Tech Work Dreams Taking Shape in Goshen, Indiana
Work Lately | 09.13.24
This summer, we experienced two rounds of layoffs at Viewrail, but the Information Technology (IT) team continues to grow. Despite a challenging year for the Goshen-based manufacturer, I feel lucky to be part of the IT team. The company is decidedly still investing in us.
Stairs & Railing for the People is a work journal from my perspective as an early-career user experience (UX) designer supporting in-house software MVPs at a direct-to-consumer stairs and railing manufacturer in northern Indiana. If you have thoughts, questions, or feedback about things I explore here, I’d love to hear from you.
UX Design ~ Team
Two of my newest teammates are user experience (UX) designers, like me. Their arrival has opened the door to exciting new possibilities. Time will tell if we’re fully prepared to embrace this change, but I’m here because I believe we are.
The experience and skills that my new teammates bring to Viewrail are essential and inspiring.
Trami (pronounced jem-EE), a senior at Purdue University studying UX design and anthropology, joined as an intern this summer and decided to stay part-time as she finishes her degree. She's from Goshen, Indiana, and shared unique insights about her internship experience, especially when comparing it to her classmates who interned at big tech firms in larger cities.
Nicholette, a seasoned UX design professional, joined Viewrail just over a month ago. In her previous roles, she consulted and worked on major projects for large corporations and household-name companies across various industries.
Getting to know her personal process and approach to UX design during our first project together has been fascinating. I was particularly excited to learn that she contributed to parts of a website I frequently reference for design inspiration.
Nicholette grew up in Chicago and moved to St. Joseph, Michigan, just over 10 years ago. She now commutes the hour and fifteen minutes from there to the Viewrail offices regularly.
In less than a month, she completely transformed our dedicated UX office space, turning it from a fluorescent, wallpapered cube into a warm and inviting work haven that increasingly attracts admiration.
The Dream
When I began learning UX design, I envisioned working with a team of fellow designers. It’s a modest goal, but an important one in a field that blends creativity with technical skill.
Given the limited number of UX design job listings in my northern Indiana hometown of South Bend, I thought I would need to look for opportunities in a larger city. Even Indianapolis had far fewer UX design listings compared to Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. I figured I would at least end up working remotely for a company based in another state.
This was a tough realization because I love my home town. I love the smaller cities surrounding it that are a magical, intimate day trip away. I love my region.
It’s Happening Here
Today, after a brief but memorable stint in Los Angeles, I’m an official resident of Chicago. But when I go into the Viewrail office, I commute past my small hometown to a city that is even smaller: Goshen, Indiana.
To my Notre Dame graduate student friends, Goshen is “the place with the good pizza” here, Venturi. To me, Goshen is a bike ride on the Pumkinvine Nature Trail that takes up half the day. It’s the small fashion boutiques I visited often while working at a pre-seed tech startup, inspired by the way people do business here. It’s Viewrail, my employer, an innovative stair and railing manufacturer grappling with its technological future.
I live in Chicago and work remotely, but I frequently choose to work in person at Viewrail, in Goshen, Indiana, because it’s an exciting place to be right now. Besides, the train ride and drive are beautiful this time of year.
Links
Plain language makes it easier for the public to read, understand, and use government communications, PlainLanguage.gov
The Plain Language Action and Information Network (PLAIN) is an unfunded working group of federal employees from different agencies and specialties who support the use of clear communication in government writing. Originally called the Plain English Network, PLAIN has been meeting informally since the mid 1990s.
When I shared my first draft of a UX research one-page report with Nicolette, she gave very detailed feedback on sentence structure and word choice. So, in our next one-on-one, I asked her for feedback on a draft for this journal. She told me my sentences are too long. “Are you looking for that kind of feedback?” a friend asked when I recounted this to them later. “That’s exactly what I’m looking for,” I confirmed. Nicolette says she learned the importance of plain language while consulting for clients with a diverse user base. She highly recommends this resource.
Why aren't more people taking on the trades?, Adrian Ma, Darian Woods, Cooper Katz McKim, Kate Concannon, The Indicator from Planet Money
According to a recent report by the consulting firm Deloitte, the U.S. manufacturing industry could need as many as 3.8 million new employees over the next decade. And yet about half those jobs could go unfilled. […] While a lot of Darnell's classmates were thinking about getting judicial clerkships or maybe a second degree in business or medicine, Darnell took an unusual step of doing his law degree while learning a trade. Today on the show, Darnell explains why he went from studying law books in ivy-covered lecture halls to reading blueprints in machine-filled workshops.