Journal Article of A Young UX/UI Professional

A Duke’s Journey To UX/UI

After the battle of choosing a major, some senior university students face the challenge of determining what to after graduation. A daunting task in the modern career world, especially in the evolving technology and media fields. However, the first step is quite simple, or at least for Diane Shorter. She followed her passions.

Diane’s early undergraduate years at James Madison University (JMU) were as a Computer Science major. She worked as a TA in Programming and Discrete Structures 1 & 2. Also, she co-wrote the article titled “The Ethics of Hacking: Should it be Taught?” published in Software Quality Professional. Though Diane appreciated the computer science world, she realized her passions aligned elsewhere on the creative front end of digital communication.

In her leisure time, Diane would code websites for herself and her friends. She enjoyed the creative design side of coding and decided she wanted to pursue a career in it. She said, “I practiced HTML and CSS more on my own that I was like, you know. That’s more what I would like to do compared to just the backend stuff.” After hearing positive experiences from her Marching Duke friends about the SMAD major, she decided to switch.

The SMAD program introduced Diane to multiple aspects of media and design. She learned skills in graphic design, journalism, video editing, and her personal favorite, interaction design. Interaction design drew her in because of the user-centered approach. She said, “I like the people focus. That’s the whole kind of goal of the user.”

Diane’s capstone project was a big “eye-opener” to real-world experience in her field. She worked in a team to design website ideas for a business in the Harrisonburg community. “That was an interesting project. You kind of worked with the whole proposal, presenting the idea… we actually had a dress up and go to our client downtown and present our ideas and the product to them.”

After finishing her capstone, Diane was ready to enter the working world. She applied to multiple jobs before finding a position at ASM Research on LinkedIn. Following multiple interviews. ASM accepted Diane for their open full-time position as a UI/UX Designer. Diane has been working at ASM Research since September 2019.

Although Diane is a young professional, her current experience has given her desirable knowledge and advice for any aspiring UI/UX designer. Diane recommended creating a strong portfolio. Diane suggested, “show anything you want to showcase” and “anything you are proud of,” including class and personal projects regardless of if they’re digital or hand-drawn. “Show the whole range of the kind of skills you can do”

Furthermore, she advised new UI/UX designers to not be afraid to try any idea. “I think showing multiple ideas is always a good thing. It might not be the final ideas you show your client, but it will open ideas out especially if you work in a team. If you create an initial idea and someone else sees it, they can really start bouncing ideas off each other, and that is really helpful.”

She also mentioned, “Keep an open mind, be flexible, when thinking of different solutions when you focus on a problem. Because the first solution you think of might not, and even probably might not be the solution you go with.”

While at JMU, Diane loved going to the stadium, where she played the piccolo with her fellow Marching Dukes. Also, she loved playing games and eating pizza at Ruby’s Arcade with her friends. Presently, Diane loves to travel across the country and overseas. She resides in Leesburg, Virginia, with her beloved husband, two playful cats, and her adorable dog.