what is ux
you might be asking, "what the hell is ux?"
user experience (ux) is understanding how people use your product or serivce, what your users strengths and weaknesses are, what problems they need solved and stuff like that.
this can be with a physical product or service, or a digital product or service. usually it's something digital, and a lot of the times it involes like a website or something similar. there are many different types of ux, like research, desinger, visual designer, content strategist, product developer, human computer interaction, human centered design, and some kinds of coding could be considered as part of ux.
i went into ux bc i can understand the complicated engineering parts of something but also can translate it to the user (you know, the person using the product or service?). a lot of ux also has to do with graphics and formatting and i love doing that.
i want my site to be useable but also look like hot garbage. this is a hard line to toe. i could push the hot-garbage way further but my inner ux holds me back. there are a lot of usabiltiy and accessibility problems with how this site is designed and that's kind of a bruh moment. but my portfolio website (which i am also hand coding) will be much more accessible and not look like hot garbage.
why ux (ripped from my portfolio site)
I believe that the driving force behind people to become engineers is the desire to see something and make it better. I have that drive too, and that's part of why I got into studying UX. I find fulfillment in helping people, whether that be provinding an extra set of hands or designing a better experience.
When I was younger I spent a lot of time making art on and off the computer. This transitioned to an interest in graphic design, which then grew to a passion for UX in general. A perfect blend of design and helping people! I first learned about the field when browsing the undergraduate majors at MSOE.
From what I hear, the year before I started college, the marketing department didn't advertise user experience at all. So the total number of incoming freshmen for the class of 2025 majoring in user experience was... 2 people. The majority of students in the program end up transfering in from computer science or computer engineering.
From the start, I gave it my all. The program director told me multiple times that she was impressed at the quality of my work as a freshman, and that I continue to blow her away with everything I submit. When I chose to study UX, I chose to study UX. I am passionate about the work that I do and enjoy doing it.