What company do you work for now?
I am currently working as a Product Designer at Facebook. I joined this company recently (January 2020), previously I worked for Kindle, Amazon.
What are your responsibilities?
As a Product Designer, I am involved in all aspects of product creation, starting from generating ideas for the company's next innovations to supporting product launches. In my position I use my skills and knowledge in the areas of product design and user experience design. My responsibilities include: building information architecture, prototyping, testing products with users and visual design.
What projects have you been involved in?
I worked at Amazon for 4.5 years. During this time I worked on Kindle Newsstand (improved the product pages in the magazine), Subscribe with Amazon (redesigned the subscription pages and redesigned the experience of sellers to publish their products on Amazon), Kindle Education (developed UI/UX design of online courses in Economics and Biology, as well as developed the design of bulk purchase of e-books on Amazon and their spread among students). In my last year at Amazon I worked on e-reading experience, these projects are still governed by non-disclosure agreement. Also, I became an expert in design for people with disabilities, and I speak at IT conferences and teach Accessibility UX course at Amazon.
What I liked most about Amazon was how easy it was to start a new project and try something new. In 2019, I designed the Amazon Locker for the Coachella music festival. It was a great side project for me because I love to do illustrations in my free time. After completing the project, the company bought me two VIP tickets to the festival and paid for my flight and hotel accommodation.
Now I am looking forward to new projects on Facebook.
More information about me can be found on Linkedin.
Tell us about the most challenging and interesting project you are proud of?
I am most proud of the project I worked on at Kindle Education. At that time, the studio needed to develop online courses in economics and biology for students. Unfortunately, we did not have enough resources and there was no design support. It was a great opportunity for me to show myself, and at the same time to work on a great project with high social value, so I took this project in addition to my main job.
I am proud of this work most of all because it helped students in preparing for exams. Also, without design support, this product could not have been realized at all. After the implementation of the project, every morning I opened and re-read the user feedback. It really inspired me to keep working.
https://dariakrut.com/amazon-study-quiz-ux-design
What role did IT Step Academy play in your life?
It is quite difficult to choose a profession. There is a lot of options, and it seems that if you make a mistake, it will be impossible to fix something, and you will have to continue to follow the chosen path, because money and hopes of relatives are invested in training already. But if you do not dare to try something new, you can ask yourself all your life: "Could my life have been better?"
This is exactly what the Academy helps with, it provides an opportunity to try something new, to gain the necessary knowledge, and at the same time, studying at the Academy can be combined with university or work. This is exactly what happened to me, I studied at the Law University and additionally studied at the Academy. When I graduated, I also worked as a lawyer and a designer at the same time. Having tried both specialties for a year, I realized that design brings me joy and this is where I found myself. Another advantage of the IT Step Academy is that it helps students develop in-demand skills that are currently very sought after on the labor market. Traditional universities do not cope with this task so well.
I also want to express my gratitude to the teacher of the Academy - Taras Shipka. He helped me a lot.
What can you advise students who are currently studying at the Academy?
I advise students to start practicing immediately. There is no need to wait for the completion of training in order to take the first orders. You have just mastered the creation of web design? That's great! Take an order on this subject right away. Moreover, if you suddenly have any questions about the order, you can address the teacher.
Practice is extremely important. This is an opportunity to build a portfolio, consolidate knowledge, and why not earn money at the same time? There are a huge number of orders on the Internet and platforms such as Upwork that provide a great opportunity for remote work, which can be easily combined with studying.