A Cover Letter Turned into an Reflection

Dear Citizens of Earth,

Starting with my background, I have always loved the tech industry. Starting from middle school, I have been the go-to tech person, helping teachers, students and parents with their tech problems. In my free time, I am one of those people who would get two phones (IOS & Android) and would explore the differences between the devices. Of course, at the time I had no idea what I was doing when critiquing and complaining about a particular update or have listened to various frustrations from my friends and family was a big thing in user experience design.

During my first two years at the University of British Columbia, I started exploring more in-depth of where I would fit in the technology industry. Aiming for Computer Science during my first year, I have realized my expectation & definition of what I wanted to learn about was not in computer science at all. I realized my interests lie on a much more holistic level of thinking known as user experience design. Ultimately, it led me to psychology. After taking a few courses, I was fascinated by the awareness that I have gained and how we are not perfect as humans.

Halfway in my psychology degree, I didn’t quite settle. I was so keen and curious in diving deeper into learning the methods of user experience design that I decided to take a break from my studies to get a deeper glimpse of what UX is like in the “real world.” My answer to that was attending RED Academy Vancouver, where I was exposed to a much more practical learning experience, and I loved it! I was able to dive deep into UX, and I was able to apply it to five real client projects where each project I was able to work with different teammates. It was perhaps the most exciting and satisfying experience I had by far after discovering that what I have been doing and striving for was called user experience all along! From this, I have learnt a lot more about me, my working style is and my realization of my natural fit into UX.

When I was building my portfolio, I took a moment to reflect on my experience. Being an honest listener and a striver of ’doing the right thing’ is a core of who I am, so I would like to take a moment and mention what others have said. Based on anonymous feedback from teammates, I have realized how others see me as a UX designer: teamwork, humble, passionate, logical, chill, open, encourager and inspirer. These are just a few, but I have surprised myself that others have said these overwhelming positive words as a 21-year-old UX designer. Since then, I am now a mentor at RED Academy, a part-time student at UBC, a Neilson Norman Group Certified UX designer and a person dedicated to building simple, intuitive products that enhance human productivity.

Lastly, I am looking forward to applying my skill sets as UX designer to help build better customer experiences and satisfaction while striving to find a sweet spot where I can assist in reaching business and development goals. Most importantly, I am looking forward to continuing my learning as a UX designer as my journey moves onto a new chapter.

Sincerely,

Timothy Chan