Tell us about yourself
My name is Rachel. I come from Atlanta, Georgia. I'm a UX researcher currently working at Meta.
Why did you participate?
I’ve always wanted to live and work in Japan. It's been my dream since I was very young. I started working as a UX researcher in America, but that dream of moving to Japan and continuing to do what I love was always in the back of my mind.
I reached out to Max on LinkedIn to ask questions about breaking into the industry. He invited me to participate in the workshop, and I saw it as a great opportunity to meet people, not just from Japan but from all over the world.
I figured others would be in a similar situation to mine, wanting to learn what it takes to be a UX professional in Japan, while also gaining valuable insights into the culture here.
How did it meet your expectations?
I thought it was amazing. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I signed up, thinking it would be mostly lectures on design and research elements that are unique to Japan.
Coming here, it was such a great surprise to find that not only is it a beautiful location, but the organizers had fantastic plans for us.
We worked on a whole UX project, and it was so much fun to be in groups and collaborate on a project with other researchers and designers from around the world.
It gave me the opportunity to work on a UX problem that I don’t typically encounter at work. Overall, it was a really enriching experience that challenged my brain in a fun way.
What would you tell any colleague or friends interested in attending in the future?
I would really recommend it. This is a truly unique experience that you don’t often get.
Unlike conferences in the U.S., it feels more like a retreat in a different country, with less pressure and expectations to come back to work with a whole bunch of knowledge already learned.
Instead, it’s about having fun, doing what you know, while still learning along the way.
