditi's route came from industry instructors, feedback from working designers and two end-to-end case studies. If you want to move into design, the NextLeap UI/UX Design Fellowship offers mentors, portfolio projects and placement support.
Frequently asked questions
Can an architecture graduate become a UX designer?
Aditi did. She says architecture and UX share the same foundation and processes, and the main difference is that UX works in the digital space. She graduated in architecture, completed a fellowship, built two detailed case studies and joined Chalo as an intern before moving into a full-time UX role.
What should beginners learn first in UX design?
Aditi says to learn the problem before the tool. She made the mistake of starting with Figma, then realised it is a secondary tool. Talk to many users, find the common problem, listen rather than assume and only then design. She puts the process at about 90% and tools and execution at 10%.
How do you get a UX internship without a design background?
Aditi had no UI/UX background, so she built a portfolio of around two detailed, end-to-end case studies during her fellowship. She then applied widely, sent cold emails and watched for posted openings, and landed an internship. She says the fellowship gave her confidence to apply.
Which tools do UX designers use every day?
Aditi uses Figma daily to execute designs, Lottie for animation and delight, and ChatGPT and Claude for brainstorming and copywriting. She lists her own ideas first and then iterates with the AI tools rather than asking them for ideas directly.
