For me, the question of “what do you want to do” has always been posed to me as someone working and learning in the humanities. However, I believe that this question subtly has 2 parts that the person asking wants answered; one being what skills do have, and the other being how can I apply those skills in the real world to make money.
This question has taken a lot of exploration for me to understand, but finally as a senior I do have an answer after refining it over the years based on my interests. I knew I was always interested in art, so technically I have a lot of “hard” skills when it comes to creating. There was always a disconnect for me however that stemmed from the fact that I didn’t want to sell my work and be creating traditional art all the time. As I embraced and realized my love for travel, different cultures, food, and linguistics, I have learned to value what makes us human and how we connect, as well. I knew that I wanted to work with people, and did not want to be bound to a desk my whole career.
What I want to do after school combines two subjects I’m studying; anthropology, and art & design. User Experience Design (UX) is what I’m going for, and notice how it’s not traditional by any means. It’s a position that I stumbled across when I was lost, not knowing exactly what I wanted to do. This job works specifically to combine humanistic work such as interviewing and understanding a clients needs/ wants with design and prototyping of a product — something I have been doing since a very young age as an artist.
UX Designers are hired by various companies to optimize products and in turn increase sales and better user experience amongst customers. The job excites me because it includes a lot of desk time and technical skill, but also field work, market research, and interviews to understand clients. I would say that some of the skills I’ve learned regarding design throughout my student career will help with this position, but not all.
Unfortunately, because the Art Department at UNE is so small, courses are limited, and therefore most of the art classes aren’t on design, technology, or UX, they’re on painting, drawing, and traditional art. What I think I will take most out of my time at UNE is my studies in anthropology and the connections I’ve made when it comes to finding a job in UX. While this is a tough reality to face, there is always further education I can complete to essentially tailor my skills learned at UNE into industry standard tools for my future job, which is what I’m excited about. Some but not all of my art classes have prepared me for the field I want to enter, and the humanities have in a way helped me understand how I will be working with people outside of school and into my professional career.
This being said, I’m not at all tied down to becoming a UX Designer. My current plan is to follow what I want to do, and if there’s a different demand for a design-based job, I’ll take it.
