Hello! My name is Adam Patwa, and I possess a unique blend of the creative and the analytical. I’m a father, educator, storyteller, writer and designer.
I love asking questions to better understand problems and love helping people find solutions to the problems they face. I’ve seen this at work in my role as an educator and hope to bring it into the design world.
A bit about who I am and how I got here
I moved to Charlotte, NC from Louisiana in 2006, and got my MA from UNCC in English Studies with a focus in Rhetoric and Composition. The plan was to pursue a PhD and become an academic, gradually becoming an expert in some niche and sharing that knowledge with students and colleagues. As we all know, plans sometimes change and after returning to the workforce in 2015, I began teaching at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, NC.
Over the last 15 years, I’ve taught college-level academic writing, ranging from first-year writing, technical and professional writing, research and argumentation, and writing about literature. This experience has shown me the importance of tailoring instructional materials to an ever-changing student body, and I believe this aligns well with designing user-centered products and experiences.
To broaden my professional opportunities, I began learning about User Experience Research & Design in 2022, through two online bootcamps. These gave me hands-on experience with the complete design process, from the various methods of research all the way through design iteration, testing, and refining. Along the way, I’ve learned about many new technology tools and the various applications designers rely upon.
My why
When I began learning about UX Design, I immediately noticed the similarity between the design process and the writing process, the latter of which I rely upon to help students approach any writing situation they may encounter, whether in or out of school. This gave me confidence to begin pursuing UX design as a career goal.
Teaching can be very rewarding, and I see it as something that is within a person and can be employed at any given moment, regardless of what their professional role might be. Thus, I don’t plan on putting that part of me away. However, teaching can also be isolating, as it doesn’t offer too much peer-to-peer collaboration. This is something I’ve been missing in my professional life.
…but why UX Design?
From my experience, it seems life can be challenging, even for those of us that have resources and means, let alone for those who might be struggling. This can range from the large goals that we might be aiming for, down to the small, day-to-day tasks that must be ticked off our lists. And if we aren’t careful, these can root out the things that truly matter. At the end of the day, I want to help people focus on what truly matters.
One way I can do this is by creating and designing products that address the problems in their life and work, hopefully making that load a bit lighter, so they can get back to what matters most to them. This goes for end users of the those products and the colleagues that I get to collaborate with while making them.