Hello, I'm back on Medium!

Tathiane Mendonça
Nov 1 · 3 min read

Who Am I?

I’m Tathiane Andrade. Besides loving traveling, hiking and watch movies, I’m a User Researcher with a background based on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) for more than 9 years.

Career started by elderly students

My passion for User Experience (UX) started when I was 18 years old and was teaching elderly to use a personal computer. To every interaction mistake they repeatedly said things like "Ok… it's my fault. The computer was build to be smart, I'm the dumb one". It’s important to highlight that personal computers had a lot of attention in Brazil that time, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were the most searched and published names at the time and no one was "crazy" in question them.

Every time they said something like this, not only broke my heart, but I also answered "Is it really? Why don't we question the quality of system's interfaces and interactions?". I used to answer this not only as an attempt to make them feel better, but also because I believed in this thought even before UX was a field in Brazil. I knew that I wanted to pursue this area but didn't know where. That's why I went to Systems information college where I found HCI which led me to UX.

Since then, I became addicted to observe (not in a creepy way) and understand users behavior when I am at a drugstore line, visiting a tourist place or even when I'm at the Gym.


What is happening now

Right now I'm currently working at ThoughtWorks as a User Researcher and Consultant, based in São Paulo (Brazil). Besides that, I’m also Product Innovation Offerings lead representing Brazil between several offices of ThoughtWorks around the world.

I’m also a User Research independent consultant to Brazilian digital startups.

Why I'm back on Medium?

What made me left was the rush at work and lack of time. Right now I'm still lacking time but the difference is that I'll make an effort to at least talk about a few cases or advices that I might forget to share during the rush of work.

I love to share and receive helpful informations, that's why I'm back. Maybe I can help someone, maybe anyone can help me. I believe in sharing. I also thank my friend Julia Xavier who encouraged me to come back. You will notice that sometimes I'm serious, little goofy or super positive (like my personality), but in general I like to write when the inspiration comes and when this happen I can write at least 3–4 articles at once (but sadly I can't rely on that every time, sorry!).

So feel free not only to ask me anything but also to share your experience, maybe you will make the difference with an information that you judge to be irrelevant but the true is: It's never irrelevant!


Thanks and hope to help you with the next posts. :)
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tathianema

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