Meet Deborah Iaria, a Product Designer at Apple and a graduate of the Professional Diploma in UX Design.
Before studying UX, Deborah had already built a strong foundation in design. Her experience covered branding, visual design and design systems, where she supported product teams through consistent visual frameworks and scalable foundations.
However, she wanted to deepen her understanding of user experience and develop a more structured approach to product design. The Professional Diploma in UX Design helped her move from visual execution to research driven design.
Today she works as a Product Designer at Apple. Here’s how she made it happen.
From brand design to product design
Deborah began her career in graphic and brand design, working across a range of creative roles in London. Over time her work moved closer to product design.
In her previous role as Product and Brand Designer, Deborah worked on design systems, component structures and visual consistency across digital products. She supported product teams by creating scalable visual foundations and maintaining brand alignment within product interfaces.
Alongside this work, she contributed to the design of landing pages, in-app animated loading states and product imagery.
This experience brought her close to product design, but she wanted a stronger foundation in UX methodology, research and usability, the core strategic skills that product designers rely on.
Choosing the Professional Diploma in UX Design
To strengthen her UX knowledge, Deborah enrolled in the Professional Diploma in UX Design at the UX Design Institute.
Her goal was not to learn visual design. She already had that experience. Instead she wanted a framework that would support better product decisions and a deeper understanding of user needs.
These foundations helped her connect design decisions to user behaviour and product outcomes, exactly the kind of structured, evidence-based approach she had been missing in her practice.
Learning to evaluate design through usability
One of the most valuable aspects of the diploma for Deborah was learning and applying the 10 usability heuristics.
These principles provide a structured way to evaluate digital products and identify friction within user flows.
Deborah explains:
Understanding and practising the 10 usability heuristics was one of the most valuable parts for me. I now use them as a consistent reference when reviewing my own work and giving feedback to others. They sharpened my design self judgement and helped me balance creativity with usability.
Using these heuristics strengthened Deborah’s ability to assess design decisions objectively. They also gave her a shared framework for confidently discussing usability with other designers and product teams.
Moving from intuition to evidence based design
Another important shift in Deborah’s approach came during the research phase of the Diploma.
Previously her work focused mainly on visual execution and brand consistency. The course introduced structured research methods that helped her understand how users interact with digital products.
I began to understand user needs at a much deeper level and started grounding every design decision in research, user testing and iteration. The research phase was particularly insightful and changed the way I approach problems, moving from visual intuition to evidence based decisions.
This shift changed how she approached product challenges. Rather than relying on assumption, she began validating ideas through testing and iteration.
Building a stronger portfolio
In the Professional Diploma in UX Design, students build a portfolio project throughout the programme and receive expert feedback and guidance to help shape it into something interview-ready
Alongside the main course project, Deborah developed additional side projects to strengthen her portfolio.
She recommends this approach for designers aiming to move into product roles:
To secure my first role in product design, I took on additional side projects, as the course provides detailed feedback on one main project. I would recommend that students aiming to land their first Product or UX Designer role start planning their next project early on.
These projects helped Deborah apply the methods she had learned and demonstrate practical UX thinking in her portfolio.
How Deborah Became a Product Designer at Apple
After strengthening her UX foundations and expanding her portfolio, Deborah progressed into a Product Designer role at Apple.
Her background in branding, design systems and visual execution gave her a strong design foundation. The Professional Diploma in UX Design added the structured UX methodology she needed to work confidently as a product designer at a leading global tech company like Apple.
Today she applies research, usability evaluation and iterative design principles in her work.
Developing the mindset of a product designer
Deborah’s journey reflects a transition many designers make in their careers. Designers often begin in visual or brand roles and gradually move closer to product design.
What makes that transition successful is the ability to move beyond visual intuition and adopt structured UX methods. Through her qualification with the UX Design Institute, Deborah developed the frameworks needed to evaluate usability, conduct research and make evidence-based design decisions.
These capabilities are what make UX such a rewarding career path. It combines creativity, strategy and technology, and opens the door to opportunities to shape real products at leading companies around the world.
Today, those capabilities support her work as a Product Designer at Apple.
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Want to see how other graduates have used their UX Design Institute qualification to progress their careers? Explore more graduate success stories:
- Samantha’s career pivot with the UX Design Institute
- Levelling up with the UX Design Institute: How a Senior Designer filled critical knowledge gaps after years in the industry
- A civil servant who became a UX advocate: How learning UX design enhanced John’s career
Anne Manda is a freelance writer with qualifications in software development and public relations. She began her career creating content for a web design agency, where she developed a strong foundation in digital communication and user-focused writing. Anne also works as a ghostwriter and UX design writer, helping translate complex ideas into clear, engaging content. Through her writing, she aims to tell meaningful stories and present ideas in ways that resonate with audiences and make information both accessible and engaging.
