Can Engineering Open New Doors For You? Know From Creator Ansh Mehra: An Engineer-Turned-UX Designer

National Engineer’s Day celebrates the vital role an engineer plays in shaping India’s infrastructure, technology, and economy. The Government of India observes this day on September 15 every year to commemorate the birth anniversary of Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, one of India’s greatest minds in the field.

This day aims to inspire young students to become engineers and encourages them to pursue this dynamic field. Not limited to engineering, this degree also opens up doors for you beyond the conventional routes. Several Indian engineers have successfully transitioned into different fields based on their talents and expertise. The world of content creation has seen many engineers embrace this industry.

These engineer-turned-creators have found their place in the industry and community today and continue to grow by leaps and bounds. Ansh Mehra is an apt example. He is an engineer-turned-UX designer, content creator and teacher! Ansh completed his Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in Computer Science from the Vellore Institute of Technology in Tamil Nadu. He then turned into a UX Designer who’s now building a SaaS Product and consulting businesses.

Also Read: Who Is Manoj Dey? A Tutor Turned YouTube Star

We spoke to Ansh Mehra to talk all about his professional journey, the transition from Engineering to UX Design, top trends to look out for and tips for aspiring professionals in the field. Let’s explore this brilliant mind’s career trajectory:

Ansh’s Academic Journey

As a student in school, Ansh was particularly meticulous about his studies and would chase good marks. He then stumbled upon Photoshop and Adobe After Effects and it blew his mind. Ansh fell in love with filmmaking and videography. He was really passionate about telling stories but he chose engineering because it was a safe career path. While pursuing Computer Science he found this sweet spot of creativity and technology – User Experience (UX) Design.

He started learning about it online through Figma’s YouTube channel, free websites like ‘growth.design’, ‘Built with Mars‘ and Medium publications. Ansh then went on to participate in some of the biggest hackathons in the world like HackMIT, HackHarvard, and more. His idea, which he made with his team at HackHarvard, eventually got selected at the Microsoft Imagine Cup Asia Regional Finals which were held in Sydney, Australia.

Landing An Internship At Swiggy

To land a job in UX Design, Ansh started cold-emailing companies every day in the third year of college. “Luckily, Saptarshi Prakash, who is currently the Director of Design at Swiggy visited my college back in 2018. I got his email ID and sent him my portfolio. They gave me a task that led me to my first internship at Swiggy,” he shared. Ansh joined the company in May 2019 and completed two internships there.

His responsibilities were as follows:

• Working on prototyping and research work revolving around storytelling, videos, and food catalogs.
  
• In addition, he was involved in UX Research-related recording, analysis, and documentation.
  
• Assisted the UX Research team on a wide range of projects around the Delivery App and the Swiggy DE Onboarding Process.
  
• Worked with Saptarshi to continue @swiggydesign on Instagram. It included shooting, editing and designing assets for the page.
  
• Worked on the initial COVID-19 Response based additions to the Swiggy Menus (shipped all across India)

Next Stop: Zuddl

After Swiggy, Ansh landed a full-time job in June 2020 at a YC-backed startup called ‘Zuddl‘ which is a virtual events hosting platform. He was the first Product Designer to be hired and designed the entire web-platform from scratch to eventually launching the MVP. He also designed the Zuddl Studio going forward.

Ansh is now working as a Product Marketer there, handling all sales enablement assets, video scripts and systems to maintain marketing assets. He also introduced multiple AI tools to fast-track marketing efforts in the company. Mehra also learned how to promote B2B SaaS on different distribution channels.

Ansh Mehra: The Creator

Ansh started his YouTube channel in April 2021 where he talks about UX Design, films, movies, media, marketing, AI masterclass, tech innovations and life. His main aim is to educate his audience about design, its importance and the many ways you can be creative with it. Ansh’s channel includes high-quality tutorials to upskill students and young professionals on YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn. The combination of awesome storytelling and detailed information makes his content stand out from the rest.

Ansh has 5+ years of experience in designing for 0 to 1 ideas, including their Design Systems. He also hosts corporate trainings and workshops all around the world for UX & AI. Ansh gets invited to speak at many live sessions with engineering students pursuing AI and machine learning as well. We asked Ansh a few questions related to the field of UX Design. Read on to learn from the expert himself:

For someone, who wants to pursue UX Design, what route would you recommend them to take?

“I’ve made a step-by-step UX roadmap on LearnUI/UX.in. You can learn everything in detail all for free just from this one single website.”

Is AI a friend or a foe for a designer?

“For designers who learn and evolve, AI is a friend. But for someone who is not ready to evolve, AI is a foe.”

What are the top 3 trends you feel are dominating the industry currently?

“We’re expecting to see a lot more attention on interaction design, better design systems and dynamic UI in both mobile and web apps.”

What qualities do you look for in aspiring UX designers, particularly the younger generation, that tell you they will fit well in this industry?

“I believe we need to:

• Have the ability to think in terms of functional systems and not just aesthetics.
• Have great taste and have the vocabulary to describe that taste.
• Think right and speak clearly so you can communicate both with AI tools and human beings.
• In the end, have the ability to form patterns and associations across subjects. The more patterns you can detect, the better you will be.“

Where can one learn from you?

“We train corporates on AI all across the world. For students, we teach for free on YouTube. You can visit LearnUI/UX.in for UX Design and HowToPrompt.In for AI in prompt engineering.

Ansh has built one of the most beautiful online communities of designers. His followers are genuinely interested in learning from him and find his insights extremely valuable.

Ansh Mehra’s journey proves to be a source of inspiration for all young and aspiring designers who want to make a career in the field of UX design. Passion, hard work and dedication is all you need to scale the heights of success!