designbyhazema ~ ORIGIN STORY
By: Jonathan Wilson
Tags: Intrapreneurship, UI, UX, Design Thinking, First Post

In entertainment, an origin story is an account or backstory revealing how a character or group of people become a protagonist or antagonist, and it adds to the overall interest and complexity of a narrative, often giving reasons for their intentions. Everyone has one, but it is important to always keep in mind that not everybody knows everyone else’s story.

THIS story is one of greatness, from small beginnings. I have always had a love for storytelling since my ears could work in the womb. If a person’s life could be broken down into books, I would say that the first installment of my book series came to an end once the pandemic hit home hard mid-2020. Once I was humbled by heading back home to my Mama’s house and I really felt the lack of freedom that I had once known, the second instalment of “my-life-is-a-book-series” had begun. Now it is up to me to tell my tale how I want it to be told. Below are my answers to questions I came up with myself to share my startup story. THIS is my story; How UX Design can arm youth with the arsenal to overcome life obstacles: Q&A’s with designbyhazema.

Where are you from? What place do you call home and why?

My name is Jonathan Wilson, and I am from Scarborough, Toronto, a neighborhood in the east-southern region of the city. The area of Scarborough is often associated with its poverty and high-crime activity. Conventional wisdom tells us that all individuals who come from high-crime-rate and likely to be in urban neighborhoods become negative products of their environment. Home is where the heart is but my experiences have taught me that adversity is the greatest test of an individual’s heart, and areas like Scarborough, where there is much hardship, produces the greatest of people. The most influential people I’ve met have come from Malvern or similar neighborhoods. People just got to remember not to judge a book until they have read it, not just once they glance over the cover.

What community/communities are you part of?

I am predominantly apart of a Scarborough community towards the northeast corner of the city, just north of the Malvern and west of Rouge Park. My area is known as Morningside Heights. Although I was born into poverty, I was fortunate enough to have relatives who worked hard enough to escape this condition. My elder brothers, Adolphus Ola Wilson, an active personal trainer with Goodlife Fitness, and Adolphus Olu Wilson, a Ryerson University business graduate, paved the way for success for me at a young age. Not to mention my older sister, Adolphina who is the closet to me in terms of age as well as in other regards, always striving for improvement. Following in their footsteps I received my honors award in High School, but the struggles of living in Malvern would continue to test my character. Eventually, I would stray away from the focus I initially had on my studies. During my graduation year from high school, I got distracted and caught up with a girl who was only holding me back from my own potential greatness. That was something I had to overcome before beginning my postsecondary career. I had already accepted my early acceptance so with new outlooks on life and motivation, I took off!

To take the leap of faith or to not. That is the question we must all ask.

BOOM! A three and a half hour GO bus trip later, I was on campus in Brantford. The City of Brantford welcomed me warmly to it’s own corner of southern Ontario. Whether you are visiting the area, new to the community, or a long time resident, you should enjoy the hometown hospitality and the natural beauty of Brantford’s landscape and waterways. I arrived in a new city on my own and got absorbed straight into my studies. I loved learning about the different facets of User Experience Design everyday and just being in our facilities (as they were the newest on campus). It was during my first semester that I made the decision not just to go for my Honours Bachelor of Design, but to also attach a minor in Social Innovation, and an option in Leadership. Today, I stand one year away from being apart of the second ever User Experience Design cohort of Laurier university graduates to be let loose on this unsuspecting world full of evil UX design. Think of me as a UX superhero!

How do you think mindset interventions can help students?

It is absolutely possible that growth-mindset interventions can boost some students, but not others. Almost all of my peers have the smarts to obviously make it to university, but plenty of those in my very same program do not seem to be as passionate about it as me. This made me realize that if your heart is not in the right place, it is very hard to hide that inauthenticity. I feel that there is a whole lot of transferable truth in the saying about bringing a horse to the lake in this case. You can set up students to the best of your ability, give them access to the best resources, and offer up all you are able to, just for them to squander it. That is why self-motivation is such a big aspect in my life. If anyone is going to be a superhero and help others, they themselves must possess a capacity to do so. You can not pour from an empty cup. That is exactly why I am beginning a personal journey to find better balance in different areas of my life. Plenty of people have taught me to be and do better whenever I or someone close to me falls short of something. If I want to be able to do more for others, I must be able to do more for myself. That is where I am at on my marathon, this ain’t a race my friends.

Where is designbyhazema headed next?

Verso l’Alto! I have no plans to slow down on my path. As I continue my advocacy crusade everyday in the good name of UX, I do not plan to let up even one bit. With a few different projects spread out around right now, I am working slowly but steadily. Nowadays I am reading my way on through Robert Greene & 50 Cent’s “The 50th Law”, Blockchain For Dummies, plus lastly but certainly not least as it was recently gifted to me by a close friend of mine(thanks again to you CZER), Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life”. All of these are to come together this summer as I gear up to launch a few different endeavors. I recently partnered with Business In the Streets which is a program that helps youth that are currently facing a number of barriers to finding meaningful employment, create that opportunity for themselves. I am very excited just to get back to work and make the most out of what I have.