In this interview, you’ll delve a little bit into the life after LMC. Interviewee Emma Ryan, a recent graduate from Georgia Tech, brings her passion for storytelling and community engagement to her role as a Content Designer at Microsoft. Below you’ll dig deeper into her insights on how LMC has been influential to her life and interests.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
MS: Tell me about yourself. I saw that you have a passion for storytelling. You mentioned that you love the Lord of the Rings in your LinkedIn bio; I loved that.
ER: Storytelling was a defining pursuit for me in college. I worked at the Technique and chose classes around that interest, and I also had several communications jobs. Writing about people and telling their stories is very important to me. Working in UX isn’t quite like that because it’s not a journalism job. However, the desire to understand people and empathize with them still applies.
MS: I've noticed that to really understand the user it sometimes can feel like you're trying to get their whole history. Why does this particular thing annoy them? That can be hard to investigate and find a solution for, but in a way, you’re developing this deep story about them.
ER: For sure. It can get very psychological, you know?
MS: Yea, that’s interesting. So can you tell me a little bit about your day-to-day?
ER: It changes from day to day, but a big chunk of my day is spent in meetings, whether with my manager, my team, or different teams I'm collaborating with. Getting into the design process early and collaborating often are key, so we're always trying to get on the same page. I'm often in meetings figuring out where and how I can get involved in the process.
The rest of my time is spent writing, designing, and researching. I work with my partners to craft UX that’s in line with the brand voice and style. For example, I could be working on an error message or a confirmation message. How we communicate in our products is important for the overall brand.
And on the side, there are lots of extracurricular projects and communities to get involved in. It's very busy.
MS: It sounds like a lot of mental organization is required to stay focused. Were there any things you did in college that helped you transition into that structure and environment? I know you were an intern at Microsoft first, so I imagine that helped.
ER: An aspect of it is personality. I'm pretty type A. Love my calendar; love my planner; love my Notion. I think that, in general, the tech world attracts high-achieving, perfectionistic, super-organized people, which is also true at Georgia Tech. There definitely is a bit of a cultural personality pipeline, if that makes sense.
I would say too, that being surrounded by a lot of technical people as an LMC student at Tech prepared me well. A good example is working at the Technique. There are obviously people from every major there. Learning how to adapt to different ways of thinking and talking helps me in my current job to translate technical concepts into digestible, human, conversational experiences.
MS: Yea, that’s one of my favorite things about LMC and being a liberal arts major. I get to collaborate with the STEM-y people in ways that make sense. Do you have a favorite memory from Georgia Tech that sort of sticks with you?
ER: I truly loved my time at Tech and the community I found there. I enjoyed my LMC classes and the empathy I learned from them. I felt like we bonded over the LMC struggle, because it’s not the normal struggle, you know? It’s a different struggle from all other struggles.
MS: It sounds like the sense of community in and outside the classroom appealed to you a lot. Is there some sense of community in the corporate world too?
ER: There are lots of opportunities to be super integrated into the community for sure; there’s always something fun going on. But I personally feel that it’s super important to have some compartmentalization between work and your social life and to maintain some healthy boundaries, whatever that looks like for you.
MS: I feel you. I never want to become the person whose whole identity is tied to the company I work for. But yea, did you have any formal training in UX writing before you started your job?
ER: Not specifically in UX writing, but my background in communication and writing has been instrumental in my work now. Understanding people, being able to communicate effectively, and collaboration and teamwork are crucial in my job.
MS: That makes sense. It seems like your role involves a lot of collaboration and critical thinking.
ER: Absolutely! Working with a team is key, and there's a constant need to think critically to distill complex ideas into concise and effective content.
MS: Cool, last thing -- a wild card for you. If you had to describe your job as a content designer at Microsoft using only emojis, which ones would you pick?
ER: Oh, hmm. The writing emoji 🖊️ would be a big one because you're writing a lot, even if you're not writing very long things. Then it would have to be the three heads 👥 emoji because I work a lot with other people, and design involves a lot of empathy. I’d also have to say the mind-blown emoji 🤯 because there's a lot of thinking hard and then you're like “Ohh, this is the exact word that I was looking for to represent everything that I was trying to say”. Lastly, the running emoji 🏃♀️ because you're always running around from one thing to the next. You wear a lot of hats and there’s never a dull moment.
MS: Nice, love that! Thank you so much for chatting with me. It’s fascinating to see how GT has shaped your experience and preparedness for Microsoft.
ER: Absolutely, I love interacting with the LMC community. You’re welcome!