Prior to becoming a designer myself, I had very limited awareness of the thousands of different applications of design throughout our world. What sparked my journey into design, specifically UX at that time, was when I first learned that the success or failure of any design is its functionality in terms of solving a human problem, filling a human need, or bringing joy to people. This core understanding of human experience — that design is fundamentally about how people interact with the world — has since evolved into what I now call Human Experience Design. ​ Nearly six years later, my love for design has continued to grow as I've gained a greater understanding of its role in all aspects of our lives. In my work at an agency working across a variety of problem spaces, it is absolutely vital to understand the human experience around those interactions — whether that's a mobile app user's experience, a public transit customer's experience, an invasive species management biologist's experience, or even a hockey player's experience, I believe that the same core design principles apply: understand the people and their problem, make it simple, make it accessible, test it with real users, iterate as needed.