Hi, I’m Wan-Ting Huang, a San Francisco based user experience designer who enjoys creating as well as understanding.
Everyone starts somewhere
I was born and raised in Taichung, Taiwan. Like most kids growing up outside of areas heavily influenced by technology and design, I had never heard of “user experience” or any semi-equivalents like “interaction design” or “design thinking.” I knew that I enjoyed art classes, hand-sketching, and digital art tools, but I was also strongly advised by the school system that it’s hard to make ends meet becoming an artist.
Luckily, I ended up attending a comprehensive university in Taipei that fosters an atmosphere of academic freedom. Besides my majors in Business & Finance, I had a chance to develop my interests in other areas like beginner-level programming, psychology, and graphic design. I was really drawn to the craftmanship that's possible when design, technology, and human behavior intersect, each of which makes each other more wonderful and powerful. All this explorations eventually led me to the discovery of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).
Getting into real business
In the spring of 2010, I came across a post on a Taiwanese study-abroad forum introducing HCI schools in the US. I was surprised and thrilled that the profession I had always perceived myself doing actually exists and it’s intended for people of diverse backgrounds. Under the support of my families and some HCI alumni, I was grateful to get accepted to the HCI design program at Indiana University and started my journey to the US.
In the past few years, I’ve delivered various designs for clients from leading tech companies, startups and design agencies. Currently, I'm working at Facebook as a Product Designer. The transition from Taiwan to the US, and from business to HCI wasn't a smooth path, but the fulfillment of practicing a profession I love, in a community that I have a lot to learn from, is way beyond my expectations. I am thankful to be able to do what I love for a living and would love to help others find their passion and do what they love too.
Wanna know more or have a chat? Feel free to reach out via: