Nice to Meet You,
I'm Matt
Although UX is my passion, there’s a bunch of different things that make me, well, me. And I’m happy you’d like to learn a little more about those things.
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Although UX is my passion, there’s a bunch of different things that make me, well, me. And I’m happy you’d like to learn a little more about those things.
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While attending Rutgers University in 2013 for my undergraduate degree in Business Administration, I started working at my local bank branch to gain some professional experience. A few years later after graduating, I was still working in retail banking as a personal banker.
I knew that this was not what I wanted to do with my career and needed to find a new path. So, I dug up my results from the Myers Briggs assessment I took while in college and started researching some potential career paths. One list I found had a job title that I didn't see before: User Experience Designer. I was intrigued; a curiosity bloomed in my core and moved me to discover more about this discipline.
I ended up landing on the site for the and dove right into the content they offered to explore this new realm called UX. Turns out that this was what my unconscious self was seeking out. A discipline that combined a variety of sciences, opportunity to flex creativity, while also helping people? I felt like I found a golden ticket; this was it. I felt electric and needed to know how I can start a career in UX.
I signed up for a membership with the Interaction Design Foundation and proceeded to take introductory courses they offered. I even completed their bootcamp program to get a small taste of what this type of work could look like.
Quick sidebar: knowing what I know now, my time and money would have been better spent on an actual accredited course or college certificate program. It's a disservice to compact UX into a bootcamp timeline as the actual work is exceptionally nuanced.
While completing courses online, I started to build out my offline library of material. I created a small portfolio with my bootcamp project and figured I start applying to junior and entry-level UX roles. I found out that competition in this field is fierce. Seems like everyone found out about UX when I did! Portfolios of other designers were multitudes more advanced than my little case study.
Thus, I started to learn how web design works as I found that there are a ton of sites that weren't that pleasant to use (still true to this day!). My thinking was if I learn how sites are designed, made, and to connect the purpose with what people need, I could start to close the knowledge gap between me and the competition. My job at the bank was stable and time was on my side for now, so I kept learning and testing.
During 2021 I kicked myself back into gear into the search to find the start to my UX career. For each application sent, an auto-rejection email landed back into my inbox. Fatigue and doubt started spreading their roots.
Was UX really the right choice? Could I find my way into this discipline I've put so much time into learning? Before the last straw slipped out of my hand, an opportunity came knocking.
My wife's family friend launched an ecommerce start-up and offered to place me onboard to help with their website. For about 6 months, I worked part-time after my day job at the bank (I said it was stable didn't I?) helping the development team get a site designed. I also planned and conducted research with people within the target audience of the product to gain insights on how the new site could help achieve their goals.
With actual client experience under my belt, I renewed my application efforts. During this time I also discovered a man named Darren Hood and through his incredible podcast and written content I've had to re-learn a lot of what I thought I knew about UX. I believe that came at a good time because that adjustment helped me tremendously with what was coming next.
Late 2023 something finally came through. A UX opportunity at AmeriCorps was offered to me and I gladly accepted. I've been doing the UX work I've always wanted to do and it felt amazing. It was not glamorous work, but work that needed to be done to enhance internal functionality, efficiency, and overall usability of internal intranet sites which hundreds of employees relied on daily - real UX work, not just making pretty screens. I genuinely loved every moment.
With the federal job space currently tumultuous at best, I'm continuing to learn, develop my skills, and become the best practitioner in UX I can become. The journey continues... and I'm eager to keep going.
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