By Wong Sze Han Darren (24S03C) and Low Jing Kai (24S03H)
The shape of this button. The font of that text. The colour of this arrow.
To most, these might seem like insignificant and arbitrary considerations, but not to Charisse Foo, a UI/UX research associate at the National University of Singapore (NUS). To her, user interface and user experience (UI/UX) design is more than shapes and colours on a website; it’s about understanding the audience you’re designing for, and crafting an experience that suits their needs.
Charisse is an RI alumnus from the class of 2012. She was part of the Humanities Programme with a rather uncommon subject combination of Literature, Economics, Mathematics, and Art. Like most of us in JC, she wasn’t fully set on what or where she wanted to study in the future. Eventually, she decided on architecture at Cornell University in the US.
The pipeline from taking H2 Art to studying architecture then becoming a UI/UX designer hasn’t been a conventional one. Still, to her, it’s been a fulfilling journey of personal growth.
“I don’t regret any of it,” she says with a smile, looking back on her journey to get where she is today.
Life in Ithaca
Charisse graduated from Cornell with a Bachelor of Architecture (equivalent to a Masters in Singapore) after a 5-year course.
“I think I still prefer the big city,” Charisse laughs, when comparing the environments between small-town Cornell and NUS.
During summer breaks, Charisse took on design internships at architecture firms in Singapore. Most of her time in school was spent on a demanding Architecture curriculum, though she also enjoyed taking classes in writing and information science.
“I really don’t want to perpetuate the dominant consumed-by-architecture myth, and I also had a pretty balanced life (eg. I never pulled an all-nighter). I played piano for church, went on retreats, had two ‘study abroad’ semesters outside Ithaca, had time for friends/sleep, and graduated a semester early.”
“Focus on how you can make the most of being in such a good academic institution”, Charisse emphasises, with a refreshingly positive outlook on the large workload that she faced.
What she enjoyed most at university, however, were the multitude of projects she embarked on. From “The Art of Memory”, a joint exhibition on 4 towns in Italy supported by the Cornell University’s Eidlitz Travel Fellowship), to “In All This House”, a solo exhibition, Charisse’s own personal interests in photography and art really shone through in her projects.
“I really believe in [my projects]”, Charisse says when highlighting the importance of personal projects—avenues that helped her explore and express her interests throughout her schooling. Even now in her working life, she hopes to continue embarking on even more.
Extracts from “The Art of Memory” and “In All This House”.
From Architectural Design to UI/UX Design
During her 4 years in the architectural industry, Charisse worked as an architectural designer as well as an architectural visualiser, utilising CGI to create 3D models and images for firms she worked for.
Charisse particularly enjoyed creating 3D renderings of buildings, which had already been designed, for marketing purposes. “This was a whole sub-industry in between architecture and the entertainment industry, which I felt was really fun,” explained Charisse.
Charisse’s decision to switch careers came from her desire for personal growth and making an impact on people’s lives. She believed continuing on the architectural career path was less aligned with her personal and professional interests.
“I am not inherently interested in building buildings,” Charisse explains, “But I still am building on my skill set and evolving in a different way, so I do not feel I am giving up anything major.”
Though she has left the industry, Charisse emphasised that the study and discipline of architecture are still things that she holds dear. She felt that the firms she worked in gave her valuable industry experience and design skills. It was when her professional interests diverged from those of the industry that she decided it was time to move on. Charisse does acknowledge that different firms do have different work cultures and her industry experience is based on the firms she worked in.
“In the university I went to, you are not just taught to be the most efficient, but you are being taught a more high-level conceptual understanding of architecture itself.” Charisse states, highlighting the difference between the study of architecture and the reality of the industry.
Charisse does however note that those who pursue architecture are able to find avenues for creative expression in freelance work and personal projects.
When all was said and done, Charisse felt her next career lay with UI/UX design. Charisse appreciated that UI/UX design allowed her to have a more immediate connection with the end user, and believed that UI/UX design, and digital products in general, will open doors to other projects she is interested in. She had briefly dabbled in the industry when she took game design modules in college, which sparked her interest in digital interfaces and products. Charisse’s prior experience with graphic and 3D design had also equipped her with the necessary skills to seamlessly transition into UI/UX design. Charisse was also inspired by her peers, many of whom made the switch from architecture to UI/UX design and have found success in their new roles.
Life as a UI/UX designer
Currently, Charisse is a UI/UX design research associate at the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, under its Telehealth Core. Her work lies in the intersection of healthcare and Human Computer Interaction (HCI).
As of late, Charisse is working with a team of researchers and engineers to design a website with the purpose of preparing caregivers of patients with serious illnesses for end-of-life decisions, through the use of interactive tools for caregivers to reflect and gain insight on themselves and their charge.
However, skills such as research skills and paper writing skills are also essential for someone in the role of Charisse. As Charisse puts it, “UI focuses on building what is on your screen, the text, the button, the pictures, while UX focuses on understanding the user identity, the goals, contexts, and behaviours of the end user, which requires research.” In Charisse’s case, her research is done to better understand the attitudes of caregivers and how the website can be designed so that caregivers are more interested in them. To clarify, UI/UX does not usually involve coding, which is done by a separate team of programmers after.
Conceptually, UI/UX design is more akin to a social science, with user research being the core of UI/UX and the visual design is built upon that. In fact, some of Charisse’s colleagues do have a background in psychology.
“The UI/UX designer is the advocate for the user,” Charisse explains, highlighting that UI/UX designers prioritise the user’s needs, balancing this against what the engineering team thinks is easiest to implement and what the business team believes is best for the company.
Being in a research group, as opposed to industry, Charisse enjoys the flexibility with regards to lifestyle and work her current role gives with a slower pace that allows for more in-depth research and reflection. slower paced compared to other industries.
However, this can also be less immediately fulfilling as getting to the end product is a long process with many changes along the way.
In fact, Charisse believes that UI/UX designers should be no strangers to change. “[Change] helps to challenge the premises of what we are operating under, and it is good to try different things and not to commit too fast to one way of doing things.” Charisse says.
For aspiring design students, Charisse recommends YouTube tutorials and joining online design communities as good starting points and avenues for networking. As UI/UX is a very discussion-based industry, Charisse also highlights the importance of interpersonal skills, as most of the time, designers will be working in teams. Charisse hopes to continue her personal design projects sometime in the future, having put those aside recently.
To The Aspiring Artists…
When asked about her number one tip for aspiring artists, Charisse emphasises the importance of “building your own practice”, developing your own processes, and leveraging your own “diverse experiences that shape you as a designer”.
Charisse’s path as a designer is certainly a testament to keeping your options open and following your interests, even when they lead to something as daunting as a career switch.
Making the decision of what to study in university is often fraught with lots of back and forth, anxiety, and stress. We tend to think of it as a decision that will dictate the rest of our lives, whether we like it or not.
But that doesn’t always have to be the case. Take a page out of Charisse’s book—explore the unconventional routes, walk the roads less travelled, and find a career that you find fulfilling.
1 Foong, P. S., Ureyang, N., Foo, C., Antonyrex, S., & Koh, G. C. (2024). Designing for Caregiver-facing Values Elicitation Tools. *Proceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems*. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642214 [CF1])
