Our ninth alumni presented in this series of Alumni of Psychology is Moniek Scholten. She graduated from her master Human Factors & Engineering Psychology in 2016. She works at Impulse info Systems, an IT company that develops an electronic patient file/system for mental healthcare.
How long did it take to find your first job?
2 months
What are your tasks and responsibilities?
I am a functional designer, so I translate wishes from customers into mock-ups and user stories to discuss it with developers who then make it reality (in the most perfect scenario). I work in a close team and have the most contact with the product owner to discuss the wishes of the customers and issues. Recently I also started making the icons that are used in the software and try to formulate standards to make the software more consistent.
What have you taken along from your study, which you now profit from?
Taking a user centered approach and understanding the importance of usability and user testing. I notice that it is really hard to convince managers that it is necessary to make time for user testing, but that it helps to give some easy examples in the software or that everyone can relate to to give your argument more power.
What do you hope to achieve in your career?
For now, have enough possibilities to keep learning new things and make nice improvements of the software and cool new functionalities.
If you think about your study time, which memory comes to mind?
Meeting a lot of interesting people and of course the kick-in! Reading a lot of articles and books and following lectures in the ‘Waaier’ with my fellow psychology students.
What tips and tricks would you like to give to current students?
Don't be afraid to try new things and listen to what a company has to offer you in the future (like if there are enough opportunities for you to grow), rather than focusing on only one specific function. I started as a consultant at the company I work for now and learned a lot that year (getting to know the software and the customers) and now I have a different function that suits me better and what is a little bit more in line with my Masters specialization.
Moniek graduated writing a master thesis about the effectiveness of an online driving simulation game developed by Green Dino in which students are able to practice driving on their own computer. Find it here:
Any questions to Stephanie?
This alumni has given the opportunity to answer questions about his/her work. If you have a question you are invited to mail this questions to amygdala@utwente.nl. Our moderator will bring you in touch with the alumni, who will answer your questions. For direct career opportunities you are advised to get in touch with the Human Resources department of the employer.
Get in touch!
Do you know someone who has a nice job, has an inspiring career of otherwise is interesting to join the Humans of Psychology series? Please get them in touch with us. To be able to keep this series going more alumni are needed.
Published: December 17, 2018