Hi, I'm Gina.

UX Content Designer - Strategist - Writer

When I'm not working, I'm either out taking photographs, painting, or riding my bike, Roccinante (from Don Quixote, though The Expanse works, too).
Self portrait of Gina - a person of mix-race heritage, presenting mostly as Asian, with shoulder-length hair.

How it started

Writing professionally? Was a gradual thing I never imagined doing. At university, I wasn't sure what to study but I had a small dream: to work for National Geographic. So, I majored in journalism. I have yet to get to NatGeo but my path turned out better than expected. A few years after graduating with my B.A., I moved to New York City to study sociology and go into academia but the Fates seemed to have other plans.

Where we're going

2020 was a time of reflection—as I imagine it was for most people. It was a time of self-rediscovery and figuring out what motivated me, and what I really enjoyed doing professionally and personally. I've been a content creator and content manager—doing social media, email marketing, and web content everything—for nearly a decade at this point in the nonprofit education sector and I felt uninspired. Woefully content. I was stressed out and burned out.

Enter UX. I found it a different discipline that synthesized my interests of visual design, wordsmithing, website creation, and development. User experience was a puzzle a to be solved, a puzzle that marketing and communications couldn't satiate. If I made moves into UX, I wouldn't be "creating for the sake of creating." So we made moves.

I found that I really like analyzing and solving the problems of how people experience content and products they interact with every day—whether it's a website or phone app, the grocery store, or a tourist location. In a world that's focused on specific aspects of content (copy, visuals), I'm in it for the whole package. This is where I'm headed next, and if you'd like to join me in this journey, subscribe to my Substack, Words by Design.

Experience

Cvent (since 2021)
Content Designer
nXu Education (2020-2022)
Marketing Consultant
Uncommon Schools (2018-2021)
Marketing and Communications Specialist
Education Week (2012-2016)
Online News Producer, Social Media Coordinator

Education

OOUX Masterclass (Cohort 8)
ooux.com/Rewired, 2023
OOUX Fundamentals Certificate
Udemy, 2023
UX Design Foundations Certificate
Yellowbrick/Parsons, 2022
Front End Web Developer Nanodegree
Udacity, 2018
M.A. Sociology
The New School for Social Research, 2016
B.A. Journalism
University of Maryland, College Park, 2012