As a User Experience (UX) Designer, my work demonstrates the importance of creating easier and more effective user experiences, especially in large organizations where it matters most. Before I became interested in User Experience (UX), I started learning skills for fun by experimenting and hacking with OpenBSD, FreeBSD, and Fedora Linux in junior high. It was mainly through using OpenBSD and learning to use it as a secure web server that inspired me to start taking college courses in Web Development and Web Design in high school. The work in these courses gave me a deep dive into how the relational database management system (RDBMS) and the HTTP server work together to run a website. In addition to my interest in the BSD family of operating system, I also have always enjoyed being creative by drawing. By using these technologies, while also exercising my artistic mind, I learned that design and development are inextricably connect and not polar opposites. This realization was what inspired me to become a UX Designer after graduating from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in 2019.
At Turnitin, my diverse skill set came into play when creating the new design soon to be used for all of the company’s support sites. I was able to use my knowledge in how different operating systems work to create the scalable design being used by support.examsoft.com with complex database management in mind, allowing the product writing team to complete the project long after my assignment as the UX Designer for ExamSoft. I still like hacking and trying new things with different OS’s, including running this WordPress site on my own self-updating web server powered by OpenBSD and httpd that I set up myself.