From Architecture to UX Design
Back in the Dominican Republic, my mom likes to tell the story of how I started building houses even before I started school. Little model houses, of course, built out of anything I could find lying around the house or on the street. My love for building and designing grew over time, and I knew that I would have to leave the Dominican Republic in order to professionalize my skills and accomplish my dreams. I was twenty-one years old when I decided to come to the United States — with empty pockets and no support system. After considerable struggle, I was able to enroll at the Fashion Institute of Technology to study interior design. My studies at FIT gave me an excellent introduction to the formal design concepts that I had been missing and served as a gateway into architecture. I enrolled at and graduated from the New Jersey Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Architecture, and worked as an architectural designer for 5 years before pivoting to UX design.
During my career, I’ve excelled particularly in conceptual and schematic design, although I’ve gained knowledge and valuable skills from all phases of the architectural design process. Recently, as the field of user experience has become more established, I’ve begun to see parallels to my current role and feel that it provides an excellent opportunity to apply my skillset in a different and meaningful way. My background and experience in architecture and design have, by necessity, caused me to become adept at understanding human behavior — specifically, the interaction between people and their environment. I believe that the skills I’ve accumulated in designing physical spaces have helped to prepare me for the challenge of designing user experiences in digital spaces.
The architectural design process consists of countless decisions. The design of a physical space can change a person’s perception and behavior. Small changes in color, quality of light, spatial relationships, and geometry can have profound effects. People react to facets of the physical environment they inhabit — even as those facets go unnoticed — in the same way that they may react to elements of the software environment that they interact with. Good design can help make a client or user feel that he belongs to the space. The best design can elicit reactions and guide user behavior all while enhancing the user’s experience. My expertise in this area will be invaluable as I transition into the world of the digital environment.
Throughout my academic and professional career, I’ve learned to use graphic design tools as a powerful way to help demonstrate high-level concepts as well as minute details. I’ve seen first-hand how designers have the unique opportunity to use these tools to inform, express, persuade and influence understanding. In one of my previous projects, I worked with a client who had almost exclusively dealt with traditional architecture typologies. The project was located in a trendy and vibrant area of Jersey City, and I was convinced that a more modern style would be a better fit for the location and community. I presented my client with statistics around the younger demographic along with sketches, renderings, mockups, and physical models using a contemporary typology. After multiple meetings, he agreed to move forward with my proposed design approach. By allowing my client to visualize this change in multiple ways, along with the data to back up it, I was able to convince him. This wouldn’t have been possible without the industry design tools that I had at my disposal. The same is true in the user experience industry — while some of the tools may be different, the concept of using these tools to facilitate the best product for both the end-user and the client is a direct parallel.
In interacting directly with clients throughout my career, I have gained experience in working to thoroughly understand client needs and requirements. I’ve learned to work collaboratively with clients to enhance their initial ideas while guiding them down the best design path, iteratively addressing issues and incorporating feedback. My goal is always that clients feel delighted when they walk into a finished space, not only because it accommodates their needs, but because it serves to enhance their experience in ways, they aren’t consciously aware of. I’m certain that the learnings I’ve acquired working as an architectural designer will be directly applicable within the UX industry, and I expect that my central goal will remain unchanged as well.
