How Family and Culture Shape Our Practice

Originally posted on LinkedIn on April 23, 2024 as part of our #teamTuesdays series

I am Filipino, and there’s a well-known saying in Filipino culture that also exists throughout the world in some form or fashion. The saying essentially translates to: in order to get to where you want to go, you need to know where you’ve been. Ever the researcher, I am endlessly curious about our brilliant Verizon Connect X Team and their stories. That's probably true for so many of us in UX!

Case in point: check out our Verizon Connect UX Research Coordinator Iris Barrera, UXC and Senior Experience Design Manager Sarah Dennis , and learn how their family and culture have made them into the people and professionals they are today!

Meet Iris!

Iris Barrera is our UX Research Coordinator, based in San Antonio, Texas. She offered her own story of how culture and family have shaped her life experiences as a first-generation American. “My mother came from Mexico when she was younger to give me and my siblings a better life,” she says. The sacrifices that Iris’s mother made have led to many opportunities. Iris was the first to graduate from college in her family, and she received a bachelor’s in Anthropology. She then moved into Verizon’s wireless sales team before transitioning into her current UX research coordination role. Iris did all this as a native Spanish speaker. “Surprisingly, I did not know English at all until I was 5 or 6 years old,” she shared, “so that shapes the way that I speak and exist.”

Cut to 2023, a landmark year in which Iris collaborated with the research repository creator Dovetail to lead a global discussion on organizing research insights. The talk, Crafting Your Taxonomy, can be viewed here! Also, Iris recently participated as a guest speaker at the 2024 Insight Out conference!

When it comes to giving talks like these, Iris shared, “It was very scary, but that was kind of like the push that I needed to just start actively speaking on [my work] in general.” When asked to reflect on how this tied into her sharing more with our team and the UX community, Iris stated, “I did not seek this out. That would’ve been the last thing I would’ve ever done. I don’t like talking; it’s not for me. But Serena Chan and I built a really great relationship just because I asked so many questions. She reached out and said, ‘Hey, I want you to be the first person that I do [this talk] with. You and your team figured out this platform really well with relatively little oversight. I want to hear your experience with [the platform] to show everybody else what their experience might be.’”

Iris also reflected on the effects of giving this type of a professional talk at this stage in her UX path. “It’s really weird to do it so early on in my career,” she said. “I’ve only really been in this space for a year and a half, almost two years now. I’m fresh. But it’s also connected to how I grew up and my past experiences because people now reach out to me.” Recently, someone who Iris went to college with got in touch with her. “She said, ‘Hey, I see that you went to Texas State. I see that you’re in this field and you’re succeeding in it. I’m also a first-generation American. I just want to get your ideas on being successful where we are in our life as Americans.’” Representation is something that Iris feels passionate about and holds dear. “When I went to college, I didn’t know what it consisted of,” Iris explained. As such, this moment held weight for her. “It was an instance of, ‘Hey, I see you succeeding early on. Can you help me and give me some guidance on navigating life?’” Iris stated that she still experiences Imposter Syndrome in day-to-day life, but she smiled and shared, like any great UX-er, “It’s a work in progress.”

Meet Sarah!

Sarah Dennis, a lead designer and manager based in Dublin, Ireland, shared more thoughts about how family can shape our identities, as well as our work. “I have a brother who is autistic,” she shared.“ I spent a huge portion of my childhood, and my life now, around people who aren’t like me, right? So my goal in life is to understand people who couldn’t talk to me or couldn’t give me some of those typical cues that you’d expect. I had a lot of friends growing up who had autism, Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, or other intellectual or physical disabilities. I was always trying to connect with people who weren’t able to talk or connect in a way that I would’ve expected them to.”

Sarah reflected on what it is like to share life with loved ones who are differently abled. “I very much bring that into how I connect with people now. I always try to understand what people are trying to achieve, their intent, their emotions. Sometimes, the things that you see on the surface isn’t really what’s going on. [...] I definitely bring that into work. Sometimes we are working with people who exhibit behaviors that we’re not understanding. So, I very much try to understand people. I think [my manager] Matthew O'Sullivan said it best: it’s all about the intent.”

Watch Sarah Dennis talk about her role as an Experience Design manager, along with our very own Padraig Carroll!

Sarah has parlayed this experience into person-centered planning, a life-planning program meant for those who need additional care. “It’s something I came across during my Master’s. It’s essentially journey mapping that we do here in our day-to-day,” Sarah explained, “but bringing that into helping parents and carers plan for their young adults’ lives. You create a journey map of what that person wants to achieve at this age, or a particular milestone. That way, you’re able to see opportunities to help support that individual grow [and] make sure that they have independence. It’s a really powerful tool for teachers. It’s kind of me bringing a bit of UX to school. And it’s putting a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Final Thoughts

Our X Team sees Sarah and Iris bring that light to their work every day. They have helped usher in a transformative chapter for UX at Verizon Connect. It has been incredibly inspiring to see how their roots have contributed to their efforts, and they serve as wonderful and exciting examples of how our past experiences can help shape our futures in ways we never knew they could!

So, what from your past has inspired you? What are the core experiences that have helped define you as a person, as well as a UX professional? For more notes from our team’s conversation, check out our next #TeamTuesdays article, which will go out on Tuesday, April 30. It's called: How Our Past Professional Experiences Led us to UX!