Greetings! I’m Michele Atwater, one of the co-chairs for the 2023-24 UX Student Group at the SJSU iSchool.
While completing my final year in the MLIS program, I am very excited to continue serving this club from its initial inception to the present day.
Beginning in my very first course, INFO 200: Information Communities with Professor Michael Stephens, the idea of advocating user-centric and
participatory spaces as engaging “community hubs” really resonated with me to continue pursuing my personal ambitions in wholehearted librarianship.
At the core of this empathetic approach to library service is consistently creating desirable experiences for our patrons.
My background is rather eclectic, with many wide-ranging interests and passions. Throughout my journey of continuing development, I remain dedicated to the ambitions of lifelong learning and creative engagement. Currently, I am also serving as the UX Graduate Assistant for INFO 298 internships to support a number of exciting UX/VR projects with the SJSU School of Information—working in close concert with several external professional partnerships.
Integrating a diverse academic education in business, literature, museum studies and art history, I have also completed several professional certifications in User Experience (UX), Web Design, Usability, Museum Management, and Design Thinking. Some of my past employment history has been in Marketing at a high-tech start-up firm, as well as volunteering in various Community Outreach and Mobile Technology initiatives for several cultural and educational institutions.