Emma K

I was a double major in Computer Science and Cinema in college. I came in wanting to write for TV and sophomore year I took a computer science class to fulfill my science general requirement. It felt like computer science was basically solving logic puzzles which are my absolute favorite. I fell in love and signed up for a second major.

One of the mandatory classes was “Human-Computer Interaction”. I found out I was the only one in that class who actually enjoyed the topics and designing the application screens. I thought this was a part of all computer science jobs, but here I realized that UX research and design was something I could specialize in. Who knew?

I put a career in design on the back burner since I was still focused on getting into the film industry. I had the amazing opportunity of editing videos for Warner Bros. Records, but the job felt like a solo sport. I wanted to be on a team which is when I decided to switch gears and pursue a career as a software engineer.

I got a job as a front-end software engineer and enjoyed solving the business needs of clients with code, but it was missing the creativity I used every day during my film classes and projects. Then I remembered that UX class! Perfect! A combination of film and computer science. What took me so long to come back to that?

After studying and practicing design, UX and its impact seem magnified. I’ve seen a lot of practices that put design as a low priority and seeing the impact it has on clients has made me become an advocate for design. Using design and my programming experience, I can address the issues I see and get more customer satisfaction and retention. Doing this would be extremely fulfilling so I hope to do that in the future.