Quantum Leap into Interactive Design
“We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success.”
~Henry David Thoreau
At one time, I was an aspiring nursing student taking prerequisite classes by day, and a self-taught web designer consultant at night. Of course, that’s not how I saw myself then, but that was essentially what it was. I was helping my husband — a talented computer science major — with our website building side gig. I’d come up with the website layout, style, color scheme and edit pictures in photoshop. After that, my husband would then build the websites for us.
Up until that point, I had never taken a web design class. It would be years down the road before I’d even hear the terms “UX” or “Interaction Design”. My creative process, if there was one, was finding inspiration from websites I’d admired, and then designing what made sense to me at the time.
I enjoyed doing the work but soon my gig designing websites came to an end as my husband graduated with his bachelor’s degree, and a much wanted job offer took us out of state. I was still a few classes away from applying to nursing school. I put my school plans on hold for the time being, promising myself to go back to school as soon as it was feasible.
During my break from school, I got interested in photography and learned as much as I could about it from books and blogs. I learned all about shutter speed, aperture and photo composition techniques. I took a Photoshop class at a community college to learn how to better edit pictures. Once I got my hands on a Canon DSLR camera, I started offering my photography services to friends and family. I took pictures of newborns, families, and engaged couples. It felt good to be doing some creative work again!
When I was ready to go back to school, I hesitated. Was nursing still right for me? Nursing had been my plan all along, but all of a sudden, I wasn’t so sure anymore. I also didn’t know what else to do. I thought back to my short stint doing web design work, and it felt like something I could see myself doing both as a creative outlet and as a career.
I discovered the Interaction Design program at Utah Valley University and it appeared to be a great fit for what I was looking for! It seemed to me that it was one where I could be both creative and could combine my love of design and photography.
I enrolled in the program the following semester. I had so much to learn! Looking back on my early design choices, I sometimes cringe because I was very much a beginner and it showed. I’ve come a long way already, and I’m excited to continue progressing and improving my skills. Keeping up with the changes in the industry in this ever changing field is part of the job description as an interaction designer. As a lifelong learner, that’s fine by me. It makes my chosen field that much more attractive.
After graduation, I can see myself going in a few different directions. Ideally, I’d prove myself through the quality of my work so I can work as a freelance web or user experience designer, or work remotely for a company. I’m also open to working for a company in a more traditional setting if I find it’s a good fit.
My trajectory into web design definitely wasn’t linear. I had to run into a few dead-ends first to find the right major I was looking for. Prior to this, I had poured a lot of time, effort and money into pursuing a completely different degree. I could have kept going on the nursing path, simply because I had already invested so much into it. I’m forever thankful that I didn’t let that hold me back from finding something else that was a much better fit for me.
