Emike Okoyomoh Speaks on Building Career as a Product Designer and Being a Woman in Tech

TE: What do you do in simple terms?

EO: I basically make it easy for everyone to use apps to accomplish tasks themselves.

TE: Is product design a career you decided to go into? Or did you stumble onto it?

EO: It’s kind of a bit of both actually. I started learning by myself in 2018, out of curiosity and interest. I did a couple of simple projects here and there but it wasn’t until 2019, when I got a fulltime job and then had to fully engage that you could say I really made the decision to fully focus. So, it was a decision yes but having an opportunity made it an easier choice.

TE: Are there any diﬀerences between product and UIUX design, or are the terms interchangeable?

EO: In my opinion there’s a difference. Product designers focus on the overall design and development of a product, considering user needs and business goals. UIUX designers are typically not as involved in the non-design aspects, their main focus is on creating a visually appealing and user-friendly interface, so yeah you could say the difference really lies in the responsibilities outside of design itself.

TE: Interesting! What do you enjoy about building web3-related ﬁntech products in your current role?

EO: I’m designing some really interesting products at Propine. These products will have a bit of regular fintech as we know it, and then some very futuristic features too, I can’t say too much yet but it has been an exciting experience, primarily because most of the ideas we are working on are relatively new and unknown.

Sometimes, this can be frustrating but it’s still really empowering and fulfilling to get to witness and be a part of.

TE: Is there a learning curve to accommodate product design? What are the speciﬁc courses people need to take?

EO: The good thing about product design is that anyone who sets their mind to it, who enjoys it, can really make a career out of it. In fact, many product designers in the tech community came from a variety of backgrounds and that’s a great thing! I’ve seen people come into the product design field from education, marketing, sales, customer support… you name it. And everyone really has their unique story about how they got into product design.

For me though, whether you’re fresh out of school or already have some work experience and you’re looking for a career shift, a foundational understanding of product design is important, so I’ll definitely recommend a bootcamp or product design course to introduce you to the field and fill in any knowledge gaps.

Alternatively, you can try to self-teach with free resources on the web, but product design is more complex than playing around in Figma or some other design tool, practical experience and guidance is really needed. Find a design mentor if you can, the most important thing is being ready to put in the work and learn.

TE: What challenges do you face as a woman in tech in Nigeria?

EO: Luckily, my major challenges haven’t been tied to my gender necessarily, I struggle with the typical imposter syndrome, burnout, the regular things. Notwithstanding, I’ve had experiences where I’ve been judged incapable without being given a fair chance but in recent times, there’s been tremendous improvement, women are really doing amazing things which makes it even more difficult for those with biases to express them.

I think there are still lots of unconscious biases that people aren’t even aware of, there’s still a lot of improvement to be made. There has to be a deliberate effort to bridge this gender gap in tech, primarily by employers. It’ll really pay off having a work culture that sees beyond gender when it comes to capabilities.

TE: Do you have any advice for other Women in Tech?

Emike Okoyomoh: Don’t second guess yourself, be confident, strive to keep up with the ever-evolving industry so you always have value to offer. Find your community too.