RKRaza Khawaja
Product Designer @ Smith & Associates
About
Hi! I'm an experienced designer and former software engineer navigating through my career and wanting to help others navigate theirs :)
How I can help
I can help mentees with several specialized items: 1. Navigating corporate environments especially in low UX maturity companies. What you learn in design school often is very different from what you do in the industry. I faced this challenge myself and have slowly learned how to navigate around teams with low design maturity. I can help you figure out how to pick your battles, how to talk and present your design work to stakeholders. 2. I can help mentees with design school applications in the US, particularly grad school - provide guidance on how to make the most of their program to set up for the highest chance of success after graduating. If you’re an international student, I can assist with finding funding opportunities as well. 3. I can review portfolios. I have experience with hiring designers so I can provide guidance on what a design manager could potentially be looking for. 4. Designing enterprise apps - I have 3+ years of experience designing for internal, data-heavy applications. The use case for these is completely different from a public facing consumer application, as I have learned. I can provide mentorship on how to design apps in this scope.
Ask me about
Frequently asked
Why did you switch from engineering to design?
I felt I could channel my creativity much more in a design role. I did not enjoy the standard software engineering experience either.
What should I do to prepare before the session?
Just have an idea of the questions you want to get answers to. Other than that, not much!
What are your thoughts on AI?
A great tool when used ethically. Unfortunately, that is not the case in most of the industry. I have concerns about it spreading mass misinformation, training on people's hard work, degrading human thinking and its environmental impact via data centers.
Expertise
Experience
Software Engineer · Educative, Inc.
2020-2021
Product Designer · Smith & Associates
2023 - Present
