Why I Work at Labs: Hankun He, Senior Learning Experience Designer
We asked Hankun He, Senior Learning Experience Designer, to talk about why she works at WGU Labs.
Hi, I’m Hankun He, one of the Senior Learning Experience Designers at WGU Labs. I just celebrated my second working anniversary last month, and figured now could be the perfect time to reflect on my journey. I took a class called ‘User Experience (UX) Design’ while I was attending college. After that class, I was completely intrigued by the idea of solving users’ problems by designing a series of experiences to provide a positive impact, and diving deeper into understand user behaviors and expectations. This experience planted a seed of UX design in my heart. Once I graduated and received a Master’s Degree in System and Information Engineering (Human Factors Track), I was ready to start my career in the UX field. During my search for career opportunities, I was so excited to come across the title of Learning Experience Design, which is a cross of UX and learning science. Here are a few reasons why I settled down at Labs as an LXD:
You Never Get Bored
There is a breadth of projects I’ve worked on that center around education, each with its own unique problems. A few examples include: designing simulations for accounting professionals, creating career readiness programs for high school students to explore the medical field, and building an online community for school leaders. These experiences have helped me grow as a designer by allowing me to identify my strengths and areas of growth. The projects I work on at Labs also allow me to explore new experiences and dive into the unknown, which keeps me motivated!
Continuous Self-Growth is Respected
Labs was my first job fresh out of school. At that point, I felt “Imposter Syndrome” as most newbies do. But I soon realized the skills I gained from each project at Labs helped prepare me for success in the next project. In my time at Labs, I’ve learned skills ranging from project management, user research, qualitative data analysis, to public speaking. Our team encourages continuous self-growth in a step-by-step fashion, which I’ll always be grateful for.
Labs’ Culture Aligns with my Belief
I’ve always believed that users’ involvement throughout the entire life cycle of a product/service can boost the value of the product/service. This philosophy is also emphasized at Labs which we define as students-centered, producing high-quality experiences that optimize learning outcomes. With this goal in mind, I am able to have creative freedom to achieve projects with innovative solutions. Most importantly, when you know the whole team shares the same mindset as you, you feel empowered.
“I Love Food!” “Me Too!”
Last but definitely not least, I joined Labs because of the lovely people here. Knowing my team members both professionally and personally has made this job even more fun. We come from different backgrounds with different personalities, but we all love FOOD! We even have a themed cuisine tournament every morning to kick off our day. It’s a great way to meet your peers as they tell fascinating stories of how they bond with the food they voted for.
These are just a few reasons I enjoy working at Labs. I’m looking forward to achieving more with our team in the next year and creating even more memories!
About Labs
WGU Labs invents, builds, and enables innovative education products and offerings that multiply the effects of WGU’s mission to have a transformative impact on higher education: to expand access, improve quality, and optimize student outcomes. Click here to visit our webpage to learn more about our team, the projects we’re working on, and our expanding list of partners.
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We are currently looking for new members to join our team! Check out our open position here. We’d love for you to join us!
