Employment in the digital field and the demand for graduates in user experience (UX) is growing faster than the average and sophomore Britta Grayvold is getting in on the ground floor. Grayvold graduated with 57 students from Norway High School in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. From the moment she stepped on campus, she knew she was ready to make the leap from the small town of Norway to the booming technological city of Milwaukee.  

“I love being in the city, so I knew I would love MSOE,” said Grayvold. “Coming from a small town of about 2,000 people, the city intrigued me, and I knew it would be a big change.”  

The user experience major at MSOE is designed to help students combine visual design and multimedia production along with human factors and emotion. It is a close-knit program that prepares students for a variety of careers in content management, technical communication, design research and web interaction. This is what was appealing to Grayvold. When Grayvold met with the program director, Dr. Nadya Shalamova, she knew she was in the right place.  

“From the moment I took a campus tour and met with Dr. Shalamova, I knew user experience was perfect for me,” Grayvold commented. “I got the chance to sit down and talk about all the possibilities that could come out of being a part of UX. In that moment, I knew I didn’t want to pass it up.”  

What Grayvold loves the most is the human interaction piece—a unique part of the technology-focused major. While your job is often behind the screen, it’s truly about engaging the people on the other side and the psychology behind it. She explained it’s like being in touch with all your MSOE classmates!  

“We are designing for, thinking about and analyzing users and the products they interact it, which is any MSOE student who has any sort of technology.”  

As a part of the MSOE Women’s Basketball Team and the User Experience Industrial Advisory Committee, Grayvold loves to be engaged and connected with people and both her personal and academic life allows her to do that.  

After Grayvold graduates, she dreams of leaving the Midwestern cold and going coastal to sunny California to work for a well-known, technological company like Google, Apple, Instagram or Twitter.