DDT: UX Design

“ Not everyone can work as a UX designer. Why? Because working in UX requires you to not only LOVE people, but to be endlessly curious about why they do the things they do.” — Rosie Allabarton

Today is the beginning of my UX Design career. It’s amazing to have people in the world that believe in you. I cannot continue without thanking my mom and my boyfriend, because without them I would not be able to spend time refining my craft today, I would still be working at the same job in a cubicle in that hot office in Paris.

I attached this image I created a couple years ago (maya, photoshop, mudbox) because I feel that the corporate world is the Soul Eating God of creative minds and I’m going to make it a point to steer away mentally and focus on innovation. Innovation also sounds kind of cliché, but it describes what I’m about.

innovate (v.) 1540s, “introduce as new” (trans.), from Latin innovatus, past participle of innovare “to renew, restore;” also “to change,” from in- “into” (see in- (2)) + novus “new” (see new). Intransitive meaning “bring in new things, alter established practices” is from 1590s. Related: Innovated; innovating.

If you are reading this, I appreciate your time, and I will do my best to keep it real and on point. The title “DDT” means design digital thinking. I like acronyms because they make everything sound legit, but I’m not sure DDT is actually a thing. The word “creatives” is though and it is absolute trash. People use the word “creative” to refer to a type of person, as if it was a cult of people, but everyone is creative, everyone creates! The worst thing you can possibly say to a professional, “You tell me, you are the designer.” Hell no! We are all designers. We design our life.

design (v.) 1540s, from Latin designare “mark out, devise, choose, designate, appoint,” from de- “out” (see de-) + signare “to mark,” from signum “a mark, sign” (see sign (n.)). Originally in English with the meaning now attached to designate; many modern uses of design are metaphoric extensions. Related: Designed; designing.

I just turned 30 years old and I quit my job in December (I will tell you the full story in my next blog post, it involved a lot of celebrating, eating, and crying). I’m writing mostly to share my experience as a designer and share my progress in UX and programming. Along with that I have a number of cautionary tales to share with the world.

I see kids sitting at the bus stops staring at their phones, my boyfriend’s kids are posting selfies on snapchat, and people are recording everything and anything. At the same time we are learning to manipulate media, we are creating a“fake” reality, a virtual reality where we have ALL control over one’s perception of what life can be like. I will delve into this soon.