ABOUT ME
HI, MY NAME IS ELIZABETH FIELDS AND I LOVE UX.
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward: you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future…You’ve got to find what you love.” - Steve Jobs
Growing up, I always liked being creative. I painted my room aqua green (thanks Mom and Dad), created dramatic, soap opera-esque plot lines for my Barbies, curated angsty playlists to burn onto CD’s for my friends, doodled in every blank margin of my notebooks, and plastered my walls with homemade collages made from magazine clippings (sorry Mom and Dad). It didn’t matter what the medium was, I loved the way it felt to lose myself in a world of my own design. But, I grew up surrounded by practical people with practical jobs - pursuing a creative career was a path reserved for a special few with obvious, overwhelming talent. My talent, or my dot as Steve Jobs might say, was not obvious and certainly not overwhelming.
So when I graduated high school and got to college, I chose to study Strategic Communications. It seemed like a safe, simple major that could get me a safe, simple job. It turned out to be so much more. My mind was challenged, my worldview was expanded, and I was taught facets of human psychology that I found absolutely fascinating.So when I graduated high school and got to college, I chose to study Strategic Communications. It seemed like a safe, simple major that could get me a safe, simple job. It turned out to be so much more. My mind was challenged, my worldview was expanded, and I was taught facets of human psychology that I found absolutely fascinating.
Learning about how people engage with each other, how they consume new information, and how their emotions respond to images and colors lit me up entirely. I felt like Dorothy pulling back the Wizard’s curtain - I was being shown the inner-most workings of the human mind and I couldn’t get enough of it. Another dot.
Fast forward a few years and a few jobs later and I was working in business operations for a small tech start-up in San Jose, California. I fell in love with the energy of the tech world immediately - it felt new and exciting and full of possibility. I had found a new dot. It was during my time there that I was exposed to User Experience Design, a field of creative design that puts people first. I knew I had to pursue it, so I did.
Merging my passions for creative work and the human experience within UX design is connecting my dots - it feels right. I love the duality and the challenge of creating work that is both intuitive and beautiful. Simply put, it makes me happy. My career in UX design is new and my skills as a designer are still growing but I know I’m supposed to be here. Here’s to connecting the dots and finding what I love.