Uyen (Vicky) Vo
Undergraduate Student
Major: Design Studies
Home Town: Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
Vicky is a current SJSU student with a lot going on. Not only is she the co-founder of the non-profit group Students of UXD (User Experience Design), she was also recently identified as a potential candidate for Forbes 30 Under 30 in the area of Art & Style. Vicky was also named the World’s 38th Best Designer in mobile technologies, applications, and software design by Design Classifications (DAC).
What is your dream job?
My dream job is to become a User Experience Designer that brings impacts and makes things accessible to everyone. To reach my goal, I rely heavily on the support of the SJSU Design Community. The friends and the professors at SJSU have been extremely supportive, and thanks to that, I feel motivated and encouraged to push myself hard for success every day.
What types of activities are you involved in at SJSU or in your community?
Besides school and internships; I have a passion for bringing the Design Community together. In the summer of 2020, I founded ‘Students of UXD’ (studentsofuxd.com), a community of UX Design students worldwide, currently at 500+ members from all over the world. The goal is to help connect with other designers across the globe and provide free access to UX Design related events and workshops. I started Students of UXD after noticing a problem: there are a few student design communities out there; however, most of them focus solidly on topics such as career building and portfolio building. While these communities are certainly helpful, we wanted to create a community that explores deeper issues within design. That said, our events are inclusive of different angles of UX and emphatic of impactful social change issues.
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What is something you want others to know about your hometown, home country, or culture?
One thing that I’m proud to say about my Vietnamese culture is that we’re extremely welcoming. It doesn’t matter where you come from, what your background is, or what language you speak, we treat everyone like guests. When the travel ban is removed, and when we can all go to travel for leisure again. I invite you to come to visit Vietnam and experience all the greatness!
What do you enjoy most about SJSU?
At SJSU, what I appreciate the most is the diverse community. Personally, I’ve never seen any other school that has such great diversity. I believe in the power of people, and the power of what different backgrounds can bring to the community as a whole.
Where is your favorite spot on campus and why?
My favorite spot on campus is definitely the student union. Before the COVID lock down, I used to spend my break times between classes at the student union getting food and just hang out with some friends. Definitely a place with many memories!
What message do you have for our Global Spartan community?
To my Global Spartan community: things are hard now during the pandemic, but remember, this too shall pass. We suddenly moved to remote learning and many of us are still trying to adapt to it including me. But let’s not lose focus! Just take one step at a time, focus on your goals, and soon we will get through all these together.
