PhD Researcher
Julija Naskova

Julija Naskova holds a BA in Cinema, with emphasis on Cinematography from San Francisco State University and an MFA in Theater, Film and Television Production and Directing from University of California, Los Angeles. During her studies she wrote, produced, directed and edited numerous short films that were distributed in the festival circuit. She was also recipient of the Charles Boyer Scholarship, and spent a year at the Sorbonne, studying French culture, cinema and philosophy with such notable scholars as Julia Kristeva and Michel Marie. That year in Paris inspired the creation of yet another short film.

After graduation she worked on feature films and commercials as Camera Operator, Editor, Post-Production supervisor and Special Effects coordinator. She also continued with personal projects, one of them being a cross-national and interdisciplinary installation project for CESTA, Czech Republic. As her work in the entertainment field became more technical she started helping developers build and improve in house tools for encoding, archiving and delivery of digital media.

Her success in this role made her curious about user interface design and she began to take computer and web design courses. At the same time, she also pursued the photography program at Santa Monica College and had her photographs exhibited at PhotoLA, as well as group shows at local art galleries. She now holds an AS in Photography and the know-how from alternative processes to large format photography and digital image production and manipulation.

Coming to PolyU is her introduction to Asia, a place most fascinating due to the Silk Road that traces it to Macedonia, the country of her origin. Change of environment is always refreshing and inspiring for an artist, and she is eager to continue creative work through her academic research.

Research Title

Comparative Studies of Visual Design as Applied to Interactive Systems that Enhance User Experience and Marketing Results within Global Creative Industries, with Emphasis on Cross Cultural Differences between China and the USA

Supervisors

Dr. Huaxin Wei (Chief Supervisor)
Prof. Tim Jachna (External Co-supervisor)

About the Research

The future of UX design depends on the level of cooperation between UX practitioners and UX researchers. Researchers can give insight into the practice as well as credibility by exploring UX Design in context of related sciences like sociology, psychology, literature, technology, art, design etc. This mutually supportive and informative relationship can open new possibilities of interpretation as well as new venues of exploration for the practice of UX design.

Technology is constantly improving, where new hardware and software releases render the Internet faster and more reliable. But technological advances aren’t enough when it comes to esthetic and functional advancement of the medium. Many websites still feature designs that are ill informed or just employ the ‘same old look’ for the type of business they happen to support. Therefore it is essential to establish as a standard practice the implication of UX designers in all web related development. Introducing a UX designer early in the process of web and other applications development is an insurance against computer systems failure due to their lack of user friendliness. 

When trying to investigate cultural trends in UX design, few standard designs reappear across the globe, carrying little to no cultural specificity besides the language of their cultural origin. There is a need for UX designers to establish a deeper connection with the user through the content they present. This can be achieved by creating esthetics and functionality applicable to the user’s cultural profile, placing them in their natural context. Creating UX designs that are culturally sensitive can have a better appeal to the targeted group, and ease the establishment of brand loyalty. 

In order to ensure that UX design doesn’t become a practice in routine, one needs to maintain all of the above mentioned relationships. This work should be an ever changing creative endeavor that is in tune with and inspire technological advances. UX design should complement content with contextual information, all with the ultimate goal of enriching user experience.

Study: Ph.D

Study mode: Full Time

Hometown: Los Angeles, California