It's in.
Submitted my grad school application in person this afternoon. I'll hear back in a month or so. Thanks everyone who helped with the essay. The submitted version was pretty much the third draft with a very few minor changes.
Please summarize your qualifications for graduate work in the Department of Technical Communication and provide a statement of your goals and career objectives.
I believe that understanding your audience is the most important factor in successful communication. Whether it is a letter to your boss, curriculum that you are presenting to an industry audience, a software interface, or the physical design of a household device, the awareness required is much deeper than simple audience demographics. You must understand your user's contextual bias (perhaps technophobia), vocabulary (topical jargon), motivation (professional or pleasure), and patience level. By understanding these and other factors you can tailor your communication to be accessible, precise, relevant, and succinct. Without these considerations success becomes much more difficult.
I was a Legos kid. I am fascinated by systems, mechanics, and inventing. Tools make me happy. I touch and fix things. It's been clear to me for quite a while that I should become an engineer. Over the last ten years I've realized that I need to create products that understand their users.
My zeal for creating is driven by my belief that consumer needs should take precedence in product design. When the user experience is considered in the design process, the resultant interface reflects it by virtue of its usability, often despite its complexity. Conversely, a product designed with little consideration of the user will often be convoluted and difficult to use, even for simple tasks. The most usable microwave oven I've seen had just two large dials: one for power and one for time. While it did not allow for one touch halibut steak defrosting, it was a device that easily satisfied the needs of 90% of users. Additionally, it was an interface that was extremely accessible to users with poor eyesight, difficulty with fine motor control, or aversions to reading manuals. It struck me as a shining example of how design for a general audience should be done.
I have extensive teaching experience, and have taught topics as diverse as geometry, ecology, and Kung Fu to a wide variety of audiences. Many of these contexts involved conveying technical information to people who didn't have the appropriate vocabulary to discuss the subject at hand. This can lead to difficulties in communication and frustration for novice users. To succeed in these situations I continually adjust my presentation to the language and level of my audience. The result is a positive experience for everyone involved. This appropriate presentation of information is exactly the same as designing a device or a document; successful presentation relies on understanding the consumer.
When looking for an undergraduate college, I wanted a school where I would necessarily be exposed to a variety of disciplines. Even then my inclination was towards an interdisciplinary approach to understanding. Reed College demanded that. Studying physics honed my analytical abilities. It also reminded me that I enjoy applied topics more than abstract ones.
Since then I've been programming, supporting users and customers, training junior and non-technical employees, and designing interfaces. I find myself craving a deeper and more structured way to understand the audience that I create for. I'm also ready to move away from software and towards hardware-based products.
My hope is to work in a field such as medical devices, where usability is the primary goal, rather than the latest aesthetics or competition-inspired features. Medical devices simply must not fail randomly or require that the user consult a manual in emergency situations. When working in the fields of medicine, health, and safety, there is also a real opportunity to do work that is beneficial on a grand scale. Using appropriate, efficient design to do work that will directly improve people's quality of life is appealing to me. The TC education will help me be a better medical device designer.
Currently I'm enrolled in the User Centered Design course with Dr. Turns. It is wonderful to be in an environment where my bias towards the user is not merely a passing consideration, but the actual the focus of study. The Technical Communication program suits me because the entire discipline is built around effective implementation of communication. I'm also delighted to find that the program is part of an excellent engineering school that, among other things, offers a department of Bioengineering. The combination of superior communication in a technical context is exactly what I am looking for. I look forward to enhancing my design skills and creating superior products and interfaces.
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The hot dog place down the street has Ms. Pac Man. Who knew?
Also, wasta will be here tonight! Woo!
Please summarize your qualifications for graduate work in the Department of Technical Communication and provide a statement of your goals and career objectives.
I believe that understanding your audience is the most important factor in successful communication. Whether it is a letter to your boss, curriculum that you are presenting to an industry audience, a software interface, or the physical design of a household device, the awareness required is much deeper than simple audience demographics. You must understand your user's contextual bias (perhaps technophobia), vocabulary (topical jargon), motivation (professional or pleasure), and patience level. By understanding these and other factors you can tailor your communication to be accessible, precise, relevant, and succinct. Without these considerations success becomes much more difficult.
I was a Legos kid. I am fascinated by systems, mechanics, and inventing. Tools make me happy. I touch and fix things. It's been clear to me for quite a while that I should become an engineer. Over the last ten years I've realized that I need to create products that understand their users.
My zeal for creating is driven by my belief that consumer needs should take precedence in product design. When the user experience is considered in the design process, the resultant interface reflects it by virtue of its usability, often despite its complexity. Conversely, a product designed with little consideration of the user will often be convoluted and difficult to use, even for simple tasks. The most usable microwave oven I've seen had just two large dials: one for power and one for time. While it did not allow for one touch halibut steak defrosting, it was a device that easily satisfied the needs of 90% of users. Additionally, it was an interface that was extremely accessible to users with poor eyesight, difficulty with fine motor control, or aversions to reading manuals. It struck me as a shining example of how design for a general audience should be done.
I have extensive teaching experience, and have taught topics as diverse as geometry, ecology, and Kung Fu to a wide variety of audiences. Many of these contexts involved conveying technical information to people who didn't have the appropriate vocabulary to discuss the subject at hand. This can lead to difficulties in communication and frustration for novice users. To succeed in these situations I continually adjust my presentation to the language and level of my audience. The result is a positive experience for everyone involved. This appropriate presentation of information is exactly the same as designing a device or a document; successful presentation relies on understanding the consumer.
When looking for an undergraduate college, I wanted a school where I would necessarily be exposed to a variety of disciplines. Even then my inclination was towards an interdisciplinary approach to understanding. Reed College demanded that. Studying physics honed my analytical abilities. It also reminded me that I enjoy applied topics more than abstract ones.
Since then I've been programming, supporting users and customers, training junior and non-technical employees, and designing interfaces. I find myself craving a deeper and more structured way to understand the audience that I create for. I'm also ready to move away from software and towards hardware-based products.
My hope is to work in a field such as medical devices, where usability is the primary goal, rather than the latest aesthetics or competition-inspired features. Medical devices simply must not fail randomly or require that the user consult a manual in emergency situations. When working in the fields of medicine, health, and safety, there is also a real opportunity to do work that is beneficial on a grand scale. Using appropriate, efficient design to do work that will directly improve people's quality of life is appealing to me. The TC education will help me be a better medical device designer.
Currently I'm enrolled in the User Centered Design course with Dr. Turns. It is wonderful to be in an environment where my bias towards the user is not merely a passing consideration, but the actual the focus of study. The Technical Communication program suits me because the entire discipline is built around effective implementation of communication. I'm also delighted to find that the program is part of an excellent engineering school that, among other things, offers a department of Bioengineering. The combination of superior communication in a technical context is exactly what I am looking for. I look forward to enhancing my design skills and creating superior products and interfaces.
--
The hot dog place down the street has Ms. Pac Man. Who knew?
Also, wasta will be here tonight! Woo!