{"id":12758,"date":"2025-12-11T10:17:58","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T09:17:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/?p=12758"},"modified":"2025-12-11T10:32:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T09:32:40","slug":"learning-ux-enhanced-johns-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/learning-ux-enhanced-johns-career\/","title":{"rendered":"A civil servant who became a UX advocate: How learning UX design enhanced John\u2019s career"},"content":{"rendered":"

John had years of work as a Civil Servant under his belt, but as the internet became more and more prominent in his role, he felt he didn\u2019t know how to contribute. So John learned UX design, becoming a champion of usability. Here\u2019s how he made it happen.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meet John: A civil servant with a passion for better public services<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Not everyone is looking to change careers, however they need to enhance their skills so they can be more confident in their roles. This was the case with John McFarlane, a Civil Servant working with South Africa\u2019s equivalent of the Department for Home Affairs. He needed to learn new skills, especially digital and usability skills, to bring more value to his current career.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why UX design? Bringing a more human-centric mindset to the job<\/strong><\/h2>\n

John was especially motivated to learn UX design by the fact that his job included building SharePoint and web pages that need to be effective and useful.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In government and enterprise settings, SharePoint is often used as a data repository, but without thoughtful design, these pages can become overwhelming and difficult to navigate.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He needed to be able to advise senior managers and subject matter experts on how to make these pages as useful as they could be, and he required UX knowledge to do it. This included learning to apply skills such as empathy, problem-solving, and human-centered thinking to these digital tools. This shows that while learning UX can be a vehicle for career change, it can also teach skills that can apply to any number of career paths beyond tech.<\/span><\/p>\n

The value of structured UX training with real expert support<\/strong><\/h2>\n

John found what he needed with the UX Design Institute\u2019s Professional Diploma in UX Design, including structured UX learning and hands-on\u00a0 projects.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I found the UX Design Diploma Course incredibly useful and enjoyable from start to finish. As someone completely new to the field, I appreciated how clearly each concept was explained and how the course was structured in a logical, step-by-step way. It really helped build my confidence and gave me a solid foundation in UX principles and practices.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Among the many things he found valuable in the course were:<\/strong><\/p>\n