I Chose Design: The Beginning of my Design Career

All my life, I’ve always wanted to do something that would have a huge impact on my environment(but don’t we all). As I grew and became exposed to technology by watching my brother create applications in Java, my eyes opened up to the endless possibilities technology presented. I saw my mind slowly but surely open up to the world around me. It was so beautiful to me that I wished other people could see it too the way I did. I started out learning Java but discovered HTML, CSS, and Javascript along the line. I played with Figma during my spare time after a friend introduced it to me.

As I studied more about Software Engineering, I understood that although building products was important, it wouldn’t matter much if the user didn’t know what to do with it. This led me to learn the basic principles of design. The deeper I went, the more entrapped I became. I found out that designing interfaces and experiences for users was the intersection I was looking for between building products and affecting people’s perceptions by how they view and interact with software.

Design isn’t just the creation of things that look pretty. There’s always a plan that leads to execution. Not all experiences on the internet are designed, some are just hacked together. We can to an extent “design” how people react to things. Not by controlling their minds or anything like that, but by controlling how they see and interact with content. It’s like a superpower!

There’s a saying that we go fast when we go alone but we go far when we go together. I know it is possible to learn all I need to excel at designing interfaces and interactions on my own but without proper guidance, I would waste a lot of time and might miss vital lessons that would help my career. So I joined the WeJapa Internship with the aim of learning in the midst of other people like me from people who have crossed this plane before us. I would also learn some soft skills in the process too (and there’s no better way of doing it by actually doing it).

It’s one day at a time but I hope that by the time this internship is over, I would have learned the skills I need to get a good job and have some projects to add to my portfolio. I know a lot of effort is required to pull through but I know I’m ready. So here’s to my bright future!

Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash