What I learned about life from sports broadcasting plus a couple other thoughts

Aaron M. Soto
Aug 9, 2017 · 5 min read

I am Aaron Soto, an experienced developer, long-time sports fanatic, and new UXer completing my Master of Human-Computer Interaction and Design program this September (2017) as a proud member of The Program’s inaugural cohort. The following is a (not too) short, three-question Q&A providing a few insights into my life and view of the world. I hope you enjoy it.

Who are the 3 people you would like to have dinner with, dead or alive? And why?
Growing up in Southern California during the 80s and 90s in a sports-centric family meant Lakers, Dodgers, Kings, and more Lakers. Watching and listening to these fantastic teams compete and win was a memorable part of my childhood. Here in LA, we had three of the best sports broadcasters to ever walk the planet; and I would challenge that we had the best combination of broadcasters ever within any single city: Francis “Chick” Hearn, Bob Miller, and Vin Scully.

Each man had tremendous communication talents that elevated them to the top echelons of sports broadcasting. These unique talents included Chick’s innovative basketball vernacular and “words-eye view”–he called each game in such a way that you could picture the action even if you were only listening on the radio. Bob Miller had a unique ability to learn and describe the fast-paced nature of a hockey game having been thrown into it as a young broadcaster without prior experience with hockey. Vin Scully used the slower pace of a baseball game as the backdrop of his stage where he performed as an orator, telling the most intricate stories ever experienced in broadcasting. Their ability to innovate within their field, adapt quickly to changing conditions, and above all tell meaningful stories that enhanced their broadcasts is what made them special.

But there is something bigger that bonds these three men in history and that is their devotion to their craft and their astonishing longevity. Bob Miller had the shortest career at only 44 seasons. Over a 36-year period of his career, Chick never missed a day of work, calling 3,338 consecutive games. Vin Scully retired just last year after a career that goes so far back that nobody actually knows exactly how many games he called, but it was enough to earn him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.

As an emerging expert in the field of User Experience Design, it is important to look for sources of inspiration in innovation, adaptability, and storytelling, and ultimately, to delight your audience. These three men each understood the importance of the ingredients that they baked into their craft and they delighted millions of people like me who cherished their work. Although Chick is no longer with us, breaking bread with these three would mean a chance at capturing a wealth of information on exactly how they were able to touch so many lives.

What do you find most fascinating/intriguing/challenging about UX?
One of the most fascinating aspects of this relatively new field known as “UX” is that it’s very misunderstood at the same time that it’s ubiquitous among the culture of successful organizations.

I’ve been consulting with a startup that mainly consists of what was an internal “Innovation Team” within their previous organization. The director of the team consistently misunderstands what UX is in a way that mainly equates UX to graphic design or, at most, interface design. However, he and his team actually follow a Lean UX style of work within their innovation team. They talk with their users about their challenges, brainstorm design solutions to address their pain points, create functional prototypes, and test the prototypes with the same users before iterating through to their next round of innovation. They’ve used the knowledge gained through this Lean UX approach, without ever placing a “UX” label on their work, and have successfully built a suite of applications that save their organization millions of dollars each year, which has certainly made the organization’s many stakeholders very happy.

And in full truth, I think a lot of UX is really about good Product Management processes and skills. In that sense, much of the field has been around a very long time, but it is only recently that a subtle, but important distinction has been made to separate out the user from the product in a way that elevates the user as the primary focal point. The field of UX has a user-centered approach with well-defined methodologies for creating a product or service through the eyes, minds, and most importantly, hearts of users. Again, this has been done since long before the field of UX existed by the best and brightest product owners, but we now have greater visibility for the methods that lead to successful products with delightful user experiences. That visibility is sparking an advancement within the field of UX at a rapid pace, which is good for all of us as users in our immersive digital world.

What has been the most important lesson you’ve received during The Program?
Empathy. Empathy all on its own could have literally been the extent of my answer to this great question.

I’ve enjoyed a blessed life of moderate success built upon a technical and personal skillset that blossomed within me during my first journey through the University of California when I completed my degree in computer science. Sixteen years passed between the end of that journey and the beginning of this current journey and I am back at UC Irvine for more light. You see, education is light to me and the University of California’s mantra is Let There Be Light so I think I am in the right place. I wrote my personal statement on this premise; and everything that I have mentioned in this paragraph and that statement has formed a very particular person with very particular views about the world. It all forms me.

Now imagine who you are as a person. You are hopefully resonating with my story, but I would guess you are otherwise largely a very different person than I am. I came back to UC Irvine to get a master’s degree that focuses on people; and my first experience on my first day showed me just how much light exists within the people of this program, from the top leadership down through every extraordinarily diverse member of our inaugural cohort. I have learned something from every one of my fellow cohort members and because of that the light in this program couldn’t be warmer; the light couldn’t be brighter; the light couldn’t be more unique.

And that’s when you realize what this area of computing is all about — it is about understanding and appreciating other people; it is about having empathy for your users as you research and design the digital solutions that will affect their lives in some way. Do your job right, do it with empathy, and you greatly increase the likelihood that you will affect lives positively. That’s something that could really be said about any profession and that is the beauty of empathy.

UCIMHCID

University of California, Master of Human Computer Interaction and Design. Producing the top user experience researchers, designers, developers, and product managers of the future. Writings by alumni, students, staff, and faculty.

Aaron M. Soto

Written by

UCIMHCID

UCIMHCID

University of California, Master of Human Computer Interaction and Design. Producing the top user experience researchers, designers, developers, and product managers of the future. Writings by alumni, students, staff, and faculty.

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