Kendall enjoys designing solutions to complex UX problems. | Photo by Jodi B Photography
My name is Kendall Wagner — this is why I joined Aha!
I call it a "tangly" problem. It is when I have a UX problem that is especially complex to unravel — with a lot of edge cases, trade-offs, and competing opinions about the right solution. But I also think "tangly" captures how it feels to work through these tricky challenges.
Complex UX problems can feel uncomfortable at first. But it is energizing to design a solution that satisfies people's needs.
I have always loved art and design. (I watched a lot of HGTV as a kid.) I knew I wanted to pursue it as a career, so I decided to study digital arts. Out of everything I learned, I really enjoyed doing design critiques with my peers where we explained our style choices and gave each other feedback.
The program connected me to my first full-time role as a Junior Designer at a small digital agency. My favorite things to create were web display banners for clients. It was intriguing to figure out where people would click and how they would interact with each ad — while still meeting the client's requirements. I enjoyed trying to balance the behavioral and visual elements, which sparked my interest in UX design.
One group in the agency focused on digital publishing, working on web layouts for popular magazines. I saw this as an opportunity to learn more about user experiences, so I started shadowing senior teammates. Similar to my program, we did frequent design reviews and workshops. I learned a lot — and I loved it.
But my role was eliminated in a round of layoffs after only six months. I knew I wanted to continue pursuing UX, so I decided to improve my skills and practice designing my own plant care app. I surveyed real users and dug into their problems. I showcased this in an interview, and it helped me land my next job in a dedicated UX role.
That position was with an enterprise software company — vastly different from small agency life. There, I did deep research and user testing, mapped mobile and desktop flows, and shared visual concepts with product teammates. But I was laid off again less than a year in.
Multiple layoffs so early in my career were discouraging. But I pushed myself to keep learning, even when that meant teaching myself.
I found an opportunity to join a fintech startup as their first UX designer. I still felt somewhat new to the discipline, but I was ready for the challenge. I owned the full design process, from research to wireframing and engineering handoff. It was rewarding to figure this out on my own. And since the product was highly technical, I got to be involved in many of the complex decisions that go into building enterprise software.
The startup grew and changed rapidly over the next two and a half years. I eventually decided I wanted to be part of a more mature team and learn from other experienced designers again. When I saw Aha! was hiring, my "spider-sense" started tingling. It was exactly what I was looking for.
When I joined Aha! I was trusted with complex (what I would call "tangly") UX problems right away. One of my first projects was to update the Aha! Roadmaps feature cards. They needed a major refresh, but I had to work within a well-established design system. Feature cards are also a highly visible part of the product, so our product team, leadership, and power users all had strong opinions about what to do. I presented options and gathered feedback, then we quickly aligned on a direction that customers were excited about — that felt great.
I now focus on Aha! Discovery. This is a completely different challenge. For a mature product like Aha! Roadmaps, you look for broad patterns in requests to decide what to build next. But because Aha! Discovery is evolving quickly, you have to stay close to feedback to spot emerging needs — then act fast to build on the experience as the customer base grows.
At Aha! we are thoughtful about every UX problem. Whether it is a major redesign or minor refinement, we want to deliver the best possible solution to our customers. This elevates our product experience and makes me a better UX designer.
What I love most is our super capable UX team. We each focus on different Aha! products, but we always collaborate on our overall approach. It is energizing to bounce ideas around and exchange thoughtful reviews. Everyone brings something different — whether that is technical wizardry or skillful stakeholder communication. We lean on each other, and that shows in the quality of the user experience across the suite.
That is why I joined Aha! — and why you should too.
