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UX and Biomedical Engineering

I’ve always had an interest in medical devices so I got an undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering. We 3D printed heart valves, made pacemakers, and played with ultrasound. But it was in during my senior year in product engineering class, that I realized I greatly enjoyed thinking about the product lifecycle. There’s more to designing a product than just crunching the numbers. There’s designing the proof-of-concept, thinking about accessibility, considering environmental factors.

So what?

In general, science involves testing your hypothesis, as is UX Design. It involves testing and retesting that inform the next step of the process. It also inadvertently prepared me to break down complex design problems into manageable, incrementable tasks to be done.

A little about me...

I've worked in labs, factories, retail stores, hospitals, and everything in between. Because of this, I've developed a deep sense of how to design meaningful & impactful experiences that people will use, love, and remember.

my UX origin story

UX and Human Factors

Right after college, I worked for a biotechnology company as a product engineer focused in making pharmaceutics for animals. I was in charge of building the latest prototype of a machine that vaccinated chicken eggs (who knew!). I worked with a variety of professionals from engineers to biologists but the one I truly connected with were the farmers who used the device. Safety was their main focus, and I became the bridge to communicate their pain points to the engineering team. 

So what?

Just like in UX, human factors deal with capabilities of human cognition and behavior to improve human performance and safety. It taught me to integrate mental models on how users process information and utilize these to design interfaces that are easy to use.

UX and Clinical Research

I wanted to be more involved on the human aspect of product design so I got a job as a clinical research specialist at Duke University hospital. During that time, I collaborated with engineers and doctors in improving the accuracy of pulse oximeters on people with dark complexions at low oxygen saturations. Due to the standing mistrust of the black community towards the scientific community because of historically skewed data, it became difficult to recruit people for our studies. To remedy this, we streamlined study workflows  and designed visually appealing marketing materials that boosted subject enrollment and visit times.

So what?

At its roots, empathy and compassion are the foundations of UX. It drives change by bringing different perspectives and expectations. Defining to people what we were there to do, how we'll do it, and why brought perspective and helped drive the community's collective mission of improving healthcare for all.

A new world, yet a familiar feeling

I came across the term UX by accident. I was taking the blood pressure of a patient, and he told me that he was a UX Designer. As he was explaining what he did in his job, fireworks were erupting in my mind with each word in his story. I felt like every nugget of experience I've had throughout the years has led me to this.

 

After working in a variety of industries, I finally saw the commonality in all my experiences that I truly enjoyed: connecting with people, hearing their stories, and learning from them, which is at the heart of UX. My purpose is to use my unique and varied background to create meaningful solutions that marry my creativity and technicality.

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