Åshild works at BEKK Consulting with interaction design.
- As a consultant at BEKK, you're involved in projects with many different clients, and more often than not you're situated at their workplace, she explains.
- You are involved in projects at an early phase, preferably some time before the actual development starts. I work a lot with ensuring the best possible user friendliness in different systems. It should be easy for users to understand what they should do, whether on a website, a mobile application or within various self-service solutions. My days are spent sketching out different solutions, ensuring that the customer's needs are met, and looking at how one can bring out content in the best possible way.
Åshild has always cared about media and people.
- After I finished school, I found a bachelor program called New Media at the University of Bergen and decided to try it out. It was through these studies I became familiar with the field of Interaction design, something that really caught my interest. Therefore, pursuing a master's degree within the field was a natural choice for me. The University of Oslo had a newly established program: Design, use, interaction, and because I had heard many good things about this university and the Department of Informatics, that's where I decided to get my master's degree.
The road from studies to career
- Through the student community at the Department of Informatics, we were introduced to a number of companies offering relevant career opportunities for our field of study. There I got to know BEKK Consulting and started working as a summer intern, continuing on to a permanent position. My path became clearer as the years passed, really; I didn't quite know way back I was a fresh university student that I was destined to be an interaction designer.
Åshild's tips for fresh students:
- The most important thing is to do what you want to do, not what everyone else wants. Student life is fantastic. You get to know lots of nice people, both through studying and being involved in different societies and organisations. Don't be scared of trying and failing a bit. Few people know what they are going to be at the time they start their studies. Most importantly, try out something you think sounds fun, and then see if that feels right for you.