top of page
Shaza-portfolio-v4.jpg

a bit about me

I'm a UX/UI designer based in Burlington, Canada. I am passionate about research, psychology, interaction and human-centered design. 
I do believe that great design can influence people's lives and my driving force is understanding people, having empathy towards the challenges they are presented with, and helping them find solutions through intuitive design and insightful interaction.

Component 4.png

My Journey
to UX/UI

shaza-software-engineer-v3.jpg
zero-ones-v4.png

Software Engineering

While I was working as a software engineer, I noticed that no matter how many features we added or bugs we fixed, our end-users were still complaining and were not able to smoothly finish their tasks. That's when I decided to go and observe users, going through their daily tasks. Not only it did raise my empathy towards our clients but it opened my eyes to the great impact that a good or bad UI/UX can have on someone's job and as a consequence on their day-to-day mood.

That's when I read "100 things every designer needs to know about people" and I was blown away, and embarked on a journey to learn more about cognitive processes and behavioral psychology.

at 10 PM, after 4 cups of coffee, fixing a stubborn bug, 

Understanding Psychology

I wanted a practical way to learn psychology that would give me enough knowledge and at the same time allow me to work with people as soon as possible, that's when I found Clinical Hypnotherapy & Psychotherapy diploma. It was a great opportunity to observe people, learn how to ask discovery questions without leading, understand people's needs within their context, and leave my assumptions at the door.

me-taking-the-psychology-degree.jpg
me-with-the-girls-in-hypnotherapy.jpg

Met one of my best friends

psychology.png
create-creativity-ideas-design-concept-v2.png

Visual Design

After I had practical exposure to the world of psychology, I was ready to learn visual design. I do not come from a design background, so it was overwhelming at first trying to learn the many tools and fundamentals of design, from layout, branding strategy, color theory, typography, adobe suite, agghhh..
This time I decided to go the self-taught route. I read so many books, articles and of course, spent hours on YouTube videos trying to follow tutorials. It turned out to be so much fun!
I started working with small businesses and startups helping them shift their mentality from we need something beautiful to designing useful and user-centered assets, adding value to their clients, and as a result, helping them reach their business goals.

UI/UX Design

Although I was a user-centered designer, focusing on the end-user values, goals and pain points, I noticed that my information gathering depended solely on the stakeholders. They have their own understanding of the user and that doesn't always match reality. I wanted to learn the skills that would help me do proper research and make insightful decisions that have a positive impact on the user and as a result on the business. 

That lead me to go back to school to learn UX/UI design, and I wanted to learn from the best, so I signed up for the University of Toronto Bootcamp. During the bootcamp projects, everything I learned throughout the journey came in handy at exactly the right time. This journey helped me grasp the UX/UI principles very quickly and apply them to my work.

 

My Journey

These are a few of my favorite things

icon-japanese-2-v4.png

Books: 

  • Emotional Design

  • 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People

  • The Conscious Creative

  • The 40 Rules of Love

icon.png

Topics: 

  • Design

  • Psychology & Neuroscience

  • Philosophy

  • Sustainability

  • Animals

zen-icon-v3.png

Hobbies: 

  • Pottery

  • Hiking

  • Reading

  • Eating (yes only eating not cooking :)

icon-circle-square.jpg

Movies:

  • Life of Pi

  • The Lunchbox

  • Parasite

  • Pan's Labyrinth

  • Divines

bottom of page