‘The advice I would give to my younger self is not to be afraid to reach out to industry experts and ask them for any tips. A few people reach out to me with questions about design, UX or a career as a UX / product designer, and I am happy to share my knowledge with them.’
To celebrate women's month, we will be sharing some of our inspirational community members here at SODA.
Meet Olga Shevchenko. Olga is a senior product designer with a UX focus. Currently, she is a senior product designer at Shell. Olga’s first degree was in biomedical engineering but shortly after the graduation, she realised that she didn't want to work in that field. It took her a couple of years to figure out that art and design fascinated her, and if she became a designer, she would never be bored! So, Olga did a second degree in graphic and web design at the Salvador Dali Academy of Contemporary Arts in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Olga’s biggest career achievement is the freedom her job gives her, as she is able to choose interesting projects to work on and constantly learn and grow. Olga’s biggest personal achievement is that she is a qualified Yoga and Pilates instructor and teaches classes in her free time.
This year’s International Women’s Day theme is ‘Embracing Equity,’ and we were keen to hear Olga’s thoughts on how we can create an equitable space at work.
‘An equitable space means feeling welcome, safe and comfortable so I can be the best and true version of myself to participate in conversations and activities. Everyone has a unique background and set of circumstances, that's why workplaces need to create psychologically safe environments. Success and contentment of each individual means success for a company.
From the product design perspective, making sure that the designs we create and the products we build are accessible is part of creating an equitable space for users so that anyone with situational, temporary or permanent lack of ability can use digital products.’
