About Me
Road to ux design...
If you look at my resume, you'll see that I seem to jump around a lot. I'd like to explain. I'm a learner and I love to pursue projects that make my stomach butterflies flutter and my eyes go buggy. It started in college when I realized the career I had been pursuing all my life left me bored and uninspired. The thought of doing something else, anything else, enticed me like I was surfacing from a bad relationship. I decided to leave it all on the table, abandon my bio-chemistry major, and pursue something that would make most parents tense-up: film- making. It was like a breath of fresh-air and, knowing I would never have to sit in a chemistry lab ever again, I fearlessly threw myself into the creative field.
Four years later, degree in hand, I had a thirst to continue my learning and explore what else the creative industry had to offer. I started with web development, a topic that challenged me more than anything and would surely open up more exciting opportunities. I became a WordPress developer at a marketing firm where the learning bug caught up to me once again. I moved into marketing, joined a course at UW to learn the ropes, and eventually felt content in my career. However an idea kept nagging me. I had learned about UX design a few years back and the thought of it never quite left. When the pandemic hit, I decided to use my free time to try it, see if I like it, and maybe start on a new path. I fell in love! And now, a couple years later, I'm finally in a position to pursue it as a career. It's been a journey, but I'm excited about this next stage in my life and in my career.
How i'm different
- My experiences in filmmaking and marketing have taught me how to tell compelling stories that hook people and keep them engaged.
- I've worked as both a developer and a designer, collaborating with multiple departments.
- Working in retail (specifically as a barista) has taught me how to empathize with customers on a more personal level.
My Principles
As designers we tend to use our own abilities as a baseline and evaluate designs based on our own bias. Because of this our products are easy for some people to use (those who are like us) but excludes others. It is our social and collective responsibility, not just as designers, to create products that are physically, cognitively, and emotionally appropriate for all.
Aesthetic integrity is not a measure of how beautiful an app is. It’s a measure of how well the appearance of the app integrates with its function. Function alone isn’t enough. A product’s appearance should support and enhance its functionality to the point that the two seem inseparable.
The foundation of design is that we should understand the ‘humans’ who experience a problem before we design a solution to serve them. It is about building a deep empathy with the people you’re designing for. When we understand the people we are trying to reach from their perspective, not only do we arrive at unexpected answers, but we come up with ideas which are well-embraced.