From Translator to UX Designer: Bridging Language and Design by Amy

From Translator to UX Designer: Bridging Language and Design by Amy - May 2023 Scholarship Essay

“Con oi, con giup me dien vao don nay cho truong cua em con nhe?” my mom asks. I look at where she’s sitting, her face lit up by the laptop, struggling to decipher a form. I nod and push away my homework. She turns the laptop toward me, stretching her back after a long day of bending over and performing manicures and pedicures. I look through legal terms, walls of text, and blank spaces that need to be filled.

As a child of immigrants, growing up, I‘ve been an interpreter for my parents. This role expanded during the pandemic, as I helped my mom get a job as a paraeducator by drafting emails, creating accounts on job portals, and completing paperwork. While filling out the online forms, I noticed that many of them were unintuitive and difficult to use. I would tap and swipe, only to be met with error messages and dead ends. My goal is to enhance the usability and practicality of technology so even people who aren't tech-savvy or have disabilities can use them with ease.

At UC Berkeley, I plan to pursue a degree in Cognitive Science to become a user-experience (UX) designer. I am drawn to this field because of my passion for understanding how people interact with technology and how I can enhance their experiences. Through my coursework, I will gain a strong foundation in psychology and programming, as well as develop analytical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills. I hope to also join Berkeley Innovation and Design at Berkeley to meet people with similar aspirations. Pixel by pixel, I strive to develop empathetic technology that benefits all users.

I would have rather been playing on monkey bars than filling out food stamp applications, interpreting parent-teacher conferences, and writing emails. Despite the weight of the responsibility, I have come to love being a conduit of understanding. I enjoy the connection it builds for me to my parents and my heritage, and the trust and appreciation it fosters, requiring me to learn about their values and beliefs to communicate them to others effectively. Being an interpreter is not just about conveying words from one language to another; it is being the eyes and ears of my family, navigating the maze of a new country. It is about being our advocate, voice, and guide. These transferable skills align with my goals because I can use my knowledge to help navigate users through their digital experiences and translate business goals into high-fidelity prototypes.

Being the interpreter in my family has been a journey of discovery and growth. It shaped who I am, what I plan to study, and how I see the world. And for that, I will always be grateful.