Meet our UX/UI Trainer: Siddhartha Phillips

As someone who describes himself as an ‘educator and designer’, Sid believes that design is much more than just users and a screen interacting. In Sid’s view, design is about human connection, whether this be in workspaces due to a pandemic or even just digital hang-outs through social media.

"UX design, at its core, is about understanding people, solving their problems, and knowing their needs. It makes designing more complete, it’s like the missing piece."

Working as Lead Designer in Riyadh

This is one of the core messages he will carry in to the UX/UI bootcamps at Re:Coded. Before Sid’s UX career, he was a freelance designer. This was to be expected, as he had been surrounded by design all his life -- his mother was a designer and taught him how to use design tools since he was a teenager.

However, looking for a way to ‘step up’ his career, he attended General Assembly’s 10-week UX/UI Bootcamp, where, upon graduation, he became a Teaching Assistant in the bootcamp.

Soon after, he was offered to be the Lead Designer for General Assembly’s first UX/UI Bootcamp in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After a year of running courses, he ended up teaching over 200 students, running both 10-week immersive courses, 2-week accelerated courses, and part time courses.

"I got this perspective of what it’s like to teach and I realized how much I love it. The classroom is not just about knowing the content, it’s about how you can get creative with it and make it engaging."

Embracing failure is essential

Sid emphasizes embracing failure and creating a safe space for students to fully express themselves so that not only can a classroom be fun, but students will be comfortable to collaborate and become pioneers in their work.

Due to the pandemic, Sid’s UX/UI course in Saudi Arabia was canceled. Remembering how much he and his family enjoyed Türkiye when they visited previously, Sid and his family rerouted to Turkey where he committed to his own freelance projects and balancing them with his newly expanding family.

He had won third place in an international comic competition amongst other side projects, but he began feeling like he wanted to be a part of a bigger team again, though he wasn’t sure whether that would continue through freelance, teaching, or a design position again.

This was when Rachel Korb, the People Operations Manager at Re:Coded, reached out to him on LinkedIn.

If an opportunity seems scary, take it. There is no formula. Be willing to put yourself out there and not be afraid of what other people think when you ask for opportunities.

Sid was excited from the very beginning, as he had been searching for an opportunity that fit his values of genuine connection and transparency. As he went through Re:Coded’s interview process, he realized that this was the opportunity he was looking for to make an impact on people’s lives.

"The mission of Re:Coded is to help people who really need it. Every time you’re in the classroom, you’re making a difference in people’s lives. But to amplify it, to push them to the next level, this is something I had thought about for a long time." Sid’s experience as a freelancer, educator, and designer is paying off as he settles into Re:Coded, or as he puts it, “pouring” himself into Re:Coded.

"I’m really getting inspired about what kind of impact I can make in the world."

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