A little about me
Growing up I was always making something. I didn’t follow the rules of the LEGO pamphlets or color within the lines. For instance, I used to scatter everything in my room for hours and try to make something out of it. Whenever I think back I remember always tinkering with something just to see what I could do with it. It wasn’t until recently that someone pointed it out to me. I’m a creator at heart.
My design journey really accelerated when I was in high school. I found a passion for freelance graphic design through gaming. I was able to work alongside other designers and get to meet people in the community. I was able to enter into design competitions and receive advice from those I looked up to. That was what really pushed me to learn Photoshop and Illustrator.
Since then I’ve become more engrossed with how people react to design. One of my favorite parts of being a UI/UX Designer is being able to really know how people are experiencing the same thing completely differently. What one person can perceive can be the complete opposite for someone else. I love finding out why that is and how their insights can influence something you would have never thought of.
That also influences something else I really enjoy, the collaboration of design of opposing sides. The challenge it brings to understand and implement a design that is cohesive and accepted by all is one thing that really motivates me to continue learning UI/UX design. It’s almost diplomatic, trying to work to not just find a happy balance but something that will support both sides substantially.
With my background of graphic design I haven’t taken a liking to only UX though. Actually, I was first gravitating to UI/UX design because of the UI portion. Because I enjoy designing interfaces, I was able to work with 3-5 people groups in Hackathons to produce small projects for the community.
Another reason why UI/UX really suits me is because I feel like I’m always questioning why something is a certain way. Is it just what people have come to accept or has it progressed to the point of where it’s hit its metaphorical ceiling. Is there a need to optimize something more than what it already is? For instance, is there any way to better optimize something as simple as a spoon? These are the kind of things that keep me up at night.
One last thing I want to mention is that I feel like UI/UX design is so vague it’s unarguably one of the most flexible career paths. You could be designing a software interface for an international corporation one day and the next you could be researching what the target user base wants in their cookies at the bakery down the street.