20 March 2023
As a developer, she'd never considered a career in design before, but her curiosity led her down a path she couldn’t resist. Her aesthetic mind quickly fell in love with the creative design process and didn't look back.
Growth & Marketing Lead, Chowdeck
BY MITCHELLE CHIBUNDU
I currently lead Growth & Marketing at Chowdeck. Asides from every other typical marketing, it's a design-heavy role as we focus on designing solutions leaning towards growth and retention rather than general maintenance and experience.
Outside of my full-time job, I freelance when I can with carefully selected projects. Last year, I worked on Lucid Games, an entertaining card turned digital product, and Careerli, an AI-powered resume and cover letter builder.
The most rewarding part of my role is seeing my ideas materialise. As an anxious and visual person, I skip the wireframes stage and use colours in my designs. It helps me see the problem in HD and start creating iterations to solve it. Ctrl "C", "V", & "D" are like my best friends because every idea and screen is useful till it's not. This process helps me create many variations I can always return to and pick ideas. It's a crazy moment, so my reward starts when everything begins to make sense.
Another rewarding moment is when clients and users are delighted with interacting with the product; it validates every crazy phase I went through before I got to the released version.
Tell us about your current role and the most rewarding part of your work
Before moving to Chowdeck full-time, I worked with Check DC, Sproutly HQ, and Splishpay. Before these work experiences, I freelanced for most of my early years and combined that with my Bachelor's in Applied Microbiology and Brewing.
What did you do before what you stated above?
Curiosity. I started my tech journey learning and working as a Front-end Developer, utilising frameworks like Bootstrap, Tailwind CSS and Tachyons. I started exploring design when a friend hinted at me designing what I could code.
I was in a learning phase, and my immediate clients were people I worked with at my learning centre. As an aesthetic-forward person, design was close to my niche. I remember being fascinated by the design works that came to me, and I thought, yeah, I can explore this bit and see what I can do with it.
A fascinating work I vividly remember was a version of Careerbuddy designed by Jordan Belonwu. I was working on the development with Abraham, telling him how beautiful it looked and how excited I was to translate that into code.
It was also the first job I got paid a whopping N100K; that was huge to me, and I knew I belonged here! I never had plans of migrating from engineering as I had dreams of being a Russian hacker one day, LOL. Still, I approached design so open-mindedly that I was consumed and engrossed too much to return to being a developer.
What inspired you to pursue a career in design?
Amaka at her workstation
Speaking on publicly released versions, I'd say Nigerian Mockups (2021) and Chowdeck's Customer App and Website (2022). There's a lot more, but we'd see them when they're released publicly.
What is something you designed, built or contributed to that you’re utmostly proud of?
When I'm not working, I'm living. You can find me gaming, travelling, sleeping, binge-watching shows or sports, scrolling hours on Tiktok or Pinterest, shopping, making playlists, learning new things or reading on mental health, blogging food, editing media and a lot more. I'm a curious person with many interests, and never bored.
How do you enjoy spending your time when you’re not working?
On impact, being able to design and improve solutions that meet my target audience's needs and solve problems, making their lives easier and more enjoyable, is major. In doing so, I can contribute to the development of the design industry, shaping its direction and advancing the state of the art while contributing to a better future for individuals and society.
To actively give back, I plan on launching my monthly newsletter to share many more insights and recommendations and interact personally with my circle.
How has your work impacted the larger community or ecosystem?
“Listen to women and give us the benefit of doubts. Allow us to speak, ideate and own initiatives. Encourage and amplify inclusion in companies and workspaces. Celebrating our achievements and contributions. ”
Listen to women and give us the benefit of doubts. Allow us to speak, ideate and own initiatives. Encourage and amplify inclusion in companies and workspaces. Celebrating our achievements and contributions.
Over my years of work experience, I've been privileged to work in spaces where women have much more control and freedom to create and control the chaos. Indeed, it's been amazing to see young women by age, and work experience put in the work, make bold, audacious moves and grow their successful initiatives. Women are a force to be reckoned with, and the earlier we create and allow these spaces for them, the better for us all.
What, in your opinion, should be done to make more women in design visible?
How do you continue to develop your skills and stay up-to-date with the latest advancements in design and technology?
Hinting at my curiosity again, I have an email address solely for newsletters; be it art, design, engineering, or machine learning, anything and everything in this space can get me geeked. I also follow a lot of exciting creators and their works. I download a shit-ton of apps and try them, both paid and free.
All my devices are 500GB and above, so I have enough space to house many of my interests. I barely use native apps as I always discover a new fun project or product to sign up for and use. I plan to share more of these products in my upcoming newsletter that aid my work and personal life balance.
Shikake: the Japanese art of shaping behaviour through design by Naohiro Matsumura is a fascinating book showing how you can impact behaviour without changing it.
Another book is The War of Art by Steven Pressfield; it breaks down our internal battles with fear, self-doubts, and creative blocks and allows us to see them in a different yet usable form.
Any books or website that you’d like for everyone to check out?
Amaka enjoying a picturesque view
Is there something you know now, that you wish you knew at the beginning of your career?
I wish I knew "to take another look". I was often so fixed on my initial idea, not allowing room for new ideas, mistakes, or feedback. Breaking that and taking another look allowed me to refine my initial thought. The end is never the end.
Find another way to present the same info,
and you'll be amazed at how much more
you can do with the fundamental idea.
I was super athletic growing up. I represented my school in many sports ranging from 100m, 200m, 4 x 400m races, high jump, shotput, basketball and more. And yes, I have my fair share of injuries like knee cap dislocation, a broken arm and many scars, LOL.
What is an interesting and possibly unexpected fact about you?
What would you wear to a meeting that could potentially change your life?
A relaxed fit with sneakers. My style is very comfortable fashion.
What advice would you give to other women pursuing a design career who feel stuck in the journey?
Outwork your self-doubt. Have a stack of undeniable proof that you're who you think you are. Let your work do the talking, the networking, the connecting. Anyone close to me knows how reserved and laid-back I am. I never attend networking or tech events and freak out about public speaking, but one thing I’m sure of is that I have the work experience to back me up.
If you're an anxious and shy babe like me and you're wondering if going out more is the only way to be unstuck, I'm telling you it's not. Just be present, patient, remain curious and be willing to explore.
Continue reading
Paula-Mary Onikepo Williams
With a passion for learning, she took matters into her own hands, embraced
new skills, gained a competitive edge and positioned herself for a promising future.