'User experience (UX) research' is a term that Andrea Wong ‘17 first heard from friends when she moved to San Francisco in 2013. Wong was intrigued. “It sounds like the best parts of all my previous jobs mashed into one,” she said.

Prior to switching to UX research, Wong had worked in journalism, international corporate communications and nonprofit strategy in Shanghai, China, and was working as a freelance content strategist for startups in the San Francisco Bay Area while trying to figure out what's next.

“I’ve always loved observing, learning, communicating and understanding the ‘why’ behind people’s stories in order to better their lives, so UX was a natural next step. It sounds simple, but I love that the focus is making something better for users.”

To see if UX was right for her, Wong attended multiple meetups a week for months in the Bay Area on “UX, research, behavioral design, product design, whatever seemed interesting on meetups.com!", assisted UX researchers with note taking during studies, asked for informational interviews via friends’ networks, and whichever way she could learn more about the field.

At that time, graduate school wasn’t on the agenda.

“I’m not an academic person at all. I love working. So I looked into working laterally into the field, but it’s not the easiest, especially if you show up in a city without any sort of network, have never worked in the US before, and have a non-linear career path. Also, I’m impatient. I wanted to get started!”

"After all my research, talking to the HFID program director Bill Gribbons, and hearing the great things UX researchers were saying about the depth of the program, I realized Bentley was the best option to quickly help me get to where I wanted to be. And it did! I started freelancing as a UX researcher 6 months after I started."

Among her top reasons for choosing Bentley HFID:

Hybrid Model. The online classes and in-person electives in San Francisco made it possible for Wong to stay put while she completed the degree. (Wong did choose to fly to Boston for two 1-week intensive classes)

Industry Professionals. Majority of Wong’s classmates had also worked for many years in different industries. “This was a huge plus for me. Our discussions were so incredibly rich and practical, drawn from hard-won experiences."

Consulting Projects. Working on consulting projects with corporate clients who expected solid deliverables and would ship if the work was good was a “real boost” to Wong’s résumé. “There's nothing like consulting as a UX researcher for clients because by the time you walk into a job interview, you can say "I've done this."

Teamwork. Much of the program is collaborative. “All our client projects were in groups. So we would work remotely across time zones with classmates and clients we’ve never met in person while juggling other commitments like full time jobs, family, etc. This was a great, realistic training as that’s how a lot of teams work in real life."  

Networking. The connections Wong made in the program had a big impact on her career path. HFID Program Director Bill Gribbons connected Wong to a Bentley alumnus at a San Francisco startup who was looking to hire freelance grad students from Bentley’s program. Another consulting gig came from Wong’s classmate, who was working at Google. Wong eventually joined the company as a full time UX researcher in 2016. She focuses on making products more accessible for people with disabilities.

Now that Wong is making her mark in the UX industry, what is her favorite part of the job?

“I love figuring out why people are the way they are; that's why I was a journalist,” Wong says. “For me, user experience is learning about the who, what and why of people. What motivates or frustrates them. Then I can build something that hopefully makes their lives a bit better."

And because Wong focuses on disabilities, there is an added dimension to her work. “To be able to integrate my passions for social impact and UX research in my job feels amazing. I’m very lucky.”