About 👋

About me

My name is Josefie. I am 35 and living in Berlin. I have worked as a professional web developer for 10 years with a strong focus on the frontend. Since October 2024 I am studying Human Factors at the Technische Universität in Berlin.

FAQ

How did you get to where you are now?

I started to study media and computing mostly out of curiosity and because I used to be good at maths and arts at school. I sticked to it, because I liked it and finally ended up in web development.

My focus has always been the frontend. I was interested in all things close to the user and I saw potential for improvement everywhere around me. Ultimately, I decided to dive deeper. I want to understand how the human brain works and how to make technology more usable and useful for people — not the other way around. This is the reason why I started the master program in Human Factors.

Why do you want to change to UX?

One of my greatest interests as a frontend developer was accessibility and inclusive design. Because the topic includes both technical implementation and design, I already used to have many touch points with designers. Even in my everyday life I concerned myself with usability and observed problems everywhere. So it was obvious for me to pursue this direction.

What makes you stand out and what are your weaknesses?

I would describe myself as an empathetic person. I am self-dependent and a team player at the same time. My colleagues appreciate my analytical skills as well as my structured and outcome-oriented approach at work. I think I have a good eye for details while never losing sight of the big picture.

My weaknesses? I am trying to be direct and honest at all times and I like to question a lot, which doesn't suit everybody.

What is it that you like and don't like about your work?

What fascinates me about programming is its directness and pure logic. At the same time programming can be super creative and there are always multiple ways to reach a goal. Finding the best, most efficient and most elegant way is what makes it interesting in my opinion.

Even as an engineer I like everything that is connected to UX in the broadest sense. I care about developer experience, meaning I want code to be understandable and easy to adjust, processes to just work without having to think about it, documentation to be concise and communication to be clear and transparent.

What I don't like is the increasing complexity in the frontend at the cost of the user, dogmatic discussions about the best tools and best practices and a lack of diversity in the tech industry.

How do you work in a team?

I was once told that I was positively influencing the team dynamics and I believe it's because I always want the best for everybody, holding on to a common goal and advancing it. To be more concrete: if I see a problem or a task worth solving I will either address it, ask colleagues for help or try to solve it myself, but I won't just wait for someone to take care of it.

I think it's important to keep growing personally and professionally, so I will give feedback to my colleagues whenever I think it's helpful and appropriate. At the same time I am always open to constructive criticism myself. I am pretty adaptable and am able to take the role which I think I can contribute the most from.

What is important to you at work?

Here are some of my values that I care about during my work:

• Users: Usable, accessible and meaningful products
• Code: Maintainability, consistency and robustness
• Teamwork: Transparent communication and relevant documentation
• Processes: Efficiency and convenient tools

What do you like to do outside of work?

I am passionate about languages, travelling and photography. I am a curious person, so I really like to learn about new things: people, cultures, food, languages, sports, you name it.

I go bouldering and running frequently and if I want to get around the city I almost always take my bike. I love music, so going to concerts and festivals is one of my favourite things to do. Also, I really like writing.

Vita