Interaction designer in the making
When I was a little boy, I was obsessed with technologies. My uncle used to live in my home. He bought the first computer for my brother and me. I always stayed in front of a computer. Initially, I played games with my brother on the computer. Later I realised that the computer can do something automatically, like drawing boxes and lines. In those days, using computer was not so easy. You needed to know some basic programming. I started programming when I was 9 or 10 years old.
Later I started self-studying programming and especially making games in my secondary school. The Internet was not yet full of self-learning resources yet. I made some simple games. When I was going to university, I was quite sure that I wanted to enrol in a computer science degree programme. I had been focused on the technology side of computers, while I ignore an important part of the use of computers - the user. This was changed when I entered my university education.
Well, I did enrol in a computer science department. I joined a engineering programme in software engineering. It was offered by a computer science department. I spent almost five years there because I also did an MPhil degree there after my bachelor degree. One of the most important things that I learned was that engineering is about making things work, reliably and cost-effectively. While there are many ways to ensure that machines work perfectly, there is often one element in many system that is so different from the rest - the human. There is always a user, or groups of users in every system. The result of a system often depends on the user. Whether a software application is used depends on whether the users know how to use it. Nuclear power plant may fail but whether the operators execute the respond procedures correctly determine the result.
One of the things that inspired me most in my engineering education was that human is the most interesting part of an engineering system. This set my course to pursue in the human-side of computer usage. After my MPhil, I went to London in UK to study another master degree in human-computer interaction (HCI) with ergonomics. The master was about knowledge and skills on how people interact with technologies and how to design technologies to fit people. When I got back to Hong Kong, I worked in a digital marketing agency as an information architect - designing user interface and information structure of websites. After a few years, I followed my desire to learn more about people's interaction with technologies by enrolling in a PhD programme. My design experience in the industry plus my training in theoretical thinking help me in understanding and creating user interactions with technologies in both conceptual and concrete levels.
I have to thank my engineering education in setting my course towards the study of human behaviour.
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