A story of a button, which is not about the button

My second workplace as UX designer was one of the top design studios in Israel. Designit approached me by themselves, and I was thrilled to join them as a Senior Designer. I was confident and satisfied with myself as a professional.

So, there I was, sitting and working on my first design project putting all my effort into the result.

Finally, it's ready!

Proud of myself, I am calling Guy Haviv , who was a lead designer at Designit at that time. Guy came to my desk, sat next to me, looked at my design work, zoomed in, zoomed out, and said, "Continue."

I thought, "I worked on that design for a long time. It's good, it's perfect!"

And said something like, "What is there to continue?"

Then Guy pulled out a folder full of references and inspirations that he was constantly saving, and started going over them one by one, talking very fast about each of them...

After a flood of inspiration, he pointed out something very important to me.

He said, "Go to Maria Zimovich ..."

Maria was another designer at the studio. I am coming to Maria's desk and seeing what she is doing. Maria, very meticulously, like I had never seen before, with a 300% zoom-in, is working on a button.

And this button has a gradient background with several dots of color, an icon with an inner shadow, an outline that is hardly visible but subtly felt, and the font which organically blends into the entire design.

I got it...

I returned to my desk with a design shock.

I set the zoom-in level to 300% and continued the design work, just as Guy said.

What does this story come to teach us, and why am I telling it now?

Everyone has a turning point whether in career or in life. A point that shows us a different perspective, a perspective that is essential for our development and growth.?

Designers! People! Anyone! Whether you've gone through several jobs or looking for your first one, remember, if there is an opportunity to gain a different angle, a critical view, another perspective on things, grab it with both hands and treasure that person, because feedback truly is a gift!

Have you experienced career turning points yourself? Do you remember such moments? Who are the people that made it happen for you?

Tag them here. They would love that!