My Journey into Design

I know nothing

I was 18 years old, had just finished high school and enrolled at university to study Electronic Engineering. I had no idea what user experience was, no concept of a CMS and no clue what I was doing. So naturally, I decided to start a small boutique agency called Kreatek to help pay for university... and the occasional drink.

Luckily, I already had my first client.

A friend's mother and aunt had started an Italian language school and needed a website, along with some ideas on how to market their new business. I offered to help where I could, which eventually led to me designing and developing their website.

At the time, I had a basic understanding of HTML and CSS, but I had no idea how much I still had to learn. I quickly realised I needed to understand SEO, hover states, layouts, browser compatibility and countless other fundamentals that today I take for granted.

One of the first tools I downloaded was Firebug, the predecessor to today's Chrome DevTools. I spent countless hours inspecting other websites, trying to understand how developers structured their HTML and CSS so I could teach myself how everything worked.

I also had no idea that frameworks existed that could simplify development. Everything I built was written by hand. It was buggy, inefficient and far from perfect, but it worked. More importantly, I was fascinated that I had created something people could interact with.

The website helped launch the business and gave me something far more valuable than I realised at the time: confidence. Although the original site is no longer online, I still remember how proud I was of it, especially that repeating Tuscan background image.

Why was this project the beginning of my career?

At 18, I was a little lost.

chose engineering because I loved technology and that's what my dad did. He seemed happy, so I assumed it was the right path for me too. It didn't take long to realise I was wrong.

I quickly lost interest in university. While I enjoyed technology, I didn't enjoy the heavy focus on mathematics, and I found the lectures uninspiring. Within six months I had dropped out, around the same time I was building Passport to Italy.

That project made me realise something important: I still loved technology, just not electronic hardware. I loved creating things with software and the internet. Around the same time, I watched Die Hard 4 and became fascinated by cyber security.

I enrolled in Computer Science at Deakin University, majoring in Information Security. I learned how the internet worked, explored the complexities of online security and spent countless hours building websites simply because I enjoyed it. During university I also picked up various IT jobs, fixing computers, installing software and learning as much as I could whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Working in technology felt incredible. I wanted to understand everything, even if it wasn't directly related to my role. Around this time I met Dean Attard, who gave me my first real opportunity in the industry and probably taught me more about technology than I could ever have learned in a lecture theatre.

After graduating, I moved through several roles across different companies. Some I loved, others not so much. Every experience taught me something—not only about the kind of work I enjoyed, but also the kind of work I didn't.

I realised I didn't want to be a software developer, a management consultant or a systems architect. What I did appreciate were the parts of each role that challenged me: understanding complex technology, solving difficult problems and working closely with people.

Over time I discovered there was a balance between the technical world of software development and the human side of consulting. That balance was User Experience Design.

For the first time, everything made sense. I could combine my technical background with problem solving, creativity and an understanding of people to design products that were both practical and meaningful.

Looking back, I wouldn't change any part of that journey.

If I could go back and tell my 18-year-old self that one day I'd become a User Experience Designer, would I skip engineering, computer science or the many different roles I experienced along the way?

Absolutely not.

Every detour taught me something. Every role added another perspective. Together, they shaped how I think about products, technology and the people who use them.

Rediscovering Passport to Italy reminded me that while the tools, technologies and problems have changed dramatically over the years, one thing hasn't.

I've always been curious about how things work and even more curious about how they could work better.