Master of Science in Design + Innovation
engineering + business + human ecology + user experience + art

Xingjian "Echo" Wang

Credentials: Masters of Landscape Architecture from Cornell University, Bachelors of Landscape Architecture from Clemson University, and a LEED GA Certificiate

Hometown: Beijing, China

Why did you choose MD+I?

I got to experience and enjoy various aspects of Landscape Architecture design during the past six years, and I have always been curious about the relationship between the built environment and people. After a while, I wanted to know more about how to build products closer to daily human life that impact society from a rational and technological perspective. I also enjoy the types of interpersonal connections between humans and products. That is the reason I decided to try to transition into UX design. A huge factor for me in choosing MDI Program was that MDI was composed of 5 different Colleges so I was eager to begin investigating different lenses and perspectives from five of the UW-Madison’s schools and colleges with the core of the human-centered design.

What is your favorite part of MD+I so far?

There are many things that I like about this program. First, I like that MDI is a one-year program, as I have already gone through a two-year master’s program; one year is very efficient for me in terms of the rapid change of the working environment in the real world. Second, the MDI program has a decent size of the class; each one of us can have more instructions and tutorials during academic work and even get more resources and help develop our unique career path.

What kinds of professional and personal trajectories are you setting for yourself at this moment? Where do you hope to go after graduation?

In addition to gaining experience in human-centered design, I am finding more and more engagement with the learning process more meaningful. Of course, I want to spend my time doing what I am passionate about, but I am also open to seeing where that takes me, whether it is a career in academics or practice, or both. Finally, I hope to bring the experience of this exposure and all the design thinking, tools, insight, and resources that MDI has to offer back to the real world, where I see immense potential and urgent need for the varied roles of a UX designer.