Angela Shen [pictured above with her Toy Australian Shepard, Mocha] joined GivingData after working as a user experience designer at the nonprofit organization, Games For Love. She joined GivingData due to her appreciation of the company's mission, as well as the focus on community and communication. Her goal as a designer is to strengthen the value and impact of technology by focusing on user empathy.
What inspired you to join GivingData?
Right before my college graduation, I talked to friends and connections to understand the difference between working in small companies and larger ones. As I was leaning towards a smaller company, I came across GivingData’s opening for Associate Designer, so I decided to take a look at the company and its product. When I discovered that GivingData is known for having the best user experience in the grants management software industry, that sparked my interest in being a part of the design team.
You came to GivingData after working as a user experience designer at Games For Love, a nonprofit organization. What has the change been like for you?
I think this has definitely been an interesting shift. My work at GFL was mainly focused on identifying user flows and creating graphics so communication with other teams or colleagues wasn’t really common. GivingData really values communication and allows others’ opinions to be heard. While both companies allowed me to focus on design, GivingData definitely feels like more than just a company.
What does GivingData's mission mean to you?
GivingData’s mission to advance and strengthen the work of philanthropy resonates with my personal goal as a designer to create a world where design is used to strengthen the value and impact of technology. And because we share a somewhat similar mission, I believe GivingData will continue to find ways to bring tailored solutions to user needs. That allows me to focus on user empathy to better help improve the user experience.
What one piece of advice would you give a new member of our growing team?
Really take time to get familiar with our products and user flows. Because we offer more than one product for foundations with different needs, it’s essential to understand what GivingData can do to meet users where they are.
"GivingData’s mission to advance and strengthen the work of philanthropy resonates with my personal goal as a designer to create a world where design is used to strengthen the value and impact of technology."
Which aspect of your work is most rewarding?
As a designer, the most rewarding aspect of my work is to actually see what I designed being used and loved by our clients. For me, having a chance to observe how users interact with my design is always inspiring and allows me to really take user needs to heart. I also love my job because I have a chance to explore things beyond design. We have the flexibility to really communicate our ideas with different teams and see them being put into action. Even though I’ve only been with the company for about a year and a half, I’ve had a chance to participate in refining product features, creating the company’s design system, redesigning our user experience, and conducting usability testing. I know there is more to come and I am excited about my future journey with GivingData!
