Capping Off My Time with HCDE
Between Winter Quarter and Spring Quarter, I worked on my HCDE Capstone project, a culminating project with 3 other people that uses all the skills we've learned in the department to make one final project to showcase at the Capstone Showcase in June.
My team's project was a project sponsored by Microsoft to help better understand the needs of the users of the Microsoft Support website, support.microsoft.com. In this project, we worked with our sponsors to create a plan on what exactly we wanted to solve for and then how we wanted to do so. In the end, our goal was to make the website more dynamic, interactive, and effective for all users, regardless of technology level, by understanding their needs, pain points, and values.
We had the opportunity to work with some amazing capstone sponsors who helped us through this process. We first conducted surveys and interviews that gave us insights into how the current site was currently meeting and falling short of user needs, ending in a brief research presentation. We then got to work creating some website redesigns that we tested and proposed those to the sponsors in a presentation. All the work culminated at the Showcase presentation where we shared our poster and video (you can see those below) and a presentation to judges.
With all the time, dedication, and work my team and I put in, we won the "Best in Technology Undergraduate Capstone Award"!
My team's project was a project sponsored by Microsoft to help better understand the needs of the users of the Microsoft Support website, support.microsoft.com. In this project, we worked with our sponsors to create a plan on what exactly we wanted to solve for and then how we wanted to do so. In the end, our goal was to make the website more dynamic, interactive, and effective for all users, regardless of technology level, by understanding their needs, pain points, and values.
We had the opportunity to work with some amazing capstone sponsors who helped us through this process. We first conducted surveys and interviews that gave us insights into how the current site was currently meeting and falling short of user needs, ending in a brief research presentation. We then got to work creating some website redesigns that we tested and proposed those to the sponsors in a presentation. All the work culminated at the Showcase presentation where we shared our poster and video (you can see those below) and a presentation to judges.
With all the time, dedication, and work my team and I put in, we won the "Best in Technology Undergraduate Capstone Award"!
One Last... Well Everything. And Some Firsts.
Almost everything in the quarter became a final goodbye. From taking walks to the pier behind fisheries to my last assignment, the quarter was filled with a lot of lasts. My last UW Cherry Blossom season impressed even at 9AM in the morning (to avoid large crowds). I went to Cedars (my favorite Indian restaurant) for the last time (as a student) after Honors graduation. I walked up and down the Ave aimlessly like I would when trying to figure out what to eat that's not from Local Point or the DM just the week before. I also gave my final DFA presentation, showing off our yearlong project called "VoteAdvisor". And my final assignment was a 2 page 'zine that my group and I created for our HCDE 418 project, showing off our "app" Wanderlust.
There were also some firsts at the same time. From going to Aqua Verde to canoeing on Lake Washington, I also had an opportunity (and time) to do a lot of things I never had the chance to. There were a lot of restaurants I wanted to try that I finally did, like Morsels and Aqua Verde (which I went back to like 3 times after that). Canoeing on Lake Washington was a highlight, spending some time with friends on the water as we struggled to make the canoe go in the direction we were hoping too. I went to an outdoor bar during graduation week with friends to celebrate our achievements. I also decided to take advantage of the good weather and attended some meetings and classes from outside on Zoom. And my biggest first and last: getting all of my graduation things and getting ready for the big day(s). |
The Moment We've Been Waiting For
4 Years. 14 Quarters. 52 classes. Countless experiences and late nights. Everything, for this one moment. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it. Even though it didn't end in a way anyone expected, the accomplishment of graduating meant all the same. My time at UW was marked with a lot of ups and a lot of downs, but there is no part of it that I would change.
Over my final week at the University of Washington, I got to wrap up my experiences through my HCDE Capstone Presentation, and graduation for HCDE, Honors, and the big (virtual) UW Graduation. It was a strange feeling realizing that I was done with college, and after 16 straight years, I was done for schooling (at least for now). But I did it and I had reached the end of this part of my life.
But with the end of one chapter starts another. In July 2021, I started at Capital One as a UX Designer in the Design Development Program. While this may be my last entry about my UW journey, my UX and professional journey starts. If you want to follow that journey, find my UX portfolio at www.jainsid.com.
Over my final week at the University of Washington, I got to wrap up my experiences through my HCDE Capstone Presentation, and graduation for HCDE, Honors, and the big (virtual) UW Graduation. It was a strange feeling realizing that I was done with college, and after 16 straight years, I was done for schooling (at least for now). But I did it and I had reached the end of this part of my life.
But with the end of one chapter starts another. In July 2021, I started at Capital One as a UX Designer in the Design Development Program. While this may be my last entry about my UW journey, my UX and professional journey starts. If you want to follow that journey, find my UX portfolio at www.jainsid.com.
Spring 2021 Highlights:
Classes: HCDE 418, HCDE 493
June 7th: HCDE Capstone Presentation
June 9th: HCDE Graduation
June 11th: Virtual Honors Graduation
June 12th: Virtual UW Graduation
June 13th: RA Move Out Day
Classes: HCDE 418, HCDE 493
June 7th: HCDE Capstone Presentation
June 9th: HCDE Graduation
June 11th: Virtual Honors Graduation
June 12th: Virtual UW Graduation
June 13th: RA Move Out Day