Tamara Osseiran
Tamara is a product designer, strategist, and declutterer, passionate about strategy-based-design and bringing order to complex systems. Join Tamara on October 21 to learn more about her career journey and ask your own questions about what she learned during her undergrad.
Why did you choose your program at UBC and what did you enjoy most about it?
Growing up, I was always fascinated with technology, media and its impact on society. I knew I wanted to grow my career in that area, but I didn’t know what area I wanted to specialize in. Do I go down the path of computer science and software engineering? Or do I go down the advertisement and marketing route?
I stumbled across the Media Studies program at UBC, and went for it! It was the perfect blend of computer science, information studies, visual art, media theory and research. The best part of the program was its multidisciplinary approach — allowing me to step out of my comfort zone and explore and create for other forms of media that I never imagined I would! This not only opened up doors to various opportunities, but it also allowed me to find the direction that connected with me the most.
What were some of your most meaningful experiences at UBC?
Too many to count! Due to the cohort-structure of the Bachelor of Media Studies, I was in a series of classes with the same group of people over four years. Through its multidisciplinary approach, some classmates found strengths or interests in one form of media over the other. This created a strong collaborative environment, where we were able to learn and grow from one another, year-over-year. Learning from a diverse group of people and perspectives has opened me up to different creative approaches, which has only made me a better designer today.
What choices did you make at UBC that contributed to your career success / journey?
The clubs I’ve been a part of have contributed the most to my career success in the most unexpected ways. Not because of the work I’ve done within the clubs themselves, but because of the networking that naturally comes from them! During my time at UBC, I only took the direction towards UX Design in my final year of my program. At that point, I had no official design internship, experience, or projects to show off under my belt in time for graduation. Having been involved on-campus has opened doors to various contract and freelance opportunities in product and UX Design right out of grad, simply through word-of-mouth, which has not only helped me get my ‘foot-in-the-door’, but has also contributed to where I am today.
What was your first job after graduation and what other jobs did you have before your current position?
As mentioned before, because I wasn’t intentionally building up my portfolio and resume to be applying for UX Design roles, I had no relevant experiences or projects that made me a competitive applicant — they were all marketing oriented! Right out of grad, I worked as an independent contractor with two Canadian-based startups — simultaneously — as a UX Designer. The first company was Congruity, a fintech Calgary-based startup, and the other one was Sphvere. Those opportunities came to life due to the connections I’ve built at UBC through the clubs I’ve been a part of.
I then landed my first full-time role as a User Experience Designer at Circuit Stream, working in the ed-tech space, before moving on to my current role at Yahoo! as a Product Designer, where I am currently designing native experiences for Yahoo Finance.
Is your current career path as you originally intended? What challenges did you face in launching your career?
Not at all — I thought I was going into marketing until my second semester of my third year! To be honest, I had no idea UX Design was a possible career path. I ended up stumbling across UX Design rather serendipitously, at the very last minute, which of course led to so many challenges: building up my experiences, skills, and portfolio within a span of one school year to be able to stand out in an already competitive industry.
At the time, I felt like the only way ‘in’ was through some kind of internship, master’s degree, or bootcamp. Rather than spending more money on a bootcamp to make up for the time lost, I decided to look through job listings and take note of all the skills I needed to fill, and learn them over the summer before my final year of school. I found myself leaning in on the projects built through my core courses with the BMS program, in addition to creating my own. It only took a little extra effort, networking, and constant portfolio building to be able to land my first role in UX Design!
What do you like about your current job and what do you find challenging? How does it relate to your degree?
The best part of being a product designer is becoming somewhat of an industry-expert in the space you’re in, without intentionally doing so. Being constantly exposed to the users of the product you are designing for, understanding their problems, and understanding the business — there’s always an environment to learn something new that is not necessarily related to design.
Currently, I am designing experiences for the Yahoo Finance app, a product geared to investors. Being a total newbie to investing while working on a product for investors has given me opportunities to work on challenging design problems, while at the same time, expand my literacy in the domain. While the learning opportunity is what I love most, understanding those concepts well enough to be able to design something the end-user will value, can also be the most challenging part of my role.
Through my program, I was exposed to Information Policy and Society, which is an essential piece to software design. I was also able to learn the most effective way to design for data visualization through Richard Arias Hernandez’s class, INFO 419: Information Visualization. I now apply that expertise in the charts and graphs I design within the app itself.
From your experience, what has been the value of having an Arts degree?
The hands-on experience in multiple domains through the BMS program, such as: journalism, film, design, computer science, marketing; you come out of the program as a multi-disciplinary professional.
What advice would you give to students and alumni interested in breaking into your industry?
Build your portfolio as early on as possible. Even if you don’t have real projects right away, kick things off with an app redesign, or a problem you’re itching to find a solution to. Share them on social media wherever possible, because you never know what opportunities can come out of it.
What advice would you give to your first-year self?
Be involved in on-campus activities early. I only first joined a club in my third year, and it opened me up to so many opportunities thereafter. I can’t even imagine how many more opportunities would have come my way if I joined them earlier.
Tamara Osseiran
Tamara is a product designer, strategist, and declutterer, passionate about strategy-based-design and bringing order to complex systems. Join Tamara on October 21 to learn more about her career journey and ask your own questions about what she learned during her undergrad.
Why did you choose your program at UBC and what did you enjoy most about it?
Growing up, I was always fascinated with technology, media and its impact on society. I knew I wanted to grow my career in that area, but I didn’t know what area I wanted to specialize in. Do I go down the path of computer science and software engineering? Or do I go down the advertisement and marketing route?
I stumbled across the Media Studies program at UBC, and went for it! It was the perfect blend of computer science, information studies, visual art, media theory and research. The best part of the program was its multidisciplinary approach — allowing me to step out of my comfort zone and explore and create for other forms of media that I never imagined I would! This not only opened up doors to various opportunities, but it also allowed me to find the direction that connected with me the most.
What were some of your most meaningful experiences at UBC?
Too many to count! Due to the cohort-structure of the Bachelor of Media Studies, I was in a series of classes with the same group of people over four years. Through its multidisciplinary approach, some classmates found strengths or interests in one form of media over the other. This created a strong collaborative environment, where we were able to learn and grow from one another, year-over-year. Learning from a diverse group of people and perspectives has opened me up to different creative approaches, which has only made me a better designer today.
What choices did you make at UBC that contributed to your career success / journey?
The clubs I’ve been a part of have contributed the most to my career success in the most unexpected ways. Not because of the work I’ve done within the clubs themselves, but because of the networking that naturally comes from them! During my time at UBC, I only took the direction towards UX Design in my final year of my program. At that point, I had no official design internship, experience, or projects to show off under my belt in time for graduation. Having been involved on-campus has opened doors to various contract and freelance opportunities in product and UX Design right out of grad, simply through word-of-mouth, which has not only helped me get my ‘foot-in-the-door’, but has also contributed to where I am today.
What was your first job after graduation and what other jobs did you have before your current position?
As mentioned before, because I wasn’t intentionally building up my portfolio and resume to be applying for UX Design roles, I had no relevant experiences or projects that made me a competitive applicant — they were all marketing oriented! Right out of grad, I worked as an independent contractor with two Canadian-based startups — simultaneously — as a UX Designer. The first company was Congruity, a fintech Calgary-based startup, and the other one was Sphvere. Those opportunities came to life due to the connections I’ve built at UBC through the clubs I’ve been a part of.
I then landed my first full-time role as a User Experience Designer at Circuit Stream, working in the ed-tech space, before moving on to my current role at Yahoo! as a Product Designer, where I am currently designing native experiences for Yahoo Finance.
Is your current career path as you originally intended? What challenges did you face in launching your career?
Not at all — I thought I was going into marketing until my second semester of my third year! To be honest, I had no idea UX Design was a possible career path. I ended up stumbling across UX Design rather serendipitously, at the very last minute, which of course led to so many challenges: building up my experiences, skills, and portfolio within a span of one school year to be able to stand out in an already competitive industry.
At the time, I felt like the only way ‘in’ was through some kind of internship, master’s degree, or bootcamp. Rather than spending more money on a bootcamp to make up for the time lost, I decided to look through job listings and take note of all the skills I needed to fill, and learn them over the summer before my final year of school. I found myself leaning in on the projects built through my core courses with the BMS program, in addition to creating my own. It only took a little extra effort, networking, and constant portfolio building to be able to land my first role in UX Design!
What do you like about your current job and what do you find challenging? How does it relate to your degree?
The best part of being a product designer is becoming somewhat of an industry-expert in the space you’re in, without intentionally doing so. Being constantly exposed to the users of the product you are designing for, understanding their problems, and understanding the business — there’s always an environment to learn something new that is not necessarily related to design.
Currently, I am designing experiences for the Yahoo Finance app, a product geared to investors. Being a total newbie to investing while working on a product for investors has given me opportunities to work on challenging design problems, while at the same time, expand my literacy in the domain. While the learning opportunity is what I love most, understanding those concepts well enough to be able to design something the end-user will value, can also be the most challenging part of my role.
Through my program, I was exposed to Information Policy and Society, which is an essential piece to software design. I was also able to learn the most effective way to design for data visualization through Richard Arias Hernandez’s class, INFO 419: Information Visualization. I now apply that expertise in the charts and graphs I design within the app itself.
From your experience, what has been the value of having an Arts degree?
The hands-on experience in multiple domains through the BMS program, such as: journalism, film, design, computer science, marketing; you come out of the program as a multi-disciplinary professional.
What advice would you give to students and alumni interested in breaking into your industry?
Build your portfolio as early on as possible. Even if you don’t have real projects right away, kick things off with an app redesign, or a problem you’re itching to find a solution to. Share them on social media wherever possible, because you never know what opportunities can come out of it.
What advice would you give to your first-year self?
Be involved in on-campus activities early. I only first joined a club in my third year, and it opened me up to so many opportunities thereafter. I can’t even imagine how many more opportunities would have come my way if I joined them earlier.
