From Artist Experience to User Experience:

Photography had always been a passion of mine. I still clearly recall field trips at school, the perfect excuse for me to pull out my disposable camera (shout out to the 90's), and lose myself in picture perfect scenery.

I later took some photography lessons and found myself captivated by the mysterious scent of the dark room, and the blank piece of paper slowly revealing itself and becoming an image.

I loved it so much, that a bachelor's in photography was a no brainer to me. I felt as if I'm on the yellow brick road to world domination. Throughout my four years of deeply learning and doing what I love, I actually came to realize that there is so much I've yet to experience. I got to examine design through different, diverse lances. I even took glass blowing (!) and it turned out be mind-blowing as well.

I started my studies with absolute certainty but only grew more curious. The world had changed significantly in the course of a generation: entire industries transform, die, born or reborn – and we have to adapt. It was time for me to redefine my goal and find a new professional focus to up my skill game. That's when I first came across the term User Experience, what now seems to be a staple commandment of the 21^st century.

User experience refers to the full range of emotions, thoughts, understanding and conclusions the user experiences when interacting with our product. It is a way to measure our product's functionality, and determine if it's as intuitive, innovative and simple as we crafted it to be. I was surprised to learn that UX design had me using my mind way differently than I had in photography, considering it was widely thought that the two were coherent since they are both visual disciplines. However, UX design revolves around communication, psychology, aesthetics, usefulness and usability. Button positioning and headlines are of greater significance than how pretty it all looks.

While art allows you endless self-expression, UX design is logical, methodical, and focuses on problem solving. You can get as creative as ever within the boundaries but ultimately, your goal is to create a positive, appeasing experience for the end user.

That being said, UX design and photography share a few core terms and artistic guidelines, such as composition, size and hues, and have mutual, parallel technicalities like client management vis-a-vis personal style and statement: as a professional photographer, I had to figure out how to incorporate my own visual language into my clients' requests, and meet their needs. When it comes to UX design, photography takes a highly consequential part in user experience, as our minds process visual information better. Good, well thought of photographs are a useful tool in capturing users' attention and convey universal, emotional messages without the limitations of verbal language.

Photos affect user experience. They each tell a relatable story that can greatly influence consumers' decision – buying, selling, exchanging and general site usage. Although somewhat frightening at the beginning, I set out to change the way I see and capture the world with the entirety of its complexities, and found a fresh point of view.

To conclude: an image is worth a thousand words and an excellent user experience.