As a user experience designer, I love to see how great solutions can help change the world and make a difference in people's lives. My work has a very personal side--my father has dementia, and I see how evolving technology can help people like him.
Growing up with four brothers made me rough around the edges and highly competitive, but it also taught me to be resourceful and innovative when trying to overcome obstacles. As I could not beat my older brothers when competing with them physically, I would have to do it creatively.
My brothers and I all went to Waldorf School, where collaboration and creativity was encouraged. Our father, working as a carpenter, also taught us to use both our minds and hands when solving problems--an approach I often find highly transmissible to the work I do every day at global professional services company Accenture. Making your ideas tangible is a powerful tool dependent on strong communications. Sharing your ideas with others opens you to collaboration and innovation.
Our father was diagnosed with dementia at a relatively young age, while still in his early fifties. Dementia is a non-curable, vicious condition that makes him slowly fade away, depriving him of his ability to communicate. Dementia has caused severe damage to the parts of his brain that control his speech and his ability to understand language. Not being able to communicate while still conscious of his surroundings has made him distraught, depressed, and lonely.
Watching my father struggle, while not being able to provide him with anything that could support him in his communication challenges, is one of the reasons I have become so passionate about technology and its potential to improve people´s quality of life.
Technology solutions to complex problems
I was recruited into Accenture two years ago during my studies at the University of Oslo Department of Informatics. My involvement in digital design services was a result of my interest in technology and a passion for aesthetics and simplicity. I was intrigued with the opportunity to work at the intersection between technology and design, where I get to apply creativity to help solve complex problems.
Read the full article
