Hajin Choi (A1)

I would like to work for a design consultancy who works for clients from a broad range of industries. And ideally I hope to be in a position that gives me opportunities to use my skill sets from communication design and HCI, both of which I'm majoring in. I'm not sure if there's such a position in the real world, but I want to be at least part of a group whose expertise can cover the whole process of design - anything from user research to visual design so that I can develop a holistic perspective in tackling any given problems. I realized this while interning at a design agency whose job mostly involved in creating GUI for mobile phones the 'front-end' of a product. Another characteristics I would like for a company to have is flexibility and openness of the working place. I believe innovative ideas are more likely to come from among people who feel comfortable interacting with each other and exchanging their ideas without feeling afraid of criticism.

As for the characteristics I want to avoid the most is having to repeat the similar type of work without learning anything new. For me, it's very important to be able to keep learning something even when I get out of school. Especially in the design field, things change rapidly and if you lose track, it's very easy to get behind. So It would be great to work for a company who promotes their employees' personal development as well as the growth of the company itself.

What I want to explore with regard to the professional world include the relationship between a design consultancy and its clients - how much of interaction happens between the two and how much of influence the clients have on the decision-making of the design firms - and how the roles for each team member are decided within a project and whether or not they change over different projects. And most importantly, I'd like to know what makes a desired employee for a entry level designer who doesn't have much experience yet.