About Giovanna Dieffenbach
TLDR
I'm a Los Angeles based UX Designer with a degree in Psychology and an eye for aesthetics. I recently completed the Google UX Design Certificate, and am looking for an entry level full-time UX Design job. I love learning about people, creating things, and collaborating with a team. I'm eager to take on new challenges and keep learning!
Looking to hire a passionate UXer for your entry level position? Checkout my 'Projects' section to see case studies of the work I've done, and take a look at my resume, linked below!
My Path to UX Design
UX Design combines some of my favorite things: learning about how people perceive, think, and behave; designing attractive aesthetics; and creating useful things that function in a way that just makes sense. However, it took me a bit to figure that out.
Before entering the world of UX Design, I studied Psychology and earned my B.A. from Occidental College. In school I was particularly interested in learning about cognitive processes such as memory, thinking, and perception. I was involved in psychology research, investigating the cognitive relationship between naive intuitive theories about the world and learned scientific ideas. If you're interested, check out the full text, where I'm cited as a co-author: 'Can Science Beat Out Intuition? Increasing the Accessibility of Counterintuitive Scientific Ideas'
After college I spent two and a half years as a Behavior Therapist, working with children with a diagnosis of Autism. This experience strengthened my ability to empathize, as everyday I was working to understand the emotions kids were feeling, where their feelings and behaviors were coming from, and how to address both in an empathetic way. While it was a challenging job, I will always deeply value the time I had with the kids I worked with, and all of the things I learned along the way.
While satisfying in many ways, it became apparent that behavior therapy was not my passion, and I started to explore possible next steps for my career. I was introduced to the field of UX Design by a software engineer, who thought it could be a good fit for me. The collaborative, creative nature of the work had strong appeal (I had really enjoyed doing this kind of work as the Editor-in-Chief of my yearbook back in high school), as did the involvement of a different application of psychology. It seemed UX might be exactly what I was looking for.
I started to research UX Design, reading recommended books such as the 'The Design of Everyday Things' by Don Norman, and quickly knew I wanted to pursue a career in UX. After taking a few different courses, I enrolled in and completed the Grow with Google UX Design Career Specialization. Of the projects I have completed, my favorite is an app called 'Emotion Match.' For this project I was able to combine my design skills, my psychology education, and my experience as a Behavior Therapist to create a game to help kids learn about emotions and practice empathy. The app will be released on the App Store in 2022.
This is just the start of my UX journey, and I can't wait to see what's next! If you'd like to connect regarding opportunities to work together, reach out to me via my 'Contact' page. I'd love to hear from you!