The increasing presence of technology in today’s world is driving significant changes across the digital industry. New developments and advancements have opened up a variety of career pathways, creating many diverse opportunities for students. If you don’t know which area of interest to pursue, continue reading this blog to help you decide and learn more about the digital space. We will explore Product Management, UX/UI Design, and Digital Strategy, alongside Digisoc’s opportunities that can help YOU kickstart YOUR careers!
First, let’s break down Product Management. This stream has the customer at the centre of its focus. Products today are constantly being uprooted by newer and better solutions due to emerging technologies and trends. This means that gaining an in-depth understanding of user needs to improve and/or create the best possible product is key in this role.
The Product Manager Role
The product manager serves as the glue that holds the product vision together. Their primary responsibility is to identify the target customer’s needs that they intend to fulfil. Then, they form a team to turn their innovative vision into reality.
The role of a product manager is to successfully execute the product life cycle, starting from the design stage, to its development and launch into the market. Product managers work alongside UX/UI designers, engineering teams, and business leaders to represent user needs by prioritizing certain product features and capabilities. Decision-making is also based on insights from the market as well as data analytics.
Is Product Management for you?
When we think about those who have created incredible product visions, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and Bill Gates come to mind. These highly influential entrepreneurs have each developed their own unique way of guiding teams to achieve their desired product vision.
If you have a passion for teamwork, leadership, strategic thinking, problem-solving, and creating extraordinary experiences for people, Product Management will be suitable for you. Whether you seek to guide the development of new software or tweak a feature on an app based on rising trends in today's digital era, this pathway will be right up your alley.
Next, we’ll delve into UX/UI Design. First, it’s important to distinguish the difference between User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI). UX design focuses on the overall experience and emotions that users feel when interacting with a product, whilst UI design is all about how the visual and aesthetic elements of a product’s interface affect its usability.
The UX/UI Designer Role
Much of the work involved in a UX/UI designer role is finding out what kinds of pain points users experience and figuring out how a particular product might solve them. Whilst UX and UI design go hand-in-hand, each has different responsibilities. In the shoes of a UX designer, their role includes conducting user research to find out more about the needs of the target customer, mapping out the user’s journey across a product, and creating low-fidelity and eventually high-fidelity wireframes of the product they have set out to create.
On the other hand, the role of a UI designer is centred around the look and feel of the product. This involves focusing on the visual aspects of the user’s journey and making sure that the product is accessible and inclusive of all intended users. Whilst UX can apply to any kind of product, the main focus of UI is catered towards digital products and experiences. This means that a UI designer will consider digital and interactive elements such as screen size, typography, colour palettes, icons, buttons, and more.
Is UX/UI Design for you?
If you have a knack for graphic design, creativity, problem-solving, adaptability, and collaboration skills, UX/UI Design will be the perfect fit for you. From conducting user research to wireframing and prototyping using tools such as Figma and Adobe XD, be sure to include a collection of your best work from past projects in your portfolio to showcase your skills as a UX/UI designer.
Lastly, we’ll explore Digital Strategy, also known as Technology Consulting. In this particular stream, the focus is on using technology to improve business performance. This can either mean creating new products to replace the current business model or reimagining current processes to optimize future operations. In today’s ever-changing world of technology, digital strategy has transformed more and more products, allowing businesses to provide innovative services that weren’t previously possible.
The Tech Consultant Role
Technology consultants work with clients to solve a variety of business problems by helping them transform the way they use technology. Areas they may work in include data analytics, technology strategy and transformation, the Cloud, artificial intelligence, and cyber security. A key responsibility is partnering with clients to build digital solutions that aim to solve the challenges that they face.
Therefore, the main role of a tech consultant is to advise clients in understanding, evaluating, and exploiting new and emerging opportunities to empower them to compete more effectively and harness the full potential of the digital world. Consultants must advise an innovative digital strategy that creates long-term and sustainable value to clients while also reflecting their operational capabilities and business culture.
Is Digital Strategy for you?
If you are a tech-savvy individual with attention to detail, proficient verbal and written communication skills, an analytical mindset, and a team player, Digital Strategy will be a rewarding pathway for you. As technology is constantly and rapidly evolving, this digital stream is becoming increasingly important to ensure an organisation’s future growth and success both nationally and globally.
Digisoc’s flagship Industry Mentoring Program event is an exciting opportunity for students to receive professional mentoring from renowned companies including Atlassian, Amazon, Canva, Deloitte and more! Students are given the choice to pick from one of the three digital streams they are most interested in, allowing them to gain invaluable insights from an industry professional. They also get to attend an Industry Networking Night where they can meet and network with other like-minded people and working professionals. However, the journey doesn’t end there! Mentees are given the opportunity to form a meaningful relationship with their mentor for up to six weeks and beyond! To find out more about this annual program visit: UNSW Digital Society Presents: Industry Mentoring Program.
Keep your eyes peeled for DigiSoc’s inaugural Careers Guide which is currently in the last stages of its development! The guide has been created to inform students about everything they need to know about the digital industry and the diverse career paths available. Included in the guide will be an introduction to different degrees, information on career progressions within the digital landscape, the inside scoop on sponsor companies including Atlassian and AWS, exclusive spotlight interviews and testimonials from our very own successful interns, and job-related content including trends in UX/UI and application tips. Whether you are a first-year navigating your way through uni, or a student in your final years trying to figure out how to snatch a grad role, make sure you watch out for the release of the Careers Guide by keeping up-to-date on DigiSoc’s Facebook Page.
