I am a UX/UI designer based in Victoria, BC, Canada. My background as a web designer and 4+ years of experience in customer service positions brought me into the world of UX/UI design. My passion lies in the design and creation of delightful connections between users and digital products, bringing value to people and businesses.
In my free time, I enjoy drawing, making accessories, and finding good food.
In my early years, I was really into creating my own hobby website. I stayed up until 2 or 3 am every day editing photos and drawing illustrations for the website and building pages with HTML. I enjoyed sharing my creativity and seeing people interact with the website that I created.
I studied digital art and design at Tokyo Polytechnic University including graphic design, photography, web design, motion graphic design, and interactive design. Learning a variety of techniques not only helped me to widen my skill set but also expand my creativity. Besides studying, I sometimes rented a gallery with friends and exhibited my illustration and artwork.
After graduating from university, I worked at a web design agency between 2012 - 2014. I created website designs for a variety of clients including hotels, car repair companies, clinics, restaurants, and more. At this time, my role was mainly focused on visual design, but I started thinking I want to have a greater impact on businesses and help their users.
From 2014-2016, I backpacked Europe, Africa, south-east Asia, and Australia by myself, and also lived and studied English in the Philippines and Canada because I wanted to experience different cultures outside of Japan. From this experience, I gained problem-solving skills, cultural awareness, and communication skills. In 2016, I moved to Canada and got permanent residence in 2018.
After adjusting to my life in Canada, I decided to pursue my passion for design again. I took a 6-month UX/UI bootcamp at the University of Toronto and completed 5 projects. I studied UX research, UX design, UI design, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript at the bootcamp. Now I'm taking a break from job searching since I am taking care of my baby girl, but I am continuing to gain new skills using online resources.