Team JOS-H studied students and young adults who are unsure of their career path or college major. They hypothesized that people discover new interests and passions by observing others work. They interviewed current students happy in their major, a student advisor, and professionals who changed careers. Key insights included that researching a major online helped one student feel confident in his choice, while an internship inspired another student to change majors to better align with her interests. The team believes learning more perspectives could help inform how to support those deciding on a career.
2. Students and young
adults, who are yet
to find their passion
in life
They are not sure what to
focus on for their major or
their job, and end up
changing career paths or
college majors
?
H
ave
Addresses
U
se
The Problem
The Solution
The People
3. Hypothesis
We believe that people develop interests they
never knew they had by watching others work,
igniting their own passion.
5. Students who are happy with their first chosen major
Current Students
Aidan Atman Asher
“Ever since I was little I enjoyed
building stuff, studying architecture just
seemed like the next logical step to take”
“ I discovered IXD through reading about
it on the internet, seeing others work on
bechance and then I designed a
few app’s before applying to CCA”
6. A Professional
Student Advisor
Jared
“Originally I studied graphic design, because that was
what my sister was studying, after working in the field I got
burnt out. I switched to advising because it allows me
to help others discover their own passion“
7. Professionals who changed their major/careers
Professionals Who Changed Careers
Sergio David
“When I graduated High School at
16 I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I knew
I was creative so I went into marketing but that didn’t
make me happy. Only after working in the field did I finally
discover IXD and decided to go back to school”
“Growing up I always liked to draw, so
when I graduated high school, marketing seemed
like the thing to do, only after working in the field and after the
economic collapse in 2008 did I rethink my life. I realized I wasn’t
fulfilled with what I was doing so I decided to take out more loans
and go back to school”
8. Students Who Changed Their Majors
Students who changed their major
"I wanted to create something that would actually be
functional. My internship... talked about social equity and
the environment. I was interested in learning more, so I
did some research and found out landscape architecture
has those elements involved."
"I was always interested in plants and marine life
growing up. After taking the horticulture class, I
realized I was more interested in plant restoration
rather than manipulation... did an internship in a
nursery which lined up more with what I wanted."
Allegra Siena
10. Asher
Interaction Design Sophomore
Felt fear that if he won’t
like the major he would
have to transfer
In his discovery process he did
research using Quora, Wikipedia,
Medium to learn what IxD is and
what are other peoples
experiences.
Hoped CCA made some guide or
tutorial for future students
explaining what major is.
Because he did research on the
major, he was happy with it and
had a clear goal. This made him
feel that the first year was a waste
of time.
happy with his
chosen career path
