I was born in 1976 and since I was a child, i began drawing a lot and everything. The need to explain or clarify my vision by the graphic method always was a leverage, like a superpower. Probably since 1982 I started to sketch some old cartoons; later at school, everything was connected: my refine attention to good calligraphy, my arts shops, my drawings used in homework, I was getting a consistent improvement day by day. Furthermore, I graduate in 2000 from Industrial Engineer and back in the days, at the university, this superpower helps me to deliver high quality presentations or white papers infographics-based.
Since I remember, friends and informal customers start to ask for more and bigger visual needs. So, even today I'm dealing the same flow and the superpower remains intact. In part, i believe, is because I am always capturing and crafting the feedback, to make it useful and sustainable, learning from project to another. For the last 30 years. I really love a happy customer.
In the beginning everything was like a great hobby, to stay active and online at an endless creative process was my wonderland. For years I learned by myself and each project always helps me to take the best angle to my profile. So many times I learned a lot of new tools (some are already gone), but I learned a lot about people too. The real moment of the process happens when there is a deeply connection with your customer and to differentiate what the project needs and what the customer wants. This moment is magical, from that point I start to visualize de entire solution in my mind. From this vision to get the real thing and get paid for it is an entire different thing.
Today I think is a great responsibility to use this superpower to really empower users through design, far beyond an image or interface, an experience tailored and focused to enhance the experience by overwriting the previous experiences of the user in a similar state of mind, so they can do better and feel better.
My goals for exploring the field of UX design are three:
The first one is to build better customer-centric digital solutions for bigger clients. Many of them are looking for a system design for its services on a intranet or extranet sites. Others have a great apps to specific nano-markets that are susceptible of frequently updates. But, using the lens of UX, the vision of short or long terms projects changes, because the team is looking to a single spot ahead and it is an easy-to-use and frictionless journey focused on the user experience. To reinforce the user-oriented is a must-have in each step of the process to every stakeholder.
The second is to create interfaces for better accessibility. One of each four human users has at least one cognitive or physical issue at the time to use any device to consume digital content. There is a significative number of people who needs now, more than ever, clear and specific regulation that helps this users; not only in the USA, but in other countries. By the law, official institutions at the Colombian government already supplies a lot of online services ( even more now in the post pandemic times ) as a user and as a designer is sad to me how some of the digital solutions are deployed and served to the public.
And third, is to design better education and entertainment for the future. The users, or even better, personas needs to start using tools to enjoy immersive experiences in a variety of ways. The virtual reality and de augmented reality are truly a glimpse what a future lies ahead. Nevertheless this technology is not new or innovative, but now, the user is already at the core of the challenge. New possibilities brings new restrictions and alternatives to a new way of consume valuable content. Besides this, there is a lot of work to do in gaming (where the best digitally enabled products are), domotics, cars, weareble devices, toys and so on.
Why do you want to pursue this professional certificate?
To be honest, 25 years after I started this journey, the impostor syndrome is haunting me. This certificate, and other certificates will come, and hopefully helps me with this. This certification will align my vision with the rest on the industry at this particular moment. It Will help me to reach new opportunities and new ways of doing things too and of course to get to know and to understand a lot of people from different industries involved.
