Introducing Katrina Dargel, Design Advocate
What is your role and current job?
I’m a Design Advocate at zeroheight, which is a collaborative Design Systems documentation tool. My background has been UX design and research but I recently switched career paths :).
You might be wondering what that is: “When it boils down to it, a design advocacy department is part of a marketing department. You’re doing activities that should, in the end, promote the business or product you work for, and your end goal is probably going to be about either getting new customers or retaining existing customers.” If you want to know more about it check out this article by — Luke Murphy
How did you get into tech?
About 7 years ago I had already been out of college for a few years and was trying to figure out the best career path for myself. After working in a variety of industries, I realized that I wanted to work somewhere that I could grow a professional skill — set as well as be creative. A friend of mine told me about General Assembly, and how they offered classes revolving around the tech industry, something that was new to me. Rather than jumping straight into a course, I applied for a job to get a deeper insight into the industry.
I became a Frontlines (receptionist role), and I realized how much I love the Tech community. The people that came for classes, workshops, events, and talks were so friendly and eager to learn and grow, and it felt like something I needed to be a part of. After 10 months, I decided to take their User Experience immersive course, which changed my life.
What have the biggest challenges been as a woman or non-binary person in tech?
As a woman, there have been times I felt that I did not have a seat at the table and that my voice was not being heard. I would work on ideas or projects that never saw the light of day for weeks and months, which made me feel undervalued and like I had wasted time. I’ve experienced being on teams where there wasn’t enough diversity, especially when there were more men than women, making it difficult to connect to the team and get things moving in the right direction. I realized that some gender dynamics have not evolved fully even in the 21st century, and some projects felt like a boys’ club. There’s a lot to be understood about gender dynamics, and working on teams that have more men than women has a lot to do with how you connect (inside and outside of work) and communicate.
Have you overcome any of these issues? If so, how?
Working remotely made it challenging to connect and build a rapport with others. I’ve found that being more proactive in my role and building relationships with the people I work with is very important. Reaching out, asking for feedback and collaborating with people more helped everyone feel like they played more of a role in what I was doing, and that it was a team effort. Over time, keeping this cadence on projects made it easier for me to have a voice that people listened to, and when I was able to back it up with metrics and research, it was easier to push things through. Establishing stronger relationships with the team members helped me find my voice.
What advice would you give others in a similar position?
Make time to connect to your colleagues. Most people working full-time spend hundreds of hours working with colleagues, so make the most of these connections. Spending some time outside of work getting to know them, collaborating more on projects and finding other ways to connect with them are all worthwhile investments. I’ve met some of my close friends through work.
Are there any resources you recommend sharing?
I read this book several years ago called ‘You are a Badass .’ It really helped me gain confidence and perspective when I first started doing UX as a career. There have been a lot of times when I felt like I was suffering from imposter syndrome and the book shares a lot of anecdotes and quotes on how to change your mindset and embrace who you are. It gave me a lot of tenacity to go into the world and be myself. I highly recommend everyone to read it!
When did you first hear about Triangirls?
I heard about Triangirls through zeroheight who were sponsoring their recent event. I’m also a part of the Triangles group on Slack and it seemed like a great community to meet like-minded people, share ideas, and connect through design.
What have you learnt about yourself in the past year?
This last year has not been easy on anyone, myself included. I’ve learned that no matter what’s happening in your life it’s better to use your time doing things that bring you joy, rather than things that just keep you busy. For instance, instead of focusing on what other people are doing, consider what you love to do and spend some time exploring your interests, especially when no one is watching. The world around us is always changing and the only thing constant in your life is you. I’m an extrovert and I found the lockdowns quite isolating and when I started to get back into my blog and playing around with my film camera, I felt amazing.
